Tag Archives: Mental Illness

Columbine

Leave a reply

Title: Columbine

Author: Dave Cullen

Summary: On April 20, 1999, two boys entered their high school and proceeded to unleash the most unforgettable school shooting of the modern era. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were troubled outcasts in black trench coats, picked on by jocks and preps, who, after years of listening to angry music and playing violent video games, finally snapped.

Or were they? Actually, none of these accepted facts about the young killers are true. In this absorbing book, a reporter who was on the scene that day and followed the story long after the tragedy of school shootings became seemingly commonplace, dispels the myths behind the shooting, its perpetrators, and even its victims. Everyone knows what you mean when you say ‘Columbine,’ but not one of us has ever heard the whole story until now.

Who will like this book: True crime readers. Anyone who remembers that day would be benefited by reading this important book.

If you like this, try this: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. A fictional work that deals, in part, with Columbine and it’s aftermath, The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb.

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian

Garden Spells and The Lace Reader

Leave a reply

Titles: Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen and The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

Summary: It was sheer coincidence that I read these two novels back to back, so I thought it would be nice to review them together.  The two stories have a lot in common and share many similar themes, but each one evokes a completely different (and wonderful!) reading experience.

Garden Spells is a delightful story about two half-sisters, Claire and Sydney, their magical garden, and life in the small town of Bascom, North Carolina.   The Waverly women have always had mysterious gifts, but they’ve not always embraced them.  Claire’s magic comes through the herbs and spices she uses from the famous Waverly garden, while Cousin Evanelle intuits exactly what item people will need the most and gives it to them.  Sydney spent most of her life running away from her gifts, but finds herself returning to Bascom with her daughter when her boyfriend becomes abusive.  As the bond between Claire and Sydney grows, so does their appreciation of their unusual talents.  This book was a pleasure to read, the perfect summer novel.

If Garden Spells is the perfect summer novel, then The Lace Reader is its perfect cold weather counterpart – it’s a bit darker, but still a fantastic read.  We meet another family with mystical powers, the Whitneys of Salem, Massachusetts.  The Whitney women can read your future in patterns of the Ipswich lace that they help to make, which leads some people to believe they are witches.  Towner Whitney thought she’d left all of that behind when she moved to California, but she’s called back home when her beloved Aunt Eva goes missing.  Her return to the family home sets off a series of events that are a more than a little unsettling.  There are some fascinating people and places in this novel.  I particularly loved reading about Salem and Yellow Dog Island, a fictional island of the coast of Massachusetts that’s inhabited by hundreds of wild Golden Retrievers.

By the way, The Lace Reader is one of the books that created a buzz at this year’s Book Expo America.  It’s being published in hardcover this month, but we happened to have a previously-published paperback edition on our shelves – and I’m so glad we did!

Who will like these books?:  Any fan of Alice Hoffman and Laura Esquivel.

If you like these try: Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman; The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen.

Recommended by: Mary, Reference Librarian

The Memory of Water

Leave a reply

Title:  The Memory of Water

Author:  Karen White

Summary:  The Memory of Water is a story of family bonds that bend but never break. Marnie Maitland and her sister Diana have not seen each other in 10 years. Not since Marnie went off to college in Arizona and didn’t come back. Growing up, the two girls relied on each other after their father left them and their mother started suffering from bouts of mania and depression. Now Marnie is back in South Carolina. Back to her childhood home on the ocean at the request of Diana’s ex-husband Quinn. Quinn is hoping that Marnie can help his son Gil recover from the trauma he suffered in a sailing accident with Diana. Gil hasn’t spoken a word since the accident and Diana refuses to tell anyone what really happened. Diana blames the Maitland curse that their mother told them about over and over again when they were children. It turns out that the Maitland curse is bi-polar disorder, and Diana is struggling with it also.

What Quinn doesn’t realize is that Marnie has stayed away from South Carolina for a very good reason. Once an accomplished sailor, Marnie is now terrified of the water. You see, Diana’s recent sailing accident was not her first. Sixteen years ago Marnie and Diana nearly drowned in a sailing accident that claimed the life of their mother. Marnie cannot remember everything about the accident, just that afterwards, Diana’s love for her turned to hate. Marnie must uncover the truth about both accidents if she can ever help Gil, and heal herself.

Recommended by: Sue, Circulation Coordinator