STAFF PICKS--Still Alice

Diana's staff pick is Still Alice, by Lisa Genova

Synopsis:
Genova's debut revolves around Alice Howland - Harvard professor, gifted researcher and lecturer, wife, and mother of three grown children. One day, Alice sets out for a run and soon realizes she has no idea how to find her way home. It's a route she has taken for years, but nothing looks familiar. She is utterly lost. Is her forgetfulness the result of menopausal symptoms? A ministroke? A neurological cancer? After a few doctors' appointments and medical tests, Alice has her diagnosis, and it's a shocker -- she has early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

What follows is the story of Alice's slow but inevitable loss of memory and connection with reality, told from her perspective. She gradually loses the ability to follow a conversational thread, the story line of a book, or to recall information she heard just moments before. To Genova's great credit, readers learn of the progression of Alice's disease through the reactions of others, as Alice does, so they feel what she feels -- a slowly building terror.

Diana says:  I loved the insight into Alzheimer's.  How the main character, Alice, finds a way to test herself.  I will never look at someone with Alzheimer's the same way.

PATRON PICKS--Echoes of Titanic

Rosemarie's pick is Echoes of Titanic, by Mindy Starns Clark and John Campbell Clark

Synopsis:  Kelsey Tate comes from sturdy stock. Her great-grandmother Adele endured the sinking of Titanic and made it safely to America, where she not only survived but thrived. Generations later, Kelsey works for the firm Adele founded nearly 100 years ago.

Now facing a hostile takeover, the firm’s origins are challenged when new facts emerge about Adele’s actions on the night Titanic sank. Kelsey tries to defend the company and the great-grandmother she has long admired, but the stakes are raised when Kelsey’s boss is murdered and her own life threatened. Forced to seek help from Cole Thornton, a man Kelsey once loved—and lost, thanks to her success-at-all-costs mentality—she pursues mysteries both past and present. Aided by Cole and strengthened by the faith she’d all but forgotten in her climb up the corporate ladder, Kelsey races the clock to defend her family legacy, her livelihood, and ultimately her life.

Rosemarie says:  Historically accurate and wonderful!  Keeps you interested from the first page.

PATRON PICKS--The Golden Hat

Mary's pick is The Golden Hat, by Kate Winslet and Margret Ericsdottir.

Synopsis:
Imagine what it would be like not to be able to communicate with those we love. For many individuals living with nonverbal autism and their families, this is their everyday reality. The Golden Hat is an intimate response to this reality created by Kate Winslet, Margret Ericsdottir, and her son Keli, who has nonverbal autism.

Kate and Margret’s stories, their personal email correspondence, and Keli’s poetry give us a profound insight into the world of those living with autism. Kate has shared this story with some of the world’s most famous people, posing the question: “What is important to you to express?” Their responses are a collection of intimate self-portraits and unique quotes.

Mary says:  This book tells a story about autistic kids.  It shows a side of them that captures your heart.  Even nonverbal kids can communicate when given a chance.  A real eye opener.

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH--Our featured poet is Pat Mora

Our featured poet today is award-winning author Pat Mora.  Her books for adults include six acclaimed poetry collections, an essay collection, and a family memoir, House of Houses.  She has also written two poetry books for teens and numerous books for children.  To read more about Pat, check out her website:  http://www.patmora.com/

ODE TO TEACHERS

I remember
the first day,
how I looked down,
hoping you wouldn't see
me,
and when I glanced up,
I saw your smile
shining like a soft light
from deep inside you.


"I'm listening," you encouraged us.
"Come on!
Join our conversation,
let us hear your neon certainties,
thorny doubts, tangled angers,"
but for weeks I hid inside.


I read and reread your notes
praising
my writing,
and you whispered,
"We need you
and your stories
and questions
that like a fresh path
will take us to new vistas."


Slowly, your faith grew
into my courage
and for you--
instead of handing you
a note or apple or flowers--
I raised my hand.


I carry your smile
and faith inside like I carry
my dog's face,
my sister's laugh,
creamy melodies,
the softness of sunrise,
steady blessings of stars,
autumn smell of gingerbread,
the security of a sweater on a chilly day.

PATRON PICKS--Until There Was You

Lia's pick is Until There Was You, by Kristan Higgins

Synopsis:  Posey Osterhagen can't complain. She owns a successful architectural salvaging company, she's surrounded by her lovable, if off-center, family and she has a boyfriend—sort of. Still, something's missing. Something tall, brooding and criminally good-looking…something like Liam Murphy.

When Posey was sixteen, the bad boy of Bellsford, New Hampshire, broke her heart. But now he's back, sending Posey's traitorous schoolgirl heart into overdrive once again. She should be giving him a wide berth, but it seems fate has other ideas….

Lia says she likes it "because we know her and love her!"

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH--Featured Poet: Robert Lee Frost

Our featured poet today is Robert Lee Frost (1874-1963). Frost is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech.  His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and philosophical themes.  Frost received four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

PATRON PICKS--The Toucan, by Shel Silverstein

In honor of National Poetry Month, Lia has picked her favorite poem by Shel Silverstein:

The Toucan

Tell me who can

Catch a toucan?

Lou can.

Just how few can

Ride the toucan?

Two can.

What kind of goo can

Stick you to the toucan?

Glue can.

Who can write some

More about the toucan?

You can!