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Reading Rescue, November 2007: Books for Reading Clubs
By Anne Allen and Mary Anne Fulmer
 As
we move full tilt into the holiday season, this is a good time to remind
readers of our purpose with this column. The Reading Rescuers bring to
your attention books, old and new, that we think you will enjoy. We try
to present them by categories, hoping that if you enjoy mysteries or
romances, we can steer you to new authors, or that if you have never
picked up a graphic novel, we can encourage you to give them a try.
Another goal is to offer suggestions when the adult reading program
comes around, as it does every fall and winter. This month, in response
to requests, we are taking a look at possible books for reading clubs,
books that lend themselves to discussion by groups.
Philippa Gregory is one of our favorite authors and in
The Boleyn Inheritance, she continues her story of the reign of
Henry VIII. Jane Seymour, Henry's third queen has just died, leaving him
a son and heir, so the king is in no hurry to marry again. However,
Henry's advisors suggest a match with a German princess could help
stabilize England's alliances and Hans Holbein is dispatched to paint a
miniature of a suitable candidate, Anne of Cleves. Gregory examines the
two queens we probably know the least about, Anne and her successor,
Katherine Howard. The span of the novel is a mere three years, from 1539
to 1542, with an afterword jumping to Henry's death in 1547. More than a
story of the two women, this is a portrait of a king who began his reign
full of joy and with his country's love, and ended as a tyrant, imposing
his whims upon his subjects, enforced by the executioner's block.
If a book about a seventeen-year-old autistic boy
solving the murder of a neighbor's dog doesn't interest you, think
again. Mark Haddon's novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the
Night-Time is one of the most unusual books we've read this year and
a real page-turner. Christopher Boone attends a special needs school,
has a passion for mathematics, and begins a project: discovering who
killed the poodle Wellington. His father, the dog's owner Mrs. Shears,
and the police all discourage him, but Christopher finds a way to
continue and uncovers much more than the perpetrator. This is a book
that grabs you from the first page and continues with surprises and
delights to the very end.
Novels about contemporary issues can be stiff and
didactic, with little enjoyment in the reading. Jodi Picoult's books are
a notable exception to this, with her smooth and compelling writing and
well-drawn characters. Two of her books we would highly recommend are
My Sister's Keeper and The Pact: a love story. In the first,
thirteen-year-old Anna Fitzgerald sues her parents for the rights to her
own body. Her older sister, Kate, was diagnosed with leukemia at age
two, and Anna was conceived to be a donor to her. This began with her
birth and has continued through donations of lymphocytes and bone
marrow, until now, when Kate needs a kidney. Picoult has a marvelous
ability to portray the different issues in an engrossing and
non-judgmental way, and again this book is one you can't put down.
The Pact begins with every parent's nightmare, a late night phone
call from the hospital emergency room about a child. The Hartes and the
Golds are next door neighbors and best friends, and both families are
thrilled when their teenagers begin dating. Picoult traces the family
interactions from the beginning when the Golds move into the
neighborhood, the growing closeness of the two families, the fateful
night that culminates in a dead child, and on through the incarceration
and murder trial of the other. There is anguish, hope, and drama all
wrapped up in a fascinating depiction of two families torn apart.
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
resonates with elements from nineteenth century novels by the Brontes
and Wilkie Collins, all shadows and secrets. Margaret Lea assists her
father in his used book business and occasionally uses her fascination
in reading old diaries to write a short biography for publication. One
of these pieces, about a set of twins who write a diary together,
attracts the interest of Vida Winter, a reclusive writer whose most
famous work, "Thirteen Tales of Change and Desperation", consisted of
only twelve stories. Winter writes that she is ready to tell her own
story, the thirteenth one, to Margaret, and so begins an exploration
into identity, truth, and imagination. This is an enthralling book, one
that pulls the reader into its world and challenges him to sort out fact
from fantasy and truth from lies, all the while maintaining the flavor
of the novels Setterfield used as inspiration.
The library will be closed on December 24th and 25th for
Christmas and will close early on December 28th for a staff and
volunteer party. We want to congratulate the Friends of the Library on
another successful used book sale, and say a special thank you to those
who helped at the American Girls tea and Bedtime with Bears. As always,
send your comments or suggestions to
mfulmer@pennlib.org.
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