YCReads

From the title of this book, I thought it was going to be a cozy British mystery, but this mystery is set in Alabama.  Jane Thistle moves to Tullulah, Alabama after the death of her husband “the Colonel”.  She and her husband moveed to Florida after he retired from a career in the Army.   She’s driven through the town a couple of times while traveling and wanted to move to this small, quiet town.   On her first day in town, she meets Phoebe Twigg , who has lived in Tullulah all her life and they become fast friends.

Jane finds she shares a love of land with an elderly neighbor and he shows her the most beautiful places on his property.  Jane settles in quickly, unpacking, finding a place to do Tai Chi, taking long walks and finding a dead body.    Jane’s long marriage to an Army Colonel comes in handy when she is confronted by the killers.   I imagine the Jane and Phoebe will show up in more books in the future.

Karen - Fort Mill                                   ISBN  9780312360634

I decided to pick up the P.D. James book Children of Men after I saw the movie of the same name.  To say the  movie and book were different is an understatement.  I liked the movie, but the book was so much better.

It is a story set in the not too distant future in England.  No children have been born for 26 years and the population is aging.  The world is slowly dying out.  A warden controls England, and in exchange for keeping the power on, he has taken away the freedoms the people of England once enjoyed.  There is forced “suicide” of the very old and infirm and testing of all males and females to determine if they can reproduce. 

The unlikely hero of this novel is an Oxford historian named Theo.  He is the warden’s cousin and an unfeeling man who is just drifting through what remains of his life.  He involuntarily gets involved with an anti-government group called the Five Fishes.

To tell you anymore would ruin the story.  Let me just say I found it a very interesting and compelling book, and although it was written in 1993, I found it a timely read as well.

Laura W. - Fort Mill                                           ISBN 0679418733

Anatomy of the Spirit is a New York Times Best-Seller by medical intuitive, Caroline Myss. For anyone who is interested in the realm of personal growth, alternative health, and spirituality, this book is a must. Without overwhelming the reader, Dr. Myss explains how emotional, psychological, and spiritual stresses, as well as beliefs and attitudes, lead to a startling array of physical illnesses. Anatomy of the Spirit presents an enlightening model of the human energy system as it correlates to three major spiritual traditions: the Hindu chakras, the Christian sacraments, and the Sefirot of the Kabbalah’s Tree of Life.

In Part I, Dr. Myss explains the human energy field and how it works. She also provides an explanation of how the chakras, sacraments, and sefirot can be symbolically combined to work together. In Part II, she breaks down each individual chakra and thoroughly explains the organs, mental and emotional issues, and physical disfunctions associated with that chakra. Readers who are less versed in the field of energy medicine need not be intimidated, as Dr. Myss provides numerous personal stories which function as explanations for the topics she discusses, making this book a fairly easy read overall. Each chapter is concluded with a list of questions for self-examination.

Anatomy of the Spirit is a wonderful resource and an invaluable tool for anyone who is interested in personal health and spiritual growth.

Jason - York                                          ISBN  0517703912

I chose to read this book mainly because of the brief reviews given by some of my favorite authors. (Cassandra King, Karen Gillespie, Lisa Wingate and Ann B. Ross). This story takes place in the 1950’s when Pauly (short for Paulette) and her brother, Buddy are suddenly orphaned. Their parents are killed when the roller coaster they are riding goes off its tracks. It seems no one in either family wants the responsibilty of raising two children when Aunt Nora from California says she’ll take them. Since no one in the family has seen Nora in over ten years the children are unsure about this but the rest of the family is just glad the issue is settled. So Pauly, Buddy and Aunt Nora take off in her Buick Skylark convertible to travel from Oklahoma to California (and stops in between). You’ll enjoy the adventures and the people that they encounter on the way to their new life.

Robin - Lake Wylie                        ISBN 0451219260

Dinaw Mengestu’s talent as a storyteller is shown in this, his first novel.  It’s a powerful, well-written story with vivid, lovable characters that have flaws and strengths that make them seem very real.  I especially enjoyed the way his tale keeps you in suspense until the end, keeping you paging forward enthusiastically to see what will happen.

 A summary from the book jacket begins:

Seventeen years ago, Sepha Stephanos fled the Ethiopian revolution after witnessing soldiers beat his father to the point of certain death, selling off his parents’ jewelry to pay for passage out of the country.  Now he finds himself running a grocery store in a poor African-American neighborhood in Washington, D.C., where his daytime customers are schoolchildren and his nighttime customers are prostitutes and alcoholics.  His only companions are two fellow African immigrants, a Congolese waiter and a Kenyan engineer, who share his feelings of frustration with and bitter nostalgia for their home continent.

 And so the story begins in Sepha’s store, with Ken the Kenyan and Joe from the Congo, as they play a form of trivial pursuit regarding African dictators.  Sepha’s relationship with a new neighbor, Judith, develops some interesting tangles and twists, and especially poignant is his friendship with Judith’s biracial 11-year-old daughter Naomi, which is made stronger over a copy of The Brothers Karamazov.  

The title of the novel comes from the last lines of Dante’s Inferno, where the poet, emerging from hell, is granted a glimpse of heaven before he makes his way into purgatory.  As I progressed through the story, I found it heart-rending and a bit depressing and considered giving it up for a cheerier tale.  As the characters become caught between the divisions of rich/poor, black/white, citizen/foreigner, I found myself ashamed and sad to live in America.  However, by the end of the story I had feelings of resolution and hope, glad to have treated myself to reading this book.  Mengestu’s writing is conversational and accessible, and I enjoyed reading his work.  

Jennifer L - York                                          ISBN  9781594489402

This was a good mystery with a very entertaining main character. Stonewall Jackson Calhoun is the star of a previous novel, Bitch Creek. Stoney was hit by a lightning strike which completley obliterated his memory. He is starting out anew as a part-time fishing guide on Casco Bay in Maine and a part-owner of a bait and tackle shop. The co-owner of the shop is his love interest, Kate, and Stoney lives with his beloved dog, Ralph.

This book opens as Stoney is taking out a new client for a fly-fishing trip. The pair makes an unscheduled bathroom stop on an uninhabited island where they make a gruesome discovery: the charred remains of a fresh corpse.  Stoney is determined to stay out of the investigation even though it is apparent he has some skill in this area from his previous life.  That determination lasts until the body of Stoney’s client turns up shot dead on Stoney’s front porch.

Stoney assists his friend the sherrif in the investigation and at the same time is trying to figure out why his girlfriend has distanced herself from him.  He also has to contend with visits from a mysterious stranger that seems to know more about Stoney than Stoney does.

The book has several twists and turns and generally makes for a good read!

Mary Beth - York                                     ISBN  9780312363031

This story follows Fiona “Fi” Sweeney and her journey to Africa.  Fi is an American librarian who wants to make a difference with her life by helping others.  She leaves her family and friends behind in New York City and travels to Africa to start a traveling library. The books are packed in crates and put onto the backs of camels.  There is a limited amount of books because they are donated so the people in the settlements can only keep them for two weeks.  The fine is stiff; if the books are not returned when the bookmobile comes back the camel bookmobile doesn’t return.  Scar boy, a young boy refuses to return his books and brings shame on his tribe.  The bookmobile stops coming but Fi returns to the village alone to try to get him to return his books.  Although Fi wants to help the people she is serving she doesn’t understand the cultural differences and values collide.

Robin - Lake Wylie                                                ISBN  9780061173486

Dorothea Benton Frank’s newest book is a departure.. it’s set in NEW YORK CITY…. of course the main character is from South Carolina and travels back to Sullivan’s Island at least three times during the book, but still NEW YORK CITY. 
Mariam Swanson is dissatisfied with her life.  She converted her townhouse into apartments after her divorce, she has alienated her two grown sons and she lives a bitter life trying to maintain the social status she enjoyed as a married woman.  In the course of the book she decides she no longer wants to be the person she has become and sets about changing herself and her circumstances.  Along with the visits to Sullivan’s Island, the highlight of the book is the wedding of her oldest son.  The wedding is a happy time,  giving her a chance to reconnect with her sons, their wives and children.  Sullivan’s Island is the Land of Mango Sunsets mentioned in the title.  It refers to watching the sunset over the water as the sun goes  glaring to a fabulous red orange.  The book is ultimately about love.  Love of parents, of children, of friends, of place and of yourself.

Karen - Fort Mill                                                           ISBN  9780060892388