Bee-bim Bop by Linda Sue Park

Inspire your preschooler and/or early reader to step into the kitchen with this playful dinner-time tale. A young girl narrates the preparation of her favorite family dish, bee-bim bop, a popular Korean meal meaning 'mix-mix rice.' The rhyming cadence is great practice for pre-readers and captures the fun each member of the family seems to have shopping, frying, flipping, boiling, chopping and eating together. A recipe is included at the the end with instructions for both kids and their grown-ups. Bee-bim bop was a huge hit at our house and inspired my preschooler to eat cabbage using chopsticks! A testament to a great picture book.

To find this book in the library go to our catalog at www.ci.newberg.or.us/library

Reviewed by Amanda L.

Dads gone wild

I am mesmerized by Augusten Burroughs. This guy has had quite a life and knows how to tell his story in a hilariously acerbic fashion. You may know him from his first memoir Running with Scissors. But he’s also written several other books chronicling his battle with alcoholism and other aspects of his life (Dry, Magical Thinking, Possible Side Effects).

In his latest memoir Wolf at the Table, Burroughs gets a little darker (ok, a whole lot darker) in describing his father; a distant, unaffectionate, alcoholic, perhaps even psychotic man. This was a man who played cruel head games with his son including (possibly) killing and tortuing some of his pets. Burroughs was a sensitive, loving, artistic child and only wanted his father’s love. He writes in anguished detail about how far his father went to withhold that love, even on his deathbed.

If you’ve enjoyed Burrough's other books, I would recommend this one to get more of his story, but be prepared: you won’t be laughing much.

To find this book in the Library go to our catalog at www.ci.newberg.or.us/library

Reviewed by Lori M.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Fans of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series can sink their teeth into something different while they await the next adventure of Bella, Edward and Jacob (place your hold now for Breaking Dawn).

Meyer's newest novel, the Host, is told from the view of the Wanderer, an alien soul whose race has taken over human bodies. Both Science Fiction and Romance, this story focuses on one alien whose human host won't fade away. Although Melanie's body is no longer her own, her consciousness won't leave the Wanderer in peace. As both struggle for control and understanding, Melanie tempts her with memories of the life and love she had with Jared, a survivor of the alien invasion. As they set out to find him, their lives intertwine binding them together. Can they continue to exist together?

To find this book in the Library go to our website at www.ci.newberg.or.us/library

reviewed by Korie

Let's Celebrate!

We are celebrating 100 years of service here at the Newberg Public Library during the week of May 27th - May 31st. The first public library in Newberg opened on May 26th, 1908 (we're closed that Monday for Memorial Day so we're starting the celbrations on Tuesday). The Library will be having fun activities throughout the week and a big party on Saturday, May 31st with food, fun and festivities. Come on down and help us celebrate!

Sumptuous Reading

The Last Chinese Chef
After an American food writer’s husband dies, she returns to China to “clear up some family business” and to write a story on traditional Chinese food. To get her story, Maggie follows a Chinese-American-Jewish chef as he prepares to enter a cooking contest and she learns about the history and meaning of food and family in the Chinese culture. Intertwined is the story of Maggie’s grief, her relationship with the chef and his family, and how food can be healing. If you like stories about relationships, food, and culture, you might like The Last Chinese Chef by Nicole Mones.

To find this book in the library go to our catalog at www.ci.newberg.or.us/library
Reviewed by Denise

Book Club Selection

Our book club selection this month is Plainsong by Kent Haruf. And like the song style the title alludes to, this lovely little novel is truly lyrical. Weaving together the lives of several residents of a small Colorado town, Haruf describes life, relationships and the landscape in similar ways: starkly, darkly but with tinges of hope and good humor.

Guthrie is a lonely man, unhappy in his job as a schoolteacher and on the brink of loosing his severely depressed wife. Ike and Bobby are his two little boys who suddenly find that they must more or less make their own way when their mother abandons them physically and their father emotionally. Victoria is an introspective quiet girl who finds herself pregnant and out on the streets when her mother kicks her out and the father of her baby is nowhere to be found. The McPherons are two old brothers who keep to themselves and their curmudgeonly ways until their quiet solitude is disturbed, or perhaps filled, with the arrival of the pregnant teenager. Maggie Jones is the kind, take-care-of-business woman who brings them all together.

Though somewhat slow-paced, I enjoyed this novel and the array of characters Haruf presents. The descriptions of the landscapes and the wonderful old coot McPheron brothers are particularly enjoyable assets to this colorful novel.

To find this book in the library go to our catalog at http://www.ci.newberg.or.us/library

Reviewed by Lori M

Sex and Religion in America

Tom Perotta is known for writing about trouble in suburbia. Election and Little Children have been his most popular novels so far and both deal with characters bored with the humdrum and looking for something else, usually to both hilarious and disastrous results. Perotta continues this theme in his latest novel, The Abstinence Teacher but takes a slightly different track. While he says it’s “all about sex education and the culture wars” I found it went a bit deeper than that examining human frailties and how they manifest themselves in enclosed cultures such as suburban America.

In this novel, Ruth is a sex education teacher whose teaching methods come under fire from a local church. Against her own ideals, she is forced to teach only abstinence after the situation blows up. Tim is an ex-junkie who has lost everything but has found Jesus and belongs to the Evangelical church that challenged Ruth’s sex-ed curriculum. Though he is committed to his new religion and grateful for the strength it gives him, Tim struggles with the things he learns in his new church, particularly from the charismatic pastor Dave.

When the lives of Ruth and Tim intertwine, a microcosm of an American rift between conservative and liberal is examined in Perotta’s own dark and humorous style. But I found it interesting that neither of the lives of these two characters are stereotypical and their actions are rarely predictable. If you enjoy realistic books that look at society’s foibles, I would highly recommend this book.

Find this and other Tom Perotta books on the library catalog at www.ci.newberg.or.us/library

Reviewed by Lori M