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Trudy loves to read fiction, especially fiction with a historical bent. When she can bear to put a novel down, she also reads history, biography and other nonfiction (although she avoids anything with post-modern in the title).  $27.95 ISBN-13: 9780470423349Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days Published: Wiley, 04/01/2010 This is a well-written, informative look at the complex issue of immigration. It should help all who read it move beyond the angry, unhelpful rhetoric surrounding the immigration debate today. Indeed, it should be required reading for all Arizona legislators, as well as Gov. Brewer.
 The Girl Who Played with Fire (Paperback)$15.95 ISBN-13: 9780307454553Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days Published: Vintage, 03/01/2010 I loved The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (read it first!) but Stieg Larsson’s second is even better. A complex thriller with explicit feminist sensibilities, this tale of corruption and sexual abuse is at times horrifying but always gripping and wonderfully written. It has a cast of unusual characters, but the protagonist is unforgettable. Lisbeth Salander is angry, punk, fearless, and a brilliant computer hacker. She has a clear (but not typical) moral code and will stop at nothing to fight the abuse of women. A fabulous heroine!  All Other Nights (Paperback)$14.95 ISBN-13: 9780393338324Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days Published: W. W. Norton & Company, 03/01/2010 This rich, complex novel set during the Civil War is satisfying in many ways. Its historical perspective is fresh--focusing on a Jewish soldier loyal to the Union spying on Jewish friends & family in the south. It is also a page-turner, a love story, and an unflinching look at the horrors of war.
 Woman's World (Paperback)$14.95 ISBN-13: 9781582434636Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability Published: Counterpoint, 01/01/2009 A truly unique novel! A cut-and-paste of text found in women's magazines from the early 1960's, this novel is a visual and linguistic treat. It's also a funny and disturbing and compelling story about the meaning of gender. Highly recommended.
 Mistress of the Art of Death (Paperback)$15.00 ISBN-13: 9780425219256Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days Published: Berkley Trade, 02/01/2008 This novel introduces us to Dr. Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar of Salerno (aka Adelia), a medieval coroner hired in secret by King Henry II to find out who's behind the horrific murders of children in Cambridge, England. Adelia is a fabulous character, and Franklin's depiction of medieval England, though gruesome at times, is engrossing and entertaining. Highly recommended for mystery readers as well as those who love historical fiction.
 Wash This Blood Clean from My Hand (Paperback)$14.00 ISBN-13: 9780143112167Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days Published: Penguin (Non-Classics), 08/01/2007 Looking for a new literary, quirky mystery series? Check out this French series by Fred Vargas. Vargas's central character is Chief Inspector Adamsberg, a bumbling, forgetful, eccentric, often irritating, highly intuitive detective. But, Vargas populates her work with other quirky characters that add to the depth of the series...I just love some of the women characters. I read this book first, but you should start with the earlier Have Mercy on Us All and meet the amazing cast of characters.
 The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl (Paperback)$14.95 ISBN-13: 9780618773473Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days Published: Mariner Books, 09/01/2006 This vivid, gritty and enlightening account of the Dust Bowl is amazing. Timothy Egan introduces us to several families and communities of the Dust Bowl era and shows us their desperate (unbelievable, really) attempts to survive. Highly readable and unforgettable!
Importantly, Egan also shows how misguided governmental policies and environmental hubris helped bring about this disaster...a lesson we need to this day.  $16.00 ISBN-13: 9780143111979Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days Published: Penguin (Non-Classics), 05/01/2007 This is my (slightly belated) Thanksgiving pick. Forget the myth of the first Thanksgiving and read this book. Nathaniel Philbrick is a great storyteller and manages to convey the complex and contradictory motives of the Plymouth Colony settlers (characterized by piety, duplicity, gratitude, intolerance, stupidity, and violence) and the complicated set of problems faced by native societies even before the settlers arrived. Fifty years after a shaky beginning, during which the Pilgrims were saved from almost certain death by the Wampanoag Indians, an overcrowded cluster of colonies push the now well-armed natives to the point where they have little choice but to push back. This is an important, and bloody, part of U.S. history that we should not forget.
 Stuart: A Life Backwards (Paperback)$12.00 ISBN-13: 9780385340885Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days Published: Delta, 05/01/2007 Alexander Masters has written a remarkable book. He made me laugh at (and with) Stuart, care about Stuart, empathize with Stuart and, ultimately, miss Stuart. Yes, Stuart -- a homeless man whom I'd probably cross the street to avoid.
 The Glass Castle: A Memoir (Paperback)$15.00 ISBN-13: 9780743247542Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days Published: Scribner, 01/01/2006 In this quirky memoir, Jeannette Walls chronicles her upbringing at the hands of her eccentric, nomadic, self-absorbed parents--her frustrated artist mother (who can rationalize almost any hardship as "an adventure") and her brilliant, alcoholic, nonconformist father. While parental neglect is certainly at the heart of the memoir, the tone is amazingly loving and (mostly) forgiving and often very funny. A wonderful storyteller, Walls is able to capture her parents' knack for making hardships feel like adventures, yet she also conveys just how necessary it was for each of the siblings to leave home in order to survive.
 Broken for You (Paperback)$14.95 ISBN-13: 9780802142108Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days Published: Grove Press, 06/01/2005 This book is funny, heartbreaking, and alive with imperfect, eccentric characters. I loved it. The two main characters are the elderly, lonely Margaret Hughes and the young, heartbroken Wanda Schultz. When we meet Margaret, she is living alone in her Seattle mansion and talking to her priceless antique porcelain collection as if they were living things. Wanda, in contrast, is broke, having moved to Seattle in an obsessive pursuit of her wayward boyfriend. Things change for both of them when Margaret decides to rent out a room, and Wanda becomes her tenant. If you find yourself resisting this novel because you fear it has a predictable, redemptive quality, think again. There are a lot of surprises in store (Margaret's conversations with the china are really quite meaningful, for example), as well as a host of interesting characters (and a very funny ghost). Enjoy!  March (Paperback)$15.00 ISBN-13: 9780143036661Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days Published: Penguin (Non-Classics), 02/01/2006 In Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, we don't learn a lot about the father. Well, Geraldine Brooks remedies this by imagining his Civil War experiences. This is a powerful look at the horrors and complexities of war, as well as the limitations and weaknesses of highly idealistic people. I highly recommend this beautifully written novel. And, when you've finished, go check out Little Women again.
 Ursula, Under (Paperback)$16.00 ISBN-13: 9780143035459Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days Published: Penguin (Non-Classics), 06/01/2005 I'll admit it. I picked up this book to see what kind of novel a mother of 12 could write. I mean, she really wouldn't have the time or energy to write a good novel, would she? Well, she did! This enchanting, ambitious, page-turner of a novel begins when Justin and Annie Wong take their two-year-old daughter, Ursula, on a picnic. Ursula's disappearance down a forgotten mine shaft sets in motion a desperate rescue effort. Of course, we want to know if the rescue is successful, and it is the rescue that is the basic plot of the book. But, the beauty of the novel comes from the fact that Ingrid Hill frequently leaves that more predictable plot behind to focus on the young girl's many ancestors, including a second-century B.C.E. Chinese alchemist, a deaf Finnish peasant living in 700's, a child born to a crippled Chinese girl in the 1600's and many more interesting characters. I highly recommend this debut novel.  The Hummingbird's Daughter (Paperback)$14.99 ISBN-13: 9780316154529Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days Published: Back Bay Books, 03/01/2006 This epic novel grew out of stories handed down to Luiz Urrea about his great aunt, Teresita, who was born in 1873 on a ranch near the Mexico-Arizona border. A healer and activist, Teresita was considered a heretic by the Catholic Church and a rabble-rouser by the government of Mexico at a time when both the United States and Mexico were oppressing and exterminating large numbers of Native people. Urrea effortlessly weaves the supernatural stories about his aunt with the gritty reality and turmoil of the southwest during this time. A fascinating novel!
 Mr. Timothy (Paperback)$13.95 ISBN-13: 9780060534226Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days Published: Harper Perennial, 11/01/2004 Okay all you Dickens fans...get ready to meet Timothy Cratchit as an adult and enjoy yourself! A different kind of Christmas story, this breathless flight through the teeming markets, shadowy passageways, and rolling brown fog of 1860s London would do Dickens proud for its surprising twists and turns, and its extraordinary heart. Bookmark/Search this post with: |
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