| The May 2012 Staff Picks can also be viewed or printed as a PDF Staff Picks May 2012 (622KB) |
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MAY FEATURE
 Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young
Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China by Paul French. In 1937 Peking, the brutal murder
of a young British woman unleashed a firestorm of
intrigue, evasion and superstition as a Japanese invasion
threatened the power factions controlling China. A richly atmospheric,
true-life mystery. ~ Alden GravesFollowing the failure of a joint investigation by a British detective and a Chinese policeman, the victim's father, after much research and emotional and financial cost, pieced together the most likely solution. ~ Sarah Knight Seventy years later, French discovered the files and solved the case. Excellent historical research portrays the social and political turmoil of the era. A terrific read. ~ Louise Jones |
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| FICTION | ||
 Bring Up the
Bodies by Hilary
Mantel. The
superb sequel to
the 2009 Booker
Prize winner Wolf
Hall. With Henry
VIII now tired of
Anne Boleyn, his
Secretary Thomas Cromwell must
manipulate the downfall of Anne
and her influential family - while the
adherents of the next queen, Jane
Seymour, wait to grab power.
~ Louise Jones |
 Prague Fatale: A
Bernie Gunther
Novel by Philip Kerr. The latest in
Kerr's outstanding
series of historical
thrillers set in
Hitler's Germany.
In 1941 Gunther,
the reluctant investigator, is forced
to accompany powerful Nazi leader
Reinhard Heydrich to a house party
near Prague. The background is the
eventually successful assassination
of Heydrich – with horrifying
consequences. ~ Louise Jones |
 Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline
Winspear.
The latest Maisie
Dobbs mystery finds
our intrepid sleuth
investigating the
death of a man from
her childhood. As
Maisie digs deeper, the body count
rises and the suspects get higher on
the social ladder. A superb addition
to this series. ~ Sarah Teunissen |
 The Lola Quartet by Emily St. John
Mandel. A
stylish tale how the
lives of four friends,
who were in a high
school jazz group,
have played out
over the next ten years. Mandel is
a skilled storyteller and her novel
reads like an edgy jazz composition.
Very entertaining. ~ Sarah Knight |
 HHhH by Laurent
Binet. During
the Second World
War, a pair of Czech
resistance fighters
plot the assassination
of "Hitler's
Hangman." A true
story that becomes a
cautionary tale about making fiction
from history. ~ Charles Bottomley |
 The House of
Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe. When a
woman and her
daughter are lost
in the Titanic
disaster, it sets off
a traumatic - and
mystical - chain of events in their
Boston family. Atmospheric and
compulsively readable – with a neat
twist that may catch you off-guard.
~ Alden Graves |
 The Patrick Melrose
Novels: Never Mind,
Bad News, Some
Hope, and Mother's
Milk by Edward St.
Aubyn. The
decline of the British
aristocracy – and well-deserved if
this group of dreadful characters
is typical! St. Aubyn is an elegant
writer, sardonic and witty, his novels
totally engrossing. The series final is
the new At Last.
~ Louise Jones |
 Suddenly, A Knock
at the Door by
Etgar Keret.
Keret's turf includes
a land where
lies become real
and goldfish can
grant dreams. It's
tempting to invoke Kafka or Gogol–
Keret is a fabulist of stunning
originality. ~ Charles Bottomley |
 Clara and Mr.
Tiffany by Susan
Vreeland.
Another great story
from Vreeland
about historical
figures in the arts. A
fascinating portrait
of the life and times
of the woman who contributed so
many design ideas to the Tiffany
Company, including the concept
of the stained glass lampshade.
Marvelous! ~ Karen Frank |
 Rain Dragon by
Jon Raymond.
One of America's
finest young writers
scores big with his
new novel - a fable
about a utopian
farming commune that falls prey to
21st century economics. Bold and
haunting! ~ Charles Bottomley |
 Dream of Ding
Village by Yan
Lianke.
When AIDS hits
a rural village, the
true nature of its
inhabitants comes
to the fore. A savage
satire of modern China that deserves
to stand alongside Lord of the Flies or
Animal Farm. ~ Charles Bottomley |
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 The Passage of
Power: The Years
of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A. Caro. AT LAST!
Volume 4 in the
acclaimed study
of a president
who certainly
merits some dispassionate
reconsideration. Superlatives too
numerous to mention for all four
works. Arguably the finest multivolume
biography of an American
president ever written - and nearly
impossible to stop reading. Highest
Recommendation. ~ Bill Lewis |
 Winter King:
Henry VII and
the Dawn of
Tudor England by Thomas Penn. Ruthless,
vindictive,
manipulative,
paranoid, Henry
VII had dubious claim to the
throne, but – a micromanager and
firm executive with an iron will – he
was arguably England's first modern
king. If you've read about Henry
VII's son and granddaughter, you'll
want to meet the founding father.
~ Louise Jones |
 Folks, This Ain't
Normal by Joel
Salatin.
We have come to
accept so many
strange things as
normal! Salatin
sheds light on our
over-processed, over-packaged, overregulated
modern culture and offers
some interesting alternatives. Just
ignore everything he says about a
woman's role in society.
~ Krysta Piccoli |
 God's Jury: The
Inquisition and
the Making of the
Modern World by
Cullen Murphy. No one may
have expected the
Spanish Inquisition,
nor the earlier Medieval or later
Roman Inquisitions, whose
censorship policies still reverberate.
Methods to uncover and punish
heretics were adapted by Nazi
Germany, the Soviet Union and our
own search for terrorists. Clearly
written, well researched, chilling -
fascinating! ~ Louise Jones |
 The Mark Inside: A
Perfect Swindle, a
Cunning Revenge,
and a Small
History of the
Big Con by Amy
Reading.
Rollicking story
about a Texas rancher who falls
victim to a "scheme," a "swindle," a
"con"- and determines to get even.
Colorful characters galore, thrilling
chase scenes, battles and danger
(and comedy) around every corner.
Irresistible for fans of The Devil in
the White City. ~ Bill Lewis |
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 Crossing the
Borders of Time: A
True Story of War,
Exile, and Love
Reclaimed by Leslie
Maitland.
Enter Janine's world
- both the old and
the new. You won't
forget her story or that of her family
as they endure a murderous war
and try to move forward in a world
haunted by the most profound
tragedies, crimes and losses. A rare
reading experience. ~ Bill Lewis |
 Why Spencer
Perceval Had
to Die: The
Assassination of
a British Prime
Minister by Andro
Linklater.
Examination of the
violent death of the only British
prime minister to be assassinated
- in 1812 during a volatile time
in English history. Although it
seemed initially the work of a single
disgruntled businessman, Perceval's
murder revealed dark overtones of
his divisive politics. ~ Alden Graves |
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 Oklahoma
City: What the
Investigation
Missed – and Why
It Still Matters by
Andrew Gumbel
and Roger Charles. This
riveting examination of the most
devastating domestic terrorist
attack in US history shows that
the conspiracy was far more wideranging
than we were led to believe;
many people with prior knowledge
of the bombing were never called to
account. ~ Alden Graves |
 Are You My
Mother? by Alison
Bechdel. The
cartoonist behind
the prize-winning
Fun Home is back
with a memoir
about mothers and
daughters. A brave
and ambitious book that will divide
readers, but leave no one unmoved.
~ Charles Bottomley |
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