Readers' Services
The Readers’ Services staff can help you find specific materials and can offer reading suggestions. Please phone (847) 448-8620 for assistance. Use Novelist, to find reviews, reading guides, and reading lists for fiction lovers.
Call the Midwife
Worth, Jennifer. Call the Midwife. 2002. (618.2 Worth.J)
Fascinating, revolting, funny, horrifying, these tales of midwives in the slums of London’s Docklands during the 1950's and 1960's are at once repellent and rewarding. The conditions under which these compassionate and dedicated women worked and under which these slum dwellers lived are unbelievable to those of us fortunate enough to live in clean and comfortable conditions. Moments of love and joy are present but rare, though there is a lot of good humor amongst the young midwives and the nuns who are their mentors. This memoir is the basis for the PBS series of the same name.
(Nancy E., North Branch)
Walk On!
Frazee, Marla. Walk On! A Guide for Babies of All Ages. 2006. (JPicture Fraze.M)
Do you have someone new to walking in your life? Are you, perhaps, looking for a refresher course for yourself? Frazee's delightful book is chock full of good advice for everyone starting something new. For example, who can argue with this nugget: "You will need support. This is tricky because sometimes what you think will support you won't." Charming illustrations grace each page, and I promise you will fall under the spell of the main character, an almost-toddler with a seriously oversized diaper and a great deal of determination (despite one restorative melt down).
Barbara L., Reader's Services
Moscow Sting
Dryden, Alex. Moscow Sting. 2010. (Fiction Dryde. A)
Former KGB colonel Anna Resnikov is at the center of this suspense story and held my attention as a tough woman clearly at home in a "man's" world. Top American and British spy agencies kidnap her son to force her to cooperate in leading them to another key spy. Dryden designs the plot skillfully, throwing in twists and turns, with characters double-crossing and outmaneuvering each other. The author seems to have authentic knowledge about the politics of spy operations. Pretty good read. Although the ending was somewhat disappointing, I am planning on looking into more of his books.
Shira S. (Reader's Services)
The Age of Miracles
Walker, Karen Thompson. The Age of Miracles. 2012. (Fiction Walker.K)
Sad. That’s how this book made me feel: sad. As if it’s not bad enough to be a small, plain-looking, friendless, lonely middle-schooler whose parents’ marriage is falling apart, whose crush’s mother is dying, whose beloved grandfather’s mind is going, the earth’s rotation is slowing and the days and nights are getting longer and longer. Then things really start to go wrong. Gravity and lives are disrupted. This is a haunting, surprisingly gentle, read.
(Nancy E., North Branch)
The Caller
Fossum, Karin. The Caller. 2012. Mystery Fossu.K
In this latest from the Inspector Sejer series, Johnny Beskow's sole pleasures in life appear to be riding his moped, visiting his frail grandfather, and playing disturbing pranks on the folks in town. First, he splashed blood all over an infant asleep in a pram in her front yard. The parents rush to the ER in a panic. Thankfully, the baby was unharmed, but the couple's life was forever changed. A false obituary, a funeral home's visit to pick up the body of a terminally ill man, the cruel pranks continue They cause no physical harm but a great deal of psychological distress. Inspector Sejer fears the prankster is playing at some game and will soon up the ante. This is such an original take on classic crime writing--no murder to set things off, no big heist, no drug deals, just a very creepy teenager with a bizarre sense of fun. As usual things play out in unpredictable ways and the ending twist is brilliant. Fossum's got a hit.
Barbara L., Reader's Services
Read more...
Page 3 of 116
