The Faraday Girls

by McInerney, Monica
The five Faraday sisters have always been very different from each other, but when the youngest, Clementine, gets pregnant at 17 all the sisters vow to help her raise her daughter Maggie. But, caring for a baby is hard on everyone and as the sisters grow older they each begin to resent their prescribed place in the family. When Maggie is almost six years old a shocking event divides the Faraday family. Twenty years later Maggie begins to uncover the truth about what happened to her family. What she uncovers changes everything she thought she knew about her family. The Faraday Girls is an engaging and entertaining family saga.
- reviewed by Jessica, Morrison Regional, PLCMC

Jane Austen in Scarsdale or Love, Death, and the SATs

by Cohen, Paula Marantz
Anne is a guidance counselor at Fenimore High School. As she helps both parents and students with all that is needed in the search for the perfect college she can not help but be reminded of her own happy college experience. She attended Columbia University and met the love of her life, Ben. Ben and Anne were perfect for each other, unfortunately her grandmother Winnie didnt think so.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin

by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Though everyone has heard of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, I have met few who have actually read it. That is unfortunate, since it captures pre-Civil War life in a colorful and compelling way that still invites controversy today. As a Southerner born and bred, I was challenged by the images of slave life, nostalgic over the local dialects and surprised by the amount of solid Christian theology. All that AND a great storyline with characters that really touch your soul. I think I’ll read it again!

Seabiscuit, An American Legend

by Laura Hillenbrand. One does not have to be a lover of horses to respond to the story of Seabiscuit and the unique personalities of the men who scripted the Cinderella story of an ungainly, unwanted, unbeautiful animal that became a racehorse legend. The narrative vividly describes the Depression years, life at the race track, and the thrilling events that captured the imagination of the American public and thrust Seabiscuit into the status of legend and “one of a kind” sports history. In the year 1938, more newspaper space was given to Seabiscuit than to FDR or Hitler! He was a symbol of hope for all those who felt they were losing the race for success.

- Reader’s Club celebrity review by Dave Brubeck, Jazz Great

Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Keckly: The Remarkable Story of the Friendship Between a First Lady and a Former Slave

by Fleischner, Jennifer. In early 1861, Elizabeth “Lizzy” Keckly, a seamstress and free woman of color, walked into a hotel parlor in Washington, D.C. and met someone who would have an extraordinary effect on her life ? Mary Todd Lincoln. Keckley became the First Lady’s dressmaker, but soon assumed other roles ? nurse, mediator and confidante, to name a few. Lizzy was an emotional balm for the spendthrift, irascible Mary, whose tragedy-prone life only accelerated the mood swings. In the darkest hours, following the sudden death of her young son and the assassination of the President, the devoted Lizzy was there. Author Fleischner uses alternating chapters to parallel the two women.

Castro’s memoirs: No regrets

In his 600-page autobiography, the Cuban leader touts universal literacy, free higher education, and healthcare as his greatest accomplishments. But he decries his people’s move toward materialism.

No one familiar with Fidel Castro’s oratory and ego is surprised that his autobiography runs more than 600 pages and concedes neither error nor excess during his nearly 50 years ruling Cuba.

You Will Make Money in Your Sleep: The Story of Dana Giacchetto, Financial Adviser to the Stars, Emily White (Scribner)

To anyone who followed Hollywood’s A-list and the financial markets in the late 90’s, the name Dana Giacchetto is all too familiar. Coverage in places like Vanity Fair and the NY Times told the tale of a shrewd con-man who sidled up to the rich and powerful and through his Cassandra Investments swindled members of the artistic community on both coasts for millions before the SEC and FBI put him behind bars. Considering the details of this high-flying, drug-induced, salaciously hot story, it is remarkable how author Emily White completely misses the boat.

With a writing style that is too prosaic, lacking in substantial details and downright inaccurate (LA’s Standard Hotel is on Sunset, not Hollywood Boulevard; Pavement was on Matador, not Mammoth Records) White’s recounting of this criminal’s financial kiting past lacks the punch of any investigative reporting and instead comes off as the writing of an acquaintance who still wants to believe in the subject’s basic good. Without any significant interviews with A-list victims (nor the Feds, nor the bankers) as well as failing to present any real hardcore evidence from the case (quoting poetry rather than facts), White (a victim herself) has created a wasted opportunity by spending too much time chronicling the lives of family members rather than detailing the crimes perpetrated on the white-hot celebrities that make the story of any interest to begin with. As detailed and compelling as Giacchetto’s real life saga is, White’s accounting of it is, sadly, neither. There is a remarkably gripping story here.

Unfortunately, it’s not in this book. – Tim Devine