Book Buzz @Bentley

Interested in seeing what our newest popular reading books are?  Take a look at the list of all the popular reading titles added to the collection during June 2008!

We know you’re prepping for your summer vacation!  Before you head off to the beach (or wherever your favorite vacation destination may be), don’t forget to check out our popular reading collection.  Here are a few suggestions from the staff of the Bentley Library to get you started:

Many of the library staff were quick to recommend best-selling author Janet Evanovich, who has acquired quite a following for her Stephanie Plum mystery novels.  Whether you are looking to get started with One for the Money or you’re ready for her latest entry, Fearless Fourteen, we have the book for you!  Also, in her pre-Plum days this author wrote several romance novels, many which have recently been re-released.  You’ll find a couple of them - Wife for Hire and Thanksgiving - in our Popular Reading collection.

With over 39 New York Times bestsellers, author James Patterson is a prolific writer and a perennial favorite.  Our collection includes offerings from his two popular detective series - the Alex Cross series and the Women’s Murder Club - as well as many of his other works, including the recently published thriller, Sail.

Speaking of thrillers, have you ever read any of Harlan Coben’s books?  This Edgar Award-winning author is often on the bestseller lists. His latest book Hold Tight is garnering great reviews. 

Macee, our Cataloger/Reference Librarian extraordinaire, is in the enviable position of seeing most of the new books come out of the box and roll onto the shelves.  She suggests a number of fiction and nonfiction summer reads.  Highlights from Macee’s list of nonfiction titles include:  Clapton: The Autobiography by Eric Clapton, Red Sox Rule by Michael Holley, Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life by Steve Martin, and Julie and Julia: 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen: How One Girl Risked Her Marriage, Her Job, and Her Sanity to Master the Art of Living by Julie Powell. 

As far as light fiction goes, Macee points to authors Jennifer Crusie, Jasper Fforde, Sophie Kinsella, Alexander McCall Smith, and Lauren Weisberger.

Last, but certainly not least, Barbara from Library Services mentioned that she just recently finished Peach Cobbler Murder and recommends it as a “fun read”.  As a cool bonus it includes recipes!  (Barb, I think we all expect a peach cobbler from you now…)

 In case this isn’t enough for you, you can view a full list of the books in our popular reading collection, or search the catalog for a specific title or author.

- “Beach Reading” suggestions contributed by Donna Bacchiocchi, Macee Damon, Barbara Rayburg, and Lisa Curtin

Those who know me well know I am a sucker for animal stories, and those that know me really well know that I am especially fond of monkeys.  (So check out the picture of the cover and tell me how I was supposed to resist picking up this book).  In retrospect, it was a bit naive of me to think that I would simply be reading the sweet, heartwarming biographical tale of a chimpanzee who was taught to use sign language.  How silly of me to expect nothing more than to hear about Nim’s hilarious escapades as he’s raised in a Manhattan brownstone as a member of a loving family.  After all, I am smart enough to be aware of the controversial (and often cruel) ways in which animals are used in scientific studies.  Nonetheless, I found it difficult to read some of the material presented here.  Actually, I have to confess that I didn’t even finish the book (I made it about 80% through).  But, what I did read was certainly informative and I do think the author has written an incredibly important book.  She does an excellent job of chronicling the details of Nim’s upbringing and clearly presents the scientific aspects of Nim’s role in this important study of language and communication.   The author also provides information about other studies utilizing chimpanzees during this time period (1960’s - 1970’s), giving the reader a broader view of the complex issue of animal use in research and human-animal relationships in general.

Learn More

See what other reviewers are saying at The Boston Globe, NPR, Christian Science Monitor, Entertainment Weekly and Salon.com.

Check it Out

Interested it reading this book?  Click here to see if it’s currently available at the Bentley Library.  The library also has many other books about human-animal relationships, animal rights and animal welfare.

- Reviewed by Lisa Curtin, Reference Librarian

I loved this novel and sped through it. It was a fun, light-hearted romp by Brit Marie Phillips. In it, we find the Olympian gods of the past living in a run-down apartment in London, drained of their powers because there’s virtually no one left on Earth who believes in them. Chaos ensues. It has echoes of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, but it is much less dark. I was so engrossed in this book that one night, I didn’t want to watch Rock of Love 2! I said to the husband, “This book is so much better. I don’t have the attention span for Rock of Love tonight.”

Check to see if this novel is available by searching the library catalog.

Learn more about author Marie Phillips on her very own website. There, you can read about plans for an upcoming TV show based on the book, optioned by Ben Stiller’s production company, Red Hour Films. 

- Reviewed by Amy E. Galante, Interlibrary Loan Supervisor
To read more of Amy’s musings on pop culture, check out her blog.

The final installment in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Maybe you’ve heard of it? Want to listen to it? Check to see if our audio copy, read by Jim Dale, is available here. You may recognize Dale’s voice as the narrator of ABC’s new TV show, Pushing Daisies.

Prefer the old-fashioned text? We have multiple copies! Yes-it is a bit long (and heavy), but I did manage to read it all within 36 hours, as I wanted to complete my reading of it before any spoilers got out. Even if you have heard some of the key plot points, it is definitely still worth the read.

You can catch up on the previous adventures of Harry, Hermione, and Ron by viewing the Harry Potter films from our collection.

Reference Librarian Lisa Curtin loved reading what Stephen King had to say about Deathly Hallows (as well as the entire Harry Potter phenomenon) in Entertainment Weekly.

-Reviewed by Amy E. Galante, Interlibrary Loan Supervisor

In Nevada Barr’s latest offering, Winter Study, the author is as eloquent as always, and her descriptions of Isle Royale, park life and the working conditions of a sub-zero habitat are as vivid as ever. Her protagonist, Anna Pigeon, is sent to the Park with a team of individuals to continue studying the wolf population of the Island. Pigeon’s EMT, survival and evidence gathering skills prove to be very useful, but I am left with questions on what was her role in going to the park in the first place. All the other team members had specific scientific or political roles to fill and Anna was just left to pitch in wherever. Anna was also suspicious of all the characters in the novel from the first paragraph until the jig is up in the last pages which I also found really off-putting.

A very graphic description of the beheading a moose right at the beginning of the story is a forewarning of the very gory details included throughout. There is a satisfying conclusion, but it is very hard to slog through the very graphic descriptions of beheadings, murder, skinning of animals, etc. I recommend this title but with the above mentioned reservations.

Check it Out

Check the library’s catalog for Winter Study, or for other books and audiobooks by author Nevada Barr.

Learn More

Visit Nevada Barr’s website for more information about her life, the Anna Pigeon series, and her other works.

- Reviewed by Kim Morin, Reference Librarian

It was the title of this book that first caught my eye, and when I looked at the book’s description and saw that “the lobster” referred to a Red Lobster restaurant I couldn’t resist taking this book home. Having worked a food service job throughout much of high school and college, I figured that a novel about the final shift at an “underperforming” strip-mall Red Lobster had the potential to be amusing.  In actuality the book has some serious undertones (see the New York Times piece “Requiem for a Red Lobster: A Novel of Downsizing“), but there were definitely many moments that would make any former waitperson smile.

The story chronicles the final day at the Lobster - from the first pot of coffee to the final counting down of the cash register.  It’s just five days before Christmas in New Britain, Connecticut, a major snowstorm is about to blow into town, and longtime manager Manny is doing his best to make this final shift as normal as possible. Over the course of the day he deals with no-show employees, obnoxious customers, a power outage, and an entire bus full of tourists who ate bad mussels at another restaurant and just want to use the Lobster’s restrooms.   There is an underlying tension to these humorous situations, including job loss (a few “lucky” ones are being transferred to a nearby Olive Garden) and a failed romantic relationship between Manny and one of the waitresses.  Manny himself is noble and hard-working, if not somewhat pathetic for his blind dedication to the Red Lobster and its corporate rulebook.   This is a very short novel - just 150 pages - and it is such an easy read that I almost finished it while waiting for my car to get an oil change and inspection sticker.   If you’re looking for something different, something that’s both humorous and thoughtful but which is also an “easy” read, I would recommend checking out Last Night at the Lobster. 

Check it Out 

Check the library catalog to see if this book and other works by author Stewart O’Nan are currently available.  You can also learn more about the author, his works, and his upcoming appearances, via his web site at http://www.stewart-onan.com/. 

More Reviews 

Interested in what others have to say? Read the reviews in The New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle, or listen to Maureen Corrigan’s review on NPR’s Fresh Air.   Last Night at the Lobster is also one of the finalists for the 2007 L.A. Times Book Prize.

- Reviewed by Lisa Curtin, Reference Librarian

Ann Patchett’s Run is a beautifully written novel that I loved! The book explores the varied meanings of family, race, and relationships over the course of one snowy day in Boston and Cambridge. All the richly-developed main characters share their unique perspectives on the events of the day and of the past, and I enjoyed reading about each one. The best line from the book jacket, “how family can include people you’ve never even met,” really sums up the intricacies of this exquisite story.

-Reviewed by Donna Bacchiocchi, Manager of Technical Services

Additional Reviews

Find out what other reviewers had to say! Read The New York Times Book Review piece on Patchett’s novel or listen to a review from NPR’s Fresh Air.

Check It Out

Click here to look for Run and other books by Ann Patchett at the Bentley Library.

In a 2003 article published in the Boston Globe, renowned literary critic Harold Bloom commented “there are four living American novelists I know of who are still at work and who deserve our praise”.  Cormac McCarthy was one of those four noted by Bloom (along with Thomas Pynchon, Philip Roth and Don DeLillo).   Even if you haven’t read one of McCarthy’s many books, you may have recently seen the movie version of his work No Country for Old Men.

McCarthy’s latest novel, The Road,  is a haunting story of a post-apocalyptic America.  The reason for the utter devastation is never made clear, but the reader joins two travelers - a father and his son - several years after the cataclysmic event.  These two survivors are walking across a burned America, traveling eastward towards the coast, desperately scavenging for food and searching for safe shelter along the way.   Every day is a struggle – find food, find a place to sleep, avoid the bandits and murderers along the road.  The father and boy tow everything they own along the charred landscape in a rickety shopping cart.   Along the way they must contend with other groups of desperate people who in their own efforts to survive stoop to vicious and brutal acts of violence.   However, as the father tells the son that they are two of the good ones, that they are “carrying the fire”, there is a sense of hope, a feeling that their journey to the coast will not be futile. 

This book is very dark, but I was utterly entranced as I read it.  It was one of those books that I just couldn’t set down, and I highly recommend it.   Click here to see if The Road is currently available, as well as to see other books by Cormac McCarthy held at the Bentley Library.  Interested in learning more?  Check out what other critics are saying.

- Reviewed by Lisa Curtin, Reference Librarian

One Reader’s Review

CAUTION! These tales are not for little girls!
With candidness and humor, Australian author Danielle Wood uses the experiences of fictional Aussie lass, Rosie Little, to engage the reader with some wild examples of what can happen to young women when they don’t think. Rosie and her friends find themselves going to great lengths, and in very odd situations, all in a pursuit for love, beauty, commitment and relationships. Rosie Little’s Cautionary Tales for Girls is a collection of short stories in which the experience of the young woman in each story has a corresponding moral or message. You may find yourself blushing while reading the book’s opening story as Rosie tells readers how she came to lose her virginity at age fourteen. I was reminded of the directness used in The Vagina Monologues where the language is, at times, arresting. While the boldness of this opening story does set the tone for the book, the stories as a whole do not depend on the shock of language to deliver their messages. There is a spectrum of realism in which some stories read like the subjective narrative found in a personal diary and others almost verge on the mythical air of a fairy tale. I enjoyed the balance of the stories and feel that Wood has brilliantly pieced together a collection that will make her readers laugh and think as they read the stories of Rosie and her friends. You can read another review of the Wood’s book in Entertainment Weekly where it received an A-!

Review by Colleen Mullally, Reference Librarian, Bentley College Library

Another Satisfied Reader Comments …

“I devoured Rosie Little, reading it after Colleen’s recommendation. Its heroine, fictional Aussie lass Rosie Little, delivers these clever moral tales with spunk and wit. With her lace-up cherry red Doc Martens, Wood has created a new character than may inspire readers akin to Elphalba of Gregory Maguire’s novel, Wicked.”

Check It Out

Find out if Rosie Little’s Cautionary Tales for Girls is available!