Some Recommendations from One of Our Summer Readers

Hello,

Gene Burgess, our friend and patron here at the West Warwick Public Library, has agreed to share her summer reading list with us. We welcome everyone to do the same. The more titles that we can get on this blog, the easier it will make it for someone the next time they need to find a great book to read!

Here are Gene's recommendations based on her summer reading list:

READ:

The Picture of Dorian Gray and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde

The Biography of Frank Lloyd Wright

The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth

The Last Train to Paradise by Les Standiford

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson

SKIP

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Foer

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel by David Wroblewski

Thanks Gene! We look forward to hearing about more of the summer reading adventures of our patrons!

Tara Road by Maeve Binchy

Review: Ria, the insecure meets and becomes involved with charming Danny Lynch. After discovering that Ria is pregnant, they marry and purchase a big run down house, Danny becomes involved with Barney McCarthy, a well know business tycoon in Dublin who treats him like a son. But Barney's life is full of deception which Ria soon learns when she is offered a job at Barney's lovers dress shop. Marriage seems to make Ria bloom and her time is spent making the house a beautiful comfortable home which is always filled with the noise of family and friends and the smells of Ria's cooking, but not enough time alone with Danny who has risen to the ranks along with Barney in the real estate world.
It is not until Danny tells her that he is leaving her for his young pregnant girlfriend, that Ria realizes her life may change and she tries to find ways to bring Danny back.
An unexpected phone call from Marilyn, a woman in Connecticut who both her and Danny met years ago, gives her the opportunity to exchange homes for the summer and give her the courage to sort out the crisis in her live that is threatening to destroy her. For Marilyn, who only wants to be alone, the exchange bring many new friends into her life and she is able to sort out and bring solutions to their problems and her own.
The story is filled with deception, not only from a wayward husband but from friends and family as well. Too often we cannot see through the veneer of others when their lives become entangle with ours. It is also the story of unexpected friendships and above all hope. Of picking up ones live and going on despite making change and great sacrifices.
A thoroughly enchanting and thought provoking novel.

Joan Boucher

Fall On Your Knees by Anne-Marie MacDonald

Review: This is the saga of the Piper family of Cape Breton Island. The saga begins in 1898 when James Piper, an eighteen year old piano tuner falls in love and elopes with Materia, a twelve year old Lebanese girl. Hearing of their daughter’s marriage her wealthy family immediately disowned her and she becomes isolated from society until she meets Mrs. Luvovitz, who takes the child bride under her wings and teaches her what it means to be a wife and mother and gives her the comfort and love she so desperately seeks.
Like most family sagas the characters evolve around one another. Kathleen, the oldest, is beautiful with a singing voice to match. Mercedes, is the compassionate one who tries to keep the family from falling apart. Frances, the disobedient one and finally gentle, quiet Lily. The four sisters are all at the mercy of their father James a deeply flawed individual who is responsible for most of the horrific happenings that wrecked his family. The story jumps between the present and past, Canada and Harlem,so it can be confusing at times. It is full of passion, incest, fantasies and horror and it is only at the end that the mystery is revealed.
I found the story interesting but had parts that just dragged along and other parts had fantasy written all over them.

Submitted by Joan Boucher