Classic Suggestion July 2011

The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham


Brief Summary:
Kitty Fane's affair with Assistant Colonial Secretary Townsend, a married man, is interrupted when she is taken from Hong Kong by her vengeful bacteriologist husband to accompany him to his new post amid a raging cholera epidemic. -Novelist

This book is also available as a WMA audiobook and an Adobe EPUB eBook through the Greater Phoenix Digital Library.


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Beth's Pick July 2011

Conspirata by Robert Harris

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Harris_(novelist)
http://bna.galegroup.com/bna/short_bio/GALE%7C15087823/Harris,%20Robert%20(British%20writer)

SUMMARY
On the eve of Marcus Cicero's inauguration as consul of Rome, the grisly death of a boy sends ripples of fear through a city already wracked by civil unrest, crime, and debauchery of every kind. Felled by a hammer, his throat slit and his organs removed, the young slave appears to have been offered as a human sacrifice, forbidden as an abomination in the Roman Republic. For Cicero, the ill forebodings of this hideous murder only increase his frustrations and the dangers he already faces as Rome's leader: elected by the people but despised by the heads of the two rival camps, the patricians and populists. Caught in a political shell game that leaves him forever putting out fires only to have them ignite elsewhere, Cicero plays both for the future of the republic and his very life. There is a plot to assassinate Cicero, abetted by a rising young star of the Roman senate named Gaius Julius Caesar -- and it will take all the embattled consul's wit, strength, and force of will to stop it and keep Rome from becoming a dictatorship.

In this second novel of his Roman trilogy, following the bestselling Imperium, Robert Harris once again weaves a compelling and historically accurate tale of intrigue told in the wise and compassionate voice of Cicero's slave and private secretary, Tiro.

In the manner of I, Claudius, Harris vividly evokes ancient Rome and its politics for today's readers, documenting a world not unlike our own -- where the impulse toward dominance competes with the risk of overreach, where high-minded ideals can be a liability, and where someone is always waiting in the wings for a chance to set the world on fire.

REVIEWS—shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize, 2010

LIBRARY JOURNAL
A vibrant reading by British actor/multiple Audie Award winner Simon Jones brings instantly to life Harris's second title in his Cicero trilogy, following the international best seller Imperium (2006). At the height of his political power and popularity, Cicero must thwart both an assassination attempt and a serious plot to overthrow the Republic. The story is wryly and amusingly told from the slave-as-fly-on-the-wall perspective of Cicero's secretary, Tiro. A very thoughtful and engaging novel highly recommended for adult audiences. He was recommended for "readers who enjoy the complexities of Steven Saylor's historical Roman mysteries and the historical detail of Colleen McCullough's “Master of Rome' series,". Cliff Glaviano, Bowling Green State Univ. Libs., OH

BOOKLIST REWIEW
Harris provides the second installment in the intriguing life story of one of ancient Rome's most complex historical figures. Picking up where he left off at the conclusion of Imperium (2006), Tiro, Cicero's faithful manservant and confidential secretary, continues to narrate the experiences and the exploits of his master. Cicero, at the top of his political game in 63 BC, is elected consul of Rome. In an epic power struggle for influence and control, he matches wits with political and military heavyweights Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus. Just at this heady juncture in Cicero's public tenure, the body of an eviscerated child is pulled from the Tiber River. This gruesome discovery sets into motion a series of dramatic events that will have a profound impact upon Cicero's personal future and the fate of the entire Roman Empire. Once again, Harris reinvigorates history, breathing new life into a cast of timeworn historical characters and events. After devouring the middle course of this trilogy, historical fiction fans will still be hungry for more.--Flanagan, Margaret

Best in Books July 2011

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

Winter Garden was recoginized by serveral publications in 2010 including RT Reviewers" Choice Award in the Mainstream Fiction category. The title was also listed on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction Best-Seller list for several weeks.

This book is also available as a WMA audiobook through the Greater Phoenix Digital Library

Summary
Reuntied when their beloved father falls ill, sisters Meredith and Nina find themselves under the shadow of their disapproving mother, whose painful history is hidden behind her rendition of a Russian fairy tale told to the sisters in childhood. Novelist

Review
Publishers Weekly Review
Female bonding is always good for a good cry, as Hannah (True Colors) proves in her latest. Pacific Northwest apple country provides a beautiful, chilly setting for this family drama iginited by the death of a loving father whose two daughters have grown apart from each other and from their acid-tongued, Russian-born mother. After assuming responsibility for the family business, 40-year-0ld empty-nester Meredith finds it difficult to carry out her father's dying wish that she take care of her mother; Meredith's troubled marriage, her troubled relationship with her mother and her mother'sincreasingly troubled mind get in the way. Nina, Meredith's younger sister, takes a break from her globe-trotting journalism career to return home to do her share for their mother. How these three woman find each other and themselves with the help of vodka and a trip to Alaska competes for emotional attention with the story within a story of WWII Leningrad. Readers will find it hard not to laugh a little and cry a little more as mother and daughters reach out to each other just in the nick of time. (Feb) (c) Copyright PWR LLC. All rights reserved

Kristin Hannah website

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Best in Books June 2011

My Father's Tears by John Updike

During June many of us will be thinking about fathers and celebrating the occasion on the 19Th. Updike's collection of short stories is from the perspective of men reflecting on the world around them and their own lives. My Father's Tears was the 2009 Booklist Editors' Choice for Best Fiction and the New York Times Notable Books award for Fiction and Poetry. This was Updike's last completed work.

Review
Starred Review: Reflection and reconsideration abound in the late (1932-2009) great author's final finished collection of stories. The mood is unmistakably autumnal, as we encounter elderly males who explore familiar surroundings and simultaneously consolatory and troubling memories ("Personal Archaeology," "The Road Home," "My Father's Tears"); straying husbands burdened by conflicted remembrance of long-ago thrills ("Free," "The Walk with Elizanne"); and seniors dizzying multiplicity of ways ("Morocco," "Spanish Prelude to a Second Marriage"). Just as a representative Updike youngster intuits that he "can never be an ordinary, everyday boy, " so do universal and infinite. Among the more telling examples: the victim of a mugging while vacationing in Spain, who understands that-like the physically universe ultimately reducible to the prophecies of "cosmic theory"- he is simply wearing out ("The Accelerating Expansion of the Universe"); the psoriasis patient helped by an innovative treatment ("Blue Light") which reconciles him to his place as an integral part of an ever-changing world; and the near-octogenarian who relives his early years as a prelude to surrendering their continuation in his senescence ("The Full Glass"). There are missteps; stories too discursive to bear much dramatic weight, and a gathering of involved perspectives of the 9/11 catastrophe that seems a test run for Updike's' 2006 novel Terrorist. But the ache of knowing and celebrating how we've lived, what it all may mean and where we're going give this final testament a beauty and gravity that crown a brilliant, enduring life's work and legacy. A fine final act. (Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2009)

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