Staff Picks

RIVER OF SHADOWS: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West by Rebecca Solnit

The  biography of the pioneer San Francisco photographer of the late nineteenth century whose landscapes and time/motion photography changed the art form.  A somewhat eccentric character, he led an unusual life.  Born Edward James Muggeridge near London in 1830, he changed his name and emigrated as a young man to the East Coast, then to California. He was a photographer/journalist whose most famous work may be his 360 degree photo of San Francisco from Nob Hill. This remains the best visual record of  the city prior to the 1906 earthquake.

I recently listened to The Postmistress by Sarah Blake, narrated by Orlagh Cassidy. Set in 1940, it switches between Cape Cod and Europe before the United States has entered into WWII and chronicles the lives of three very different women: Frankie Bard, a radio reporter in London during the Blitz; Emma Fitch, the young wife of the town doctor in Franklin, Massachusetts and Iris James, Franklin’s Postmaster. Blake is not afraid to tackle some tough questions: who is a hero? why did people in the United States ignore the situation in Europe for so long? when is it okay to withhold the truth? I highly recommend this book to readers who are interested in fiction about World War II and those who enjoyed The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Help.

The Peach Keeper: A Novel

By Sarah Addison Allen

Thirty-year-old Willa has returned to her southern home in Walls of Water, North Carolina, to open an outdoor store and to create a simple, uncomplicated life for herself. But when her old family home undergoes a major restoration and a dead body is found, her attempts to keep a distance from her past become impossible. Suddenly she is thrown together with old classmates in an attempt to discover who this man was and how he changed the course of this small town’s history for generations to come.  An enjoyable summer read containing mysticism, mystery, friendship, and romance.

I recently read Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin, an atmospheric crime novel set in Mississippi.  In 1970, Larry Ott, a lonely weird white kid and Silas Jones, an athletic black boy, form an unlikely friendship in secret.  But soon old prejudices tear their friendship apart.  Tragedy then strikes when Larry takes a girl out one night and she vanishes never to be heard from again.  Larry never confesses to murdering the girl, but no one believes him.  Twenty-five years later Silas returns to town as the new constable and finds that Larry lives a solitary existence under constant suspicion.  When another girl disappears Larry becomes the prime suspect and Silas must investigate his former friend.  Old memories are dredged up and secrets revealed in this incredibly memorable and moving crime thriller.  I highly recommend it.

First Family: Abigail and John Adams by Pulitzer Prizewinner Joseph Ellis is a readable and romantic look at the early years of our country through the correspondence of Mr. and Mrs. Adams.   So much has been written about them as historical figures, but the intimacy of reading their letters to each other makes them really come alive as people.     While it’s clear that John was insecure and somewhat neurotic, he was calmed and held to a steady public course by Abigail’s sensible intelligence.    Their correspondence is rich and abundant, for they spent many years apart while John tended to his public duties, so we learn much about how they both viewed his obligations to country and family, and how Abigail coped on her own.  Sadly, what’s missing is a picture of their relationship during the years when he was at home, as there are no letters to reflect those stages of their life together.   This is a powerful inside look at the founding of our country (complete with an abundance of vitriol directed toward Benjamin Franklin), while still managing to be the romantic and private story of  life partners mutually and knowingly engaged in a pivotal moment in history.

A true story about a boy who leaves the old country at the age of nine to come to America.   He becomes a famous man – who makes puzzles and donates his money to people who are less fortunate than he was.  

Little Bee by Chris Cleeve
A very sad story of a girl who is lost in Africa.

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

The story is about a woman who helps people who’ve suffered trauma learn to speak again, and to become integrated members of society – all by singing to them and playing her guitar.  A CD is included in the book, so that you can listen to the songs that helped the people she describes.