Remember When...

Anything Is Possible by Elizabeth Strout, picks up where her last novel ends. Lucy Barton, has made a name for herself as a well-known author. She has escaped her impoverished childhood in Illinois and lives in New York. Book signings take her around the country and while in Chicago, she decides to return to Amgash--the hometown she left seventeen years ago. Find out how the townspeople and relatives who knew her when are doing today. Small-town USA and a curious cast of characters will keep your interest. DB

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

The poverty industry

Broke, USA :From Pawnshops to Poverty, Inc. - How the Working Poor Became Big Business by Gary Rivlin isn't about the dollar stores and mini-marts that cater to people who need to get by on less. This is about pay-day lenders, check-cashing stores and subprime mortgages. The industry started with pawn shops loaning money for your ring or gold watch. The customer paid back the money plus a high interest rate to get the item back. Now there are people who offer to do income tax for free and then offer to give the customer an instant refund minus a large fee. This book is eye opening and stomach upsetting. Payday lenders have huge TV advertising budgets targeting the intended audience. Subprime mortgages worked as long as property values were rising. There would only be a problem if prices fell and they did. People were trapped in mortgages they couldn't afford with housing prices falling. As more families went into foreclosue, prices fell even more. We all know the rest. STE