More than Books! all posts »

Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy is a well-written and lively book about the writing and publication of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. Read more

Barb is part of a group of friends with artistic inclinations, several working professionally in the arts, all with the quirkiness that is so often linked with creative types. But soon we learn that this isn’t ordinary quirkiness. The Unfortunate Importance of Beauty is a strange, funny, wildly creative novel full of allegory and social criticism. Read more

In 1940 London, Emmeline Lake and her best friend Bunty are working and volunteering for the war effort and surviving the almost nightly bombing attacks on the city. Emmy has dreamed of becoming a war correspondent, so when she sees an ad in the paper for a journalist position she immediately applies and is hired. However, the job is not what she was expecting - at all. Read more

Bring Me Back is the new book by B.A. Paris. Having read the two previous books by this author, I was looking forward to this new book. Read more

Oh, Abbi Waxman, I'd love to have you as my neighbor, especially since I really don't know many of mine! Other People’s Houses is the second book I've read by this author and it was written with the same truthful, snarky (maybe even snarkier?) observations of life. Read more

Dot Braden was an overworked teacher in Virginia, left to teach too many classes when male teachers were recruited to fight in World War II and female teachers rushed to the altar before their fiancés were shipped overseas. Ruth Weston struggled to get a teaching job in Mississippi despite being a whiz at math. Margaret Gilman was one of only 4% of American women to have completed a college degree in the 1940s, but wondered how to get a job in her field. When all these women heard about jobs in and near Washington D.C., working for the war effort, they jumped at the chance - despite having no idea what kind of work they would be doing because the recruiters weren’t allowed to tell them. Read more

First published as Painfully Rich, John Pearson’s "All The Money In The World" is the story of J. Paul Getty, now a major motion picture for which Christopher Plummer was nominated for best supporting actor. Love movies? Don't miss our movie program, Talking Movies, May 2 at the Chandler Downtown Library. Read more

A patient with recurrent rotator-cuff tendinitis visits three doctors who dismiss his increased swelling and fever as nothing more than inflammation and flu - until a fourth diagnoses cancer. What makes the difference? According to Ronald Epstein, a practicing family physician and some-time student of Zen, it’s mindfulness. Read more

Lisa Genova's books need to come with a thick stack of tissues because you know you're going to cry! In Every Note Played, Richard is a classical concert pianist who seems to think very well of himself. He's divorced his wife and hasn't spoken with his daughter in year. And then he gets ALS. Read more

I had been in reading slump for a month or so, not finding a book that would grab me and keep me interested. All the Beautiful Lies is the one that yanked me out of my slump and gave me whiplash with all of its twist and turns, intensifying with each chapter. Read more