Well, I didn’t quite get to all the books I said I would this summer. I have a tough time focusing on much more than swimming and boating when the weather is nice in Maine, but I did manage to finish a few titles. I asked the Library staff to send me their summer highlights as well.
Lisa Murray
“The Ocean at the End of the Lane” by Neil Gaiman
Gaiman is one of my favorite authors and I was very excited to see he had published a new adult novella. I enjoyed it but felt like it didn’t quite measure up to my favorites like “American Gods” and “Neverwhere.” Nonetheless I enjoyed immersing myself once again in Gaiman’s mix of reality and mythology. There really is not any author like him writing today!
Candy Emlen & Mary Ann Mead
A Land More Kind Than Home by Wily Cash
“Our Library has supported and promoted the Maine Choice Awards. I have read almost all of them and have loved everyone – for very different reasons. The book I read most recently over the summer was A Land More Kind Than Home by Wily Cash. It is his first novel, which is astonishing. It is beautifully written and the story unfolds at a delightful pace. You can feel the tension bubbling underneath and you hold your breath knowing it is about to burst. It isn’t a thriller in the traditional sense but it was a thrill to read. I was sorry when it was over; I hated to say good bye to the characters.” ~Candy
“My favorite book of the summer was A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash. An
amazing book – and his first. It’s gripping and touching and scary, all at the same
time. The title is kind of misleading as most of the story is not kind at all, but it
works wonderfully and the author does a great job of finishing the book well – something
that doesn’t always happen. I’m looking forward to his next book, This Dark Road to
Mercy. ~Mary Anne
Library Patrons
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
“Just love the sort of book that makes you want to read it in the bath tub, but you love it so much you worry about ruining it. The sort of book that when you accidentally leave it behind during your daughter’s hair appointment, you drive after dark to retrieve it rather than spend the night bereft without it. The sort of book where you forget to eat dinner & your husband rescues you with a grilled cheese sandwich at 10:30 at night so you can keep reading. The sort of book that in the morning on a work day keeps you in your pajamas on the couch forgetting to drink your coffee. A book that gets bonus points for using reading aloud as effective courtship technique. I think I’ll just be late to school today…Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. Didn’t think I’d like it at first. Love it when I’m wrong!”
From Amazon.com: “Fangirl is a coming-of-age novel that is smart, funny, and genuine. Fangirl takes place during Cather Avery’s first year of college, learning who she is when stripped down to just Cath–not the twins Cath & Wren and not Magicath, her fan fiction pen name.
Through all the changes, both difficult and thrilling, one part of her old life still makes as much sense in her dorm room as it did in her childhood bedroom–the Emergency Kanye Party. When the going gets tough in this story, the tough crank up Kanye West, sing out loud and dance until they feel better.”