Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Recommended Reads: The Thirteenth Tale

Recommended Reads: The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield (FIC SET)

With the nights growing colder and longer, November is a perfect time to spend time indoors with The Thirteenth Tale. Book lover Margaret Lea works in her father's antiquarian bookstore and occasionally writes biographies of obscure writers. One day she receives a letter from famous author Vida Winter inviting Margaret to her crumbling mansion to write her biography. Vida has told many outrageous stories about her past but now she is prepared to tell the truth. As Vida spins her gothic tale of crazy family members, ghosts, and evil twins, Margaret is driven to confront the ghosts of her own past. Reminiscent of romantic ghost stories, like Daphne DuMaurier's Rebecca or Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, this suspensful story will keep readers riveted until the last page.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Recommends Reads: Half Broke Horses

Recommended Reads

Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls (Fic Wal)

Born in a dirt dugout in West Texas in 1901, Lily Casey Smith, the heroine of this "true-life novel" lives a truly adventurous life. Growing up on a ranch in the southwest, Lily begins to help her father break half wild horses at the age of six. She becomes a schoolteacher at 15, spends time working menial jobs in Chicago (and marries her "crumb-bum" first husband) and after returning to Arizona races horses, sells bootleg liquor, runs a vast ranch with her second husband, and learns to fly a plane. Recalling the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Half Broke Horses is a fast moving tale about a strong, indomitable woman.


(Read more about the real-life Lily Casey Smith here)

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Recommended Reads


Recommended Reads:


What to do about the state of health care in America? This is a question that has been dominating today's headlines. Washington Post journalist Reid approaches the issue from an unique angle--he travels to several countries with different health insurance systems to find relief for his aching shoulder. Along the way, Reid describes the differences among the systems focusing on coverage, cost, and quality. From the private non-profit health insurance plans of France and Germany to the goverment financed National Health Insurance system in Great Britain, Reid visits highly regarded doctors and explores what works and what does not about each plan. This thought provoking book asks the question, "Does a wealthy country have an ethical obligation to provide access to health care for everybody?"