Posted by Candice on Saturday, Aug 2, 2014
Summer is usually a time where I go through many books, at a fairly quick pace, because I'm doing other things that go well with reading...lying on a beach, relaxing in the air conditioning, sitting on a bench downtown having a cold drink--you get the idea. It's the time of year where I can be reading several books at once; a book I read on my lunch break, a book by my bedside, one in the beachbag, one in my purse. This summer is no different, except that I didn't finish most of the books I started. I have no good excuse. I promise that I WILL go back and finish them.
The one book I did read in its entirety is Laura McHugh's The Weight of Blood. This book has two mysteries confronting main character Lucy--the disappearance of her mother when Lucy was just a baby, and the very recent murder and dismembering of her friend. The book is richly atmospheric, with a slightly dark and menacing flavor to it; it's set in small town Missouri, an area that is only hours away from us geographically, but manages to seem worlds away in how life is lived there. Small town, long memories, big secrets. The characters are unique and in some cases a bit odd, and are well-drawn and feel somewhat familiar to anyone who's lived in a small or close-knit community. Without giving away too much, the book also has at its center a very modern and urban-feeling crime, in marked to contrast to its setting, which makes seem even more sinister by way of encroachment.
In full disclosure, the books I didn't finish (yet):
A Dark and Twisted Tide by S.J. Bolton (I came so close to finishing this!)
I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman (beachbook--waiting to go back to the beach)
Love You More by Lisa Gardner (about halfway done)
A Song For the Dying by Stuart MacBride (didn't even crack it open)
About the Author
I work at the Info Desk on the second floor, and I select books for the adult nonfiction collection. I have a degree in anthropology, which really helps in selecting...well...almost anything. I also manage the Art To Go collection of framed prints and original art, and the nonfiction DVDs.
What do you like to read?
In no particular order:... more
Elaine Sciolino's book is a lovely paean to the Rue des Martrys, a street that runs north-south through the 9th arrondisement of Paris, and into the village of Montmartre. She chronicles the lives and activities of the storefronts and shopkeepers who live and work there, as well as the life and changing nature of the street itself. The assortment of shops--many of them providing fresh foods and personal services--help to create a sense of community among the residents that seems uniquely Parisian, and possibly of a bygone era. -Candice