Selection of Books for September 2011 - April 2012

September 20, 2011 - Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
Change is threatening Edgecombe St. Mary.   Major Ernest Pettigrew is definitely old school, but he has been lonely since his wife died, and it is with Pakistani shopkeeper Mrs. Ali that he forms a bond.    Sharply observed domestic comedy, late-life romance, culture clash, a dash of P. G. Wodehouse, and a pinch of religious fundamentalism. (Fiction / Multicultural / Romantic; 2010)

October 18, 2011 (library closed; meet at UPark) - Caribou Island by David Vann
An impressive debut novel about an odd mix of people living near Skilak Lake, Alaska. Irene and Gary, incompatible for decades, are building a log cabin on deserted Caribou Island. Their daughter, Rhoda, lives on the mainland and longs for a home and husband. Rhoda's brother, Mark, works on a fishing boat but has no real purpose in life. Vann delivers an authentic, even lyrical story. (Alaskana / Psychological Fiction; 2011) 

November 15, 2011 - City of thieves: a Novel by David Benioff
Deciding to stay in Leningrad during the siege, Lev Beniov, aged 17, is caught looting a German’s corpse. The penalty for this is death. But a Colonel offers to spare Lev and Kolya, a Russian army deserter also facing execution, on the condition that they find a dozen eggs for his daughter's wedding cake. This exposes them to the most ghoulish acts of the starved populace and takes them behind enemy lines. (Historical Fiction; 2008)

February 21, 2012 - The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Set in Mississippi in the early 1960s, this first novel is a tale of blacks and whites living in a segregated South. A century after Emancipation, black maids raised white children and ran households but were paid poorly. Miss Skeeter, a naļve young white aspiring writer, wants to create a series of interviews with local black maids. Aibileen and Minny agree to participate. Tension pervades the events related by these three memorable women. (Historical Fiction / Domestic Fiction; 2009)

March 20, 2012 -   Cleopatra: a Life by Stacy Schiff
This brings to life Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt. Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Living less than forty years, she reshaped the contours of the ancient world. Returning to classical sources, Schiff separates fact from fiction. Rich in detail, epic in scope, this is a deeply original reconstruction of a dazzling life. (Non-Fiction / Biography; 2010)

April 17, 2012 - In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
Alvarez draws from the history of her native Dominican Republic in this novel about the Mirabel sisters, who were instrumental in the formation of an underground resistance movement against the dictator, Trujillo.   She portrays the sisters as they grow from girls into women and follows their paths from school, boys, marriage, and children to even greater life-and-death concerns. This novel is a statement about politics and history told in very human terms. (Historical Fiction; 1995)

May 15, 2012 - booktalk and selection of titles for September 2012 – April 2013.