Patch's Picks: Local Librarian's Choices

National Read Across America Day was yesterday, but reading shouldn’t be a once-a-year thing. The has plenty of good reads for you to discover by perusing the stacks. Here are six choices suggested by reference librarian Tara Samul:

Non-Fiction

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand (2010): This book tells the incredible story of Louie Zamperini, who went from a California troublemaker to an Olympic runner to a World War II bombardier. Hillenbrand’s account looks at this personal history as well as Zamperini’s will to survive a 47-day raft journey after a plane crash and two years in a brutal Japanese prisoner-of-war camp.

As of Thursday, both copies were checked out, with 23 holds on the large print copy and 98 holds on the regular copy. A downloadable e-book is also available.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (2011): Science writer Rebecca Skloot examines the remarkable life and death of Henrietta Lacks, an impoverished Africa-American mother of five who died of cancer in 1930. A sample taken from the tumors that killed her helped foster in remarkable scientific breakthroughs, but Lacks’ children did not know for decades about their mother’s role in events such as the development of a polio cure.

As of Thursday, the library had two copies checked out with 21 holds, a downloadable audio book, and a downloadable e-book.

The Autobiography of Mark Twain by Mark Twain (2010): No, Samuel Clemens wasn’t alive to write his autobiography in 2010. Rather, this “unexpurgated” version includes passages that Twain thought would be too rabble-rousing in his time. It’s a bit of a tome, so you’ll probably have to renew, but Twain’s acerbic humor is timeless and always makes for a good read.

As of Thursday, the library's one copy was checked out with three holds, and a downloadable audio book was also available.

Fiction

The Confession by John Grisham (2010): The Washington Post says it’s “brilliant” and “a superb work of social criticism in the literary troublemaker tradition of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle.” Meanwhile, Publisher’s Weekly says it’s a “subpar effort” in Grisham’s “recent slump.” We’ll let you decide. The plot concerns a minister’s race to save a man condemned to death row after receiving a confession from another person that he is the actual perpetrator in a decade-old murder.

Go for the large print on this one; there were 9 holds on that edition on Thursday, and 110 holds on the regular one. The library also has the book on CD, audiobook, and e-book.

Tick Tock by James Patterson (2011): This novel continues the adventures of New York City gumshoe Michael Bennett as he takes on…the Joker? Well, sort of. The villain is a criminal mastermind throwing the Big Apple into a frenzy with a series of horrific crimes.

The library doesn’t have a copy, but it is available through the inter-library loan. As of Thursday, there were 176 holds on 67 copies, with large print and CD versions available.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett (2009): With over 2,400 five-star reviews on Amazon, this book is being praised as a new classic. The story follows Eugenia Skeeter Phelan, an idealistic young activist at the start of the civil rights movement, as she documents the mistreatment of black servants in Mississippi.

On Thursday, there were three holds on a single copy as well as CD, audio, and e-book versions.