Three books, all by women writers who are extremely popular in our Library:
The first is HIDE by Lisa Gardner. Ms. Gardner returns with two characters from previous books, Bobby Dodge of the State Police Force of Massachusetts and D.D. Warren of the Boston Police Department. These two, once lovers, find themselves working in conjunction to attempt to solve a case of a missing person gone for many years.
The plot in this book runs and runs but finished with a climatic high when the killer is unmasked. Ms. Gardner seems to have reached a new high in this book, and her characters have once again remained true and believable. However, this time the author literally puts the character in the mind and footsteps of the reader.
Totally enjoyable; the description of the mental hospitals and treating staff at the time are true and believable as well as the compassionate care on the part of the staff.
The second is CLOSE TO HOME by Lisa Jackson that details the many problems of a single mother with two daughters as a teenager and a pre-teen, ages that are difficult to say the least. Moving from Vancouver, a “civilized city”, to the older house of her childhood (now labeled haunted by the townfolks) overlooking the Columbia River, Sarah McAdams with daughters Jade and Gracie soon discovers that there are more problems facing her other than the dislike of her daughters for their new home. Several strange occurrences continue to happen in her home, (ghosts of a previous inhabitant) and then, when several local teenage girls become missing, tension on all members of this family reach a high.
I’ve read several of Ms. Jackson’s books that seemed to be well written and believable, but somewhat light in matter. However, this time with this book, she has reached a definite level in the plotting and character development. Hope she continues along that line.
SENSUOUS BURGUNDY by Barbara Delinsky, a very popular author here. This book is touted as having a legal background in line with the author’s past. As law is my background, I thought there would be many confrontations and courtroom scenes with the major characters. There were not! This is a typical “boy meets girl”; boy and girl separate; boy and girl get together again. Very light reading with not much character development. Hopefully this is not a constant factor in her books, but only the result of an earlier attempt in her career.
DON’T FORGET: We have several shelves of books for sale; hardcover for $1.00 and softcover for $0.25. These books are great to take along when traveling; this means you never have to worry about a due date! However, during the month of September, the hardcover books go on sale for a reduced price of only $0.75, and those monies will provide a few needed extras for our Library. And we’ve got some good ones with noted authors available on our shelves to buy.
I know I’ve used the following quote for several years, but it really makes sense. Just think about it!
“When an old person dies, a Library burns down!”
Karin Gillespie
