Book of the week
The Long Way Home: An American Journey from Ellis Island to the Great War David Laskin 2010, 386 pages Setting: Europe and America, 1899 to 1920 David Laskin gives us the story of 12 male immigrants (from Poland/the Pale of Russia, Italy, Norway, Slovakia and Ireland) who arrived in the United States at the turn of the last century. He recounts what conditions were like in their home countries and why they chose to emigrate. He found...
Book of the week
The End of the Road Sue Henry 2009, 214 pages Setting: Homer, Alaska Residents of Homer, Alaska, Maxie and her mini dachshund Stretch usually bump into mysteries when they venture down into the “lower 48.” But this year Maxie stays in her hometown, and a mystery finds her. She and Stretch befriend a stranger, John Walker, and invite him to dinner with her friends. They enjoy his company, although he doesn't reveal...
Book of the week
Dragon Keeper: Volume One of the Rain Wilds Chronicles Robin Hobb 2010, 474 pages Genre: Fantasy “The queen dragon was blue and silver and blue again, depending on how the sunlight struck her. She was easily three times the size of the young dragons hatching. She dropped the limp deer that hung from her jaw. Eat, she instructed the young dragons.” But the queen dragon disappears shortly after the dragons emerge from their cocoons, and...
Book of the week
Paganini’s Ghost Paul Adam 2010, 275 pages Setting: Present day in Cremona, Italy Gianni Castiglione lives in the town of Cremona in northern Italy and has been a violin maker and repairer for over half a century. He is a widower, and lives alone in a simple style. He has his work and good friends and enjoys his life. A young violinist, Yevgeny Ivanov, asks Gianni to repair a special violin. It was Paganini’s famous violin, il Cannone...
Book of the week: 'Secrets of Eden'
Chris Bohjalian 384 pages Setting: contemporary Vermont Chris Bohjalian seems drawn to exploring complex and sometimes controversial topics in his novels. “Secrets of Eden,” his newest work, looks at domestic abuse through the voices of four main characters. The day after she is baptized, Alice Hayward is found dead in her home, apparently by the hand of her abusive husband, who has committed suicide. Rev. Stephen Drew...
