Book of the Week: ‘The Amulet of Samarkand’
The Amulet of Samarkand Jonathan Stroud 2003, 462 pages Middle-school fantasy It is wonderful and surprising to find that a book is narrated by a supernatural creature, in this case, a Djinni – immeasurably old, shape-shifting, wily, and a congenial and very funny narrator. His brain is so busy on so many levels that he thinks in footnotes while also describing his ongoing task of stealing a precious amulet from one of the most...
Book of the Week: ‘The Power’
The Power Naomi Alderman 2017, 341 pages Fiction In Naomi Alderman’s feminist dystopia, The Power, girls and women develop the ability to electrocute people with their hands. This, predictably, leads to significant changes to the balance of power in the world. The reader experiences this evolution of this otherworld through the eyes of four main characters – Roxy, a tough British girl with a gangster father and a “skein” that no...
Book of the Week: ‘Mr. Dickens and his Carol’
Mr. Dickens and His Carol Samantha Silva 2017, 276 pages Holiday fiction Charles Dickens is not feeling the Christmas spirit. The public didn’t like his new book, the critics have turned against him, relatives want money and his wife has just had yet another child. His wife wants to continue their traditional Christmas (lavish) and Dickens is thinking of the poor house. But when his publishers try to blackmail him into writing a...
Book of the Week: ‘Deck the Hounds’
Deck the HoundsDavid Rosenfelt2018, 358 pagesFiction/Mystery Lawyer Andy Carpenter sees a homeless man on a street in winter in Paterson, N.J., Andy’s hometown. The homeless man has an adorable dog with him and they are huddled together in front of a pawn shop in the cold. Andy gives him some money and a gift card for a pet store. When his wife finds out about it, she tells Andy that they need to let the man stay in a vacant apartment...
Book of the Week: ‘How to Be a Good Creature’
How to be a Good CreatureSy Montgomery2018, 200 pagesNonfiction Author, naturalist and adventurer Sy Montgomery explores her relationships with a variety of animal friends in this “memoir in thirteen animals”. Readers will briefly meet Christopher, her charismatic 750-pound pet pig; Octavia, a fascinating giant Pacific octopus she befriended at the New England Aquarium; Clarabelle, a tarantula found in her lodgings in French Guiana;...
