Every once in a great while, a book comes along that you absolutely adore. You devour every word and are terribly misty-eyed when it ends. Then, miracle of miracles, the author decides to pen a sequel to that brilliant book and you're again enraptured.
Big Cherry Holler is the follow-up to Big Stone Gap, Adriana Trigiani's best-selling debut novel. In the sequel, Trigiani takes her readers back to the small town of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, where we catch up on the lives of those quirky and fascinating townfolk who so intrigued us before.
In the eight years since town pharmacist Ave Maria Mulligan married her true love, coal miner Jack MacChesney, the couple has had a daughter, Etta, and a son, Joe, who died at the tender age of four. They have settled into the comfortable routine of family life. But even with her joy at being a mother and wife, Ave Maria begins to feel something is missing in her life. She and Jack Mac are just not as happy as she thinks they should be, and bit by bit she feels him slipping away. As things begin to fall apart, Ave Maria takes her daughter to Italy to spend the summer with relatives. While there, she meets a handsome stranger who offers her an eye-opening look at life beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains. Stunned at her reawakened feelings of passion, Ave Maria is forced to define what is truly important to her -- her marriage, her family and her home.
This time around, Trigiani tells the heart-wrenching story of a marriage with all its deep show more dark secrets, struggles for equality and whispers of unfulfilled expectations that often exist between husband and wife. She also tells the story of a community that must reinvent itself as it comes to grips with the closing of the coal mine that has always provided employment for the town.
Big Cherry Holler is an intricate tale of two people who have temporarily forgotten the reasons they came to love each other in the first place, and their journey to find that spark again. Readers will find a little bit of everything in this heart-warming novel -- humor, romance, wisdom and drama are all represented in the beautiful mountain settings of Virginia and Italy. Trigiani has created another keeper.
~Submitted by Sharon Chance~ show less
Big Cherry Holler is the follow-up to Big Stone Gap, Adriana Trigiani's best-selling debut novel. In the sequel, Trigiani takes her readers back to the small town of Big Stone Gap, Virginia, where we catch up on the lives of those quirky and fascinating townfolk who so intrigued us before.
In the eight years since town pharmacist Ave Maria Mulligan married her true love, coal miner Jack MacChesney, the couple has had a daughter, Etta, and a son, Joe, who died at the tender age of four. They have settled into the comfortable routine of family life. But even with her joy at being a mother and wife, Ave Maria begins to feel something is missing in her life. She and Jack Mac are just not as happy as she thinks they should be, and bit by bit she feels him slipping away. As things begin to fall apart, Ave Maria takes her daughter to Italy to spend the summer with relatives. While there, she meets a handsome stranger who offers her an eye-opening look at life beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains. Stunned at her reawakened feelings of passion, Ave Maria is forced to define what is truly important to her -- her marriage, her family and her home.
This time around, Trigiani tells the heart-wrenching story of a marriage with all its deep show more dark secrets, struggles for equality and whispers of unfulfilled expectations that often exist between husband and wife. She also tells the story of a community that must reinvent itself as it comes to grips with the closing of the coal mine that has always provided employment for the town.
Big Cherry Holler is an intricate tale of two people who have temporarily forgotten the reasons they came to love each other in the first place, and their journey to find that spark again. Readers will find a little bit of everything in this heart-warming novel -- humor, romance, wisdom and drama are all represented in the beautiful mountain settings of Virginia and Italy. Trigiani has created another keeper.
~Submitted by Sharon Chance~ show less
With a title like THE ABORTIONIST'S DAUGHTER, Elisabeth Hyde's latest novel is bound to touch upon the controversial. In fact, Hyde is no stranger to tackling heavy subjects. In her last book, the crossover CRAZY AS CHOCOLATE, she wrote about the suicide of a mentally ill 41-year-old mother and the damaging effect it had on her husband and young daughters. Not exactly light reading.
True-to-form and with the same audacity she exhibited in her prior work, Hyde addresses all sides of the abortion issue head-on while still managing to create a palpable, non-preachy book for her readers. A gripping thriller that will entice even those not particularly fond of the suspense genre, THE ABORTIONIST'S DAUGHTER delivers a rare but successful breed of multi-faceted morality and adrenalin-infused action that purely satisfies.
Dr. Diana Duprey is one tough cookie. She is the director of the Center for Reproductive Choice in a small town near Denver, Colorado, and refuses to dole out excuses to anyone about the job she does, despite the fact that she has a 19-year-old, sexually active daughter; a son (deceased) with Down syndrome; and a husband who spent the last 20 years working as a prosecuting attorney in the District Attorney's office. She plans to keep performing abortions for women in need, regardless of the incessant protests outside her clinic and the barrage of threats from members of the right-to-life activist group, the Lifeblood Coalition --- until her body is found floating show more in the pool outside her home, two weeks before Christmas.
Enter 26-year-old Huck and his partner, 36-year-old Ernie --- two detectives assigned to the Duprey case, and the first to show up at the scene of the crime aside from Frank, Diana's husband. Frank is apparently the last person who saw Diana alive (or so Huck and Ernie assume) and is suspiciously at the house when the cops arrive to assess the damage. Broken shards of glass are found scattered near the ficus tree, the kitchen is in disarray, and there is a horrific bruise the size of a grapefruit on Diana's neck. The prognosis doesn't look good for Frank, who was also overheard fighting with his wife earlier that evening, right around the time she was killed.
To make matters more complicated, Diana's daughter, Megan, also had a fight with her mother at lunch over a spring-break trip to Mexico, and Megan's ex-boyfriend, Bill, had become a serious threat to both her and Megan's well-being. Apparently, he just couldn't get over the break-up a year ago, and his nagging phone calls and unannounced house visits were becoming a maybe-it's-time-to-get-that-restraining-order problem. Reverend Stephen O'Connell, the founder of the Lifeblood Coalition, had more than one reason to want Dr. Duprey dead, including the fact that she refused to prevent his son's 15-year-old girlfriend, Rose, from having an abortion, on the grounds that she believed it was the girl's decision in the long run. She also wouldn't advise Rose to terminate the pregnancy as Rose's parents had hoped, because of the very same principles. This, of course, made Rose's parents extremely angry --- especially after their daughter almost killed herself while trying to scrape the fetus out with a bike pump and chopsticks. But angry enough to kill?
As December rolls into January and January into February, Huck and Ernie sift through the facts and weigh their options. Huck gets a little too close to Megan for his own good, Frank grows more and more depressed, and Bill continues to act the role of eager apprentice --- handing off clues to the detectives as if his contributions could somehow crack the case and bring Megan back to him. Three-quarters of the way through the book, the case still hasn't been solved and readers might find themselves staying up way past their bedtime in order to solve this exhilarating whodunit.
Warning: when the murderer's identity is finally revealed, some suspense/thriller buffs might feel let down by the seeming simplicity of the solution. There isn't much of a showdown, nor are you utterly shocked by the outcome. Nonetheless, the instant-replay of events that transpired during the hours immediately prior to Dr. Duprey's death is immensely satisfying and readers surely will let out a collective sigh of relief following the book's conclusion.
~Submitted by Alexis Burling~ show less
True-to-form and with the same audacity she exhibited in her prior work, Hyde addresses all sides of the abortion issue head-on while still managing to create a palpable, non-preachy book for her readers. A gripping thriller that will entice even those not particularly fond of the suspense genre, THE ABORTIONIST'S DAUGHTER delivers a rare but successful breed of multi-faceted morality and adrenalin-infused action that purely satisfies.
Dr. Diana Duprey is one tough cookie. She is the director of the Center for Reproductive Choice in a small town near Denver, Colorado, and refuses to dole out excuses to anyone about the job she does, despite the fact that she has a 19-year-old, sexually active daughter; a son (deceased) with Down syndrome; and a husband who spent the last 20 years working as a prosecuting attorney in the District Attorney's office. She plans to keep performing abortions for women in need, regardless of the incessant protests outside her clinic and the barrage of threats from members of the right-to-life activist group, the Lifeblood Coalition --- until her body is found floating show more in the pool outside her home, two weeks before Christmas.
Enter 26-year-old Huck and his partner, 36-year-old Ernie --- two detectives assigned to the Duprey case, and the first to show up at the scene of the crime aside from Frank, Diana's husband. Frank is apparently the last person who saw Diana alive (or so Huck and Ernie assume) and is suspiciously at the house when the cops arrive to assess the damage. Broken shards of glass are found scattered near the ficus tree, the kitchen is in disarray, and there is a horrific bruise the size of a grapefruit on Diana's neck. The prognosis doesn't look good for Frank, who was also overheard fighting with his wife earlier that evening, right around the time she was killed.
To make matters more complicated, Diana's daughter, Megan, also had a fight with her mother at lunch over a spring-break trip to Mexico, and Megan's ex-boyfriend, Bill, had become a serious threat to both her and Megan's well-being. Apparently, he just couldn't get over the break-up a year ago, and his nagging phone calls and unannounced house visits were becoming a maybe-it's-time-to-get-that-restraining-order problem. Reverend Stephen O'Connell, the founder of the Lifeblood Coalition, had more than one reason to want Dr. Duprey dead, including the fact that she refused to prevent his son's 15-year-old girlfriend, Rose, from having an abortion, on the grounds that she believed it was the girl's decision in the long run. She also wouldn't advise Rose to terminate the pregnancy as Rose's parents had hoped, because of the very same principles. This, of course, made Rose's parents extremely angry --- especially after their daughter almost killed herself while trying to scrape the fetus out with a bike pump and chopsticks. But angry enough to kill?
As December rolls into January and January into February, Huck and Ernie sift through the facts and weigh their options. Huck gets a little too close to Megan for his own good, Frank grows more and more depressed, and Bill continues to act the role of eager apprentice --- handing off clues to the detectives as if his contributions could somehow crack the case and bring Megan back to him. Three-quarters of the way through the book, the case still hasn't been solved and readers might find themselves staying up way past their bedtime in order to solve this exhilarating whodunit.
Warning: when the murderer's identity is finally revealed, some suspense/thriller buffs might feel let down by the seeming simplicity of the solution. There isn't much of a showdown, nor are you utterly shocked by the outcome. Nonetheless, the instant-replay of events that transpired during the hours immediately prior to Dr. Duprey's death is immensely satisfying and readers surely will let out a collective sigh of relief following the book's conclusion.
~Submitted by Alexis Burling~ show less
I have to confess that I don't like most science fiction. I also have a hard time enjoying many fantasies although the fantasies that have been able to break through my initial resistance are among my favorite books. It's only that I like Lois Lowry's work so much that I kept reading her latest book, The Giver after I discovered that it was both science fiction and fantasy. I had first been drawn to it by the cover of the book, which has to be the most intriguing one I've seen in a long time. To find out that Lois designed it herself and took that wonderful photograph makes it harder to like her. Too much talent, I think, is bad for the soul.
But on to the story. The society we find there seems ideal. Everyone has a job for which he or she is suited emotionally, physically and mentally. The elderly are lovingly cared for as are the newest members of this place. Every family has a mother, father, and two children, one of each sex. There is much laughter and obvious joy. There is no rudeness, no crime and no disease.
We see it all through the eyes of Jonas, a young boy about to receive his life's assignment along with others of his age group. To his astonishment he is given the most respected job of all. He is to be trained to become the "Receiver of Memory". You see, in the Utopian society Lowry has created for us, the people don't want to be burdened with memories. However, they also don't want to make decisions or changes which, in the past, have led to disaster so they show more have assigned one person to keep all the memories of history, their own and that of all societies.
The Receiver's job is to listen to their proposals and just tell them whether or not they should do it based on the lessons of history. The present Receiver now sets about giving the memories- all of them - to Jonas. He does so through all of the senses. Jonas learns of war and hate, of snow and trees and colors.. all of which are not present in this society. He also learns of the horror all around him. This novel is not difficult to read. Fifth graders should have no trouble reading it. You need to read it. Then decide what kids you're going to share it with. It's very special. You can't put it down. You can't forget it.
~Submitter by Carol Hurst~ show less
But on to the story. The society we find there seems ideal. Everyone has a job for which he or she is suited emotionally, physically and mentally. The elderly are lovingly cared for as are the newest members of this place. Every family has a mother, father, and two children, one of each sex. There is much laughter and obvious joy. There is no rudeness, no crime and no disease.
We see it all through the eyes of Jonas, a young boy about to receive his life's assignment along with others of his age group. To his astonishment he is given the most respected job of all. He is to be trained to become the "Receiver of Memory". You see, in the Utopian society Lowry has created for us, the people don't want to be burdened with memories. However, they also don't want to make decisions or changes which, in the past, have led to disaster so they show more have assigned one person to keep all the memories of history, their own and that of all societies.
The Receiver's job is to listen to their proposals and just tell them whether or not they should do it based on the lessons of history. The present Receiver now sets about giving the memories- all of them - to Jonas. He does so through all of the senses. Jonas learns of war and hate, of snow and trees and colors.. all of which are not present in this society. He also learns of the horror all around him. This novel is not difficult to read. Fifth graders should have no trouble reading it. You need to read it. Then decide what kids you're going to share it with. It's very special. You can't put it down. You can't forget it.
~Submitter by Carol Hurst~ show less
I loved it! What great narration. In addition to providing a plausible scenario within which a person might find oneself married to W (I know!!!), it reveals a lot about the nature of being a wife, a friend, a granddaughter, and a mother.
~Submitted by Anisah Waite~
~Submitted by Anisah Waite~
Miranda Bliss has done it again. Deadmen Don't Get The Munchies was both funny yet thrill riding through her adventure to solve one murder of an old flame of her best friend Eve. I loved this book. I couldn't put it down. I recommend this book to any mystery solver out there! Miranda Bliss captures your attention both at the beginning yet continues to hold onto you right up til the end.
~Review Contributed by Library Patron, Amanda Kroen
~Review Contributed by Library Patron, Amanda Kroen
I loved this book! This book was full of obstacles and twists and turns about a mystery that needed solving and the solving was up to two young ladies whos only thrill in sight is cooking and boys. The book kept me on my toes and the edge of my seat all the way until the end, literally!
~Review Submitted by Bayne Library Patron, Amanda Kroen~
~Review Submitted by Bayne Library Patron, Amanda Kroen~
Recommended by friend of Bayne Library, John Weingartner
Kayte Wattam, a friend of Bayne Library, recommends this book because it is "a breathtakingly readable historical novel of the battles at Gettysburg. He moves gracefully from epic dramatic sweep to intimate details."
Recommended by friend of Bayne Library, Maureen Newcamp
Recommended by friend of Bayne Library, Maureen Newcamp
A poignant read that explores the struggles and the compromises that come with loving someone who believes differently than you.