ChristyAV's Titles

The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British by Sarah Lyall (Romance, Women's Fiction, Relationships, Humor) Humorous essays by an American journalist who has lived in the UK since the 1990s. Her perspective is a bit influenced by the fact that her English husband and their friends seem to have come from rather posh backgrounds, but her observations are amusing. (Parliament, for example, sounds like a crazy place.) -- Added by ChristyAV on 02/04/2013 Add Comment

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan (Science Fiction, Fantasy, Science, Health) Clay Jannon is a young, unemployed graphic designer when he gets a job working the night shift at a strange bookstore. Though it doesn't have many customers, the ones who do visit most faithfully aren't there to buy books but to borrow them. Clay's light-hearted quest to find out what's really going on at Mr. Penumbra's bookstore is a blend of high technology and good ol' fashioned reading and writing. I liked this novel for the most part, although some of the puzzles that were being solved (and the reasons they existed in the first place) didn't make a whole lot of sense if I tried to think about them too much. A quick read with a likable protagonist. -- Added by ChristyAV on 01/30/2013 Add Comment

Trapeze by Simon Mawer (Adventure, Suspense, Travel, Sports) The daughter of an English diplomat and a French woman, Marian Sutro speaks perfect French. She is tapped by the British government to become a secret agent in WWII and, after training in Scotland, is parachuted into France to help the Resistance. I found the book at bit "cold" at first; I wanted more descriptions and more conversations to bring the characters and setting to life. As we learn more about Marian, though, she was easier to like, and the book gets downright exciting toward the end. A foreword to the book says that of the 39 women who actually participated in this program, about a third didn't survive the war. Will Marian be one of them? Readers intrigued by this novel might also enjoy the feature film "Carve Her Name with Pride" which tells the true story of one of these women spies and can be found in the library's DVD collection. -- Added by ChristyAV on 01/25/2013 Add Comment

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin (Mystery, Horror, Crime, Business, Politics) Larry Ott has been an outcast in his small Mississippi town ever since the night twenty-five years earlier when he went out on a date with a girl who was never seen again. Among those who have turned their backs on Larry is Silas, a former high school baseball star who is now the town constable. When another girl goes missing from the town and Larry himself is discovered dying of a gunshot wound, the town assumes Larry has tried to kill himself after committing another crime. Silas, who has secrets of his own including a profound guilt for the way he treated Larry, isn't so sure. This suspenseful novel would appeal to readers who like the books of Joe R. Lansdale or Stephen King's non-horror novels. It boasts a terrific first sentence -- "The Rutherford girl had been missing for eight days when Larry Ott returned home and found a monster waiting in his house." -- Added by ChristyAV on 01/21/2013 Add Comment

The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great by Eva Stachniak (Historical Fiction, Westerns, History) Varvara is a maid at the court of the Empress Elizabeth of Russia in the 1740s who also acts as a spy, listening in on conversations, purloining letters, and gathering information for the empress. When a young German princess (who will eventually become Catherine the Great) is brought to court with the prospect of marrying her to the empress's nephew and heir, Varvara befriends her, even though it's dangerous for her to befriend anyone. I thought the setting was interesting. Readers who enjoy novels by Phillipa Gregory would probably like this one, too. -- Added by ChristyAV on 01/16/2013 Add Comment