About this column:
Each week we'll highlight a book selected and reviewed by staff from Barbara's Bookstore in Burr Ridge and Indian Prairie Public Library.Audition: A Memoirby Barbara WaltersReviewed by Indian Prairie Library Staff Barbara Walters tells all in this autobiography/memoir and doesn’t come across as being exemplary in her personal life with her parents, sibling, daughter and husbands. But oh, what a life she has lead! Her retelling of her travels and the multitude of interviews she has done is mesmerizing. This woman has lived a full life and has taken us on her journey through the pages of this book. It was a great read. View her photo album, which details various stages of her life.
Brooklyn by Colm ToibinReviewed by Indian Prairie Library Staff An immigrant tale set in the early 1950s, Brooklyn follows Eilis Lacey as she journeys from Ireland to New York City to escape economic hardship and begin a new life. This heartwarming coming of age story filled with grit and determination may move too slowly for some, but features interesting characters and lovely writing. Brooklyn was the Chicago Public Library’s selection for “One Book One Chicago” in spring 2010. Read more about the book and visit the author’s Website. New York by Edward RutherfordReviewed by Indian Prairie …
American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon by Steven RinellaReviewed by Indian Prairie Library Staff When adventure writer Steven Rinella wins a lottery to hunt and kill one buffalo in the wilds of Alaska, the story begins. Rinella has long had a fascination with the American Buffalo. As the story of his hunt proceeds, he stops along to the way to inform us on the natural history of the buffalo, its meaning in Native and European American culture and its current existence. The adventure aspect of Rinella’s story is amazing. What some people will go through and call it fun! The history of the …
Bright Young Things, by Anna GodbersenReviewed by Indian Prairie Library Staff I have been anxiously awaiting the start of this new series by Anna Godbersen (thanks to the kind teen patron who alerted me to it!) and I was not disappointed. Set in 1929 in New York City at the height of Prohibition, the book chronicles the lives of three young women from very different backgrounds as they try to make their mark in society. Astrid is a socialite, home from boarding school on holiday, and living the life of parties and country club lunches. Letty and Cordelia have come to New York from Union, …
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan DidionReviewed by Indian Prairie Library StaffA chronicle of a year of grief as Didion’s husband, John, dies at the same time their daughter undergoes a life-threatening illness. This is a story of grief intertwined with a tribute to marriage and motherhood. Enjoy an NPR interview with the author and read The New York Times review. For more recommendations from Indian Prairie Public Library staff, click here.
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith Reviewed by Indian Prairie Library Staff This series is easy reading because Smith keeps you interested, guessing and solving the mystery without taxing your brain power! The author interweaves a view of African culture and geography amidst the detective agency’s business of solving its clients’ problems. Precious Ramotswe sets up her No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency after she grows up and survives a young marriage. This mystery series is not for the hard-core mystery reader. Most enjoyable is the African setting for a change of pace …
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot Reviewed by Indian Prairie Public Library Staff An engaging and thought-provoking read, this book tells the complicated story of an impoverished black woman who died of cervical cancer in the 1950s, her cells and the scientific revolution they spawned. Henrietta Lacks was treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, where doctors removed some of her cancerous cells without her knowledge. Known as HeLa (pronounced hee lah), Henrietta’s cells were the first “immortal” human cells. They keep growing – today, 60 years after her death, …
Box 21, by Anders Roslund and Borge HellstromReviewed by Indian Prairie Library Staff Swedish crime is intriguing. If you liked the "Millennium Trilogy" by Stieg Larsson, this book is for you. It is second in the Ewert Grens thrillers, a series with cutting edge crime and dark characters. I suggest reading the first book, "The Beast," because two stories converge in "Box 21" – an unfinished thread from the first book and a brand-spanking new blockbuster in the second. Although much of the plot circles around the sex slave trade, the authors show restraint in portraying this grueling subject. …
Finding Noel, by Richard Paul EvansReviewed by Indian Prairie Library Staff This story was very touching. It illustrates the beauty and power of love, particularly the special love that exists between siblings. The reader becomes wrapped up in the plot from the very beginning. The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits, by Les StandifordReviewed by Indian Prairie Library Staff Great fun to read about the astronomical success of Dickens' stories. This is an easy read which covers the career of Charles Dickens as …
Thunderstruck, by Erik LarsonReviewed by Indian Prairie Library Staff Yes, this book is by the same author of "The Devil In the White City" – the story of the Chicago's World's Fair of 1893, chief architect Robert Burnham and infamous murderer H.H. Holmes. In "Thunderstruck," Larson takes us to Edwardian England and intertwines the stories of Guglielmo Marconi and his invention and development of the radio, and Hawley Crippen, an accused notorious murderer. For most of us, Marconi was merely the answer to a question in history class. Yet this was a real man and his story is an exciting one as…
Where Men Win Glory, by John KrakauerReviewed by Barbara's Bookstore staff An interesting element of this book is that it took me up close to what was happening on the ground in both Iraq and Afghanistan during the time Pat Tillman and his brother Robert served as soldiers. John Krakauer has attemped to portray the uniqueness of Pat Tillman, but it only made me wish I could've met him - which is unfortunately no longer possible. Tillman's determination to follow his own inner truth became part of what inspired his family to demand that the army and government tell them the truth about how he …
I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, by Stephanie KuehnertReviewed by Barbara's Bookstore staff From age 14, Emily Black and her best friend Regan Parker are driven to live life on the edge and become the best rock n' roll musicians to ever come from their small Wisconsin town. However, Emily is driven by deeper desires- to understand why her mother left her as an infant to "follow the music" and to actually find her mother. I was moved by this book and if you're a teen, I believe you'll love it too. Stephanie Kuehnert is a local author who's currently bartending in Forest Park, Illinois.
