Reviews

Staff Review

The Lady's Command

By Stephanie Laurens
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Traci M.
Mar 18, 2016

I have been a fan of Stephanie Laurens ever since I picked up Devil's Bride, the start of her her long, long running Cynster series. While I enjoy following that series, after book 23, it's nice to be able to take a break. The heroine of The Lady's Command is Lady Edwina Delbraith.

Staff Review

365 Vegan Smoothies: Boost Your Health With a Rainbow of Fruits and Veggies

By Kathy Patalsky
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Megan C.
Mar 16, 2016

You don’t have to be vegan to love the smoothies in this book. I’m not a vegan myself, but I turned to 365 Vegan Smoothies because it looked like it would offer a range of healthy recipes to help you consume a variety of fruits and vegetables. I was not disappointed! With 365 recipes, you will find something to meet your nutritional needs and individual tastes.

Teen Review

The Whisper

By Aaron Starmer
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Chris K.
Mar 14, 2016

This series. Wow. So different and unexpected than most everything else out there. And this second book that is so unexpectedly different than the first, that reframes and deepens and changes The Riverman as it expands that book's universe exponentially.

Staff Review

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

By Edwin E. Catmull
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Cheryl M.
Mar 14, 2016

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration by Edwin E. Catmull  is a book about creativity but also about leadership from Catmull's perspective. He is the president of Disney Studios and the co-founder and president of Pixar Animation Studios.

Staff Review

Bad Feminist

By Roxane Gay
Star Rating
★★★★★

Rated by Jo F.
Mar 12, 2016

Immediately after finishing the downloadable audiobook of Bad Feminist, crisply narrated by the inestimable Bahni Turpin, I placed the print book on hold. There are just too many interesting, important and often hilarious moments to absorb in one go.

Staff Review

Necessary Lies

By Diane Chamberlain
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Jackie M.
Mar 11, 2016

Set in Grace County, North Carolina in 1960, Necessary Lies parallels the lives of Jane Forrester and Ivy Hart. At first glance, fifteen-year-old tobacco-farm worker Ivy appears to live in a completely different world than Jane, a newlywed married to a doctor, but both struggle for control over their lives. Ivy is the glue that holds her family together since her father died.

Teen Review

Feed

By M.T. Anderson
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Diane H.
Mar 10, 2016

Feed reminded me of the people in WALL-E who spent their lives sitting on mobile chairs, having all their needs taken care of. Of course, the people in Feed do walk around, and they’re on earth (mostly) not on a spaceship. Still, the inability, or at least the disinclination, to think for oneself, is the same.

Staff Review

Amy (DVD)

By Asif Kapadia
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Michelle H.
Mar 9, 2016

Any film about a musician who tragically dies early is bound to be sad, but nobody’s story is only sad. Filmmaker Asif Kapadia weaves together testimonials and footage, creating a documentary that ultimately supports not only Amy Winehouse’s music but also her unique swagger.

Teen Review

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things

By Carolyn Mackler
Star Rating
★★★

Rated by Becky C.
Mar 9, 2016

Good, but not great. Published thirteen years ago, it doesn't quite hold up today. Ginny is unbelievably pathetic throughout most of the story, and only toward the Hollywood-like ending does she-surprise-develop some confidence. Normally I love pathetic people because I can relate to their insecurity, but Ginny's character is a tad too two-dimensional, not a fully fleshed out character worthy of my concern.

Staff Review

The Boston Girl

By Anita Diamant
Star Rating
★★★★

Rated by Caitlin P
Mar 8, 2016

The Boston Girl is a classic tale of a first generation American woman in the early 1900s trying to start a better life. Addie Baum, an ambitious and likeable Jewish woman now in her eighties, tells the story of her youth to her twenty-two year old granddaughter. Her misadventures in a world unimaginable to her family are touching and amusing, though a little too familiar. At its core, this is a historically based coming of age novel intended for adults about the search for knowledge, love and self.