One Summer by David Baldacci

David Baldacci is a worldwide bestselling novelist.  His books have been published in over 45 languages and in more than 80 countries, with over 110 million copies in print.  He is one of the world's favorite storytellers.

This book isn't his typical offering as the writer of blockbuster thrillers, but it is a moving account of one family who learned to love and reconnect after being exposed to terrible tragedy.

It's almost Christmas, but there is no joy in the house of terminally ill Jack and his family. With only a short time left to live, he spends his last days preparing to say goodbye to his devoted wife, Lizzie, and their three children. Then, unthinkably, tragedy strikes again: Lizzie is killed in a car accident. With no one able to care for them, the children are separated from each other and sent to live with family members around the country. Just when all seems lost, Jack begins to recover in a miraculous turn of events. He rises from what should have been his deathbed, determined to bring his fractured family back together. Struggling to rebuild their lives after Lizzie's death, he reunites everyone at Lizzie's childhood home on the oceanfront in South Carolina. And there, over one unforgettable summer, Jack will begin to learn to love again, and he and his children will learn how to become a family once more.

David Baldacci is also the cofounder, along with his wife, of the Wish You Well Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America.  You can find out more about him by going to www.davidbaldacci.com and his foundation by going to www.wishyouwellfoundation.org .  He also has a program designed to spread books across America.  You can find out more about this by going to www.feedingbodyandmind.com .

This was my first Baldacci book, but it won't be my last.  I intend to catch up on his other titles and I highly recommend him to you.

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

This book was passed on to me by a Book Club member, because she thought I might like it--and, indeed I did.  It is a mystery that was released  in 2008 by Australian author Kate Morton.

On the eve of the first world war, a little girl is found abandoned on a ship to Australia. A mysterious woman called the Authoress had promised to look after her--but the Authoress has disappeared without a trace.

On the night of her twenty-first birthday, Nell O'Connor learns a secret that will change her life forever. Decades later, she embarks upon a search for the truth that leads her to the windswept Cornish coast and the strange and beautiful Blackhurst Manor, once owned by the aristocratic Mountrachet family.

On Nell's death, her grand-daughter, Cassandra, comes into an unexpected inheritance. Cliff Cottage and its forgotten garden are notorious amongst the Cornish locals for the secrets they hold--secrets about the doomed Mountrachet family and their ward Eliza Makepeace, a writer of dark Victorian fairytales. It is here that Cassandra will finally uncover the truth about the family, and solve the century-old mystery of a little girl lost.

This is a story that explores the present and the past, a theme that the author is particularly interested in.  There are three strands woven together to form a single narrative--the lives of three women from three different eras.  At first, it jumped around a little too much for me, but once I got used to jumping back and forth in time, the magical narrative captivated me.  We even get a few dark fairytales woven into the narrative as well.  You can tell that the book has been carefully researched and crafted with mysteries to be solved and many puzzle pieces to be followed till the very end (where there is a payoff).  It was a fast and easy read and the atmosphere and setting made for a compelling read.

The Joy of Re-Reading

Have to share this from Joan Wickersham from the Boston Globe about the Joy of Re-Reading.  She is so right when she says "Re-reading never gets old. The books change because we change."

Bibliographics

 

Read an interesting article by Suzy Staubach about the curious rise of bibliographics.  Just wanted to share it with you all here because she has a lot of good links listed for Pinterest sites and web pages having to do with books.  Truly delightful to browse for any book lover.  They make this girl's heart beat a bit faster, and maybe they will work their magic on you too.  Check it out.   

Don't burn your books, print is here to stay!

The following article from the Wall Street Journal gives lovers of ink and paper heart.  Reports of the death of the printed book may be exaggerated.

"Ever since Amazon introduced its popular Kindle e-reader five years ago, pundits have assumed that the future of book publishing is digital. Opinions about the speed of the shift from page to screen have varied. But the consensus has been that digitization, having had its way with music and photographs and maps, would in due course have its way with books as well. By 2015, one media maven predicted a few years back, traditional books would be gone.

Half a decade into the e-book revolution, though, the prognosis for traditional books is suddenly looking brighter. Hardcover books are displaying surprising resiliency. The growth in e-book sales is slowing markedly. And purchases of e-readers are actually shrinking, as consumers opt instead for multipurpose tablets. It may be that e-books, rather than replacing printed books, will ultimately serve a role more like that of audio books—a complement to traditional reading, not a substitute.


How attached are Americans to old-fashioned books? Just look at the results of a Pew Research Center survey released last month. The report showed that the percentage of adults who have read an e-book rose modestly over the past year, from 16% to 23%. But it also revealed that fully 89% of regular book readers said that they had read at least one printed book during the preceding 12 months. Only 30% reported reading even a single e-book in the past year.

What's more, the Association of American Publishers reported that the annual growth rate for e-book sales fell abruptly during 2012, to about 34%. That's still a healthy clip, but it is a sharp decline from the triple-digit growth rates of the preceding four years.

The initial e-book explosion is starting to look like an aberration. The technology's early adopters, a small but enthusiastic bunch, made the move to e-books quickly and in a concentrated period. Further converts will be harder to come by. A 2012 survey by Bowker Market Research revealed that just 16% of Americans have actually purchased an e-book and that a whopping 59% say they have "no interest" in buying one.

Meanwhile, the shift from e-readers to tablets may also be dampening e-book purchases. Sales of e-readers plunged 36% in 2012, according to estimates from IHS iSuppli, while tablet sales exploded. When forced to compete with the easy pleasures of games, videos and Facebook on devices like the iPad and the Kindle Fire, e-books lose a lot of their allure. The fact that an e-book can't be sold or given away after it's read also reduces the perceived value of the product.

Beyond the practical reasons for the decline in e-book growth, something deeper may be going on. We may have misjudged the nature of the electronic book.

From the start, e-book purchases have skewed disproportionately toward fiction, with novels representing close to two-thirds of sales. Digital best-seller lists are dominated in particular by genre novels, like thrillers and romances. Screen reading seems particularly well-suited to the kind of light entertainments that have traditionally been sold in supermarkets and airports as mass-market paperbacks.

These are, by design, the most disposable of books. We read them quickly and have no desire to hang onto them after we've turned the last page. We may even be a little embarrassed to be seen reading them, which makes anonymous digital versions all the more appealing. The "Fifty Shades of Grey" phenomenon probably wouldn't have happened if e-books didn't exist.

Readers of weightier fare, including literary fiction and narrative nonfiction, have been less inclined to go digital. They seem to prefer the heft and durability, the tactile pleasures, of what we still call "real books"—the kind you can set on a shelf.

E-books, in other words, may turn out to be just another format—an even lighter-weight, more disposable paperback. That would fit with the discovery that once people start buying digital books, they don't necessarily stop buying printed ones. In fact, according to Pew, nearly 90% of e-book readers continue to read physical volumes. The two forms seem to serve different purposes.

Having survived 500 years of technological upheaval, Gutenberg's invention may withstand the digital onslaught as well. There's something about a crisply printed, tightly bound book that we don't seem eager to let go of."

—Mr. Carr is the author of "The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains."

This book has been billed as an honest look at the price of war on an ordinary American family.  It is a story of love, loss, heroism, honor, and yes--ultimately--hope.

Michael and Jolene Zarkades are a young couple caught up in the malestrom of every day life.  He is a defense attorney, and she is the mother of two girls and a helicopter pilot with the National Guard.  Iraq erupts, and Jolene is deployed, leaving Michael to be the single parent to their two girls (a role that is obviously foreign to him).  As a mother, Jolene agonizes over leaving her family, but as a soldier she understands the true meaning of duty.  When tragedy befalls Jolene, their 12 year marriage is tested in ways that neither of them could have forseen.

The thing I liked best about this book was its depiction of the sacrifices that our service men and women make by putting themselves in harms way to protect us and ensure our freedom.  Typical of that were the words from the Soldier's Creed posted on the hospital door of Jolene's best friend Tami:

I am an American Soldier.
I am a warrior and a member of a team.
I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values.
I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.
I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.
I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.
I am an expert and I am a professional.
I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.
I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.
I am an American Soldier.

The character Jolene was a personification of this code.  I had a little trouble relating to her prior to her Iraq experience because she seemed so bottled up and controlled--a little too perfect--but that was no doubt due to her dysfunctional background, coming from an alcoholic family.  She truly found herself in the military--found her purpose.  The character of Michael was well drawn, but I found the two children very annoying.  The older girl (12) was a spoiled brat and the younger girl (4) seemed too much of a baby.

I do totally agree with Hannah when she says that no matter how you feel about war and all the political machinations behind it, we must always support our warriors. 

Blood Lance by Jeri Westerson

I am a big fan of Jeri Westerson's Crispin Guest novels (the current title is Book 5).  With her extensive knowledge of medieval England, she makes fourteenth-century London come alive.  Containing well developed characters and a wealth of period detail this book is another fascinating and entertaining entry in the series.

Disgraced former knight Crispin Guest witnesses a body falling from the uppermost part of London Bridge.  He tries to save the man, but is too late.  Witnesses on the street say they believe it was a suicide, but Crispin does not believe that.  As he investigates the death of the man (who turns out to be an armorer who had a shop on the bridge), he is even more convinced that murder was afoot.  Crispin's hunt for the murderer also involves a friend or two from Crispin's old life, a search for the Spear of Longinus (the spear that pierced the side of Christ on the cross—which is believed to make those who possess it invincible), and a rousing joust on London Bridge.

A very pleasurable read indeed.  There is even a nice little Afterword in the book from Ms. Westerson giving us a little more background on the Holy Spear (or the Spear of Destiny/Spear of Longinus) and some fleshing out of some of the historical characters, as well as a bit more about PTSD and the idea that knights suffered from it.  Fascinating.

Am very much looking forward to Book 6, Shadow of the Alchemist, which will be released in the Fall of 2013.

This book is a publishing phenomenon, selling 1.8 million copies to date.  It has spent (so far) 20 consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list (including 8 weeks in the number one spot for hardcover fiction). 

This is the basic plot of the book:  Nick and Amy Dunne celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary.  In the midst of the celebration, Amy disappears.  Of course, the suspicion falls on Nick, who is a compendium of deceits and inappropriate behavior--but is he a killer? With his twin sister at his side, Nick proclaims his innocence, and even Amy's fiercely doting parents are on his side.  But as the police investigation proceeds, we find that it is not only Nick that has huge cracks in his golden boy persona, but Amy may not be the golden girl everyone thought she was either.

That is pretty much all I can tell you about the book without giving away too much, because this is a book that will take you on a terrifying roller coaster ride into the darkness of a disintegrating marriage, one characterized by betrayal, manipulation, toxicity, and true psychopathy.  I was horrified by these characters as the story progressed, but also fascinated by the unusually smart crafting of the plot by its author.

The good news is that Ms. Flynn is writing a screenplay in which Reese Witherspoon has signed on to produce and star as Amy.  No word yet on who will play the handsome Nick.  But after the runaway hit the book has become, I'm sure the movie will be a success as well.

I'm Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen by Sylvie Simmons

I have been a fan of Leonard Cohen for many years now.  So I guess the thing I liked most about this book was getting a glimpse of what was happening in his personal life when he came up with all that gorgeous poetry of his.  This biography of the man behind Suzanne and Hallelujah is an examination of one of the most influential artists of our era. Written by music journalist Sylvie Simmons, it gives us an intimate look into the life of a man who at the height of his popularity entered a monastery above Los Angeles and reemerged for a sold out world tour almost 15 years later. His blending of poetry, fiction, and music has given him an audience that has spanned four decades and earned him a place in the culture that is second only to Bob Dylan. Cohen was honored (along with Chuck Berry) as the recipient of the first annual PEN Award for songwriting excellence in February of 2012. An insightful portrait of a man blessed with vision, depth, and talent, and a gorgeous turn of phrase.

One of my favorites of Leonard's...Dance Me to the End of Love

 

And another one of my favorites from Leonard...

 

A THOUSAND KISSES DEEP

 

The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat.
You win a while, and then it's done ¨c
Your little winning streak.
And summoned now to deal
With your invincible defeat,
You live your life as if it's real,
A thousand kisses deep.

I'm turning tricks, I'm getting fixed,
I'm back on boogie street.
You lose your grip, and then you slip
Into the masterpiece.
And maybe I had miles to drive,
And promises to keep:
You ditch it all to stay alive,
A thousand kisses deep.

And sometimes when the night is slow,
The wretched and the meek,
We gather up our hearts and go,
A thousand kisses deep.

Confined to sex, we pressed against
The limits of the sea:
I saw there were no oceans left
For scavengers like me.
I made it to the forward deck.
I blessed our remnant fleet
And then consented to be wrecked,
A thousand kisses deep.

I'm turning tricks, I'm getting fixed,
I'm back on boogie street.
I guess they won't exchange the gifts
That you were meant to keep.
And quiet is the thought of you,
The file on you complete,
Except what we forgot to do,
A thousand kisses deep.

And sometimes when the night is slow,
The wretched and the meek,
We gather up our hearts and go,
A thousand kisses deep.

The ponies run, the girls are young,
The odds are there to beat . . .

 

 







Tumblr to Follow

Okay, this is kind of a girl thing (sorry guys)...but it does fit into my whole theme of everything "book" related.  Being a girly girl and loving my nail polish...but also being a bibliophile extraordinaire, I found a tumblr that combines both loves.  All you gals out there that are like minded...check this one out. 

Jepp, Who Defied the Stars by Katherine Marsh

Jepp left his countryside home on the empty promise of a stranger, only to become a captive in a luxurious prison: Coudenberg Palace, the royal court of the Spanish Infanta. Nobody warned Jepp that as a court dwarf, daily injustices would become his seemingly unshakable fate.  He manages to escape from the palace, but is imprisoned again, alone in a cage. Spirited across Europe in a kidnapper’s carriage, Jepp fears where his unfortunate stars may lead him. But he can't even begin to imagine the brilliant and eccentric new master—a man devoted to uncovering the secrets of the stars—who awaits him. Or the girl who will help him mend his heart and unearth the long-buried secrets of his past.

This is a young adult historical novel written from a dwarf's perspective, which I found extremely interesting and engaging.  The author managed to keep her characters entirely in their time period, with no modernity creeping in.  And, there is real history incorporated into her fiction, which she tells us all about in an Author's note at the back of the book.

The real Jepp served the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe as his dwarf jester.  Diego Velazquez (a 17th century painter) did several portraits of court dwarfs like the one depicted below.

Court Dwarf Don Antonio el Ingles



There is a long history of dwarfs serving royal courts around the world.  Some held positions of power or prestige, but many more were collected as status symbols, mocked, and treated cruelly.  The indignities that Jepp and his fellow dwarfs suffer are not, sadly, fictional--but a composite of actual accounts from Renaissance-era European courts.

 I'm taking an astronomy class right now, where I learned about Tycho Brahe--a most interesting fellow--so, I especially loved reading Marsh's characterization of him.  Born into a powerful family of Danish nobles, Tycho developed a passion for astronomy--and its sister art of astrology.  When King Frederick awarded Tycho the island of Hven in the Oresund Strait to build an observatory, Uraniborg (or the Castle of the Heavens) was created.  In this castle was running water (including an indoor fountain); state-of-the-art astronomical equipment (some of which Brahe designed); a system of pulleys and bells that could summon servants and scholars; exotic gardens; and so much more.  Tycho entertained himself and his staff with lavish banquets and actually had a beer-drinking pet moose (which is introduced in Marsh's book).

But the real star in this book is the self-deprecating voice of Jepp, who was a witness to the emerging world of science and astronomy, and was trying to find out who he was in the process--whether his fate was truly subject to the stars or perhaps subject to his own manipulation of destiny.  And where does love fall in this equation? You really must read Marsh's book--a magical tale of an unusual hero and his extraordinary quest to become the master of his own destiny.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

This charming book set in Alaska in 1920 is the first novel by this author--though the wonderfully descriptive language was so rich, it was hard for me to believe that this was her first book.  However, she was raised in Alaska and continues to live there with her husband and two daughters.  She received her BA in journalism and minor in creative writing through the honors program at Western Washington University, studied creative nonfiction at the University of Alaska Anchorage graduate program, and worked for nearly 10 years as an award-winning reporter at the Frontiersman newspaper.  So, she knows her stuff!

Jack and Mabel, two homesteaders who are childless and drifting apart from the loneliness and weight of the work this environment entails just for survival, in a moment of levity after the season's first snowfall build a child out of snow.  The next morning, it is gone--but they find a young, blonde-haired girl who calls herself Faina.  She seems very comfortable and at home in the woods.  A real child of nature.  Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child--who really could have stepped out of the pages of a fairy tale--and they soon grow to love her.  Who is this child? Where does she come from? Is she real, or produced from the imagination of two lonely childless people in the middle of a harsh and unyielding landscape?

I won't give away any of the book's plot here, but the thing that permeates this book from start to finish are the lovely descriptions of the harsh magical environment of Alaska--the spartan setting, the desperate struggle for existence, the river ice, pine boughs, mountain herbs, the smell of wet wool and blood, and the snow...always the snow.  You truly feel like you are right there experiencing everything this couple does.

I enjoyed this book very much, despite the fact that it is not really plot driven with the usual conflicts and tensions.  What it is though, is a large dose of magical realism wrapped up in a beautifully rendered story that is emotional and thought provoking.

Yes, this is me...

Evidence by Mary Oliver

Mary Oliver is one of my favorite poets.  If you are not familiar with her poems, they are infused with the natural world and contain so much wisdom that they are a balm for my soul.  A couple of my favorites of hers are "The Summer Day" and "Wild Geese".  Google them and read them.  They'll give you a taste of what her delicious poems are like.  This collection is pretty much standard Mary.  A feast for the senses and emotions.  I highly recommend this, or any other collection of her poems.  Here's one of my favorites from this book:

To Begin With, the Sweet Grass

1.

Will the hungry ox stand in the field and not eat
of the sweet grass?
Will the owl bite off its own wings?
Will the lark forget to lift its body in the air or
forget to sing?
Will the rivers run upstream?

Behold, I say - behold
the reliability and the finery and the teachings
of this gritty earth gift.

2.

Eat bread and understand comfort.
Drink water, and understand delight.
Visit the garden where the scarlet trumpets
are opening their bodies for the hummingbirds
who are drinking the sweetness, who are
thrillingly gluttonous.

For one thing leads to another.
Soon you will notice how stones shine underfoot.
Eventually tides will be the only calendar you believe in.

And someone's face, whom you love, will be as a star
both intimate and ultimate,
and you will be both heart-shaken and respectful.
And you will hear the air itself, like a beloved, whisper:
oh, let me, for a while longer, enter the two
beautiful bodies of your lungs….

4.

Someday I am going to ask my friend Paulus,

The dancer, the potter,

To make me a begging bowl

Which I believe

My soul needs.

And if I come to you,

To the door of your comfortable house

With unwashed clothes and unclean fingernails,

Will you put something into it?

I would like to take this chance.

I would like to give you this chance.

5.

We do one thing or another; we stay the same, or we change.

Congratulations, if

You have changed.

6.

Let me ask you this.

Do you also think that beauty exists for some fabulous reason?

And if you have not been enchanted by this adventure-

Your life-

What would do for you?

7.

What I loved in the beginning, I think, was mostly myself.
Never mind that I had to, since somebody had to.
That was many years ago.
Since then I have gone out from my confinements,
though with difficulty.
I mean the ones that thought to rule my heart.
I cast them out, I put them on the mush pile.
They will be nourishment somehow (everything is nourishment
somehow or another).

And I have become the child of the clouds, and of hope.
I have become the friend of the enemy, whoever that is.
I have become older and, cherishing what I have learned,
I have become younger.
 

And what do I risk to tell you this, which is all I know?
Love yourself. Then forget it. Then, love the world.

Waging Heavy Peace by Neil Young

Okay, I admit it.  I'm a Neil Young fan and that was my main reason for reading this book--which by the way, I found interesting.  It is a book suffused with comments about loss and aging and its author is not a high faluting author, just an old rocker who has some things to say.  He says them in a stream of consciousness style, jumping around in time a lot as he's telling you his story.  But it was interesting to learn a bit about how he was raised and the kinds of experiences he has had that played themselves out in his music.  He also tells you a great deal about his ideas about improving the sound of today's music by restoring high resolution digital music.  If you are not a Neil Young fan, I'm not sure this book would hold your interest--but if you are a fan of his music, you'll enjoy this back story.

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

Edward Warren has been living in Thailand for several years, after an irreparable fight with his father, Luke.  He gets a frantic phone call from his mother, in which he learns that his Dad lies comatose in a hospital, gravely injured in a car accident that also involved his younger sister Cara.  He quickly returns to the United States.  Luke is an animal conservationist who became famous after living with a wolf pack in the wilds of Canada.  It's impossible for his children to reconcile the broken man in the hospital bed with their dynamic father.  When doctors say Luke's chances of recovery are practically nil, his daughter Cara hopes for a miracle.  But Edward wants to terminate life support and donate his father's organs.

With this book, Picoult examines the intersection between medical science and moral choices, and she manages to make us confront some provocative questions.  If we can keep people who have no hope for recovery alive artificially, should they also be allowed to die artificially? Does the potential to save somebody else's life with a donated organ balance the act of hastening another's death? When a father's life hangs in the balance, which sibling should get to decide his fate?

Jodi Picoult is known as a writer who deals with family, relationships, love, and so much more.  She is a meticulous researcher who says it drives her crazy as a reader when she catches authors in inaccuracies--so she is a stickler about it.  For Lone Wolf, she spent time with a man who lived in the wild with a wolf pack for a year (Shaun Ellis) – and got to meet some other wolves he has in captivity.  She recommends that you read his book "The Man Who Lives with Wolves," and tells you that if you want to learn more about wolves or sponsor wolves, you can contribute to The Wolf Centre and Foundation, where he continues to work to understand more about wolves and wolf behavior.  The website is www.thewolfcentre.co.uk

Her research into wolf biology, and the heirarchy and mentality of the pack makes the story all the more enjoyable.  It is also a compelling read because of its examination of a very complex subject that many families may have to deal with at some point.

It is well written, packs an emotional punch, and the family dynamics are handled quite well (this is a Picoult trademark).  

Death at Sea World: Shamu and the Dark Side of Killer Whales in Captivity by David Kirby

As the subtitle of this book explains, this is an examination of the dark side of keeping highly intelligent and social creatures like killer whales in captivity.

Award winning investigative journalist David Kirby goes behind the scenes of the captive marine mammal industry to unravel the carefully constructed fantasy that the industry has spun, and we meet all the humans involved in capturing them, studying them, displaying them, and training them.  He takes you to the center of an international controversy where public sentiment, science, business and government concerns clash over the use of killer whales in entertainment.  Contrasting the lives of wild orcas at sea with orcas in confinement dealing with the stress of capture as well as confinement (which can turn them into sick, unstable, aggressive animals) we look at the true costs of holding the ocean's top predator in captivity.

Kirby also details the deaths of trainers like Dawn Brancheau (a beloved and experienced trainer at SeaWorld Orlando) in 2010 and Alexis Martinez, a young spanish trainer who died in 2009.   It is a fascinating and shocking book that will help you decide where you stand on the issue of whales and dolphins in captivity.

All you need is a shower head

Books for the bathroom.  Naked Books highlights a library made of shower tiles.  Love it!

Library Date Stamp artwork

 

 

Italian artist, Frederico Pietrella uses the art medium to illustrate the concept of time.  He uses library date stamps and takes a considerable amount of time to produce these images.  This link shows you some of his artwork and includes a short video about him as well.  Truly amazing stuff.

Doc by Mary Doria Russell

I loved this book from the very first sentences..."He began to die when he was twenty-one, but tuberculosis is slow and sly and subtle.  The disease took fifteen years to hollow out his lungs so completely they could no longer keep him alive. In all that time, he was allowed a single season of something like happiness."

The story takes place in 1878 (three years before the shootout at the O. K. Corral).  Dodge City, Kansas, is a cow town where after the long, hard drive was over and the herds were delivered, weary cowboys could find entertainment that involved gambling, drinking, and hookers.  Violence is random and routine and it's all a part-time policeman named Wyatt Earp can do to keep it in check.  Then the burned body of a boy named Johnnie Sanders is discovered and the death seems of special importance to Doc Holliday, a frail dentist who has just started his practice in town.

The ALA gave this book its top pick in historical fiction for 2011, and Russell was also nominated for a Pulitzer Prize with Doc--and now I see why.  Whatever your image of Doc Holliday was before diving into this book, I guarantee you will come away from this reading with an admiration and respect for Russell's depiction of the educated Southern gentleman who formed an unlikely friendship with the Earp brothers and was so much more than the gunman and gambler that most of us remember from the O.K. Corral. 

Russell has a knowledge of 5 or 6 languages and it is refreshing to see some of that language facility used as dialogue for her characters.  Doc's "roommate," a high-strung Hungarian whore spouts Magyar, German, French, and Latin.  The writing is superb, the research is thorough, the characterizations are rich.  The book is full of humor and just soars with beautifully written and engaging dialogue.  You really must read this book!

Librarian tattoos

Thanks to Mental Floss, here are 11 Amazing Librarian tattoos.  If I had a tatt, I'd probably do a literary quote in some obscure place, but I admit I was amazed by these...especially the one with the card catalog.  Wow!