Disgrace

Disgrace

by: J. M. Coetzee

4.5/5 stars

Reviewer: Lydia

Published at the beginning of the millennium, J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace is a searing novel that touches upon and struggles with themes of gender, race, and power. Coetzee’s story is centered on David Lurie, who, at 52 years of age, chooses to retire from his position as a college professor after being involved in a nasty scandal with a student. Distant and adrift, he decides to visit his daughter in the South African countryside near Cape Town.

While there, he struggles with his daughter’s simple way of living, as well as resigning himself to the fact that his “little girl” is all grown up. The bond between father and daughter is put to the test during an afternoon of violence that shapes the rest of the novel. Both characters struggle with regaining their place in a world that has revealed the darker side of human nature.     

Disgrace is a short and easy read, as Coetzee’s writing style is minimal and clear. However, do not let the simple style fool you; it is a raw, enigmatic, and challenging novel that requires multiple readings in order to grasp the full range of meaning. Disgrace will not disappoint, as it is a text that sheds light on many controversial topics in today’s world.

Paper Towns

Paper Towns

by John Green
4/5 stars
Reviewer: Marina

Margo Roth Spiegelman is almost a legend in her high school.  She is popular, pretty, wacky, and comes up with bizarre and extravagant pranks.  One of her quirks is her habit of running away from home and leaving unspecific clues to her whereabouts (for example MISP in her alphabet soup when she ran away to Mississippi).  After Margo surprises Quentin with a night of pranks during their final month of high school Margo disappears yet again and Quentin feels it is his duty to find her.  The novel follows Quentin and his friends on their journey to find Margo and the completion of their final days of school.  This is not a mystery that you will be able to figure out before the characters, instead you piece together clues with Quentin and his friends.  There is also much more to the story than a simple mystery.  Within the main body of the book, the story is mostly serious and heavily entrenched in Margo’s mystery.  The first 80 pages and the last 60 pages, however, have a far different and more enjoyable feel.  Both of these sections are laugh out loud funny (even with the serious questions being raised) and have a fast paced roller coaster feel to the plot.  Perhaps the book would have been better with more of this feel woven throughout, but it would definitely not have been as successful without it.  When all is said and done, the book is an enjoyable read and a fascinating mystery.

Bindi Wildlife Adventures: Trouble at the Zoo

Bindi Wildlife Adventures: Trouble at the Zoo
by Chris Kunz
4/5 stars
Reviewer: Sue

Summary:  Bindi, the daughter of “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, is celebrating her 11^th birthday with an underwater-themed party at the Australia Zoo.  All the guests come dressed up as underwater sea creatures, ready for a fun filled day at the zoo.  Everything is going perfectly until someone tries to steal an Eastern Water Dragon from the zoo.  Bindi’s brother, Robert, sees the incident, and with help from Bindi and a macaw, they are able to rescue the exotic animal. 

Review:  Trouble at the Zoo is the first in a series of six books about Bindi’s life, and conservation.  While Bindi is celebrating her birthday, she is also using the proceeds from her birthday party to go towards preventing whaling in Antarctica.  There is an underlying message about nature, animals, and conservation in the book.  At the end of the book is an Animal Fact File section that gives interesting facts about some of the animals in the book.  While I enjoyed reading this book, and think young readers will also enjoy it, I would have loved to see some actual photos of the animals and the Australia Zoo (which is also where Bindi and her family live).

The Guinea Pig Diares (A.K.A. My Life As An Experiment)

The Guinea Pig Diaries (re-titled My Life As An Experiment)

By A.J. Jacobs

4/5 stars

Review by: Marina

This is the third book by A.J. Jacobs that I have read.  Normally I’m not a huge nonfiction reader, but since I finished with school I’ve found a little more time in my life for it.  Previously I read his books A Year of Living Biblically and The Know-It All, about living by ALL the bible’s rules for a year and spending a year reading the Encyclopedia Britannica for a year, respectively.  I thoroughly enjoyed Jacobs’ writing in both these books as well as his anecdotes about his experiments.  I’m frankly a little surprised it took me so long to pick up his third book- The Guinea Pig Diares which also seems to be retitled to My Life As An Experiment  according to his website and a recent search on Amazon.  This book, like his previous two, also follows a year of his life, however, this time he takes on 10 different experiments (not at the same time) over the course of the year.  Everything from doing everything his wife tells him, to living like George Washington, to outsourcing his life.  His writing is humorous and engaging and I was thoroughly fascinated in every experiment- in fact some of them I kind of want to try myself!  The only drawback I found to the book is in the narrating of the audiobook which I found somewhat annoying at times, however, the book itself was enough to pull me through the mediocre narration. 

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

The Adoration of Jenna Fox 

by Mary E. Pearson

4/5 stars

Review by: Marina

 Pearson’s science fiction story of a girl discovering her identity brings up a plethora of philosophical issues and questions for you to ponder as you gobble up this novel.  You meet Jenna as she has awoken from what she believes is a coma after a horrendous accident and is working to discover who she is and was, what her parents are hiding from her, and why her grandmother does not love her anymore.  As the story progresses, Jenna’s humanity comes into question.  While it is easy for a novel with such heavy topics to become heavy handed with the author’s opinion, Pearson does a superb job of leaving it to the reader to come up with her own answer.  Even though author’s opinion is likely easily guessed, the book makes a wonderful starting point for serious discussions on patient rights, the nature of humanity, the ethics of science, and identity.  Beyond these serious questions and topics, the story itself is entertaining and well thought out.  Jenna is a likeable character who, through her struggle to figure out who she is and was, is very relatable.  The interspersing of free-verse poetry with Jenna’s day to day reflections adds interest to the book and works well to distinguish between the normal Jenna and the Jenna who is stuck in a limo-like world.  Pearson does an excellent job creating a thought-provoking novel with a fascinating story.    

Children Make Terrible Pets

Children Make Terrible Pets
by Peter Brown
5/5 stars
Reviewer: Dawn

(Click on the picture to see availability in library catalog)

Summary:

Lucy is a pink-skirted, hair-bow wearing bear, who is out practicing twirls in the forest one day, when she discovers a 'creature' watching her. This 'creature', as it turns out, is a human boy and after naming him Squeakers, she takes him home to be her new pet. They have a wonderful day of playing, eating, and napping, but Lucy soon finds that her new ‘pet’ ruins furniture, throws food, and is impossible to potty train (in a litter box nonetheless). Just when things can’t get any worse, Squeakers disappears. After searching high and low, Lucy makes a discovery and learns whether or not children do make good pets.

Review:

Peter Brown has created a simple, funny, and sweet story about a topic that is sure to come up in every child’s life- getting a pet. With soft-hued illustrations on varying wood frames, the tone has a playful quality that matches the book’s woodsy setting. The dialogue between Lucy and her mother, and Lucy and Squeakers is just hilarious. This book would make a great read aloud for Kindergarten to 3^rd graders. It is also a fun story to sit down with alone and read a few times over. A funny book with a touching lesson!

The Night Circus

The Night Circus

by Erin Morgenstern
5/5 stars
Review by: Marina



Click on the image to go to the library's catalog.

I was not expecting to enjoy this book let alone to have it make the best books I’ve read in recent memory list.  The night circus is not your usual circus.  It arrives with no warning or announcement, appearing overnight in a field near town decked only in black and white and open only between the hours of dusk and dawn.  Le Cirque de Reve (the circus of dreams) is exactly what its name implies- a mystical, magical circus full of your wildest dreams.  Underneath the magic of the circus lies a fierce magical competition between two opponents for an unknown prize for the winner and an unknown fate for the loser.  Read this book, unravel the mystery of the competition, and plan what tents you will visit when the circus shows up by you.  This is a novel you are sure to get lost in and never want to leave the world that Erin Morgenstern weaves so delightfully.