Stacked Shelves

I have a confession to make: You know that book Wonder by R.J. Palacio about the boy with facial deformities who attends public school for the first time and it's difficult for everyone involved, but in the end everyone's heart grows at least four sizes and we all feel good? I didn't love it. It's OK. And the movie was probably OK too. But as far as plot, character development, the style of the writing... I thought it was just OK. That's how I feel about The Story of Arthur Truluv , which is really all the things the various blurbs about the book says it is -- heartwarming, moving and sweet. You may even cry a little. But, unfortunately, it's like a much-watered-down version of A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. Which is a far better book.   Arthur is too good. And Maddy's story is somewhat unbelievable (Why is she bullied? How does she get into the situation she gets into?) and too cliche (goth teen going to art school?). Lucille...

M.T. Anderson is one of my favorite YA writers. Teen and children’s librarians who have worked with me know that I’m always recommending his book Feed . In that book, which takes place in a near-future, the Internet is implanted in your brain so that you get a near-constant stream of advertisements and sites that the Internet has deemed perfect for you. Like Google or Facebook, but directly to your brain. (As I like to tell the teens, it’s happening now!) So, I was glad to pick up one of his latest books, and not just because it’s short (149 pages). Landscape With Invisible Hand imagines a future in which we have been invaded by an alien race—the Vuvv—who sold us on their advanced technology. We welcomed them at first. But then some rich people got richer and the rest of us got very poor (most jobs were lost to the advanced tech) and often sick (the aliens stopped treating our water, so water-borne diseases are common-place and only a few can afford the Vuvv medicine). ...

I gave Nightblind two stars on Good Reads -- I originally gave it three, but while writing this I realized shouldn't have graded on a curve.   The mystery was almost nonexistent.   There wasn’t a real investigation. And the part of the book that was probably meant to be Very Important (whole chapters set in italic!) is boring. I don't understand the 4- and 5-star reviews the book has gotten. Our policeman protagonist – Ari Thor -- suffers from the flu through the first half of the book, making him sluggish and whiny. Then he figures out who the murder is through a chance remark. And we’re done! (The book is only 200 pages – short for this type of novel.) Between the flu and the murderer’s confession, we get odd side stories about drugs, partners considering leaving other partners, those italic pages, and Ari Thor wondering if he’s ever going to get a promotion. Many people read police procedurals because we like the detective, but Ari Thor isn't even likable in t...

It’s December and that means book lists – best books of the year, best gift books, Oprah’s favorite books, books that may be up for awards, readers’ favorites, and on and on. It also means librarians, especially those who care about Reader’s Advisory, may feel overwhelmed. I’m going to do my darnedest to look at these lists and not feel like I haven’t read enough this year. I’m going to read some of lists, remember some titles as good recommendations and not feel like I have to add to my seven-page books-to-read list. I will not do well on that last part. Humble brag: I’ve read 126 books so far this year. (Look for me on Goodreads.) I expect to read at least three more. So, how can I be behind on all these book year-end lists? It’s because there are too damned many of them. Let’s look at the NPR list , because it seems to me the most overwhelming and the most aspirational. It has a mix of fiction, non-fiction, young adult, children’s, and even picture books. But 374 BES...

I’m about to be overly effusive: I loved Beartown by Fredrik Backman and I think it is one of the best books I’ve ever read. (See Tangent 1.) I even love the cover. Backman lured us into his Swedish world of curmudgeons and the neighbors who love them with A Man Called Ove and his other novellas. But this isn’t A Man Called Ove . This book has a much larger scope. This feels like the book Backman has always wanted to write but had to wait to give to us until he developed an audience. You got it, bro. I will read whatever else you write in the future. This book more deeply develops his ideas about communities. It is also about parenthood and all the responsibilities that go along with it. It’s about family and best friends who are like family. It’s about belonging. It’s about sorrow and happiness. And there’s some hockey. (Tangent 2.) You will hate some of the parents (Kevin’s, William’s). You will love some of the teens (Amat, Maya, Ana, Benji, Bobo, Leo...). Be prepared ...

I've read more non-fiction during the first few months of this year than I usually do. I'm not sure how that happened. Usually I "get acquainted" with some non-fiction titles so I can recommend them, do a little speed reading of a chapter or two, and leave it at that. But I dove deeper earlier this year and feel smarter for it (kidding). Here, in the order of preference (most liked to least), are the books I read cover to cover: Some Writer! The Story of E.B. White by Melissa Sweet I loved this book. It's a children's biography of noted writer and style guide producer E.B. White, and it's so well done. Interspersed with the narration are examples from White's writings, personal papers, anecdotes and much more. The layout is gorgeous. Every bit of text is interesting. And White's life is worth reading about. Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper After reading Stamper's book, I now know that I am not careful enou...

Suicide Is Painless is the title of the theme song to both the movie and television series M*A*S*H (and one of the first songs I learned to play on the piano). I've just read three books that involve suicides in one way or another (some spoilers ahead) and they show how suicide painfully affects the ones left behind. Imagine Me Gone by Adam Hasslett delves into bi-polar disorder before it was called that. Married couple Margaret and John are seemingly able to cope for a long time with John's bi-polar disorder, but fail to realize how it tough it is on their children and how the oldest, Michael, seems to have inherited the disease. John's suicide changes each family member in a different way. I was bothered more than a bit with how Margaret was portrayed. She seemed so together and strong and powerful at the beginning of the novel and then so lost later. It just seemed to me that her personality changed too much. When  a second suicide happens late in ...

I rarely get angry at a book or an author, but I found myself getting increasingly angry at J.D. Vance and his book Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis . Angry enough to blog (so you know it must be bad.) This book is filled with contradictions and in several places is downright crazy because of people making really poor decisions. I am disappointed that so many people I know love it and so many book reviews rated it as one of the best books of 2016. I thought it would be a story that would teach me something about Republican/conservative voters, so I wanted to read it. It did not do that. A graduate of Ohio State and Yale Law School, and a veteran (marine), J.D. Vance is from Kentucky and Ohio (his family is originally from Kentucky but they moved to Ohio and the author spends much time traveling back and forth), so he grew up in a family of hillbillies. Most of them were very poor and didn't work and often moved to larger ...

I made an odd sort of promise to myself this year: Read fewer books. The past few years, I been reading at a pace of about 100 books per year – a mix of children’s (but not counting picture books), young adult, and adult – and I felt as if I was reading too quickly and perhaps forgetting what I was reading. (Thank goodness for Goodreads.) However, I consider it a very important part of my job as a librarian to keep up with what’s published, even if it’s a daunting task. Hundreds of thousands books are published each year in this country, so obviously it’s beyond even a superhero librarian (and I’m not one of those) to keep all those titles straight. But I try to at least know something about some books. We have two public-facing desks in my library – one is called the information desk; the other, reference. If you are working at the information desk, you will be asked for book recommendations. You will be asked, have you read this book? You will be asked to help select a book for ...