RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE VANKOUGHNET LIBRARY

Post date: Aug 08, 2015 4:32:43 PM

RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE VANKOUGHNET LIBRARY

STILL ALICE by Lisa Genova (2009)

In Lisa Genova’s extraordinary New York Times bestselling novel, an accomplished woman slowly loses her thoughts and memories to Alzheimer’s disease—only to discover that each day brings a new way of living and loving. Now a major motion picture starring Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kate Bosworth, and Kristen Stewart. Borrow it here even if you have seen the movie!

ALREADY HOME by Susan Mallery (2012)

After nearly a decade as a sous-chef in a trendy eatery, and fresh off a divorce from the owner, Jenna Stevens is desperate for a change. So when she spots a For Lease sign in her hometown, she impulsively decides to open her very own cooking store. Her crash course in business is aided by a streetwise store manager and Jenna's adoptive mother. But as soon as she gains a foothold in her new life, in walk her birth parents—aging hippies on a quest to reconnect. Jenna must now figure out how to reconcile the free-spirited Serenity and Tom with the parents who raised her and decide whether to open her heart to a man who just might be the best thing to happen to her in years; all without sacrificing her newly-found dreams.

THE RIGHT THING BY AMY CONNER (2014)

On a scorching August day in 1963, seven-year-old Annie Banks meets the girl who will become her best friend. Skinny, outspoken Starr Dukes and her wandering preacher father may not be accepted by polite society in Jackson, Mississippi, but Annie and Starr are too busy sharing secrets and playing elaborate games of Queen for a Day to care. Then, as suddenly as she appeared in Annie's life, Starr disappears.

Annie barely recognizes Starr when they meet twenty-seven years after that first summer, but the bond formed so long ago quickly re-emerges. Starr, pregnant by a powerful married man who wants her to get out of town, has nowhere to turn. Annie, determined not to fail her friend this time, agrees to drive Starr to New Orleans to get money she's owed.

Moving, witty, and beautifully told, The Right Thing is a story of love and courage, the powerful impact of friendship, and the small acts that can anchor a life--or, with a little luck, steer it in the right direction at last.

SNOW FALLIING ON CEDARS BY DAVID GUTERSON (1995)

Ishmael Chambers, the one-man staff of the newspaper on San Piedro Island in Puget Sound, is covering the 1954 trial of a high school classmate accused of killing another classmate over a land dispute. We learn the sensory details of life in a small fishing community; the emotional lives of people scarred inside and out by World War II; and the deep and unresolved prejudices toward the island's Japanese Americans who were interned during the war--a tragedy that led to financial advantage for some islanders. We hear from the characters' distinctive voices as Chambers tells a combination love story, murder mystery, and painful history lesson. (Highly recommended by both Leona and Carolyn.)