PATRON PICKS--A Case for God

Shamsuddin's Pick:  A Case for God, by Karen Armstrong

Synopsis:

Moving from the Paleolithic age to the present, Karen Armstrong details the great lengths to which humankind has gone in order to experience a sacred reality that it called by many names, such as God, Brahman, Nirvana, Allah, or Dao. Focusing especially on Christianity but including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Chinese spiritualities, Armstrong examines the diminished impulse toward religion in our own time, when a significant number of people either want nothing to do with God or question the efficacy of faith. Why has God become unbelievable? Why is it that atheists and theists alike now think and speak about God in a way that veers so profoundly from the thinking of our ancestors?

 
Answering these questions with the same depth of knowledge and profound insight that have marked all her acclaimed books, Armstrong makes clear how the changing face of the world has necessarily changed the importance of religion at both the societal and the individual level. And she makes a powerful, convincing argument for drawing on the insights of the past in order to build a faith that speaks to the needs of our dangerously polarized age. Yet she cautions us that religion was never supposed to provide answers that lie within the competence of human reason; that, she says, is the role of logos. The task of religion is “to help us live creatively, peacefully, and even joyously with realities for which there are no easy explanations.” She emphasizes, too, that religion will not work automatically. It is, she says, a practical discipline: its insights are derived not from abstract speculation but from “dedicated intellectual endeavor” and a “compassionate lifestyle that enables us to break out of the prism of selfhood.”

Shamsuddin says:  Very scholarly account of evolution of concept of God and why it still has relevence.

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STAFF PICKS--The Winter Ghosts, by Kate Mosse

Carol's Pick:  The Winter Ghosts, by Kate Mosse

Synopsis:

Kate Mosse is back with a haunting ghost story from the French mountains. From the bestselling author of LABYRINTH and SEPULCHRE - a compelling story of ghosts and remembrance. Illustrated throughout by Brian Gallagher.

The Great War took much more than lives. It robbed a generation of friends, lovers and futures. In Freddie Watson's case, it took his beloved brother and, at times, his peace of mind. In the winter of 1928, still seeking resolution, Freddie is travelling through the French Pyrenees. During a snowstorm, his car spins off the mountain road. He stumbles through woods, emerging in a tiny village. There he meets Fabrissa, a beautiful woman also mourning a lost generation. Over the course of one night, Fabrissa and Freddie share their stories. By the time dawn breaks, he will have stumbled across a tragic mystery that goes back through the centuries.

Carol says:  This new book was a great story of personal grief and the manner in which this character finds peace with loss and death through ghostly manifestations.  An interesting read.

PATRON PICKS--Dies the Fire; The Protector's War; A Meeting at Corvallis

Betty's picks:  (Trilogy) Dies the Fire, The Protector's War, and A Meeting at Corvallis, by S. M. Stirling

Synopsis:

The Change occurred when an electrical storm centered over the island of Nantucket produced a blinding white flash that rendered all electronic devices and fuels inoperable. What follows is the most terrible global catastrophe in the history of the human race—-and a Dark Age more universal and complete than could possibly be imagined.

Betty says:  It stretched my imagination.  Imagine what would happen in our world without electricity, technology, gas engines, automobiles.  One day there is "A Change" and the world as we know it ends.

PATRON PICKS: The Passions of Chelsea Kane

Rosemarie's pick:  The Passions of Chelsea Kane, by Barbara Delinsky

Synopsis:
After the death of her adoptive mother, thirty-six-year-old Chelsea Kane is consumed by the need to uncover her biological heritage. Taking a break from her successful architecture career, she arrives in the New Hampshire town where she was born, determined to learn the truth, her only clue a tarnished silver key.
 

One of her first discoveries, however, is something quite unexpected: the irresistibly attractive Judd Street. Buoyed by love and resolution, the determined Chelsea slowly begins to uncover the dark mystery of her past. But as she inches closer to the truth, she realizes that someone is trying to stop her, first by scaring her, then by trying to harm her. The danger escalates until one terrifying night when all secrets are laid bare.

 

With memorable characters and writing that will stir the hearts and minds of all readers, The Passions of Chelsea Kane is the kind of compelling narrative that has earned Barbara Delinsky an ever-widening readership.  (Barnes and Noble summary)

Rosemarie says:  Her search for answers keeps you on your toes.

PATRON PICKS: Geronimo Stilton: The Wild, Wild, West

Jacob's Pick:  The Wild, Wild West (Geronimo Stilton Series, #21), by Geronimo Stilton

Synopsis:
Jumpin' gerbil babies, I was so excited! I was heading to America for the first time ever. Thea, Trap, and Benjamin were all coming with me. And we were going to visit a real ranch and go riding and herding cattle cowboy-style! It was sure to be my most whisker-licking-good adventure yet.  (Barnes and Noble summary)

Jacob Says:  I liked that it had a lot of adventure in it.

PATRON PICKS: Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment

Trey's pick:  Maximum Ride:  The Angel Experiment, by James Patterson (YA)

Synopsis: 

In James Patterson's blockbuster series, fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride, better known as Max, knows what it's like to soar above the world. She and all the members of the "flock"—Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel—are just like ordinary kids—only they have wings and can fly. It may seem like a dream come true to some, but their lives can morph into a living nightmare at any time...like when Angel, the youngest member of the flock, is kidnapped and taken back to the "School" where she and the others were experimented on by a crew of wack jobs. Her friends brave a journey to blazing hot Death Valley, CA, to save Angel, but soon enough, they find themselves in yet another nightmare—this one involving fighting off the half-human, half-wolf "Erasers" in New York City. Whether in the treetops of Central Park or in the bowels of the Manhattan subway system, Max and her adopted family take the ride of their lives. Along the way Max discovers from her old friend and father-figure Jeb—now her betrayed and greatest enemy—that her purpose is save the world—but can she?  (Barnes and Noble summary)