Chris Harris is the author of the New York Times bestselling I'm Just No Good at Rhyming: and Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups. This impressive debut of children's poetry has been making the rounds here at Cook Library and quickly become a staff favorite, provoking unhealthy amounts of laugh out loud moments. We…
“Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast. To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.” From The Mourning Bride by William Congreve William Congreve’s proverb is put to the test in Rachel Joyce’s marvelous new book, The Music Shop. Her kind but peculiar protagonist Frank believes that the right tunes can be an…
Some books stay with you long after you’ve finished reading them. An American Marriage was one of those books for me. I read it with a lump in my throat, feeling deeply for the characters, all of whom are African American and caught in an impossible situation. Here’s the plot: Celestial and Roy are relative…
As we’ve discussed before, I do not like scary things. I do not like horror movies, zombies, vampires, werewolves, or monsters. I do not like haunted houses. I do not like fish, unless the fish in question is being served to me, preferably with some wasabi and pickled ginger. How, then, I ended up reading…
In December Erica set some reading resolutions for herself, which you can read about in her blog post. We thought we would check in with Erica and get some tips on those resolutions, get some good reading recommendations and get some tips on another common reading resolution - reading more books (she read 150 last…
Looking for the perfect winter escape? How about a crazy good psychological thriller that isn’t violent but super creepy? The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn is a buzz worthy page turner filled with twist and turns that will keep you reading well into the night. Child psychologist Dr. Anna Fox, recently separated from…
I am convinced that oatmeal raisin cookies have magical healing powers. No matter what ill befalls me, a nice cup of tea and a plateful of freshly baked oatmeal raisin cookies can be counted on to set things right, including headaches, fevers, and parenting-induced hypertension. While the medical community has yet to weigh in on…
Sometimes I end up reading books that are unexpectedly timely. Case in point: The Widows of Malabar Hill. I picked it up for the mystery, the exotic setting and the historical time period (India 1916-21), but I ended up really appreciating its relevance to current women's issues. Watching the Golden Globes on Sunday night, I was reminded of the strong, intelligent main…
At first I wanted to read this book because it's by Tom Hanks and he's one of my favorite actors. But I kept putting it off because it's short stories and I really don't read short stories. I try to be open-minded but short stories ask a lot of me. emotionally and psychologically. I invest…
What was the top reviewed fiction of the year? To find out, I looked at the best lists from Publishers Weekly, the Library Journal and School Library Journal, the American Library Association, Kirkus, The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times, Booklist, BookPage, NPR, Amazon and Barnes&Noble. I included titles that made at…
