Reviews

Staff Review

The Rise and Fall of The Clash (DVD)

By Danny Garcia
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Michelle H.
Apr 21, 2016

Danny Garcia begins following and filming The Clash after their manager, Bernie Rhodes, has lifted the band to the heights of commercial success. Rhodes is ferociously competitive, blinding him to the idea that there is no place for success as he imagines it for The Clash. They’re part of, and play to, an angry underclass. They’re searching for an authentic voice (and find it, early on). But by the 1980's they’ve become stadium rock, their image looks bought not made, Mick Jones quits listening, quits collaborating, and Joe Strummer has a crisis of conscience.

Staff Review

The Lake House

By Kate Morton

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Apr 20, 2016

Family secrets are kept well-hidden until a modern day detective uncovers clues to solve a 70 year-old mystery of a little boy’s disappearance. Alice Edevane is an introspective, long-time crime writer who crafts perfect stories for her readers.

Staff Review

Meet the Author: Steve Loe

By Steve Loe
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Chris K.
Apr 20, 2016

Of course Steve Loe has been able to put out two books in the past two years since all he does is write every day from dawn until dusk. Well, that and raise four kids. Oh, and he's also the principal of Shawnee Mission West High School. So where he finds the time we don't know, but he does. After years of perseverance, Loe published his first title last year and the second just followed.

Staff Review

The Red Notebook

By Antoine Laurain
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Sarah As
Apr 17, 2016

I read a good review of The Red Notebook on the Brit blog, We Love this Book and decided to give it a try. A Parisian woman, Laure, is mugged outside her apartment and her expensive leather bag is stolen. The assailant disposes of the bag in a nearby dumpster and it is found by a neighborhood bookseller, Laurent.

Staff Review

Grilled Cheese Kitchen: Bread + Cheese + Everything in Between

By Heidi Gibson
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Traci M.
Apr 16, 2016

How can you not pick this book up? Look at all that melty, cheesy goodness on the cover.

Heidi Gibson and Nate Pollak own and operate three locations of The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen in San Francisco. For those of us unable to make the trip to California, they have kindly shared recipes for some of their sandwiches, as well as soups, sides, and spreads. In addition to the recipes, the author provides tips on bread types, cheeses, equipment, and methods of cooking.

Staff Review

When Breath Becomes Air

By Paul Kalanithi
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Colleen O.
Apr 12, 2016

How do I begin discussing this book? It’s breathtaking, painful, haunting, and beautiful all at the same time. Paul Kalanithi attended Stanford and Yale to become a doctor trained in neurological surgery and neuroscience, all in the hopes of gaining an understanding of death, and choosing a much more difficult path to be able to treat the dying. As he’s just beginning his career and getting incredible job offers throughout the country, he is diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer at thirty-six years of age.

Staff Review

Black Rabbit Hall

By Eve Chase
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Catherine G.
Apr 8, 2016

The mansion, Black Rabbit Hall, at times feels like the main character of this story. It's a second home for the Alton family in Cornwall, England in the 1960's. It's much loved but crumbling; an aging home with wings and turrets and windows that seem to watch you while you're outside. Set near the water with its own private cliffs and beaches, it also has a path that leads into the woods and seems purposely designed to get you lost.  

Staff Review

Little Pretty Things

By Lori Rader-Day

Rated by Library Staff (not verified)
Apr 7, 2016

Imagine always being in second place - one step behind the same person over and over again. Juliet Townsend was that second place person to friend Madeleine Bell all throughout high school. They ran track together and Maddy was always the star while Juliet stood to the side. Ten years later, she is still second place to Maddy, although she doesn't realize it until Maddy comes waltzing into the Mid-Night Inn looking as beautiful and pristine as ever. Embarrassed, Juliet agrees to meet with her to talk through some issues from their past.

Staff Review

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

By Marie Kondo
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by Caitlin P
Apr 5, 2016

I cannot figure out why this book is such an overwhelming success. I am very torn in my opinion of Marie Condo’s “konmari” method to declutter one’s life, finding some of the teachings notable, but overall unnecessarily extreme and impractically harsh. The main theme of the book is to simplify by ridding oneself of everything that does not “spark joy.” By going through possessions item by item, the konmari method will strip away all unused, superfluous and sentimental items that serve no immediate, direct purpose.