Book Review: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

So, you're fishing along the coast of a small island off, say, the British Isles, minding your own business. You look down and see a large and ominous dark shadow pass below the boat and your heart skips a beat - several in fact. Orca? Great white? You can only hope, though in your heart of hearts you know that it is really a capall uisce and it's November. Time for the Scorpio races and the yearly tranformation of these fearsome predators from a sea creature to a land animal whose prey includes humans. Did I mention that these capaill uisce are horses with a taste for raw meat? And that they are the mounts for the deadly Scorpio Races? This book is an imaginative take on myths and legends from various cultures and a bang-up read to boot.

Soup!

What could be better on a crisp, sunny, fall day or a rainy evening before a cozy fire than a nice bowl of homemade soup? While you're perusing The Traveling Soup Pot, a cookbook written by a local Carmel resident, give special attention to the lovely cover illustration by our own Gerard Martin. Check out this article from The Herald and then check out the cookbook from the library.

Book Review: "Election" by Tom Perotta (Review by Ann Marie C.)

Eaten by a shark. Struck by lightning twice. Being as witty as Mr. Murray.  These are all extremely rare occurrences in the world, but enjoying a book as much as the movie adaptation is what almost all bibliophiles, like myself, consider impossible. That is until I read and watched Tom Perrotta’s novel, Election.

Years ago on a boring Friday night, I rented the movie, Election, from Blockbuster (remember that?). I loved the humorous tone of the film as well as Reese Witherspoon’s performance as the over achieving high school student, Tracy Flick.  Then I learned that, like most movies with a good plot, it was based on a book.

Now, I have read dozens of books that have been made into movies (and today who hasn’t?), but with this novel everything was different. The quirky characters were exactly the same as they were in the film, but rather than feel like I was reading a screenplay, Tom Perrotta’s chaotic, multi perspective story of a high school campaign for student body President felt like I was hearing an old family joke, but with more hilarious and grittier details.

Having now spent several years in high school, I must admit that Tom Perrotta captures the environment perfectly. All the traditional characters are present: the overachiever with a brief, sinful past, the jock who’s only running for President due to an injury, the vengeful sister who’s running against the jock because he is dating her ex girlfriend, and the teacher supervisor, who is saddled with all the ensuing mayhem. So if you need something to laugh at this Friday night grab this hysterical novel from the library because Blockbuster does not exist anymore.

Book Review: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Few true life stories can match that of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic athelete whose plane was shot down in the Pacific during World War II and who, with his two companions, survives starvation, shark attacks, dehydration, and mental breakdowns for 45 days. And that's just the beginning. Masterfully told by Laura Hillenbrand (whose own story is pretty remarkable), Unbroken is one of those books that you'll want to clear your calendar for. Fast paced with more twists and turns than you can count, this is a tale that will stay with you for a long time.

Summer Book Discoveries

Now that summer is in full swing and you've finished all your required summer reading (!), kick back and try these websites for some good pleasure reading suggestions:

NPR Books

Los Angeles Times Books

YALSA's Book Awards and Book Lists for young adults

New York Times Books

Teenreads