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Image of the book cover for My Dear Hamilton

Our Books Show & Tell group met a couple of weeks ago and discussed what we’ve been reading this spring. This is a free for all discussion and it’s a great way to get new title suggestions to add to your list. Members also bring copies of their favorite books,or articles about books and authors they have read recently, or share websites about the reading life that they enjoy. It’s an hour of talking about books and what could be more fun? Here is the list from some staff and some patrons…everyone is welcome to join this group!

Carol has been reading…

Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks.

            Yes, THE Tom Hanks. He has written a book of short essays and it got great reviews when it came out. Carol listened to the book and Mr. Hanks himself was the reader. She said he did a great job.

My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie

            A fiction version of Eliza Hamilton’s life with her husband Alexander. With the musical Hamilton taking the country by storm this novel seems timely and Carol’s enthusiasm for it resulted in most of us adding it to our list.

Becoming by Michelle Obama

            Another book that has had a record number of holds in our system. Carol listened to this book too and Ms. Obama was the reader and did a great job. The book chronicles the author’s life growing up in a middle class family on the south side of Chicago, getting scholarships to attend Princeton and Harvard and meeting a future president of the United States.

 I Eliza Hamilton by Susan Halloway Scott

  Another novel about Eliza Hamilton – this one more in the romance genre and indeed the Hamilton’s appear to have had quite the romance

Judy has been reading…

 Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult

  Another page turner by the popular writer Picoult who takes on today’s complex issues and fleshes them out in fiction. This one deals with same sex couples and custody of embryos and along the way explores all complicated feelings that bubble to the surface.

Fran has been reading…

Wallis in Love: the untold life of the Duchess of Windsor, the woman who changed the Monarchy by Andrew Morton

  A nonfiction (but coming from Morton probably a little gossipy too) account of Wallis Simpson and her relationship and marriage to the former King of England. Contrary to popular myth that theirs was a relationship so tuned to love that the King abdicated for her, Morton tells a story of an unhappy liaison but one that persisted nonetheless.

Mary has been reading…

Presidents of War by Michael Beschloss

  An eminent historian covers the “war presidents” in rich detail. Mary reports the book covers the reasons each president covered in the book decides to wage war in engaging detail.

Hawthorn in Concord by Philp McFarland

  A well-crafted tribute to the noted author and his life in Concord where he spent some of the best years of his writing life.

Mary: A Flesh and Blood Biography of the Virgin Mother by Lesley Hazleton

 ; This biography brings the saint and mother of Jesus to life in a sensitive historical portrait of her life.

Ellen has been reading…

The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner

  A novel about a young woman who lives life on the edge in 1980s San Francisco only to end up in prison serving a life sentence for killing her stalker. Prison life is described in rich detail as are some of the denizens the main character spends her life with.

Becoming by Michelle Obama

            The book version includes many photographs to accompany the amazing story of Michelle Obama.

Spinning by Tillie Wilden

            A book in comics form about the author’s growing up years in the ice skating circuit. Tillie was never going to be an Olympic skater but for years she applied discipline to her practices and competitions and basically did it on her own. While she never outright condemns her parents for their lack of interest, their absence is obvious and painful.

The Unwinding of the Miracle: a memoir of life, death and everything that comes after by Julie Yip-Williams

            The author was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer at 42. She begins writing a blog to record her medical journey and her life – one that includes almost being put to death as an infant and being part of the “boat people” exodus from Viet Nam when she was very young. The book begins “if you’re reading this that means I am gone”.

     

If any of these titles look interesting to you, click on the link to go to infosoup.org where you can place a hold on them using your account. Or, you can call us to do it for you if that works better for you.

Books Show & Tell meets every other month on the 1st Wednesday of the month at 4pm. The next one will be July 3rd.