FDL Reads: The Girl Who Takes and Eye for an Eye
The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz
Reviewed by: Becky Houghton, Reference Assistant
Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Age Group: Mature Teen, Adult
What is this book about? With this book Langercrantz continues the Millennium Series written by Stieg Larson which began with the well-known book The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and other titles. As this new book begins, Lisbeth Salander, noted hacker and seeker of justice, is serving a prison sentence in Flodberga prison where a fellow prisoner Faria Kazi is being abused and mistreated by the leader of a prison gang. As a result of protecting Faria, the gang leader issues a death sentence for Salander which follows her even once she is released from prison. Lisbeth is also seeking to uncover secrets from her traumatic childhood with the help of her former guardian, Holgar Palmgren and the noted journalist, Mikael Blomkvist. Once she is released, both these story lines combine to make for an action filled and fast-moving tale with many twists and turns.
My review: I enjoy this series of books despite my difficulty with the Swedish names for characters and locations. The book lived up to my expectation that the story would be exciting and full of intrigue. I enjoy the complexity in plot that all the books in this series have. The story is fast-paced, taking place in only a week with flashbacks to the events which brought the characters to their current circumstances. Salandar traces her childhood experiences back to a project called Project 9, a nature verses nurture project conducted by the Registry for the Study of Genetics and Social Environment. This was a twin project which involved not only Lisbeth and her twin Camilla, but also involved a set of male twins, Leo Mannheimer and Dan Brody who factor heavily in the plot. While tracing information about Project 9, Salandar is also tracking down the killers of Jamal Chowdhury, the lover of Faria Kazi who Lisbeth protected while in prison. This fast- paced book is available for checkout in print at Fondulac District Library and electronically through Libby.
Give This a Try if You Liked: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest or The Girl in the Spider’s Web
Three words that describe this book: Exciting, Fast moving, Intriguing
Rating: 4.5/5
FDL Reads: Somersett
Somersett: Benjamin Franklin and the Masterminding of American Independence
By: Phillip Goodrich
Reviewed by: Melissa Friedlund, Reference Specialist
Genre: Nonfiction, History – American Revolution
Suggested Age: Adult
What is the book about? What do you envision when you think of Benjamin Franklin? An eccentric inventor? A sage, elder Founding Father? How about a cunning schemer who spent decades laying the groundwork for the success of the American Revolution? The latter is what author, Phillip Goodrich, contends in this fleshed-out, extensively-researched account. Benjamin Franklin wanted his beloved Pennsylvania out from under the thumb of the Penn family. He saw the only way to do that was to gain independence for ALL the colonies. Together with a secret cabal of other Englishmen, Benjamin Franklin plotted and planned, biding their time and watching for the British courts to make a critical ruling. What was the auspicious ruling they were waiting for? Somersett v. Stewart: a case where the British court freed a black man who had been born into slavery in the colonies.
My Review: I listened to the audiobook which has some dramatized conversations included in the narration that are not in the printed book. I enjoyed it very much. The author even says that you can start with the Interlude (which details Somersett v. Stewart) first if you want to read it separately from the Benjamin Franklin narrative. I did not do that, but I can see the appeal. I found the audiobook to be very detailed and comprehensive regarding Benjamin Franklin’s role in bringing about and supporting colonial independence. There are so many things that Goodrich lays out as directly occurring due to Benjamin Franklin, it’s easy to wonder if things could have gone the other way if he not had his hand in so many aspects of the conflict between the colonies and the Crown.
Side note: The print edition on our shelf has a slightly different title; Somersett: or Why and How Benjamin Franklin Orchestrated the American Revolution.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Illuminating, Revelatory, Wide-Reaching
Give This a Try if You Like…Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight, The Cause: The American Revolution and its Discontents, 1773-1783 by Joseph J. Ellis, and Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy by Nathaniel Philbrick
Rating: 5/5
#FDL: October Reads
Try a witchy read, a gothic mystery, or a cozy book for the month of October!
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together.
Deep in the stacks of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.
The Lake House by Kate Morton
An abandoned house…
June 1933, and sixteen-year-old Alice Edevane is preparing for her family’s Midsummer Eve party at their country home, Loeanneth. But by the time midnight strikes and fireworks light up the night skies, the Edevane family will have suffered a loss so great that they leave Loeanneth forever.
A missing child…
Seventy years later, after a particularly troubling case, Detective Sadie Sparrow retreats to her beloved grandfather’s cottage in Cornwall. Once there, she stumbles upon an abandoned house, and learns the story of a baby boy who disappeared without a trace.
An unsolved mystery…
Meanwhile, in her elegant Hampstead home, the formidable Alice Edevane, now an old lady, leads a life as neatly plotted as the bestselling detective novels she writes. Until a young police detective starts asking questions about her family’s past, seeking to resurrect the complex tangle of secrets Alice has spent her life trying to escape…
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.
Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemí’s dreams with visions of blood and doom.
Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber
Nestled in the mountain shadows of Alabama lies the little town of Wicklow. It is here that Anna Kate has returned to bury her beloved Granny Zee, owner of the Blackbird Café.
It was supposed to be a quick trip to close the café and settle her grandmother’s estate, but despite her best intentions to avoid forming ties or even getting to know her father’s side of the family, Anna Kate finds herself inexplicably drawn to the quirky Southern town her mother ran away from so many years ago, and the mysterious blackbird pie everybody can’t stop talking about.
As the truth about her past slowly becomes clear, Anna Kate will need to decide if this lone blackbird will finally be able to take her broken wings and fly.
Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
The enigmatic Winter has spent six decades creating various outlandish life histories for herself — all of them inventions that have brought her fame and fortune but have kept her violent and tragic past a secret. Now old and ailing, she at last wants to tell the truth about her extraordinary life. She summons biographer Margaret Lea, a young woman for whom the secret of her own birth, hidden by those who loved her most, remains an ever-present pain. Struck by a curious parallel between Miss Winter’s story and her own, Margaret takes on the commission.
As Vida disinters the life she meant to bury for good, Margaret is mesmerized. It is a tale of gothic strangeness featuring the Angelfield family, including the beautiful and willful Isabelle, the feral twins Adeline and Emmeline, a ghost, a governess, a topiary garden and a devastating fire.
Margaret succumbs to the power of Vida’s storytelling but remains suspicious of the author’s sincerity. She demands the truth from Vida, and together they confront the ghosts that have haunted them while becoming, finally, transformed by the truth themselves.
-Annotations from publishers
-Posted by Susie Rivera, Reference Specialist
#FDL is an update on all things Fondulac District Library and books.
FDL Reads: Padawan
Padawan by Kiersten White
Reviewed By: Rebecca Cox, Business Manager
Genre: Fiction
Suggested Age: Adults
What is This Book About? Obi-Wan Kenobi wants to be the best Padawan and best Jedi that he can be but he is constantly at odds with his Master Qui-Gon Jinn. Obi-Wan longs for adventure but Qui-Gonn believes in meditation and mastering the basics first. Obi-Wan finally convinces Qui-Gonn to go on a mission to find a lost planet, but Qui-Gonn doesn’t show up for their departure time. Obi-Wan takes off on his own to find the missing planet. Once there he encounters a group of teenagers who seem to have some connection to the Force. Obi-Wan is conflicted between joining them in their daring adventures or further questioning what he sees around him on this strange planet.
My Review: I loved this dive into the background of my favorite Jedi! The Obi-Wan we know in the movies is a wise and powerful Jedi but he wasn’t always that way. This coming of age story shows his trials with connecting to the Force as well as connecting to himself. The confident Jedi Master was once a teenager with insecurities about where he belonged – something that I think everybody can relate to. And the setting of Lenahra, the lost planet provided mystery and another brilliant setting within the Star Wars Galaxy. A very fun adventure read.
Three Words that Describe this Book: Fast-paced, Entertaining, Adventurous
Give this a try if you like… Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray, Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule, Ahsoka by E.K. Johnston
Rating: 5/5
Candidate Petitions Available
Two six-year Fondulac Public Library District Board of Trustee seats are up for election in the April 4, 2023, consolidated election. These terms begin May 2023 and serve through May 2029.
One two-year Fondulac Public Library District Board of Trustee seat is up for election in the April 4, 2023, consolidated election. This term begins May 2023 and serves through May 2025.
Petition packets, including instructions, will be available for pickup at the library Business Office starting September 20, 2022, and can be filed with the library Business Office between December 12 and 19, 2022. If you come in the evening, on the weekend, or when the Business Office is closed, staff at the Checkout Desk will be able to assist you.
Petitions will be required to have 14 signatures of qualified voters residing in the district. More information regarding the election can be found in the State of Illinois Candidate’s Guide. Page 36 of the Candidate’s Guide relates to Public Library Districts and is available from the Illinois State Board of Elections. (Direct download from https://www.elections.il.gov/DocDisplay.aspx?Doc=/Downloads/ElectionOperations/PDF/2023CanGuide.pdf&MID=624.)
More information about the library’s Board of Trustees can be found at https://www.fondulaclibrary.org/about-us/trustees/.
#FDL: Banned Books Week Writing Challenge
Enter the writing challenge below to win a bookish prize:
Take a look at the list of the ALA’s frequently challenged books and the list of banned or challenged classics.
Select three books that made an impression on you. Did you read them in an English class, on your own, or as an adult? Write about each book describing why it had such a lasting effect on you. What did you take away from each book? Why do you think each book was banned? How would you defend it to its critics?
Send your responses as an email to susie@fondulaclibrary.org to be entered in a prize drawing by 5:00p.m. on September 26. Also, please indicate in the email if it would be okay for us to share an excerpt of the writing in a #FDL blog post.
-Posted by Susie Rivera, Reference Specialist
#FDL is an update on all things Fondulac District Library and books.