the unexamined life

Dianne Warren's novel Liberty Street tells a story about a woman's journey through life in small-town Saskatchewan and, more broadly, about the strength of second chances. Frances Mary Moon's young life was full of bizarre tragedies that affected her more than she knew, and everything boils up inside her again when she and her partner, Ian, get trapped in traffic due to the funeral of a young girl and her infant. She blurts out her secrets: that she lost a baby during premature birth when she was 19, and that she had been married and probably still is. The long chapters jump between Frances's formative years and her present-day adult life as she decides to return to her hometown and see for herself what ghosts reside there. The depiction of Frances as a child is just exquisite; to see through her eyes is a perfect recreation of a child's inner workings. With a strong narrative voice in both sections, the novel creates an intimate portrayal of the road to resolution and recovery for a soul adrift. Frances as a child has a confused but determined voice. As an adult, she sets to thinking through what exactly she is looking to recover by digging into the past. Warren's novel is a thoughtful, intricate tale that builds quietly but strikes hard and fast. © Copyright PW (ML)

Did You Know?

The Oxford Public Library now has a Book Group collection!  But what does that mean exactly?  It means that we have multiple copies (between 5-7) of single titles available to check out, perfect for your small book group.  For more information, ask a librarian at the Adult Reference Desk, and be sure to browse some of these titles, and more!
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
Detroit City Is the Place to Be by Mark Binelli
Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran

A Tasty Treat

Culinary journalist and former editor of Gourmet magazine, Ruth Reichl brings her formidable experience to Delicious!, her first foray into fiction. Billie Breslin is a young staffer at a fictional, soon-to-be-shuttered food magazine where she discovers a cache of wartime letters between a young girl and renowned chef James Beard. Peppered with descriptive passages highlighting both the food and environs of New York City, this title is recommended for readers who enjoyed works such as "The School of Essential Ingredients" by Erica Bauermeister or "The Year of Pleasures" by Elizabeth Berg.  HM

Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold

I Remember You: A Ghost Story by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir: Two missing boys and two vandalized classrooms.  The cases occur 50 years apart, but as a psychologist Freyr begins to piece together the events surrounding the latest disturbance, he becomes convinced that the two are related.  And he should know -- one of the missing boys is his own son.  Split between the police investigation in Ísafjörður and the terrifying happenings in an isolated, abandoned village, secrets from the past refuse to stay buried.  As both narratives reach their climax, will Freyr be able to push aside his guilt and confront the truth about his son's disappearance?  Recommended for fans of
Sigurðardóttir's Thóra Gudmundsdóttir series, as well as readers who enjoyed works by Johan Theorin and John Ajvide Lindqvist.  HM

Family Secrets

Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead follows the life of young dancer, Joan, from her aspirations in a New York city ballet company and her early retirement when she decides to get married and has a child. Along the way, readers are introduced to the characters that influence Joan's life: Arslan Ruskov, the brilliant Russian dancer whom Joan helps to defect, Jacob, her partner in her strained and awkward marriage, Harry, Joan's ballet-prodigy son, and Chloe, the neighbors' daughter. Recommended for readers who enjoy literary fiction and family secrets. Similar in style to Jhumpa Lahiri's "The Namesake" and Jess Walter's "Beautiful Ruins." HM

Adult Book Discussion

Join us Thursday, February 6 at 6:30pm for a discussion of The Paris Wife by Paula McLain.

Told from the perspective of Ernest Hemingway's first wife, Hadley Richardson, The Paris Wife creates a snapshot of 1920s Paris and the vibrant, creative people who inhabited it.  Readers follow Hadley from her fateful first meeting with Hemingway, across the Atlantic to the City of Light, and ultimately back again as their marriage deteriorates.  Along the way, Hadley struggles with her place both in Hemingway's life and amongst the eccentric personalities she encounters.  HM

Jhumpa Lahiri

The next title on my "to-read" list is Jhumpa Lahiri's latest book, The Lowland, because she never fails to disappoint -- I honestly believe that if she wrote a technical manual on lawnmowers it would still be poetic.  I first read her debut collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies when I was in college, and it's a book that's stuck with me over the years.  Her description and use of language draws the reader in, and it's impossible not to become fascinated with and even care deeply for the characters she introduces you to.  Interpreter of Maladies won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2000, and consists of nine short stories exploring issues of identity, love, and humanity -- all the good stuff.  Also be sure to check out her other titles, The Namesake and Unaccustomed Earth.  HM

Only Mostly Dead

Seventeen year-old Li Lan is saddled with an impossible decision; marry the recently deceased son of her father's creditor, or helplessly watch her family sink deep into poverty.  But before she can choose, she finds herself lost and alone in the afterlife, neither living nor dead, where she must uncover the secrets of her would-be bridegroom.  In The Ghost Bride, Yangsze Choo masterfully recreates 1890s Malaysia and takes the reader on a spectacular ride through mythology and fantasy as we accompany Li Lan into the spirit realm.  Truly enchanting.  HM

Adventure on the High Seas

When mild-mannered personal chef Owen Wedgewood is violently kidnapped by pirate queen Mad Hannah Mabbot from his late benefactor's residence in 1800s England, he's in for a wild ride aboard The Flying Rose, where he is forced to create exceptional meals with scant ingredients in exchange for his continued survival.  Told through Wedgewood's diary, Eli Brown's Cinnamon and Gunpowder sees our protagonist confront his own shortcomings and prejudices as he slowly assimilates (kicking and screaming) into the pirate crew and becomes closer to the fearsome Captain Mabbot, who is busy trying to upset the entire opium trade and catch her nemesis, The Brass Fox.  HM

Something Wicked This Way Comes

In the 1970s backwater of Coden, Alabama, a teenage orphan called Annie mysteriously arrives and quickly drives a wedge in an apparently perfect family.  Full of creepy supernatural elements and family secrets reminiscent of The Turn of the Screw and The Amityville Horror, The Darkling by R. B. Chesterton (aka Carolyn Haines) is a quick and easy read, which is sometimes exactly what you want on a sunny, beautiful afternoon.  HM

A Cursed Land

It's always a good day when one of my favorite author's releases a new book.  The Day Is Dark is Icelandic crime writer Yrsa Sigurdardóttir's fourth book in her series following lawyer and reluctant-detective Thóra Gudmundsdóttir.  In this sequel to Ashes to Dust, Thóra finds herself searching for two vanished Icelanders in the wilds of Greenland -- and soon becomes lost herself.  HM

Read a Banned Book!

In 1937, writer and ethnographer Zora Neale Hurston published her greatest work to little fanfare -- Their Eyes Were Watching God was largely ignored, and was even viewed as tawdry.  Decades later, scholars and readers rediscovered her classic and fell under the spell of its heroine, Janie Crawford, a strong-willed African-American woman who narrates the passionate and tragic events of her life in 1930s Florida.  It is now regarded as one of the most important works in 20th century African American literature.

Their Eyes Were Watching God is just one of many books that the American Library Association has recorded as being banned or challenged by various groups -- check out our Banned Books display in the Adult Department.  HM

Not Exactly Camelot

In 1935, before he penned Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck wrote a short novella about a group of friends living the life in a poor district of Monterey, called Tortilla Flat.  Based loosely on Arthurian legends, Steinbeck's story centers on the accidental landowner Danny and his tribe of devoted comrades as they conspire, drink, gossip, and have a holy experience or two.

For more retellings of classic stories, check out our reading list at the Adult Reference Desk, "Covering the Classics."  HM

The Power of Imagination

Debra Dean's The Madonnas of Leningrad explores the importance of memory and imagination.  During the Seige of Leningrad, docent Marina takes shelter within the Hermitage along with other staff members, protecting the museum's priceless works of art.  In the present, Marina struggles to separate her recollections from reality as her memory starts to deteriorate.  A very quick and engaging read.

Stop by for our discussion of The Madonnas of Leningrad on Wednesday, June 6th from 1-2pm. HM

Buried Secrets

Ashes to Dust is the third title in Yrsa Sigurdardóttir's series following the somewhat hectic life of lawyer/reluctant crime fighter/single mother Thóra Gudmundsdóttir.  Following the excavation of a town buried under volcanic ash, Thóra must rush to solve a decades-old quadruple homicide to clear her client's name.  When the only person that could provide insight into the slayings turns up dead from apparent suicide, things get a bit more interesting.  Can Thóra juggle her private and professional lives and get to the bottom of the buried secrets in Ashes to Dust?  HM

Blackout

For recovering alcoholic and Oslo detective Harry Hole, waking up with a pounding headache isn't that unusual. But waking up to a headache, no memory of the night before, and the discovery that his ex-girlfriend -- who he had spent the previous night with -- has been murdered is slightly out of the ordinary. Can Harry clear his name and track down a ruthless bank robber terrorizing the streets of Oslo?

Nemesis is the second book in Jo Nesbø's series to be published in English. Also be sure to follow Harry Hole in his other adventures in The Snowman and The Leopard. HM

Worth a Second Look

I've heard a lot of people say that they started to read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but never made it through to the end. If there is one book that is worth a second try, it's Betty Smith's classic coming-of-age tale. Set in the early part of the 20th century, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn follows the trials and triumphs of young Francie Nolan as she navigates a bittersweet childhood in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Francie's story is punctuated with the comings and goings of a variety of strong secondary characters, who serve to move the narrative in unexpected and sometimes heart-wrenching directions. This is definitely a book where the characters stick with you long after you've finished the last page. HM

In For A Wild Ride

When I saw this title on our New Book shelf, I was beyond excited. Jo Nesbø is one of my favorite authors, and I had no idea that he had a new book out. My enthusiasm increased when I scanned the summary on the back and realized that this was going to be a great read. Headhunters is, at heart, a thriller. The unlikely protagonist is Roger Brown, a cunning headhunter for a top firm in Oslo, who just so happens to be a successful art thief on the side. But his carefully manicured life is thrown upside down when he meets Clas Greve, a candidate he is recruiting for a Norwegian technology company. We follow Brown as he finds himself the unwilling participant in a cross-country caper, North by Northwest-style, with a finale that will keep you guessing until the very end.

If you enjoy this title, check out Nesbø's Harry Hole series, following the self-destructive detective's twisted path to redemption. HM

Fairytales & Family Secrets

If you're a parent or a teacher, the name "Jane Yolen" probably brings to mind the author's prodigous body of children's literature and picture books. But Yolen has written a few novels for adults too, among them the haunting story of Briar Rose. Inspired by the Chelmno concentration camp, which was housed inside of a castle, Yolen crafts her story of the Holocaust around the fairytale of "The Sleeping Beauty." After the death of her beloved grandmother, Becca begins to delve into her family's past and uncovers a hidden message in her grandmother's favorite story, "Briar Rose." Her discovery takes her back to the terrifying days of World War II, half a world away. Suitable for both Adult and Young Adult readers. HM

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