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

The Search for Love

Somehow, and without conscious effort, I keep reading novels about Jewish people in the Arctic. The novel I reviewed earlier, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, and this one: Away by Amy Bloom. The two novels couldn’t be more different though.

Away is the devestating but delicately written tale of Lillian Leyb, a woman who has lost everything by the time she is 22. After a Russian pogrom wipes out her entire family including her young daughter, Lillian emmigrates to New York in 1924. There she finds herself part of the Yiddish Theater as a seamstress and soon winds up the mistress of the star actor and his powerful father. But Lillian discovers that her daughter may be alive and living in Siberia and, without much to go on, is compelled to find her.

Traveling across the North America, Lillian ends up in a number of seamy situations including taking up with an African-American prostitute in Seattle, being tossed in a Vancouver women’s prison “for her own good” and wandering alone through the bitter Yukon. There are many characters along Lillian’s journey and a number of surprises both for her and for the reader. Love was never examined from so many angles. If you like a good story about a tough woman, try this terrific novel.

To check the availability of this item, go the library website at www.ci.newberg.or.us/library

Reviewed by Lori Moore

Sailing off to Sleep

Settle in for winter with this cozy bedtime read. Sailing off to Sleep speaks to children's love for adventure, independence and a comforting conclusion. This rhyming picture book tells the tale of a young girl's reluctance to go to bed and her imaginary journey across the Arctic sea. Throughout, the girl's mother asks concerned questions about her daughter's well-being, for which the young adventurer always has a confident answer. She sails with a whale, floats with a walrus, cuddles with polar bears and frolics with all manner of polar animals not often found in children's books. Cool Arctic landscape and warm animal illustrations contrast beautifully. The text's rhyming cadence can also help pre-readers learn to hear that words are made up of smaller parts. The little girl's return to home offers a soothing route to sleep for the little one in your life. Find Sailing off to Sleep at your library under  E Ashman.

Ashman, Linda. Sailing off to Sleep. 2001.
New York: Simon & Schuster books for Young Readers .
Reviewed by Amanda Lamb

Minverva Louise on Christmas Eve

Minerva Louise is back, and this time Christmas is turned upside down by a silly chicken. Christmas lights are mistaken for dressed-up fireflies, Santa's reindeer are mistaken for goats and Christmas tree decorations are mistaken for eggs. Preschoolers will love to correct this silly chicken as she muddles through the holiday in the simply delightful way only Minerva Louise could. Find it @ your library under "E Stoeke."

Stoeke, Janet Morgan. Minerva Louise on Christmas Eve. 2007. New York: Dutton Children's Books.

Reviewed by Korie Jones Buerkle

Jewish Mysticism in the Alaskan Wilderness?

You can always count on Michael Chabon for a word-packed story. He's known for being a real wordsmith. But somehow he manages to create a smooth, snappy and well-paced murder mystery with his novel The Yiddish Policemen's Union.

In this noir-ish present-day novel, Chabon develops an alternate reality where the Jews of the world have settled in Alaska after World War II and losing Israel to the Arabs. The United States has agreed to let them set up their own temporary state, but their time is about to come up and the U.S. is reclaiming the land. After 50 years of self-rule and a very Jewish- centered lifestyle, they are about to become America.

Meanwhile, hard-boiled detective Meyer Landsman is down on his luck and living in a dive hotel after loosing just about everything. He takes on one last murder case before the U.S. comes in and takes over. But he finds that this particular case is much more personal than he thought, and his sanity and maybe even his life may depend on solving it.

Full of Jewish mysticism, gangland style violence, mystery, intrigue, romance and one twist after another this is a fun and interesting read. If you like a mystery with a little more depth and density, pick up The Yiddish Policemen's Union.

To check on the availability of this item, go the Newberg Public Library website at www.ci.newberg.or.us/library.

Reviewed by Lori Moore

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Welcome to the Newberg Public Library Book Blog. This blog will be a place where Newberg Library staff post entries about what they reading, new and upcoming books, and general news and information about the world of books.