PATRON PICKS -- Black Wave

Cathy's Pick:  Black Wave, by John and Jean Silverwood

 

“I told God that if he would let us survive this night, I would make it mean something worthwhile. And then, somehow, I felt calmer than I have ever felt. Unreasonably so. Irrationally so. I looked over the scene of our wrecked life and I smiled–a crazy smile for sure–and I looked through the dark at the mad beauty of it.”

–Jean Silverwood

An exhilarating true-life adventure of one family’s extraordinary sea voyage of self-discovery and survival, tragedy and triumph.

Cathy says:  Very exciting.  A family's boat gets wrecked and they survive until rescued.

PATRON PICKS -- Confessions of Georgia Nicolson Series

Flannery's Pick:  Confessions of Georgia Nicolson Series, by Louise Rennison (YA)


From Book #1:

There are six things very wrong with my life:
1. I have one of those under-the-skin spots that will never come to a head but lurk in a red way for the next two years.
2. It is on my nose
3. I have a three-year-old sister who may have peed somewhere in my room.
4. In fourteen days the summer hols will be over and then it will be back to Stalag 14 and Oberfuhrer Frau Simpson and her bunch of sadistic teachers.
5. I am very ugly and need to go into an ugly home.
6. I went to a party dressed as a stuffed olive.
In this wildly funny journal of a year in the life of Georgia Nicolson, British author Louise Rennison has perfectly captured the soaring joys and bottomless angst of being a teenager. In the spirit of Bridget Jones's Diary, this fresh, irreverent, and simply hilarious book will leave you laughing out loud. As Georgia would say, it's "Fabbity fab fab!"  (Barnes and Noble summary)

Flannery says:  Funny!!

PATRON PICKS -- Geronimo Stilton series

Micala's Pick:  Geronimo Stilton Series

About the series:

Geronimo Stilton runs a newspaper, but his true passion is writing tales of adventure. Here in New Mouse City, the capital of Mouse Island, his books are all bestsellers! His stories are full of fun—tastier than Swiss cheese and tangier than extra-sharp cheddar. They are whisker-licking-good stories, and that's a promise! (Barnes and Noble)

Micala says:  I like them because they are funny and they have pictures.  Sometimes there are mysteries and they are interesting.

PATRON PICKS -- John Adams

Julie's Pick:  John Adams, by David McCullough

Told by one of our country's greatest historians, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Truman, here is the extraordinary history of the birth of our country, seen through the lives of two extraordinary men: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Deftly, and with a key eye for detail, McCullough describes the childhood, youth, and coming of age of these two very different Americans who, though bitterly opposed to each other, profoundly influenced the destiny of America.  (Barnes and Noble book summary)

Julie says:  Bejamin Franklin used to be my favorite founder, until I read this riveting biography of John Adams.  Patriot, quintessential New Englander, devoted husband--my kind of guy.

PATRON PICKS -- The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel (YA series)

Kevin's Pick:  The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series, by Michael Scott (YA)

Synopsis:

The main story arc charts the adventures of fifteen year old twins Sophie and Josh Newman, whose regular lives working at their summer jobs (Sophie works in a coffee shop, Josh works in a bookstore) are turned upside down by the arrival of Dr. John Dee. Dr. Dee engages the bookstore owner Nick Fleming in a battle of magic in an attempt to steal an ancient book, The Book of Abraham the Mage (aka the Codex) from him. Dr. Dee snatches the book from Josh's grasp but Josh manages to retain two pages. Dr Dee also kidnaps Nick's wife Perry in the melee and imprisons her on Alcatraz Island.

After the battle Nick Fleming confesses to Josh and Sophie that his real name is Nicholas Flamel, that he is the French alchemist from history, that he is also immortal, and that the twins, himself and Perry (his immortal wife, Perenelle Flamel) are in grave danger. Nicholas tells the twins that he believes them to be mentioned in a prophecy within the Codex, and that the fate of the world as they know it could depend on his success in getting their latent magic awakened. He also tells them that without the Codex, both he and Perry will die within a month, as their immortality depends on a recipe for a special elixir found only within its pages.

Meanwhile Dr. Dee has found out that he is missing two very vital pages from the Codex. The pages are the Final Summoning, needed by him to return his masters, the Dark Elders, to the face of the earth ... and so begins a fast paced race as Dee pursues the twins, Nicholas for the pages of the Codex, whilst Nicholas aided by Scathach and others race to get the twins latent magical auras awakened, to get them schooled in the use of the elemental magics, and to rescue his beloved Perry.

The stories criss-cross the globe featuring well known places and sites, such as San Francisco,  London, the Eiffel Tower, Stonehenge and the Golden Gate Bridge. Many characters from history and mythology help both sides pursue their goals. (Wikipedia plot summary)

Kevin says:  Very entertaining and lots of action.

PATRON PICKS -- Down the Nile

Kassie's Pick:  Down the Nile:  Alone in a Fisherman's Skiff, by Rosemary Mahoney

Synopsis:

When Rosemary Mahoney, in 1998, took a solo trip down the Nile in a seven-foot rowboat, she discovered modern Egypt for herself. As a rower, she faced crocodiles and testy river currents; as a female, she confronted deeply-held beliefs about foreign women while cautiously remaining open to genuine friendship; and, as a traveler, she experienced events that ranged from the humorous to the hair-raising—including an encounter that began as one of the most frightening of her life and ended as an edifying and chastening lesson in human nature and cultural misunderstanding. Whether she's meeting Nubians and Egyptians, or finding connections to Westerners who traveled up the Nile in earlier times—Florence Nightingale and Gustave Flaubert among them—Mahoney's informed curiosity about the world never ceases to captivate the reader. (Barnes and Noble book summary)

Kassie says:  A woman rowing down the Nile in Egypt!  An oblique look at a culture which has woken up and risen up to change what seemed unchangeable.

STAFF PICKS -- Left Neglected

Melissa's Pick:  Left Neglected, by Lisa Genova (author of Still Alice)

Synopsis:

Sarah Nickerson is like any other career-driven supermom in Welmont, the affluent Boston suburb where she leads a hectic but charmed life with her husband Bob, faithful nanny, and three children—Lucy, Charlie, and nine-month-old Linus.
 
Between recruiting the best and brightest minds as the vice president of human resources at Berkley Consulting; shuttling the kids to soccer, day care, and piano lessons; convincing her son’s teacher that he may not, in fact, have ADD; and making it home in time for dinner, it’s a wonder this over-scheduled, over-achieving Harvard graduate has time to breathe.
 
A self-confessed balloon about to burst, Sarah miraculously manages every minute of her life like an air traffic controller. Until one fateful day, while driving to work and trying to make a phone call, she looks away from the road for one second too long. In the blink of an eye, all the rapidly moving parts of her jam-packed life come to a screeching halt.
 
A traumatic brain injury completely erases the left side of her world, and for once, Sarah relinquishes control to those around her, including her formerly absent mother. Without the ability to even floss her own teeth, she struggles to find answers about her past and her uncertain future.
 
Now, as she wills herself to regain her independence and heal, Sarah must learn that her real destiny—her new, true life—may in fact lie far from the world of conference calls and spreadsheets. And that a happiness and peace greater than all the success in the world is close within reach, if only she slows down long enough to notice.  (Goodreads book summary)

Melissa says:  I related with the main character, Sarah, who was in the midst of a fast-paced life, as most young working mothers are today.  And in a "blink of an eye," her life changes.  Very thought provoking!