Mothers and Daughters

Warning -- Domenica Ruta's With Or Without You does not have a nice, neat, happy ending . . . but it doesn't have a bad ending either.  In fact, it really doesn't have an ending at all, just the honest depiction of a life in progress.  In this memoir, Ruta explores her relationship with her narcissistic, drug-addicted mother and how that relationship ultimately led her to both destroy and attempt to redeem herself.  At the same time darkly humorous and heart-wrenching, With Or Without You brings home the point that in at least some ways, we are all just like our mothers.  HM

Culture, Food, and Identity

Part coming-of-age story, part food memoir, Fresh Off the Boat by Eddie Huang details the blogger and chef's childhood as the son of Chinese immigrants living in Orlando during the 1990s.  Huang learns form an early age (and from his ex-gangster dad) not to take insults from anybody, a lesson that gets him into trouble time and time again.  Fleshed out with references to hip hop, basketball, food, and '90s pop culture, Fresh Off the Boat explores issues of race, identity, and what it means to be American.  HM

They're Coming to Take You Away . . .

Truthfully, I don't get to read as often as I would like -- and when I do, it usually takes me weeks to get through a book.  I read Jennifer McMahon's Don't Breathe a Word in 2 days because I honestly could not put it down.  Fifteen years ago, Lisa was a dreamy twelve year-old who went missing in the woods behind her house after claiming that she was going to live with the fairies.  Now she's back, and it's up to her brother and his girlfriend to figure out what exactly happened to her -- even if that means delving into some deep, dark family secrets.  HM

Love,doubt and faith.

It's the spring of 2002 and in Boston the reputation of the Catholic Church is in ruins. For one devout family whose revered member is a priest, the consequences are devastating. In Faith, we meet Sheila McGann, although long estranged from her difficult family has remained close to her brother Art, a popular priest. When he is accused of child molestation along with many other priests, she goes to support him. As the scandal bring long denied family secrets and feelings to light, all seek the truth. A deep exploration of family,loyalty,doubt and faith, this novel written by Jennifer Haigh is intelligent and well written M.L.

Is Blood Thicker Than Water?

Twenty-two years ago, Detective Frank Mackey was just a teenager with big dreams who planned to elope with his girlfriend, Rosie Daly. Their tickets were bought, their bags packed, and their lives in the Dublin slums were set to change forever. Unfortunately, while Frank waited anxiously under a streetlight on the night of their supposed escape, Rosie decided to stand him up and head to London alone. At least that's what he had always assumed. Then Rosie's battered and moldy suitcase is discovered behind a fireplace in a derelict house in Faithful Place and Detective Mackey is called back by his estranged, dysfunctional family to find out what actually happened to Rosie Daly two decades ago. Faithful Place is the third book in Tana French's loosely connected Dublin Murder Squad series and can be read independently of the previous titles, In the Woods and The Likeness.

For more international crime thrillers, check out our current display and reading list next time you're in the library. HM

Escape to... The Clearing

With The Clearing, author Heather Davis spins a short but (bitter)sweet story of relearning to live, love, trust, and stand on one's own: Hoping to escape an abusive relationship, high school senior Amy leaves her home and friends in Seattle and moves to a rural Washington town to live with her non-intrusive, but still loving Aunt Mae--who she barely knows. Unfortunately, the fresh start isn't everything Amy has hoped for. In trying to mask her deep emotional scars, Amy puts up walls and comes across as defensive and unfriendly to her peers. After a particularly depressing day, Amy escapes the confines of Mae's trailer and wanders off into the wilderness beyond. Here she finds a clearing that seems perpetually shrouded in mist--no matter the weather elsewhere. Beyond the mist, Amy finds the unexpected: Here she meets Henry, who is unlike any boy she has ever met. The friendship-to-love-relationship the two young people begin soothes Amy's deep wounds and helps her to again believe there is good in the world. The whole experience seems almost, well...magical to Amy. And it is. Still, something nags the back of Amy's mind whenever she and Henry are apart--like why are apple trees blooming in autumn?

What Amy eventually learns is that Henry and his family have been caught in the endless cycle of reliving the summer of 1944. Worried about his brother off fighting in WWII (and about to be shipped off to war himself), Henry, in a moment of desperation, wished for a miracle--and got it. Amy knows there are choices she and Henry must both make. Choices to move on with their lives. But these choices could separate them forever.

The Clearing is beautifully written. An ideal book for a quiet evening at home or a day at the beach.

Memoir

Dead End Gene Pool: A Memoir by Wendy Burden

As a descendant of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Wendy Burden enjoyed a life of privilege when she was staying with her grandparents but an entirely different life when she was with her mother. The contrast makes interesting reading and the authors seems to be truthful although one wonders how she could remember so many details from her very early years. The details about the mansions in "Burdenland", her grandparent's estates from Maine to Florida are fascinating.