The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: a Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale

A horrible child murder took place in the summer of 1860 at Road Hill House in a small English village. One of the first Scotland Yard detective inspectors was sent to solve the mystery of who might be cruel enough to kill a sleeping three year old boy and cast his body in the servants’ privy. Countless lurid, highly opinionated newspaper articles and average, everyday gossip made this case a national sensation.

Kate Summerscale does a wonderful job of interweaving the history of detective novels with the events and personae of this real life case. The basic facts of the case will capture your interest and the individual characters intrigue you with their layers of deep, dark secrets that may well have laid the groundwork for a violent death. - Reviewed by Nancy

Spain and the World Table by Martha Rose Shulman

Having spent my third year of college in Spain, I am always on the look out for Spanish cookbooks. In Spain and the World Table, I found a treasure trove of traditional and modern recipes. Martha Shulman worked in conjunction with the Culinary Institute of America to assemble dishes that range from tapas to desserts. My favorite part of any cookbook is always the introduction and the history behind the recipes and ingredients.

Martha addresses the beginnings of the Spanish table through the regional dishes which were based on ingredients which were readily available to the people. This is why Spanish cities near the sea are famous for paella (a saffron, rice and seafood dish) and many that use salt cod as the main ingredient. The National Dish of Spain is the tortilla Espanola which is an omelet made with eggs and potatoes and is served both as a main dish as well as an appetizer or tapa. Gazpacho, a cold tomato soup, has many variations. The author even includes a recipe for one with beets and cherries. Cocido is a stew with beans, meat and sausage that I ate each week with my Spanish family. The recipe in this cookbook is just as I remember it.

Spaniards eat a light breakfast, a large meal after noon, have drinks and snacks in the late afternoon and then another meal later in the evening. Each evening on our way home from class, we would stop and have chocolate and churros. Chocolate is something like hot, thick chocolate pudding in which you would dip your churro ( a stick-like fried donut). Many evenings, we would also head to the local tavernas to “tomar algo” ( which literally means, “to take something”). There we would enjoy a glass of wine or beer and some tapas. Tapas are small snacks that range from a thin slice of ham, a pickled egg, slice of tortilla, anchovies or olives.

The most famous Spanish dessert is flan, which is a custard with caramel topping. Martha has recipes for several versions of this, including one topped with mission figs. This is a colorful and informative cookbook that took me back to my special year in Spain. - Reviewed by Deb

All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot

If you ever enjoyed the Masterpiece Theater series, All Creatures Great and Small, you will like this audiobook. Christopher Timothy, who starred in the series, is the reader. It was comforting and pleasurable to hear stories about the characters from the series I saw more than twenty years ago. The animal inhabitants of the Yorkshire Dales, Skeldale House, Darrowby, Sigfried, Tristan and Helen are all brought back to life through listening to this audiobook. Yes, the stories are heartwarming and compassionate and hearing them read by Christopher Timothy made the drive to and from work much more amusing than it usually is. - Reviewed by Nancy

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is a massively talented author. He’s responsible for some of the best graphic novel work of recent times – Sandman – and for some incredible novels like American Gods, Anansi Boys, and Stardust. He’s turned his attention to children’s literature of late, with The Wolves in the Walls, Coraline, and the, amazingly, Newberry Award winning Graveyard Book.

If I seem a little astounded he won the Newberry, it has nothing to do with his talent, and everything to do with everything Gaiman writes is kind of... well, creepy. Gaiman is at his best when the world his characters inhabit is off kilter from the one we inhabit, filled with monsters, darkness, and magic, and forces better left alone, even if they are also filled with wonder. I’m astounded that he’s a successful children’s writer at all, let alone a Newberry award winning one.

So what about the book for which he won? It’s an interesting tale. A child with a murdered family is raised by the ghosts and other supernatural residents of a graveyard-turned-nature preserve. It is based, thematically, on The Jungle Book, replacing the animals with the ghosts etc. Indeed, the supernatural setting allows for things to make slightly more sense than they might have otherwise, Bod (the child) exhibits odd bits of supernatural powers at times, picked up from those raising him.

It’s creepy. It’s sad. It’s meant to be. Gaiman would be no more interested in writing a happy-go-lucky everything is fine story about rainbows and unicorns than you would be in eating glass. If it has a failing, it is merely that we don’t learn quite enough about the forces that are gathering against Bod before the ultimate confrontation with them, so things can feel a little rushed and a little empty.

Is it Gaiman’s best work? No, not really. American Gods far outstrips this story, and even among his kids' books, Coraline is probably more interesting. That said, even the worst Gaiman story is better than 90% of the stuff out there, and this is not Gaiman’s worst work either.

The only warning is know what your children can handle. If they can handle some supernatural, if they can handle a little violence, if they can handle some scares, then they will enjoy this. If they don’t like such things, this won’t be the book for them. And like the very best children’s literature, this should hold a place on an adult’s bookshelf as well. - Reviewed by John

Salvage by Jane Kotapish

Salvage, by Jane Kotapish, follows the life of an unnamed woman in her thirties as she struggles with her past and its impact on her life. She has just moved back to rural Virginia after witnessing a horrific accident in Manhattan. The story moves backward and forward in time frequently, slowly revealing the sense of mystery and the ghosts of the past that haunt this young woman.

Kotapish weaves her tale with brilliant images and exquisite, honest, and poetic lines. She explores the teetering gray line that separates reality from illusion through the main character and relationship with her mother. This story is light on plot. If you need a plot driven story, this isn’t for you. However, if you appreciate writing that allows you to truly feel your way into a character’s life, you’ll be amazed. You'll come across lines like, “I love testing out cuss words on Nancy. They hold no weight, garner no reaction, so I can mouth the uncomfortable, fraught words like dented coins between my teeth, swirl them around and spit them out at random.”

There is a great deal of pain in this book, but it is humorous and beautiful enough to keep the reader going and hoping for the main character’s future. This is one I'll read again simply for the gorgeous writing. - Reviewed by Cassandra

Leni: the Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl by Steven Bach

Leni Riefenstahl was a fascinating character on the world stage. Talented and ambitious, she relentlessly pursued her goals without much concern for morality or ethics or any basic human emotions other than self-interest.

She came of age in Germany when the Nazis were on the rise. She accepted their help and support so that she might become a famous film director. In the post-World War II era, she would deny that Hitler or Goebbels ever played a part in advancing her career. Steven Bach provides plenty of documentation to make Leni look like a collaborator. Still, she was an artist with an indomitable drive to succeed.

Steven Bach does a good job of separating fact from fiction in Leni’s life. The book doesn’t make Leni completely sympathetic, but you will probably admire her energy and want to take another look at her films, Triumph of the Will and Olympia, or her books Vanishing Africa and The Last of the Nuba. VHS copies of Olympia and the two book titles are available in the Finger Lakes Library System. - Reviewed by Nancy

The Mighty Queens of Freeville: a Mother, a Daughter and the People Who Raised Them by Amy Dickinson

Anyone who has read advice in the “Ask Amy” column in the newspaper will appreciate the behind the scenes look into the life of Amy Dickinson. As a child growing up on a farm in Freeville, New York, Amy and her family experienced the dissolution of the family farm and the divorce of her parents. As a single mother, her mom not only took care of her family, but she held a job and went back to college. Witnessing her mom’s trials and tribulations gave Amy the opportunity to formulate some coping skills that she would need later in her own life.

Amy provides some humorous looks into life in a small town in upstate New York. One of my favorites is when she taught Sunday School and one of her students ate an important piece of the manger scene. Ever present is her remarkable relationship with her daughter and her invaluable support from her female relatives (thus the “Mighty Queens of Freeville”). I can see them sitting at the local diner hashing out the daily news and plotting how to best deal with anything that life sends their way!

This is a wonderful account of how a local girl found success and happiness right here in Tompkins County. - Reviewed by Deb

The Ten Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer

I generally avoid articles, blogs, books and the like that seem to inflame the “mommy wars” where judgments fly fast and loose about others’ parenting choices. Yet I was intrigued by this book’s wry title and decided to dive in.

The book is meant to be a look at the lives of four professional women who chose to leave the world of work behind after the birth of their children. While the characters acknowledge they are fortunate to have such a choice, given that most families have no alternative to a two-working-parent household, I still bristled at their privilege and narrow existence. As a result, I didn’t much like or care about most of the characters. There also wasn’t much happening until about two-thirds of the way through, so if you are looking for a forward-moving, plot-driven book this isn’t for you.

The author also used the practice of including as separate chapters flashbacks to stories about the protagonists’ parents (and in one instance, Nadia Comaneci!) to flesh out how the women came to be who they are. I found it distracting and ineffective.

Did I expect too much from this book, thinking it would provide some insight into and sense of satisfaction with my own work/life/parenting decisions? I think not. In this instance, I was merely looking for characters whose life stories were interesting and possibly relatable. I didn’t find them. - Reviewed by Suzanne

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

A fateful meeting on a Nigerian beach years before sets the tone for this heartbreaking novel by British author Cleave. London magazine editor Sarah and her husband Andrew are having marital problems. Sarah is involved in an affair and feels she must decide if she wants to stay with her husband and young son, Charlie. When a free invitation comes addressed in her name to the magazine she edits, she decides that the trip to the Nigerian coast would be the perfect getaway to save her marriage.

One perfectly normal, sunny afternoon on the coast turns into a nightmare, when two young girls, Little Bee and her sister, suddenly run towards Sarah and Andrew. They are being chased by soldiers who are destroying area villages in their quest for oil. The soldiers give Andrew an ultimatum – chop off a finger and Little Bee’s sister will live. His decision results in everyone’s lives changing forever.

Perfect for book groups, this quiet and stunning novel shows how a “what if this happened to me?” situation changes everything. Frightening, yet also redemptive, the novel alternates narration between Little Bee and Sarah. It is also a novel about the growing friendship, against many odds, between Sarah and Little Bee, especially since Little Bee shows up on Sarah’s doorstep many years later – and also on the day of Andrew’s memorial service. How did she survive and know how to find Sarah? What led Andrew to take his life? All the mysteries are solved by the heart-wrenching end that readers can see slowly building up. Cleave, also the author of the outstanding novel, Incendiary, is definitely a writer to watch. I also found this novel to be very similar to Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones, a review of which can be read at http://www.tcpl.org/sarah/2007/12/74-mister-pip-by-lloyd-jones.html – Reviewed by Sarah

A Very British Gangster

A look at the real life of Gotti-esque Dominic Noonan of Manchester, England. He gets things done for his community members that the police and social service agencies can’t achieve such as reuniting a mother with her baby “stolen” by the grandparents or making sure one neighbor doesn’t feel free to assault another neighbor with a hammer. Of course, Dom doesn’t have to worry about what he can legally do to effect change. He does whatever he thinks will work even though that might include threats of or actual violence.

There are a whole bunch of Noonans, brothers, cousins, godchildren, in Dom’s “security business.” When one of his brothers dies in a motorcycle accident, so many people come to show respect that the police have to spend thousands of pounds on crowd and traffic control. If you liked watching the Sopranos, try this Manchester version of crime family life. - Reviewed by Nancy