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Marie’s Staff Picks
I just finished reading It’s What I Do by Lynsey Addario and I am still thinking about this memoir. Addario is a photographer documenting wars and its effects on the surrounding population. Her book explores what it is like to be a woman in a male dominated profession and how she had to learn to balance her career with her personal life. I found this memoir to be inspiring, informative and a great example of determination.
The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion is an amusing audiobook that had me laughing, especially at the end. This book can be over-the-top, but if you have read the prequel, The Rosie Project you will have a better understanding and appreciation of the quirky main character to suspend disbelief.
This past month, I have been reading books on the Maine Readers’ Choice Long List. The Maine Readers’ Choice Award is an award given to a work of fiction. Mainers get to vote on the titles that a committee of Maine librarians, booksellers and other readers select. For more information, the website is http://mainereaderschoiceaward.org/ The following books are on this list.
The Sleepwalker’s Guide To Dancing by Mira Jacob is a gentle, humorous and haunting story about an American-Indian family. The characters are well developed and likeable in this original work.
My favorite of the list so far is Lila by Marilynne Robinson. Lila is an outsider who haltingly finds home in the town of Gilead. I loved this book and at the end wanted to meet Lila. The writing is so great that the reader is immersed in Lila’s world and begins to understand her way of thinking and acting.
Redeployment by Phil Klay is a collection of short stories about being on the frontlines of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The writing is clear and powerful.
Nickolas Butler’s Shotgun Lovesongs has one of the most amusing and memorable scenes that I have read in a long time. Though sometimes the main characters were frustrating, this is a solid down-to-earth read about family and home.