Review: Half Broke Horses, by Jeannette Walls

Jeannette Walls is back in top storytelling form after her bestselling memoir Glass Castles. Half Broke Horses is billed as a true-life novel in which Walls tells the tale of her tough-as-nails grandmother, Lily Casey, from a first person perspective, piecing together stories she has gathered from family and friends. Original photos bring the narrative to life.

Lily grows up helping her crippled father raise carriage horses on a barely surviving ranch, taking on the hard work her gently raised mother is above doing. At the age of 15, after a brief stint of boarding school education, Lily obtains a teaching position in Arizona, 500 miles away from her home in New Mexico. To get to the job, she travels fearlessly for a full month alone on her horse over rough back country. This is just one of many adventures in Lily's full-tilt, no-nonsense life that moves back and forth between rough ranching and small town teaching during the Great Depression. Through it all, her positive attitude and ingenuity in the face of adversity make her a strong and likeable character.

Later in the book, we hear of the upbringing of Walls' mother Rose Mary. There's no need to have read Glass Castles to appreciate this story, but the insight into the hard living, fun loving personality of Rose Mary adds depth to the author's memoir. This is a gritty, fast-paced read that should not be missed.

Lorna Rhyins

Highly recommended by Two Patrons: Homer and Langley, by E.L. Doctorow

" Doctorow, whose literary trophy shelf has got to be overflowing by now, delivers a small but sweeping masterpiece about the infamous New York hermits, the Collyer brothers. When WWI hits and the Spanish flu pandemic kills Homer and Langley's parents, Langley, the elder, goes to war, with his Columbia education and his "godlike immunity to such an ordinary fate as death in a war." Homer, alone and going blind, faces a world "considerably dimmed" though "more deliciously felt" by his other senses. When Langley returns, real darkness descends on the eccentric orphans: inside their shuttered Fifth Avenue mansion, Langley hoards newspaper clippings and starts innumerable science projects, each eventually abandoned, though he continues to imagine them in increasingly bizarre ways, which he then recites to Homer. Occasionally, outsiders wander through the house, exposing it as a living museum of artifacts, Americana, obscurity and simmering madness. Doctorow's achievement is in not undermining the dignity of two brothers who share a lush landscape built on imagination and incapacities. It's a feat of distillation, vision and sympathy." (Publisher's Weekly July 6, 2009)

Review: Finally Thin! by Kim Bensen

This is not just a diet book, but offers a story that anyone can relate to. The author herself went through years of yo-yo dieting before finally losing over 200 pounds and keeping it off. Bensen's book is divided into three parts. The first part is a memoir of her struggle with weight loss that is told with such directness and honesty that anyone will enjoy reading it. She describes the stress of juggling parenting and work and offers up painful anecdotes of times she was humiliated by her size that take the reader directly into her experience. Her sense of humor and the support she feels from her family thoughout lifts her story up and makes it one of courage rather than self pity.

In the second part of the book, Bensen goes through a list of the many different types of diets out there, explains how each one works, and describes their pros and cons. Although she herself finally managed to keep her weight off using Weight Watchers, she does not support any one plan and is fair in her assessments. She then describes ten elements needed to follow a diet to the point where it becomes a maintainable lifestyle. Finally, she offers her own list of healthy recipes with nutritional information included for each.

Bensen's suggestions are common sense and useful and the fact that they come from the voice of experience make them particularly inspirational. If you've read every diet book out there, this is definitely still worth the read.

Lorna Rhyins

Kim Bensen will be visiting the library this Monday, September 21st at 6:00 p.m. for an author talk and book signing. Registration is required. Visit our Adult Programs page to sign up.

Review: It's Not That I'm Bitter: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Visible Panty Lines and Conquered the World, by Gina Barreca

This is definitely a book that will be appreciated most by middle aged women. Since I fit into that category, I enjoyed it thoroughly. Gina Barreca, a professor of English and Feminist Theory at the University of Connecticut, writes a series of short essays about the things women think and worry about. Some of them are about silly things with laugh out loud one-liners: "once we hit forty, women have only about four taste buds left: one for vodka, one for wine, one for cheese, and one for chocolate." Others consider more meaningful issues, such as the decline of the women's movement. Barreca's essays are funny and thoughtful as well as quick and easy to read.

For anyone who enjoyed Nora Ephron's I Feel Bad About My Neck, this is a must read.

Lorna Rhyins

Review: Fragment by Warren Fahy

If you liked Jurassic Park you will love this book. All plot, with lots of science theory; it’s a roller coaster read. An island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is found to contain deadly animals and plants that have evolved differently from the rest of our planet. If they should get loose in our ecosystem, it will be the end of life as we know it on this planet.

-Margaret Borchers

Moloka'i, by Alan Brennert

Definitely a 10 in my book.
Reads smoothly—memorable characters
I now plan on doing some research on Hansen’s disease and the lepers of Moloka’i

Pat

Still Alice, by Lisa Genova

I just finished reading this great book by Lisa Genova. Alice Howard, a professor of psychology and linguistics at Harvard is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's at 50. Her story is frank, poignant, and believable. The author, Lisa Genova, graduated valedictorian from Bates College with a degree in Biopsychology and has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University.

The author's credentials give an insight and element of truth that adds to the essential believeablity of the story. Although this story is about tragic loss the protagonist is not a tragic hero. Instead it is a story about facing each stage of life with honesty and self-determination. http://www.stillalice.com/

Kathy Fedor