Book Talk

April 2010 Update

Religion as the word of God? Guess again. Jesus’ role and identity were widely debated for 400 years. Then in the fifth century one group of Roman emperors and bishops defeated a rival faction. The victors determined how Jesus’ identity would be viewed and the role he would play in the development of Christianity. Philip Jenkins has written Jesus Wars: how Four Patriarchs, Three Queens, and Two Emperors Decided what Christians would Believe for the Next 1,500 Years.

The desire for an afterlife is universal. It is shared around the world as across religions. It had been used for good and to manipulate. Lisa Miller explored the history and current beliefs of God’s home in Heaven: our Enduring Fascination with the Afterlife.

In The Genius in all of Us, David Shenk explores how new information on genes and intelligence are disproving our long held belief that our talents and abilities are limited by our DNA. Amazing potential is encoded in all our genes. It is our failure to access the abilities that limit us.

My favorite title this month is Winging It: a Memoir of Caring for a Vengeful Parrot Who’s Determined to Kill Me, by Jenny Gardiner. Scott and Jenny received a gift of a baby grey parrot from Scott’s brother in Africa. Not quite the charming companion they hoped for, Graycie DID bite the hand that fed her. And then there was the memorable day she learned to mimic the smoke detector…

If you want to stay on your pet’s good side you will have to make some accommodation. Check out Dogscaping: Creating the Perfect Backyard and Garden for You and Your Dog, by Tom Barthel. Design your garden layout for the characteristics of your dog’s breed. Create a doggy digging pit, a doggie pool, and line you dog’s favorite potty spot with durable shrubs. 

Fiction

Iraq vet Neal Maven returns to Boston resenting what his military service had taken from him. With his skills useless in civilian life, and his generation far ahead of him financially and professionally, he’s close to breaking. Enter fellow vet, Brad Royce. Brad is everything Neal would like to be and Neal jumps at the chance when Brad offers him a job. His team of “sugar bandits” (ex-military who intercept drugs, take the money and destroy the product) provide him with the adrenaline rush he misses. Of course, organized crime will do anything to stop them. Read Devils in Exile by Chuck Holden.

Charles Todd’s Inspector Ian Rutledge must find the connection between two baffling cases he is working on in The Red Door. In June 1920, a woman is found murdered in her home. She had painted its door red to celebrate her husband’s return from the Great War. He never showed up.  Another man vanishes and reappears, keeping a secret which threatens to destroy his family. What is the connection?

Detective Shane Scully had been abandoned as an infant and raised in the Huntington House orphanage. The home’s director “Pops” Dix, was father to all the children there. Thirty years later he received the news that Pops was dead – a suicide. Pops had specifically requested six former residents of Huntington House to serve as pallbearers, Scully is one of them.  No one believes Pops killed himself and the six undertake a dangerous mission to prove that in The Pallbearers by Stephen Cannell.

San Francisco is being stalked by a huge vampire cat named Chet.   Abby Normal would love to be a blood sucking fiend herself, but is way too busy with other stuff, until she must team up with other odd denizens of the city to track down Chet and save San Francisco.  Yes, only Christopher Moore could have written Bite Me: a Love Story! 

Virginia Cooper
Adult Services Librarian