Every Tuesday the staff at Demopolis Public Library meet and talk about the books we are reading, the audios we are listening to and the DVD's we are watching. It helps us with reader's advisory ( a service which involves suggesting fiction and nonfiction titles to a reader through direct or indirect means. This service is a fundamental
library service). We will post a list of our Tuesday Titles so you can enjoy the same books, DVD's and audios that we devour. You can also visit our OPAC (online public access catalog) for the list and know if the title is available or checked out.
http://demopolisal.booksys.net/opac/dpl/index.html#search:ExpertSearch?BookbagID=345
Addie Pray
by Joe David Brown
(Morgan's Pick)
Addie Pray starts out with "The say my mama, Miss Essie Mae Loggins, was the wildest girl in Marnego County, Alabama." It's about Addie, a 12- year- old girl who travels around the South with her "could- be" father Moses Pray. They do "business" together selling bibles and doing other cons. It takes place during The Great Depression. It was made into a movie called Paper Moon with Tatum O'Neal. It's a great read for people who like books set in the South!
American Gypsy
by Oksana Marafioti
(Morgan's Pick)
Fifteen-year-old Oksana Marafioti is a Gypsy. This means touring with the family band from the Mongolian deserts to the Siberian tundra. It means getting your hair cut in “the Lioness.” It also means enduring sneering racism from every segment of Soviet society. Her father is determined that his girls lead a better, freer life. In America! Also, he wants to play guitar with B. B. King. And cure cancer with his personal magnetism. All of this he confides to the woman at the American embassy, who inexplicably allows the family entry. Soon they are living on the sketchier side of Hollywood.
What little Oksana and her sister, Roxy, know of the United States they’ve learned from MTV, subcategory George Michael. It doesn’t quite prepare them for the challenges of immigration. Why are the glamorous Kraft Singles individually wrapped? Are the little soaps in the motels really free? How do you protect your nice new boyfriend from your opinionated father, who wants you to marry decently, within the clan?
In this affecting, hilarious memoir, Marafioti cracks open the secretive world of the Roma and brings the absurdities, miscommunications, and unpredictable victories of the immigrant experience to life. With unsentimentally perfect pitch,
American Gypsy reveals how Marafioti adjusted to her new life in America, one slice of processed cheese at a time.
"I read this book in 2 days and loved it. It's a young adult book, but adults will enjoy it also. I highly recommend this title."-Morgan
Covet
by Tracey Garvis Graves
(Sandy's Pick)
When Claire Canton’s husband, Chris, loses his job, he becomes distant and frustrated. It only gets worse when he lands a new job that feeds his workaholic tendencies and requires a lot of travel. Their two kids have a hard time adjusting, but Claire finds companionship in her graphic-design work, her neighborhood friends, and handsome police officer Daniel. What starts out as a Kansas City–set Desperate Housewives (rich neighbors living beyond their means, catty observations about an alcoholic mom) turns into a full-blown and emotional page-turner. Claire’s type 1 diabetes is deftly woven into the plot, and the kids are cute without being moppets. The fact that the novel reads like a very normal suburban story makes it highly accessible. Although it is Claire’s story, occasional chapters about Chris and Daniel make Claire’s dilemma more poignant. Chris is no villain, and you hope the couple can save their marriage. But Daniel is so handsome and so good for Claire. Graves also wrote the breakout hit, On the Island (2012).
The Four Doors: A Guide to Joy, Freedom, and a Meaningful Life
by Richard Paul Evans
(Sandy's Pick)
Evans believes that we all want to know the meaning of our lives. In
The Four Doors, he shows how even the most quiet life can be full of purpose and joy, if we choose to take that first step over the threshold.
OCD Love Story
by Corey Ann Haydu
(Kelley's Pick)
After the lights go out at the high-school dance, Bea discovers fellow-student Beck in the dark, and she talks him through his panic attack. The teens meet again in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) group therapy. Beck is a repeater and a germaphobe—textbook OCD. Initially, though, readers might question whether Bea needs intense therapy or if hers is a case of her parents’ paranoia about behavior. In her debut novel, Haydu gradually reveals Bea’s anxious perspective and obsessions through therapy sessions and her relationship with her best friend, Harvard-bound Lisha. Readers will easily accept what might, in the hands of a less skillful writer, seem like plot conveniences and connect with the well-drawn Bea and Beck. A compelling portrait of teen behavioral disorders and the struggle to overcome or, at the very least, balance them.
Wonder
by R.J. Palacio
(Kelley's Pick)
Wonder is a rare gem of a novel--beautifully written and populated by characters who linger in your memory and heart. August Pullman is a 10-year-old boy who likes Star Wars and Xbox, ordinary except for his jarring facial anomalies. Homeschooled all his life, August heads to public school for fifth grade and he is not the only one changed by the experience--something we learn about first-hand through the narratives of those who orbit his world. August’s internal dialogue and interactions with students and family ring true, and though remarkably courageous he comes across as a sweet, funny boy who wants the same things others want: friendship, understanding, and the freedom to be himself. It was Amazon's Best Book of the Month for Kids, Febuary 2012.
Living Buddha, Living Christ
by Nhat Hanh
(Connie's Pick)
Buddha and Christ, perhaps the two most pivotal figures in the history of humankind, each left behind a legacy of teachings and practices that have shaped the lives of billions of people over two millennia. If they were to meet on the road today, what would each think of the other's spiritual views and practices? In this classic text for spiritual seekers, Thich Nhat Hanh explores the crossroads of compassion and holiness at which the two traditions meet, and he reawakens our understanding of both.
Keeping Secrets and Telling Lies
by Trice Hickman
(Anner's Pick)
This story is a love triangle with Victoria, Ted, and Parker. Victoria was involved with Parker but Ted won her heart.
Victoria and Ted is a married inter-racial couple with a beautiful daughter, Alexandria. They went into marriage knowing that there would be challenges, but they feel that their love will conquer all obstacles that may come their way. Ted never thought that race would be an issue for his daughter, but time changes everything. His mother, Carolyn, dies and he is entrusted with her secret from the past. This secret changes everything that he has ever known or thought about his life.
Meanwhile, Parker comes back into Victoria's life. She is now torn about her feelings from the past for him and her love for Ted and their daughter. Parker is insisting that they rekindle what they had, but Victoria is trying to resist the temptation. Sometimes things are not as they seem, but once the truth is revealed, lives will never be the same again! Ted finds out that Parker is back and Victoria finds out Ted's secret.
They both told lies and kept secrets, but can their relationship survive?
His Third Wife
by Grace Octavia
(Anner's Pick)
Octavia returns to Atlanta and the characters in His First Wife (2008). The opening scene, in which Mayor Jamison falls to his death from a hotel rooftop, is only the first of many surprising revelations. Octavia flashes back to what led to this crisis, covering Jamison’s quick marriage to former assistant Val after her pregnancy is confirmed. When his college friend, Ras, is framed for drugs, Jamison senses a conspiracy. Jamison is also squeezed by a former girlfriend in L.A. who had his child. A growing numbers of enemies and their threats drive him to the top of the hotel. Now, after his death, his ex-wife, Kerry, is raising their son while fending off his evil mother. Val also encounters the dark side of Jamison’s mother and goes to Kerry’s shelter for women for help. What happens next and the person blamed will have readers anxious for the next book. Octavia skillfully adds dimension and hidden aspects to her characters while offering surprises aplenty in this highly charged tale of romantic suspense.
