June is Audiobook Month: Lived Experiences

June is Audiobook Month! To celebrate, borrow a Nonfiction audiobook from Carnegie-Stout Public Library's collection. Here are a few memoirs and biographies that you might enjoy:

All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung
Nicole Chung shares her story of growing up with her white adoptive family in Oregon and her journey to connect with her identity as a Korean American. This candid and moving memoir is narrated by Janet Song, an accomplished narrator and film actor.




The White Darkness by David Grann
David Grann is a journalist who has written several bestselling works of narrative nonfiction. The White Darkness tells the story of a 2015 solo-expedition retracing Shackleton’s Antarctic exploration by a descendant of the original expedition. The capable Will Patton narrates the audiobook in his recognizably gruff yet warm style.


American Like Me by America Ferrera
Actress America Ferrera is the editor of this candid and heartwarming collection of essays describing the immigrant experience from well-known individuals including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Issa Rae, Michelle Kwan, and Roxane Gay. The audiobook is narrated by America Ferrera, some of the essayists, and a few professional audiobook narrators.



A River in Darkness by Masaji Ishikawa
Ishikawa is the son of a Korean father and a Japanese mother, and in 1960, his family moved from Japan to a rural village in North Korea. After 36 years of hardship, he fled North Korea and faced the challenge of reintegrating in Japan. A candid, heartwrenching story, the audiobook is narrated by Brian Nishii with both clarity and passion.

Bingeworthy TV: Kim's Convenience

When I find something that makes me smile, I just want to share it with everyone. This means that I've told pretty much every friend and family member I have about how great Kim's Convenience is.

Kim's Convenience is a Canadian comedy series focused on the Kim family and the convenience store that they own and live above. And yes, it is based on a real Toronto convenience store that you can visit in real life (a possible road trip I have really considered).

Mr. and Mrs. Kim immigrated to Canada from South Korea and are often referred to by the Korean terms Appa (dad) and Umma/Eomma (mom). Janet, their youngest child, lives at home while attending art school and working part-time in the store. Jung, their oldest, left home as a teenager after clashing with his parents and the law. He's since turned his life around and works at a local car rental, but is still estranged from his father.

There's plenty of inter-generational and intercultural conflict and confusion to explore, and the series does so with care and humor. The series also allows its characters to grow and change from episode to episode, which gives an overall lighthearted show depth.

~Sarah, adult services

Staff Review: Educated by Tara Westover

I cannot recommend the memoir Educated by Tara Westover highly enough. It is captivating -- practically un-put-downable -- and very well written. That said, it is not an easy book to read and if you're like me you'll run the gamut of emotions, including anger and frustration.

Westover tells the story of her Idaho youth as the seventh and youngest child of ultra-fundamentalist, survivalist Mormons, who do not send her to school nor do they home-school her. They also choose not to obtain such documents as a birth certificate or Social Security card for her or to seek medical help for illnesses and accidents. This is because her father views the outside world -- the government, educators, the medical establishment, and so on -- as of the devil and about the devil's business.

In graceful prose, Westover paints a vivid picture of day-to-day life at the foot of Buck Peak. Day-to-day life, however, is filled with horrific accidents, car accidents and industrial accidents mostly, and these events and their aftermaths can be wrenching to witness as are the volatile instability of her father, the submissive blindness of her mother, and the descent into sadistic violence of one of her brothers. At times, my credulity was stretched almost beyond its limit (thanks, James Frey and other memoir fibbers) but in the end I believe this author is telling the truth.

I generally avoid memoirs of dysfunction but Westover's is actually a story of redemption, for she eventually breaks free of her parents (though she suffers horrible guilt and inner conflict in doing so), studies on her own, gets herself into college, and completes her education by nailing a Ph.D. at Cambridge in England. The wonders of this book, besides the prose, which is often incandescent, are Westover's evident love for her family, even after the estrangement, and the deep thoughtfulness with which she tells her story. Equally wonderful is Westover's strength of character, the inner compass or guiding light she possesses, which allows her to escape what struck me as a living nightmare but to Westover was the only life she knew.

~Ann, Adult Services

Bingeworthy TV: Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey has become the gold standard of period dramas. For many people, nothing will ever compare and though it ran for 6 series (we call them seasons on this side of the pond) and ended in 2015, Downton Abbey is still incredibly popular. Created by Julian Fellowes, Downton Abbey was co-produced by Carnival Films and Masterpiece. Episodes aired on ITV in the United Kingdom first and then after a series ended it aired on PBS in America.  

Why is Downton Abbey still so popular you may ask? There are many reasons: compelling characters and storylines, amazing scenery, amazing costumes, incredible writing...the list goes on. Downton Abbey follows the Crawley family, the hereditary Earls of Grantham, and their servants from the period between 1912 and 1925.

As part of the backstory, the main character, Robert, Earl of Grantham, had married an American heiress, Cora Levinson, to resolve past financial difficulties. Her considerable dowry was contractually incorporated into the comital entail in perpetuity. Basically that means that only a male heir can inherit the title and Cora's dowry can only be passed on to said male heir. The bad news is that Robert and Cora have 3 daughters and no sons. The oldest daughter, Mary, was to marry her second-cousin Patrick, second-in-line to the title. More bad news, the series starts with the Crawley family finding out that Patrick and his father James (first-in-line to the title) perished during an ill fated ocean voyage. Maybe you've heard of it? The ship was called the RMS Titanic.

(I wonder if Rose and Patrick were acquainted?)

For six seasons the lives of all those living at Downton Abbey are affected by historical events that took place during 1912 to 1925. Starting with the sinking of the Titanic, the Crawley's also experience the First World War, the Spanish influenza pandemic, and the Irish War of Independence, to name a few. Throughout all of this, we see the rise of the working class and the decline of the British Aristocracy. The Crawleys, and their servants, struggle to cope with the changing dynamics of the world around them.

The cast is truly amazing and, in my opinion, Maggie Smith shines the brightest as Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham. Her acerbic wit and one-line zingers often bring some much needed levity to some of the more dour storylines. Nobody does disapproving facial expressions like the Dowager Countess of Grantham. 

If you haven't watched Downton Abbey, sit down with a cup of tea and give it a try. It is truly a masterpiece (see what I did there?). If you have a yen to travel to England, the real Downton Abbey is called Highclere Castle located in North Hampshire, and was used for exterior shots and most of the interior filming. If you are already a fan and wish to read more about Downton Abbey, here is a handy list of books you can check-out from Carnegie-Stout.  

~Amy, Adult Services

Staff Review: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

My first review for this blog, back in 2015, was of Celeste Ng’s debut novel, Everything I Never Told You, which impressed me with its architecture and language but left me wishing for more sympathetic characters. In that review, I wrote: “Upon [a] tragic foundation, Celeste Ng builds an intricate structure of aftermath and backstory, deftly weaving characters and events . . .  into a tight and increasingly oppressive and dysfunctional framework."

Which is exactly what she does in her new novel, Little Fires Everywhere, although it’s all backstory this time. The novel opens with an expensive house burning to the ground. We then move into the past to see what led to the fire and, since it’s arson, whodunit. Ng is even more skillful this second time around. I found several characters more likable too if not fundamentally deeper. Ng’s work has a heavy cultural component so in the process of discovering who burned down the house, we grapple with thought-provoking subjects like social class, race, and adoption.

Little Fires Everywhere is set in the affluent Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, where a very comfortable and locally rooted family, the Richardsons, with several teenaged kids, rents out a small cottage to an artist and her 15-year-old daughter. The relatively free-spirited renters represent the very opposite of conventional, rooted, and rich; they live a Bohemian lifestyle and what they own fits into their old VW Rabbit. The relationships and interactions between the Richardsons and their unusual tenants make up the bulk of the story.

The plot is far from simple and includes compelling subplots too, featuring a custody battle and a deep, dark family secret, which makes this novel a real feat of engineering -- and a riveting read. It’s set in the 1990s and Ng, who was a teen through those years, nails the details of that decade, right down to the AltaVista search engine and the appalling Jerry Springer, that harbinger of so much cheesy reality TV to come.

I think it’s fair to say Ng is as much an architect as a writer. With her first two novels, I envision just as much time going into the planning as into the execution. Her plot strategy runs the risk of becoming formulaic, but for now it still seems a marvel.

 - Ann, Adult Services

Bingeworthy TV: Call the Midwife

Recently I've needed a gentle, upbeat escape in the evenings, so I started watching Call the Midwife. This historical drama about a team of young nurse midwives and Angelican nuns in the late 1950s takes its inspiration from the memoirs of Jennifer Worth. Worth served as a nurse midwife in an impoverished neighborhood in London's East End where she encountered both great hardships and a supportive community.

The characters do face enormous challenges. Pregnancy and childbirth still pose a medical danger to this day, but sixty years ago there were even more unknowns and fewer medical interventions possible. One of the most frequent tasks undertaken by the midwives in this program is to visit the homes of expectant mothers and ensure that the environment is suitable for giving birth. It's only in later seasons that hospital births become an option.

A good part of the optimism and good cheer of Call the Midwife comes from the fact that the characters are taking an active part in improving the health care for their patients. There are frequent reminders of just how much more grim things were a generation ago (even without taking the Blitz into consideration). New tools, new techniques, better hygiene, cutting edge medicines, and a talented and dedicated staff all work together to create a better chance for happy endings in each episode.

~Sarah, Adult Services

Staff Review: "In the Country We Love" by Diane Guerrero

You might recognize Diane Guerrero from Jane the Virgin or Orange is the New Black, but this isn't your typical celebrity memoir. Guerrero's In the Country We Love: My Family Divided is the story of a young woman who overcame the challenges in her life, challenges that sometimes seemed insurmountable, to achieve her dreams. Even if you don't watch much TV, I highly recommend you check out this emotional and inspiring memoir.

With the assistance of co-author Michelle Burford, Diane Guerrero shares how both her worst nightmare and her most impossible dreams came true. From her earliest memories, Guerrero dreamed of being a performer. A dream that seemed impossible for her as the American-born daughter of undocumented Colombian parents.

Guerrero's parents, like so many others, had arrived in the United States with valid visas and then simply stayed past their expiration date, hoping to avoid the notice of government officials. Her family moved from neighborhood to neighborhood in Boston and lived in apartments where landlords would take cash without asking questions. They worked long hours for little pay for employers who exploited their lack of legal protection.

Over the years, her parents tried to gain legal status, but in navigating this complicated and changing system, they fell prey to unscrupulous scam artists. Which is how, one day at the age of 14, Guerrero arrived home from school to discover that her parents had been picked up by immigration to be deported. Guerrero, a native-born U.S. citizen was not a target for ICE, nor did she receive any support from any other agency. From the government's perspective, she fell through the cracks, and she spent her high school years living with family friends.

Diane Guerrero's story is powerful and timely and provides a different perspective on the topic of immigration. If you are a fan of her work as an actor, don't worry! Later chapters do provide a behind the scenes look at her experience working for Netflix and in Hollywood.

~Sarah, Adult Services

Bingeworthy TV: Bob's Burgers

Even if you've never seen Bob's Burgers, you probably recognize Louise's pink bunny hat. In fact, the entire Belcher family has been one of the more popular group-costume options in recent years. This is a cartoon with a wider appeal than most due in large part to the great family dynamic at its heart. Though the humor ranges from silly to adult, Bob's Burgers is an overall bright and optimistic show.

I haven't seen every episode of this series, and the episodes that I have watched were almost entirely out of order. This isn't a long-running plot show, but rather a traditional sitcom where no matter how crazy things get, everything returns to almost normal by the end of the episode. So if the Belchers's restaurant is horribly damaged in one episode, everything will be fine by the next. While new viewers aren't punished for jumping in wherever, there are rewards for loyal viewers. You'll discover running jokes and recurring characters who gradually build depth and personality beyond a single gag, .

While I enjoy the visual humor and quick wit, the use of music and original songs are probably my favorite element. In fact, I started watching after a co-worker played a song about Thomas Edison electrocuting an elephant. Not only is it a catchy song, it's hilarious in context. (The song below is an official cover animated in the style of the show.)


~Sarah, Adult Services

Staff Review: Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory

Spoonbenders, by Daryl Gregory made me laugh more than any other book I've read lately. Gregory’s story about the Amazing Telemachus family has clever dialog and plot, interesting characters, a tight-knit riotous family, and suspense. All these varying elements come together in a cohesive and enjoyable read.

In the '60s, the Telemachus family were on the verge of stardom with their psychic act. Telekinesis, telepathy, time traveling, lie-detecting, astral-projection – each person had their own specialty. Their glimmer of fame was abruptly doused after being discredited on national television by their soon-to-be nemesis Archibald. Fast forward to the '90s – the family are leading an average existence of working small jobs and supporting the next generation. Two of the three psychic children from the '60s now have children of their own. Hormonally charged 14-year-old Matty is beginning to find out who his family was as he stumbles upon his own power. His single mother Irene is working at ALDI to support the family and flirting with the idea of love in the age of dial-up Internet and chat rooms. Buddy has withdrawn into himself and behaves erratically. Frankie is scheming to get money he owes the mob. Maureen is communicating beyond the grave with letters she left the family to open at specific intervals. Teddy is associating with a CIA agent from his past. 

The novel goes back and forth between the decades of the '60s and the '90s. In the '60s, the family’s origins are explained as Teddy the patriarch meets his wife-to-be, Maureen, at a CIA-sponsored psychic-screening test. The seeds for later developments get planted as well. In the '90s, we get the drama and humor that goes along with the next generation (Teddy and Maureen’s three kids) trying to make sense of their present and reconcile their past. 

All the characters are fully realized and likable. I found myself especially drawn to Frankie. Although he puts the family in danger, he’s a lovable misfit with an optimistic outlook. His short fuse and funny lines are frequently the cause of comic relief. 

Gregory’s novel has a lot going for it. There’s a bit of nostalgia for millennials, and to a lesser extent, a bit for baby-boomers. There’s enough suspense to make it a page-turner with humor to keep you grinning throughout. The writing is intelligent and the characters quirky. Those who might be leery of the science fiction themes can rest assured that the psychic element is more of a backdrop in this family drama. The powers often prove more of a burden than a gift. Spoonbenders offers a bit of escapism as well as an affirmation of the bonds of family, no matter how disorderly.  

~Ben, Adult Services

Staff Review: "The Day I Died" by Lori Rader-Day

If you were one of the lucky folks who got to meet award-winning mystery author Lori Rader-Day when she visited Carnegie-Stout Public Library back in May, you already know about her most recent book, The Day I Died. A compelling novel of psychological suspense with a Midwestern setting, this novel is a great summer read for anyone on the waiting list for the latest books by Paula Hawkins, Mary Kubica, and Heather Gudenkauf.

The Day I Died starts a bit slow as our narrator and main character, Anna Winger, is not very forthcoming with the personal details. Anna and her 13-year-old son are recent arrivals to the small, rural town of Parks, Indiana, and it's quickly obvious that Anna has spent most of her adult life (literally) running from a dark and abusive past. She makes a living as a handwriting analyst helping the FBI and law enforcement in their investigations, the HR departments of large companies, and people who have questions about prospective romantic partners.

Anna's precarious balance begins to topple when she's asked to consult on a missing persons case for the Sheriff's department of Parks. A very young boy has disappeared along with his mother, a likely victim of domestic abuse. A scenario far too familiar for Anna, who is also feeling pressure from Josh, her barely teenage son. Josh resents their constant moving and has questions about their lack of family.

Mild spoiler to follow. As a native Wisconsinite who has spent some time in the North Woods, I enjoyed how real Anna's fictional hometown of Sweetheart Lake felt.

~Sarah, Adult Services

#ComicsWednesday: Princeless Vol. 1 Save Yourself by Jeremy Whitley & M. Goodwin

A princess, locked in a tower, guarded by a dragon, waiting for a prince to save her so she can marry him and they can live Happily Ever After. It's a familiar story, which is why it is such a delight when Princeless by Jeremy Whitley and M. Goodwin turns the trope on its head.

Princess Adrienne is sick of waiting for a knight to come rescue her. In fact, she never wanted to be rescued in the first place. In an attempt to get their daughters married off, her father has locked up Adrienne and all of her sisters in different prisons around the land. Guarded by fearsome beasts and tricky riddles, this will make sure that they are only rescued by someone strong enough to rule.

After berating a knight who attempts to rescue her, Adrienne finds a sword hidden in her tower. She decides to make an escape, and flies off on Sparky, the dragon who guarded her tower. Adrienne sets off to rescue her sisters on her own.

Adrienne has a few misadventures before she gets to her sisters, and she picks up help along the way. When she needs armor, she runs into Bedelia Smith, a half-dwarf blacksmith. (Their
hilarious discussion about the practicality of armor for women has been distributed in geek circles for a few years now.) Once Adrienne's father finds out she is missing, and that the "knight" responsible probably killed her, he sends the most vicious bounty hunters in the kingdom after her.

Princeless is a great all-ages comic. It's perfect for parents and kids to read together. Adrienne and Bedelia are funny, and are great role models for young kids. It explores gender roles in a fun and accessible way that is sure to spark conversations about why there are "girl things" and "boy things." Most of all, you will cheer for Adrienne as she makes her way to each sister and finds out that nothing is as clear as it seems.

- Libby, Youth Services

Staff Audiobook Review: The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard

I don't know why it has taken me almost twenty years to notice the essay collection The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard and read (or, rather, listen to) it. First published in 1998 to a loud chorus of high praise, the book led to Beard's being awarded both a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Whiting Award.

The collection constitutes a patchwork memoir. At the time of its publication, it drew most attention for one piece, previously published in the The New Yorker. That essay, "The Fourth State of Matter," is a meticulous and heartbreaking narrative of the 1991 mass shooting at the University of Iowa by a disturbed physics graduate student, which claimed six lives, including the shooter's, and left another victim paralyzed from the neck down. The narrative of that horrific event is woven into finely-grained depictions of the author's own domestic woes: a dying dog and dissolving marriage. It makes for a poignant weave that in no way diminishes the relative magnitude of the shooting.

Jo Ann Beard, a graduate of the University of Iowa and of Iowa's MFA writing program, was an editor of the physics department's academic journal at the time of the shootings and very close to several of the victims. She had left the office early that day to tend to her old, ailing pet. At home, her phone soon began ringing off the hook. In her essay, which, like all the essays in the book, is precisely detailed, wryly but not inappropriately funny, and strikingly well-written, Beard conjures the tragedy in such a vividly authentic way that I listened, heart in throat, grieved for the victims, and glimpsed the scale of the incident's extensive collateral damage.

Other essays breathe life into Beard's early childhood, adolescence, high school and college beaus, and her ultimately failed marriage. She presents her life in a non-linear way, each essay forming its own discrete story. Beard is a master of the exquisite detail and one has to wonder at her powers of recollection and suspect some poetic license in the telling. Usually I'm pretty particular about strict truth in the memoirs I read, but this book is so artfully written and profoundly affecting that I was willing to park my skepticism at the door.

Her masterful handling of a seemingly infinite number of precise details results in one stunning piece after another. Her mother, especially, is finely-wrought and we see exactly where Beard gets her cleverness and wry humor, which are powerful mechanisms in a book that depicts so much dysfunction, disorder, death, and divorce. As I listened, my heart's pangs were frequently accompanied by my laughter. I've rarely experienced such a seamless blend of humor and sorrow.

The author reads this audiobook and does a serviceable job. She sounds a little hypnotized, but she has written a hypnotic book so maybe it's fitting. And her deadpan delivery of very funny material only accentuates the humor. Jo Ann Beard is one sharp woman and I highly recommend this audiobook.

~Ann, Adult Services 

One of the Best Books I Read in 2015: The Art of Crash Landing by Melissa DeCarlo

The Art of Crash Landing by Melissa DeCarlo may not have been the most well written book I've read in 2015, but its one that I really enjoyed.

Mattie is the kind of girl that when given two choices will always make the wrong one.  She is smart and mostly likable but has a lot of baggage in her life that she just can't seem to lose. She never knew her father and her mother drowned her own disappointments in alcohol before she died.

The story opens with a pregnant Mattie breaking up with her loser boyfriend and packing all of her belongings (six garbage bags full) into her beat-up car and heading out to her mother's home town in Oklahoma.  She has just found out that her grandmother has left her an inheritance so she is hoping this will be the answer to a new start for her.  Upon arriving in Gandy, OK, Mattie discovers that she will not be inheriting as much as she had hoped for.  Like a true survivor she manages to lie and manipulate the people of the town who knew her mother and grandmother into helping her, or at least tolerating her.

Mattie soon discovers that her mother was much more than the person she became.  There is a mystery in town about why this golden girl suddenly packed up and left town over 30 years ago.  The deeper Mattie digs, the less clear things become.  Along the way you meet an interesting cast of characters who all have problems of their own and know more than they are willing to share.

There are some very poignant moments in this book and some laugh out loud moments too.  Mattie is very self-deprecating and funny and very aware of her lack of good judgement.  With every failure to do the right thing comes another promise to herself that she's going to get her life figured out.  I found myself caring about and cheering on this messed up young woman, waiting for her to ultimately grow up.

~Michelle, Circulation

Staff Review: The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman

Ouch! This book hurts. It’s also dazzlingly beautiful, but the more you succumb to the beauty of the prose and of the remote island setting where the story unfolds, the more the plot rips your heart out. At least this was my experience.

But let me back up. The Light Between Oceans is a 2012 debut novel by Australian author M. L. Stedman. Many people read it; most loved it (approximately 156,000 reviews on GoodReads at last count). Then, DreamWorks acquired the film rights and a movie was made, starring Michael Fassbender and Rachel Weisz among others. The movie’s set for release in 2016. I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle the story again.

The main characters are Tom Sherbourn, a stalwart and upstanding but emotionally ravaged young World War I vet, and his free-spirited, newlywed wife, Isabel, who set up house (or lighthouse, to be precise) on isolated Janus Rock off the west coast of Australia, where Tom has signed on as light-keeper.

The book’s opening chapters are idyllic. Janus is the perfect place for these starry-eyed lovers to hole up and for Tom to heal. They both love the sea, the solitude, the silence. Some of the novel’s most gorgeous passages capture the fluctuating water, altering sky, and shifting light. But Isabel yearns for a baby. Over several years she suffers two miscarriages and an agonizing stillbirth.

Then one day a small boat washes up on the island’s remote side, carrying a dead body and a tiny living infant. Tom’s position requires that he record and report every happening on Janus Rock, but, very reluctantly, he allows Isabel to persuade him that the infant is now likely an orphan and might just be a gift bestowed by the universe after all the heartbreak they’ve suffered in their attempts to make a child. So, Tom buries the dead man and sets the boat adrift while Isabel begins caring for the infant, who instantly wins their hearts and completes their family.

The chapters that follow continue the idyll: Tom, Isabel, and Baby Lucy compose a near-perfect happy family who thrive in their exquisite life on Janus Rock. Only Tom suffers pangs of conscience -- over what he has allowed to take place, what he has omitted from his reports, an omission that could end his light-keeping career and lead to formal charges. And indeed Tom’s misgivings bear fruit. The idyll ends and the pain begins.

The moral of the story (and this is quite courageous on the author’s part) seems to be that we inhabit a moral universe, the truth will out, and wrong acts will have their full repercussions. Stedman unfolds the rippling consequences of the Sherbourns’ wrong act in a slow and meticulous way that is absolutely wrenching for the reader, who watches in horror as the family on Janus Rock is slowly ripped asunder. Sure, justice is ultimately served – and I’m 100% for justice – but in this instance I’m afraid I was rooting for the wrong: for Tom, Isabel, and stolen Baby Lucy in their island paradise rimmed by dolphins and whales.

~Ann, Adult Services

Staff Review: Homespun Mom Comes Unraveled by Shannon Hayes

If you're looking for a quick, uplifting read with a little more substance than your usual summer flicks, I have a recommendation for you! Homespun Mom Comes Unraveled is a heartwarming and thought-provoking collection of essays from self-proclaimed radical homemaker Shannon Hayes. I was particularly enthused to read this new publication of hers after finishing Radical Homemakers, Hayes' thesis in which she explores the lives of communities and individuals living and thriving on extremely low incomes. Hayes and her family follow this lifestyle as well: they grow and produce as much of their own food as they can, they give homemade gifts, use home remedies for most of their healthcare, and play their own music for entertainment.

Hayes shies away from nothing in Homespun Mom, covering topics ranging from neighborhood drama, to trying to make a living at farmers market every Saturday, to sex education for her home-schooled daughters. While these subjects may seem mundane or irrelevant in our fast-paced world, Hayes' humor and poignancy leave readers with no doubt that the struggles she faces every day are ones we can all relate to. Her family's dedication to living simply is a breath of fresh air in our culture so overwhelmed with flashy technologies that seem to change every time we blink.

Their lives are not, however, boring in the least. The stories Hayes tells are of a raucous, joyful, and complex young family who work hard to juggle the projects they've taken on, and whose lives are filled with love, meaning and adventure. Their everyday routines may indeed be radical to many readers, but Hayes has me convinced that a home made in this way is the most vibrant and fulfilling home possible.

~Rachel, Circulation

Staff Review: How to Start a Fire by Lisa Lutz

A lot was riding on how I felt about How to Start a Fire by Lisa Lutz. Lutz is one of my favorite authors and wrote my favorite series ever, The Spellman Books, which follows a family of private investigators who investigate each other about as much as they investigate suspects. She wrote that series' final book, The Last Word, in 2013 and I was sad that it was all over. So sad, I actually wrote a sonnet.

Shall I compare thee to another series?

Thou art more beloved by me than most books.

Why this is so I have several theories

And forever in me you have your hooks.

Thou art far more witty and have more heart

Than so many books before you I've read.

You are wacky, wonderful, you are smart.

Reaching the end of you I do so dread.

Lisa Lutz, your author, is wise, 'tis true.

Relationships and family struggles,

Love, grief, regret, hilarity make you

Enthralling for some books full of Muggles.

You are dear to me, Spellman family.

Devoted to you, I will always be.

Clearly, I was broken-hearted. 

I knew Lutz hadn't retired from writing and that her new book would come out eventually, but I was so enamored with the Spellmans that I was nervous about reading it. What if the characters weren't as charming and real as the Spellmans? What if I didn't like it and all I would have left of my Lutz love were books I'd already read and no expectation of future happiness? (I can be very dramatic when it comes to my books.)

After reading the Spellman Books, I knew Lutz's voice very well and as I read the first page of How to Start a Fire, my fears disappeared. This story follows three women, Anna, Kate, and George, for twenty years, starting from their meeting in college. In the hands of another author, I might not have wanted to read this book. A tale of friendship that includes marriages, divorces, affairs, addictions, and a big secret that changes the characters' lives seems all too familiar, but Lutz's sharp, accurate, and darkly funny writing make Anna, Kate, and George stand out when they could have been boring stereotypes.

Look at these three snippets. A lesser author could have made these simple and dull, but Lutz's writing makes them crackle.

Anna understood the customs of these events: a polite question was asked, and a polite answer was provided. She also knew that honesty was often the most direct path to ending a conversation. 

"Do you have a name?" he asked."Doesn't everyone?" she said.
"I'm not asking for your phone number or even a last name. Just give me something to call you," he said.
"I'm Kate," Anna said.
She smiled at her little joke. Miles thought the smile was for him. She had done this before, given Kate's name. She did it because she was doing something Kate would never do.
"A pleasure meeting you, Kate."
"Is it?

"She's incapable of having a normal conversation. I asked if she had any brothers or sisters. She said, 'Yes.' That's all. I asked her what she did for fun. She said, 'Not work.' I asked her what she'd done before coming to Blackman and Blackman, and she said, 'Something completely different.' I even made the mistake of inquiring about the scar on her forehead. It's not like she tries to hide it or anything. Told me she got it in a prison knife fight. Sometimes her only response to a question is 'I don't plan to answer that.'"

The heart, wit, and realness of the characters in her previous books are present in her latest. I no longer have the Spellman family to follow, but because they were a part of Lutz's imagination and immense talent, I haven't really lost anything; I've gained the anticipation of anything she writes. After reading How to Start a Fire, I will no longer fear to read anything new by her.

~Aisha, Adult Services

The Spellman Books

Other books by Lisa Lutz

Heads You Lose, co-written with David Hayward

A brother and sister pot-growing team finds the headless corpse of the sister's ex-fiancé on their property and must figure out why and how to get rid of it. Repeatedly, because after they move the body, it shows up again. Lutz and Hayward agreed to write alternating chapters without discussing what they were working on and would not undo plot written by the other. At the end of each chapter are notes written from Lutz to Hayward and Hayward to Lutz. This adds even more humor and suspense to an already funny mystery.

How to Negotiate Everything written by David Spellman with Lisa Lutz and illustrated by Jamie Temairik

In Trail of the Spellmans, David Spellman writes a book for his younger sister, teaching her how to negotiate. This is the fully realized version of that book.