I'm so far behind. What can I say, I prefer reading to writing about it :)
"Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions" by G. W. Bernard was an interesting attempt to make Anne out as not quite as innocent as she is usually portrayed. Bernard argued (unsuccessfully, in my estimation, by the way) that she probably did have affairs with a few of the men she was accused of having relationships with. His arguments were a bit of a stretch to be believable, but I admired his research and attempts to humanize King Henry. It amused me.
"Unprotected Texts" by Jennifer Wright Knust was an interesting examination of what exactly the Bible says in regards to sex, marriage, and other hotly debated topics. She makes sound and reasonable arguments that we can't use the Bible out of context to justify our own personal beliefs and opinions, and noted how it had been used in years past to justify things abhorrent to the general public now, like slavery. Very provocative.
"Clara and Mr. Tiffany" by Susan Vreeland was just beautifully written and her characters were so realistic and lifelike. Louis Comfort Tiffany, son of Charles Tiffany, of Tiffany & Co. Jewelry stores, started his glass factory with hopes of eventually upstaging his father. One of his workers, Clara Driscoll, comes up with the idea of stained glass lamps and they run with it. (Side note: I had no idea Tiffany Glass and Tiffany Jewelry were in any way related, or that the jewelry store came first, so I learned a lot from this book). It was a very lovely book, telling of Clara's hard decisions based on Tiffany's practice of never employing married women. Which does she love more: her work, making beautiful art, or the wonderful man in her life?
Linda Fairstein's latest Alex Cooper novel "Silent Mercy" did not disappoint, although the ending was a bit unrealistic. She made it work, though. Women, outcasts in their own religions, are being found murdered, left at significant places of worship in New York. Alex, Mercer, and Mike figure it out, along the way running into circus performers, Hansen's disease, and female priests.
Curious about my library's past, I read an oral biography about Dorothea Wilson Sheely, who was city Librarian for thirty years. She was interviewed by Shirley Stevenson, who put the project together and edited the book of interviews. It was fascinating to me, of course, to read about how the system went from one tiny 2,200 square foot library on the Balboa Peninsula to the multi-branch system we have now, and that was all under Dorothea's leadership. It also amused me that NB used to be thought of as a not too desirable place to live :)
I loved Lauren Oliver's "Before I Fall", and I was a bit disappointed with "Delirium", her dystopian novel set in the near future in Maine. Lena lives in a world were "love" is a disease that must be cured with an operation at age 18, and then she would be paired with an ideal mate and married. Lena is actually looking forward to the cure because she thinks it will bring her peace and she can stop fretting about her mother who committed suicide when she was little because she was infected and multiple attempts at the cure failed to wash the memory of love from her mind. Then Lena meets Alex, who comes from the wilderness where there is no cure and falls in love. Predictability ensued, with no real resolution to any of the questions raised at the end. Meh...not my thing.
Sue Townsend's first two Adrian Mole books, "The Secret Diaries of Adrian Mole, 13 3/4" and the "Growing Pains of Adrian Mole", were hilarious. Full of British slang and dry wit, Adrian lives with his parents, who he disapproves of highly, and his pretentious adolescent snottiness reminded me so much of my own teen years. Ugh, what a twit I was too! I can't wait to read more.
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