Staff Favorites: Volume 51

Just My Typo: From “Sinning With the Choir” to “The Untied States” by Drummond Moir
    For some of us, after we’ve spent hours and hours writing an essay or a short story or even an email, we become invested in the words written on the page. After it is finished and we’ve clicked “submit,” we read it again one more time, just in case. During that final review, we find a typo and we are devastated. After all of that time spent perfecting our work and the countless proofreads we did, still we allowed one misplaced letter, one extra comma, one too many spaces to slip past our radar. In this book, Drummond helps relieve some of that devastation by revealing typos that have a much more lasting effect than our emails, such as NASA documents, legal reports, and even lottery tickets. If you’re looking for a good laugh, Just My Typo is a must-read. It is available at Acorn and through SWAN.

~Donna D., Reference 


The Turning by Davis Bunn
The Turning by Davis Bunn (available through SWAN)  was a novel I couldn't put down.  Bunn wove together the stories of six people who were joined together to oppose a man who was power hungry with the message, "Hope is Dead."  Find out how the man tried to accomplish this message and what happened to each of the people whose lives became forever changed. 

~Jan, Youth Services


Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
Brain on Fire (available at Acorn and through SWAN) is a true story about a New York Post reporter (Cahalan) who suddenly began experiencing serious health issues in her early twenties with no apparent cause. Cahalan was admitted to the NYU Medical Center when her symptoms began to include seizures and psychosis. Her symptoms resembled someone possessed, and many with her condition may have been deemed just that. While she was in the hospital for a month with no firm diagnosis, she has little to no memory of that entire time. Finally, a doctor came up with a cause of her illness just in the nick of time – a recently discovered, rare illness that affects the brain. Cahalan uses her experience as a journalist to reconstruct her time in the hospital through interviews and records, and she recounts her experiences pre- and post-illness in this very interesting memoir. Cahalan’s story reminds us of how fragile, yet resilient the human body can be.

~Sarah R., Reference

 
I Didn’t Come Here to Make Friends: Confessions of a Reality Show Villain by Courtney Robertson
Fans of the popular reality show The Bachelor will love this inside look into the drama that happens both on and off camera. Courtney Robertson, winner of Season 16, tells the story of her journey before, during, and after the show. Besides a small portion of the book devoted to her childhood, successful modeling career, and some famous ex-boyfriends, the majority of the book discusses her experience on The Bachelor and her heartbreak afterward.  She certainly doesn’t hold back when talking about her past relationships, the other contestants on the show, or Ben, the Bachelor. As evidenced on the show, Courtney has no problem saying exactly what she feels regardless of who may get hurt in the process and this attitude definitely carries over into her book. She may be offensive to some at times, but at least she seems to be honest about her feelings.

This book was extremely hard for me to put down, and I found it funny, interesting, and a little bit irritating all at the same time. Although Courtney wasn’t able to change my mind about her entirely, I felt like I could understand her a little better than I did before. I may not be one of her biggest fans, but I truly did enjoy reading about the many ups and downs of becoming a reality television star.

~Lynn, Reference

This Week's Staff Favorites: Volume 50

Romance is My Day Job: A Memoir of Finding Love At Last by Patience Bloom
    Most people would think that someone who reads love stories for a living would have her dating life well in-hand. But such is not the case for Patience Smith, editor of Harlequin romance novels. As a teen, prompted by her roommate, Patience picks up a Harlequin book and is immediately hooked. She falls in love with the male leads and tries to manipulate all of her real-life romantic opportunities into mirroring scenes from her beloved novels. Each attempt is more unsuccessful than the last and thus we wind up at the beginning of her biography, reading about her speculations as she sits on the train and explains why, despite her occupation, she is still single at 40. She reflects on some of her great loves (and their eventual endings) and in the process we share in some of her unique experiences, such as her time living in Paris, her employment as a French teacher, and her adventure writing her own romance novel. Then one day she receives a message from Sam, a boy who was her real life romantic hero for a night when he rescued her from a Sadie Hawkins dance gone bad in high school. The only problem is that now, nearly twenty years later, he lives thousands of miles away. Can Patience and Sam find a way to make their relationship work? Find out by checking out the book at Acorn or requesting it through SWAN!

~Donna D., Reference


Uncommon Marriage: Learning About Lasting Love and Overcoming Life's Obstacles Together by Tony and Lauren Dungy
Uncommon Marriage by Tony and Lauren Dungy (available at Acorn Library) is a great biography describing how they have made their marriage a top priority despite frequent moves, public limelight as an NFL football coach's family, the loss of parents and a son, adoptions, and illnesses.  They keep the interest of readers with their back-and-forth style of writing. 

~Jan, Youth Services