PATRON PICKS -- Fall of Giants

Christina's Pick:  Fall of Giants, by Ken Follett

Synopsis:

The first novel in The Century Trilogy, this book follows the fates of five interrelated families-American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh-as they move through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women's suffrage. Thirteen-year-old Billy Williams enters a man's world in the Welsh mining pits...Gus Dewar, an American law student rejected in love, finds a surprising new career in Woodrow Wilson's White House...two orphaned Russian brothers, Grigori and Lev Peshkov, embark on radically different paths half a world apart when their plan to emigrate to America falls afoul of war, conscription, and revolution...Billy's sister, Ethel, a housekeeper for the aristocratic Fitzherberts, takes a fateful step above her station, while Lady Maud Fitzherbert herself crosses deep into forbidden territory when she falls in love with Walter von Ulrich, a spy at the German embassy in London...

These characters and many others find their lives inextricably entangled as, in a saga of unfolding drama and intriguing complexity, Fall of Giants moves seamlessly from Washington to St. Petersburg, from the dirt and danger of a coal mine to the glittering chandeliers of a palace, from the corridors of power to the bedrooms of the mighty. As always with Ken Follett, the historical background is brilliantly researched and rendered, the action fast-moving, the characters rich in nuance and emotion. It is destined to be a new classic.

In future volumes of The Century Trilogy, subsequent generations of the same families will travel through the great events of the rest of the twentieth century, changing themselves-and the century itself. With passion and the hand of a master, Follett brings us into a world we thought we knew, but now will never seem the same again.

Christina says:  Ken Follett writes in a way that makes you part of the book.  It was like being a part of the lives of these characters during the war.  He has a unique ability to bring together real and fictional characters in a way that no one else does.  There were people I hated, people I loved, affairs waiting to happen, and of course, a war everyone wanted to win.  I got sucked in and became upset when it was over.  I am excitedly awaiting the next book in the trilogy.  It was an excellent read, as are all of his books!

STAFF PICKS -- The Strange Return of Sherlock Holmes

Elizabeth's Pick:  The Strange Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Barry Grant

Synopsis:

The original super-sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, is back on the case.  When James Wilson retires from journalism, he decides to settle down in Herefordshire with a room-mate, a Mr Cedric Coombes, and at first thinks little of his new friend’s eccentric behaviour. But he can’t shake the feeling that he knows him from somewhere else. As Coombes displays his magnificent deductive prowess, and becomes embroiled in the police investigation of the apparent murder of a man in bathtub, Wilson, or should we say Watson, begins to wonder just who this Coombes really is . . .

Elizabeth says:  The premise picks up in modern day England and proceeds to draw you into this very believable "new" but not "new" Sherlock Holmes.  A fun read and now the second book (beginning of a series) has been published.  Try them both.

PATRON PICKS -- When Beauty Tamed the Beast

Kristan's Pick:  When Beauty Tamed the Beast, by Eloisa James

Synopsis:

Miss Linnet Berry Thrynne is a Beauty . . . Naturally, she's betrothed to a Beast.

 

Piers Yelverton, Earl of Marchant, lives in a castle in Wales where, it is rumored, his bad temper flays everyone he crosses. And rumor also has it that a wound has left the earl immune to the charms of any woman.
 
Linnet is not just any woman.
 
She is more than merely lovely: her wit and charm brought a prince to his knees. She estimates the earl will fall madly in love—in just two weeks.
 
Yet Linnet has no idea of the danger posed to her own heart by a man who may never love her in return. If she decides to be very wicked indeed . . . what price will she pay for taming his wild heart?

Kristan says:  Great spin on classic fairy tale and modern TV character, beautifully written.

PATRON PICKS -- 33 Men

Bob's Pick:  33 Men:  Inside the Miraculous Survival and Dramatic Rescue of the Chilean Miners, by Jonathan Franklin

 

Synopsis:

33 Men is the riveting and authoritative account of the 2010 San José mine rescue in Chile-after one of the longest human entrapments in history. With his coveted "Rescue Pass," Franklin was permitted access far past the police perimeter. It would be seventeen long days before the miners were discovered alive and the world press descended. It would be another fifty-two days before the miners were all successfully rescued.

 
For eight weeks, Franklin conducted interviews with families, rescue workers, the mine psychologist, drill operators, scientists, and the architects of the rescue operation. He reported from an improvised office on the mountainside that was the nerve center of the rescue operation, in a makeshift container. Far below, families and loved ones lived in a cluster of tents known as Camp Hope. While the men were still underground, Franklin interviewed them via a crude telephone; he helped send vital supplies to them via the "paloma" (pigeon). And when the first miners were rescued on October 13, Mr. Franklin had the first media contact with the recently freed men in a series of interviews from inside the field hospital.
 
33 Men reads like a thriller, toggling between the dramatic chaos belowground as the men realized that their escape routes were blocked and that their shelter held only enough rations for ten men to survive seventy-two hours; and the desperate rescue efforts aboveground-the massive campaign from the top level of the Chilean government to enlist and unite brilliant minds from around the world in the San José rescue effort. In captivating and never-before- revealed detail, Franklin tells a spellbinding story of the improbable survival of the miners, trapped some 2,200 feet underground for sixty-nine days. He also chronicles what had to go right-an impossibly long list-to rescue them all alive. The death-defying rescue demanded endurance, ingenuity, and most of all, unified fronts above and below ground. To be sure, none of this came easily.
 
Based on more than 110 interviews with the miners, their families, and the rescue team, Franklin's account combines an expert eye for detail and dialogue with the remarkable human interest story of these miners struggling to survive in a savage environment.

Bob says:  A "sequel" to 9-11 with a spiritual and psychological lesson.

STAFF PICKS -- Jitterbug Perfume

Christine's Pick:  Jitterbug Perfume, by Tom Robbins

Synopsis:

Jitterbug Perfume is an epic.
 
Which is to say, it begins in the forests of ancient Bohemia and doesn’t conclude until nine o’clock tonight (Paris time).
 
It is a saga, as well. A saga must have a hero, and the hero of this one is a janitor with a missing bottle.
 
The bottle is blue, very old, and embossed with the image of a goat-horned god.
 
If the liquid in the bottle actually is the secret essence of the universe, as some folks seem to think, it had better be discovered soon because it is leaking and there is only a drop or two left. (Barnes and Noble book summary)

Christine says:  A quirky and "scent"ual romp through history in search of the fountain of youth.  A book I reread every few years for a laugh and a fun story.

PATRON PICKS -- TTYL

Hannah's Pick:  TTYL, by Lauren Myracle (YA)

Synopsis:

An epistolary novel for the 21st century, this sharp, funny, and true-to-life breakout hit about friendship is told entirely in instant messages. And Internet-savvy teens have fallen in love with flirty Angela (SnowAngel), moody Maddie (mad maddie), and good girl Zoe (zoegirl) and their frank perceptions about a tumultuous tenth-grade semester. Now perfectly priced for its audience, the paperback is being released alongside Myracle's brand-new hardcover novel, Rhymes with Witches.

Author Bio: In addition to ttyl, Lauren Myracle is the author of three other novels, including her latest, Rhymes with Witches. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College and lives in Colorado.

Hannah says:  The characters were plausible enough to feel real.  Good humor.

PATRON PICKS -- Touching Stars

Rosemarie's Pick:  Touching Stars (Shenandoah Album Series), by Emilie Richards
 
Synopsis:
Gayle Fortman has built a good life for herself and her three sons as an innkeeper in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. She has even maintained a cordial relationship with her ex, charismatic broadcast journalist Eric Fortman, covering with the boys for his absences and broken promises. Luckily Travis Allen, her closest neighbor, has been a loving surrogate father to the boys and her own best friend.
 
Then, on the eve of oldest son Jared's graduation, Eric returns, having nearly lost his life in Afghanistan. Worse, he has lost his way and his courage, and needs a place to recover. Gayle realizes this might be the last chance for her sons to establish a real bond with their father, and offers him a summer at the inn and a chance to put things right. Gayle and Eric are all too aware that their onetime love and attraction are still there. But can the pieces of their broken lives be mended, or are they better laid to rest?

Rosemarie says:  Series on the various families and their history in the Shenandoah area.  Riveting.