Tuesday, June 7, 2011

June update

Here are some new suggestions for summer reading.............
The Snowman, by Jo Nesbo. If you liked The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, you will like this book. It is set in Oslo, Norway and the mystery will keep you guessing about "whodunit" right until the end. Very suspenseful.
The Warmth of Other Suns is an excellent nonfiction choice for the summer. It details the cultural revolution in our country brought about by the migration of African-Americans from the south to the north from 1915-1970. It follows three people, who moved to Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York- their reasons for leaving the south and the challenges they faced in the north. A fascinating, if at times, tragic story.
Two new nonfiction books which have people talking are 1861: The Civil War Awakening by Adam Goodheart and In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson. One details the events happening in our country the year before the civil war broke out, and the other is a tale of an American family in Hitler's Berlin during World War II. They are both on my reading list for the summer.
Another fiction title, which reads at times like nonfiction, is The Good Son by Michael Gruber. It is a story of a Pakistani woman who returns to her country from the U.S. only to be kidnapped by terrorists. Her son, who is a member of the special forces in the United States, attempts to rescue her. Very interesting insights into Muslim traditions and the politics of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
On an entirely different note.............If you have never read the Maisie Dobbs series of detective stories by Jacqueline Winspear, try them. She has a new one out this summer entitled, A Lesson in Secrets, but try to read the first one entitled, Maisie Dobbs, before reading others. They are fun mysteries set in England after World War I. Think Cherry Ames or Nancy Drew for adults.

2 comments:

J Auclair said...

The Snowman is available at the Bakerville Library.

Paul Griffin said...

I am presently reading the new book by Gary Gallagher entiled, "The Union War" Professor Gallagher teaches at the University of Virginia and the author of many civil war books especially on General Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. I also hope to read another famous Civil War book written several years ago by Stamford University Professor David Potter entitled "Impeding Crisis" which concerns the events leading up to the Civil War. Remember the Compromise of 1850?