Kate recommends "Star of the North"

Star of the North by D.B. John is a page-turning thriller about an American woman’s audacious plan to find her twin sister in North Korea, who had been presumed dead after disappearing from a South Korean beach twelve years earlier.  When she finds evidence that her sister may have been abducted and imprisoned in North Korea, she must find a way to confirm her suspicions and get her sister back by joining the CIA as an intelligence analyst.  Connected to her mission are the stories of a top North Korean government official whose newfound knowledge of his parental lineage may ruin his life, and a farm worker turned businesswoman who uses the contents of a humanitarian aid balloon to run an illegal side business. 

Though this is a work of fiction, it was inspired by the author’s observations on his own trip to North Korea in 2012 and provides a glimpse of what life may be like for different types of people in that country.  And though it has a fast-moving and suspenseful plot, it is just as much filled with fascinating human stories.

An excellent read for adults.

Join us to Discuss "The Great Alone"

 

Join us for “Books On Tap” at Bar Louie Partridge Creek on July 16 at 7pm, as we discuss “The Great Alone” by Kristin Hannah, the new book from the author of the “The Nightingale.”

 

“A tour de force. There are many great things about this book…It will thrill her fans with its combination of Greek tragedy, Romeo and Juliet-like coming of age story and domestic potboiler. She recreates in magical detail the lives of Alaska’s homesteaders… and is just as specific and authentic in her depiction of the spiritual wounds of post-Vietnam America.”–KIRKUS (STARRED REVIEW)

 

“Reliably alluring…The Great Alone is packed with rapturous descriptions of Alaskan scenery… Hannah remembers and summons an undeveloped wilderness, describing a gloriously pristine region in the days before cruise ships discovered it.”–THE NEW YORK TIMES

 

“Featuring a rich cast of characters and elevated by the riveting portrayal of homesteading in Alaska in the 1970s, this is a compassionate story of a family.”–PEOPLE, Book of the Week

 

 

We also own the book in Large Print, as an Audio CD and Playaway, or a download through Overdrive!

 

Registration for Books on Tap begins July 2^th. Register here.

Karen recommends "Between Shades of Gray"

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys is based on accounts of the survivors of the Russian occupation of the Baltic countries during Stalin's ruthless government.  Michigan-born author, Ruta Sepetys was compelled to tell this story as her family members were Lithuanian deportees and survivors.  The Soviets generated lists of those considered anti-Soviet, including "doctors, lawyers, teachers, military servicemen, writers, business owners, musicians, artists, and even librarians…"

This historical fiction narrative is a story told through 15 year old Lina whose family was awakened during the night and forced to travel, seemingly endlessly by train, to their first labor camp in Siberia to pick beets; then, a few years later they were forced to travel again on another long train journey to a fishing camp further north in Siberia. Lina, an aspiring artist, used her creative talents to document the story, obtain favors from the NKVD, and try to contact her father who had been sent to a Soviet prison.  Through Lina, the reader gets to know her mother, her brother, and other deportees in the camps as well as NVKD officers. The reader learns of Lithuanian Christmas traditions, foods, and the homes they left behind, as well as communal living in a jurta. Lina's spirit weaves through the fabric of Soviet brutality with wisdom and bravery.    

Even though this was Ms. Sepetys' first novel, it has been honored with numerous awards and translated into more than 27 languages.