Saltwater Taffy

Saltwater Taffy, by Eric Delabarre; Seven Publishing, 2011

Reviewed by Bob Gray

When I heard that the recently released book Saltwater Taffy by Eric Delabarre is about the adventures of young teenagers and takes place in Port Townsend, I quickly ordered four copies for our teenage grandchildren.

Much to my surprise, when I started reading the book to make sure that it was suitable for our grandchildren, I couldn’t put it down. It was terrific! It’s about teenage friends on a treasury hunt encountering unusual characters and fun locations in and around Port Townsend.

While the book is also described as containing poignant life lessons for the five young friends, I found that the lessons were wonderful reminders for readers of all ages.

I highly recommend this book for the young readers in our lives and if you can borrow it before they pass it around to all of their friends, you will also very much enjoy this treasure hunting adventure.

One last note, we are very fortunate that this book takes place in our wonderful hometown and that a film of the book will be made here in 2012. This should help attract many visitors to Port Townsend with great economic benefits. This book and film should add to Port Townsend’s wonderful literary as well as film history. It’s very exciting.

Family Album

Family Album, by Penelope Lively; Viking Adult Publishing, 2009

Reviewed by Sarah Fairbank

Penelope Lively's Family Album features a large, lively family with some secrets. The main character wants a blissful childhood for her six children--a real "old fashioned" family life. But there are cracks in the facade. The father is distant, and the mother has inexplicable emotional outbursts. All is not well. The now-grown children have tried their best to maintain the ''blissful" illusion--each at a cost--with lingering effects on their adult lives. I found this novel less convincing/compelling than many others the author has written. But the book's family was definitely amusing; with dysfunctional, interesting characters. The Sunday Philosophy Club, by Alexander McCall Smith, features Isabel Dalhousie, an editor for a philosophical magazine. Isabel writes long passages about ethics, death and suicide. There are four other fun characters, including a housekeeper, fox, a girlfriend/niece and a young man she has the hots for. I found the nonfiction book Derek Jarmen's Garden to be very beautiful and moving. This is the story of a young filmmaker/artist with AIDS who purchases a fisherman's cottage in Dungeness, Kent, in England--a location that has the least rainfall and the longest growing season in Britain. This journal is full of plant choices, garden images, and moving stories. It is a joy to read and learn from.

Worst Case

Worst Case, by James Patterson; Grand Central Publishing, 2010

Reviewed by Tina Lakenes

Author Patterson chooses an unlikely character as his serial killer in Worst Case: Francis X. Mooney, a 'do-gooder' lawyer who believes in changing the world for the better. He believes in rescuing people from poverty, donating to humanitarian causes, and increasing social equality. Mooney kidnaps wealthy young adults, then kills them when they are not socially aware. Detective Bennet teams up with FBI agent Emily Parker--an 'abduction specialist' to catch the killer. Jen Lancaster, author of Such a Pretty Face, her personal experiences in weight loss in with a fictional character. Jen's main character has tried many different directions--Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, surgery and hiring personal trainers. Does she finally find a comfortable 'success'? Yes. At what cost? This book covers a plethora of weight loss and health issues, and is not for the faint of heart. The Search by Nora Roberts is an intriguing yarn about a woman ("Fiona") who is the 'escaped' near-victim of a serial killer. That situation may be harrowing enough, but Fiona is now targeted by another serial killer who is taking revenge for the capture of the original killer.

Night Fall

Night Fall, by Nelson DeMille; Grand Central Publishing, 2007

Reviewed by H. Payson

Now here is a book that's well worth reading. In my opinion, Night Fall is DeMille's best, from beginning to end--and what a satisfying ending it has. Conspiracy theorists will love it. The book's premise is controversial, concerning an investigation of the July 1996 crash of flight TWA 800, a Boeing 747 bound for Paris which exploded off the Atlantic coast of Long Island, killing all 230 passengers and crew members. There are 200 eyewitnesses who swear they saw a missile lift into the clear night sky and bring down the airplane, a charge dismissed by the CIA as an optical illusion. DeMille's fictional detective tracks down the facts and the witnesses, culminating in a climax that is truly thought provoking. For a change of pace, try Dear Money, by Martha McPhee. Every author or wannabe writer needs to read this book. It's not often you can get a dual perspective from a single character. Juli Zeh's murky In Free Fall, is a wonderful, scientific murder yarn, set in Eastern Europe is a very different detective story. Highly recommended.

Claude & Camille: A Novel of Monet

Claude and Camille: A Novel of Monet, by Stephanie Cowell; Crown Publishing, 2010

Reviewed by Chris Loechel

Claude and Camille is an excellent story told in retrospect by Claude Monet in his 70's, centering on Monet's infatuation with Camille Doncieux, who was first glimpsed at a train station en route to Paris. Monet tracks her down months later, and convinces her to become his model, and eventually his lover. Camille's family strongly objects to her affair with the 'starving artist', just as Monet's father objects to his son's career. The couple finds solace in the company of Monet’s fellow aspiring painters: Renoir, Pissaro and more. You become totally immersed in the loves and lives of the Impressionists and the lifestyle of nineteenth-century Paris. I also recommend The Swan Thieves: A Novel, by Elizabeth Kostova. This book is very different than her previous novel "The Historian", but is a terrifically interwoven story about a psychiatrist and his mindset after he stabs a famous painting. Be sure to read the reliably good Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer. This is a delightful story composed of letters written during World War II in Britain. It makes you want to go meet all of the characters involved, and visit the memorable settings on the Isle of Guernsey.

Mindless Eating

Mindless Eating, by Brian Wansink, Ph.D; Bantam Publishing, 2010

Reviewed by Tina Lakenes

Ah...it's a New Year, and many of us are making resolutions for weight loss--again. If you are seriously trying, I recommend Dr. Wansink's book Mindless Eating. This is not so much a diet book, but a book that offers suggestions for being more mindful of what you are eating. Nutritional science and marketing professor Wansink explores some of the psychological aspects of overeating to explain why we in fact consume more than we believe we do. The author finds the greatest value in retraining one's mind and its perceptions by devices such as making sure one's plate contains at least half vegetables or salad. He suggests that a dieter will automatically eat less in social situations by being the last to start eating and the first to finish. He assesses the dangers of food shopping in bulk-portion stores, where shoppers are encouraged to overindulge. For a change of pace, try The Girl Who Played with Fire, the late Stieg Larsson's intriguing sequel to "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". This story deals with Sweden's sex slave trade, and explains more about the main character's tragic childhood, and the ongoing search for her as a murder suspect. For a romantic departure, try HRH, by Danielle Steele. Princess Christinna meets and falls in love with an American doctor while volunteering for the Red Cross in East Africa. Trouble ensues when she is not allowed to marry him--a commoner.

The Anthologist

The Anthologist: A Novel, by Nicholson Baker; Simon & Schuster Publishing, 2010

Reviewed by Nancy Shepley

I recommend Baker's The Anthologist, a hilarious account of a "poet" who is trying to write an introduction to his anthology of poems. The main character, Paul Crowder, is a failure at life, who has lost the two things that he values most--his girlfriend, and his ability to write. He stumbles through his woeful personal life, credit card debt, frequent finger injuries, and skewed and sordid views of poets and poetry. Colm Toibin's The Blackwater Lightship is the account of an Irish family coming to terms with the death of a son, and a brother dying of AIDS. These tragic losses helps to heal divisions and misunderstandings among the various family members. In a different direction, try The Quick and the Dead, by Joy Williams. This novel centers on the friendship between three young women, their various attitudes and adventures taken singly, and together.

The Sugar Camp Quilt

The Sugar Camp Quilt, by Jennifer Chiaverini; Simon & Schuster Publishing, 2006

Reviewed by Martha "Marty" Richards

The Sugar Camp Quilt is a fine historical fiction novel, set in Creek's Crossing, Pennsylvania in the years prior to the Civil War. Author Chiaverini's seventh book in the "Elm Creek Quilt" series centers on the operation of the Underground Railroad, and the use of quilts as "markers" to show the way to freedom. I enjoyed the wonderful characters and the storyline. Ann Hood's The Knitting Circle has very compelling characterizations of a group of women (and two men) who knit to deal with loss, grief and healing. I also enjoyed Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout. This very well written series of short vignettes feature a central character--Olive Kitteridge--who is often brash, outspoken, yet strangely sympathetic as she injects herself into daily life in a small East Coast community.

My Own Country

My Own Country: A Doctor's Story, by Dr. Abraham Verghese; Phoenix Publishing, 1995

Reviewed by Mary Grace Swift

I am recommending two books here by Dr. Abraham Verghese. They are both excellent, but My Own Country: A Doctor's Story, is a standout for it's masterful prose. Dr. Verghese has the eye, ear and the voice of a novelist, and the compassion of a healer recounting his experiences as the doctor from Africa who comes to the U.S. to do battle with AIDS in east Tennessee. In the course of the book, he has to come to term with a new country, his failing marriage, and dealing with infectious diseases, including the growing 'plague' that becomes known as AIDS. I also highly recommend Dr. Verghese's novel Cutting for Stone, focussing on twin boys, their adoptive parents, and their life's journey from India, to Africa, and to the U.S. Another recommendation is The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession, by Susan Orlean. This nonfiction book is a John McPhee-ish account of Florida, orchids, and people with a passion for these exotic plants.

Liquor: A Novel

Liquor: A Novel, by Poppy Z. Brite; Three Rivers Press, 2004

Reviewed by Peter Gritt

Cult horror novelist Poppy Z. Brite's book Liquor: A Novel, features the experiences and many obstacles facing two young men--"foodies"--who attempt to open a gourmet restaurant in New Orleans. The restaurant's entire menu features alcohol in one form or another, blending culinary passion with Big Easy politics and lots of intrigue. If you are an artist-at-heart, and love to dabble in oil pastels, take a look at Oil Pastel, by Ken Leslie. This is a very informative book for beginners and experienced artists alike, offering plenty of good tips in the use of this medium. Author Paul Theroux serves up another great travelogue--this time in Kawloon Tong, which involves the Chinese takeover of Hong Kong. I have read all of Theroux's books in our library, and truly appreciate his "non-sugar coated" approach to travel.