Hope's Titles

In This House Of Brede by Rumer Godden (Historical Fiction, Westerns, History) I read this story of nuns in a 1950s Benedictine abbey in England years ago, when I was in my early 20s, I think, when I happened to see the movie of it on TV. Re-reading the book now, in my early 50s, was a fresh pleasure that offered fresh insights into both middle age and the choices we're all having to make about what to change and what to keep. -- Added by Hope on 02/26/2013 Add Comment

Cardboard by Doug TenNapel (Science Fiction, Fantasy, Science, Health) I borrowed this graphic novel from the Children's department but its heartwarming story (and engaging illustrations) would appeal to a lot of adults, too. It is about a widowed, out-of-work dad that wants to get some kind of birthday present for his son. A man selling toys from a stand on the street sells him an empty cardboard box "full of father-son possibilities" for 78 cents but there are two rules: the father must bring back any cardboard scraps leftover from whatever he and his son make with the box, and they must not ask the salesman for more cardboard. The father and son make a cardboard man...and he comes alive! The father forgets about the rules, though, and this has disasterous results. Or does it? -- Added by Hope on 02/13/2013 Add Comment

"V" Is For Vengeance by Sue Grafton (Mystery, Horror, Crime, Business, Politics) I always read the print version of each Sue Grafton mystery as soon as it comes out. Feisty private investigator Kinsey Millhone is one of my favorite characters. This was my first time listening to one of her/their books. Narrator Judy Kaye does a great job so even though I knew what was going to happen, I enjoyed it all over again, hearing it read aloud. -- Added by Hope on 01/29/2013 Add Comment

Prettiest Doll by Gina Willner-Pardo (Adventure, Suspense, Travel, Sports) This quick but thought-provoking novel is from the library's "J" collection downstairs. 13-year-old Olivia has been doing beauty pageants since she was very little. Her dad is dead and her mom works two jobs to pay for Olivia's dresses, pageant coaches, entrance fees, and so on. They live in a tiny town in southern Missouri. Olivia is not sure she wants to continue doing pageants but she doesn't see how she would ever stop without her mom having a fit. I put this in the "travel" category because one day Olivia meets a boy who ran away from his home in Texas rather than take the shots that his mom wants him to take to make him grow taller. Together, he and Olivia decide to run away to Chicago. -- Added by Hope on 01/29/2013 Add Comment

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (Classics, Literary Fiction, Biography) I listened to this downloadable audiobook (read aloud by C. M. Hebert) while I was sick in bed for three days. It was, as I had expected, comforting, but I also had to laugh, realizing how much I skip over the moralizing parts when I re-read this in print form. By the way, I clicked "okay" for the book cover but it was actually a different book cover in the library's Overdrive catalog. -- Added by Hope on 01/29/2013 Add Comment

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray (Romance, Women's Fiction, Relationships, Humor) Oh, my goodness, I enjoyed this book so much! The audiobook is read aloud by the author, and her spoken voice is as rascally and brilliant as her voice on the page. A plane carrying several Miss Teen Dream contestants crashes on a seemingly deserted island. In between building huts and establishing an irrigation system for fresh water, they set up a runway on the beach so that they can continue to practice their turns while they wait for someone to rescue them. However, they are not actually alone on the island. They must find talents they didn't know they possessed in order to defend and rescue themselves. -- Added by Hope on 01/29/2013 Add Comment