BOOKS & MORE
Spring books
BOOKENDS
RECOMMENDED READING
If you like historical romance or
Robin Hood-type stories, check
out “What A Scoundrel Wants”
by Carrie Lofty (paperback,
$3.99, 2008).
Robin Hood’s
nephew, Will
Scarlet, is the star
of this book.
Will is employed
as a hired
swordsman when
the men that he’s
RECOMMENDED working for pick a
fight with a noble
READING lord and his entou-
JENNIFER ESTEP rage.
During the
battle, Will finds
himself saving a
blind woman, Meg
of Keyworth, from
the other men.
Will is imme-
diately drawn to
Meg, who is just
as strong, devious
and passionate as he is. But Meg
has no time for romance, since
she’s searching for her sister,
who’s in trouble for selling fake
emeralds.
But Will upsets Meg’s plans in
more ways than one – especially
since she’s as attracted to him as
he is to her.
Lofty has written a lovely
romance, full of action, adventure,
danger and passion. This one will
especially appeal to readers who
are searching for a different take
on the Robin Hood legend.
JENNIFER ESTEP is a features page
designer for the Bristol Herald Courier.
‘SHELTER’ REVIEW
n “Gimme Shelter” by Mary
Elizabeth Williams, 2009, Simon
& Schuster, $26.99/$34 Canada,
320 pages: No matter whether it
was a mudhole or a mansion, your
first home as a grown-up is the
one you’ll never forget.
So imagine looking for three
years for the perfect home in the
perfect neighborhood.
In the new book “Gimme Shel-
ter” by Mary Elizabeth Williams,
you’ll read about the most hair-
pulling, frustrating, aggravating,
teeth-gnashing, wonderful thing
one New York couple ever did.
Living in a tiny (less than 750
square feet) apartment in Brook-
lyn might seem like a dream to
some. That’s plenty of room to
spread out, if you don’t have many
possessions.
But add another adult and a 3-
year-old child, and you understand
why Williams went househunting
in the winter of 2003.
But staying in Brooklyn, in the
area in which they wanted to
live, would be extremely difficult.
Many older buildings were being
replaced by condos then, and the
condos were expensive.
Williams says that she and her
husband had an absolute top
budget of $400,000. Condos
could cost double that, or more.
So they decided to have a baby
instead. But the househunting
didn’t stop.
Now with baby in tow, Williams
scoured the want ads and stalked
open houses. Everything she
found was either over budget or
undersized, needing extensive
work or just didn’t work out.
“Buying a home is like getting
a job or finding a soul mate or
conceiving a baby,” Williams says.
“It’s a piece of cake. Except when
it’s impossible.”
Discouraged, the couple gave
up. Kind of.
With one child heading for
kindergarten and another heading
for preschool, they expanded their
search area and stumbled on an
area of Manhattan that still had
wooded acreage and large open
parks.
Several co-ops were within
budget range. But on the verge of
the housing crisis, would a mort-
gage come through?
“Gimme Shelter” is a definite
delight. It’s funny and truthful, filled
with gratitude, familiarity and back-
handed advice.
But it may suffer from a bad
sense of timing: will readers,
weary of the whole housing
bubble/housing crisis, want to
read a book about buying a very
expensive home?
I hope so, because I liked
“Gimme Shelter.” Author Williams
made me laugh more than once.
Anyone who’s ever househunted
knows the mind-numbing frustra-
tion of making realtor-rounds, and
Williams sums that up well.
She has a few words to say
about the current housing situa-
tion, lenders and predators. She’s
also donating 2 percent of money
earned on this book to National
Alliance to End Homelessness.
Be cautious before buying
“Gimme Shelter.” If you’re still
smarting from a housing debacle,
you won’t like it.
But if you’ve been able to main-
tain a sense of humor, or are ready
to buy a house – finally – then
reading this book is a gimme.
– TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER
THE BOOKWORM
GOT A LEFTOVER GIFT
card from Christmas? Think
about trying some of these titles
BY TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER
THE BOOKWORM
Ah, there’s something wonderful
about spring cleaning. It’s a great
time to rid yourself of all the clutter
you amassed over the winter. A
great time to make room for all the
fun things you’ll need for warm
weather.
A great time to find gift certifi-
cates you forgot you had. Oops.
So you got a gift certificate to the
bookstore last Christmas, and you
didn’t use it. How about looking for
any of these great books?
FICTION
n Do you envy the lifestyles of the
rich and famous? Then read “The Ex- big girls, too. This book is filled with
Mrs. Hedgefund” by Jill Kargman.
When Holly Talbott finds out that her
husband’s business trips are more
than just business, she suddenly
becomes a divorcee – a rich one,
at that. This is one of those “guilty
pleasure” books: fun to read and a
great escape.
n Looking for something a little
different – and deeper? Try “Carpen- hot as the thermometer. When you’re
taria” by Alexis Wright. This book,
written by an Australian Aboriginal
writer, includes mysticism, myth and
magic for an engrossing story.
n If short stories are more to your
liking, look for “Button Button:
Uncanny Stories” by Richard Math-
eson. One of the stories in this book is horses come to mind, right? Then look know. If you’re of A Certain Age, you’ll
due to become a movie soon, and the for “Mustang” by Deanne Stillman.
rest? They should be. This is a creepy This book is a huge overview of the
book. You’ve been warned.
n When two brothers take dif-
ferent paths, it leads to heartbreak
in “Where the Line Bleeds” by
Jesmyn Ward. This novel, set in Mis-
sissippi is the story of twin boys, one “Wounded Warriors” by Mike Sager book might also be of interest to 30-
who finds a job and the other, who
can’t seem to find the right path. It’s book is filled with stories of heroes
one of those novels you cherish and
will be perfect for that vacation you’re hardest of hearts. Also look for “War
taking this summer.
‘En Route’ looks at paramedic stories
n “En Route: A Paramedic’s
Stories of Life, Death, and
Everything in Between” by
Steven “Kelly” Grayson, 2009,
Kaplan Publishing, $24.95/$28.95
Canada, 303 pages:
The pain started in
your shoulder.
No big deal. You
convinced yourself it
was nothing. Really.
But then, it spread.
Your left arm hurt,
and your ribs and
your chest. Espe-
THE
BOOKWORM cially your chest. This
was not good.
TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER You called 911,
and a truck came to
your house, sirens howling, mon-
itors beeping. Curious neighbors
stopped in their yards to watch two
hefty guys wheel you through your
front door, flat on a gurney.
You’re fine now. But then, you
sure were glad to see those EMTs
with their sirens and monitors.
Now how about seeing life from
the other side of the siren? Read
the new book “En Route” by Steven
“Kelly” Grayson.
New EMTs are taught to expect
calamity, but that was too a mild
word to describe the place where
Grayson got his first gig as an
emergency medical technician. The
job was with a start-up company
run by former employees of the “big
outfit” in the area, and their new
office was a mess filled with papers,
Field guide focuses on animal tracks, more
n “Peterson Field Guides:
Animal Tracks, Third Edition” by
Olaus J. Murie and Mark Elbroch,
2005, Houghton Mifflin Company,
$19.95, softbound, 391 pages: A
key to tracks
done in pen and
DOUBLE TAKE ink starts the
BY LEE AND J.J. MACFADDEN guide off nicely.
The key con-
tains 83 tracks
ranging from those of the cottontail
and prairie dogs to the North Ameri-
can porcupine, harbor seal, wild boar,
and insects and other invertebrates.
The introduction is not to be
ignored. In this section, the reader
will discover tips on how to read
animal signs and on how to pre-
serve tracks by such methods as
sketching and measuring, cutting
around the track or through the use
of plaster of Paris or sooted track
plates.
The guide is then broken into
species accounts. These present
more detailed sketches of animal
tracks and list some proportions and
distances between tracks.
Line drawings of the animals’ fore
and hind paws are also shown, and
there are photographs of tracks
found in the wild. Some sections
n So “You Are So Undead to
Me” by Stacey Jay is a young adult
novel? So what? It’s still tons of fun for Jewish Body” by Melvin Konner.
zombies, dead people and a 15 year
old who’s a Zombie Settler. Sound
fun? Read it, pass it along to your
teen, discuss.
n How about a staycation with
a vacation theme? Then pick up “Trin- on getting out of your rut and moving
idad Noir” by various authors. These forward in your life and in work.
mystery stories are set down near the
equator, in a place where intrigue is as You don’t have to give up your
done, look for a few of the other “Noir” Beauty Guide” by Julie Gabriel and
books in this same series. They’re
like literary peanuts: you can’t stop
reading them.
NONFICTION
n Think of the Wild West, and
wild horse in history, pop culture and
industry. I love the pictures in here,
and I think horse lovers will, too.
n Beware before you start this
book if you’ve got a loved one at war.
will bring you to tears. This beautiful
come home, and it will touch even the Lounge” by Meg Federico. This is a
Is…”, edited by Marc Aronson and
equipment and “EMTs
sleeping on every hori-
zontal surface …”
Grayson, who was
little more than a
rookie, abruptly learned
that he was hired when
a call came in and the
owners said, “Let’s
go!” For an EMT-Basic
who didn’t even have
a uniform yet, it was an
exciting call …
Until the patient
had an accident of a
different kind, all over
Grayson’s front.
That inauspicious event was the
beginning of a career that took
Grayson all over the backroads and
highways of northwestern Louisi-
ana. It allowed him to make some
life-long friends and to help people
who made such an impression on
him that he wrote about them in
this book. If it wasn’t for the job,
Grayson wouldn’t have met his wife.
But as he racked up months and
miles, through fights and friendships
with doctors, repeat patients and
clueless colleagues, Grayson felt
he was burning out. Horrified, he
wondered how an eager, formerly-
sympathetic medical professional
could lose his compassion so easily.
He wondered why he stayed at the
job.
One December, he found out why.
“En Route” has everything
you could want in a true-medical
also contain drawings
of the animals, their
habitat or variations
of tracks by the same
animal under a number
of circumstances,
such as running or
in the snow. In each
of these sections,
the authors relay
information about the
animals themselves,
such as their habitat
range, diet, where they
may be found, calls
and behavior, and data
about the tracks.
This may include notes on the
specific tracks photographed for
that section.
For instance, the opossum who
made the tracks pictured in the first
species account is noted to have a
distinctive hind foot. In addition, the
usual traits of the animals’ tracks are
given. In the opossum’s case, for
example, the fore and hind tracks
land next to one another like those
of a raccoon. An opossum may drag
his tail if walking slowly, but at a
normal or faster pace, the tail does
not drag.
Punctuating the text now and then
SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2009 BRISTOL HERALD COURIER — D7
BOOKENDS
HARDCOVER FICTION
1. “The 8th Confession” by
James Patterson and Maxine
Paetro (Little, Brown)
2. “Lover Avenged” by J.R.
Ward (NAL Hardcover)
Patty Campbell. This is a book of sto-
ries from soldiers, survivors and family 3. “First Family” by David
members, and is meant for teens, but Baldacci (Grand Central
is perfect for any adult, too. Publishing)
n I love a good mystery. I love a 4. “Summer on Blossom
true mystery even more. And I love “A Street” by Debbie Macomber
Question of Murder” by Cyril H. (Mira)
Wecht, MD, JD, and Dawna Kauf-
5. “Just Take My Heart” by
mann. Wecht is one of America’s Mary Higgins Clark (Simon &
most famous forensic pathologists,
Schuster)
and in this book, he looks at several
famous cases and tries to solve them. 6. “The Host” by Stephenie
This is a great book if you love true Meyer (Little, Brown)
crime, whodunits or if you just love a 7. “Tea Time for the
fascinating story. Traditionally Built: The New No.
n Here’s a great trivia-type book 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
for the person who needs to know Novel” by Alexander McCall
everything: “Genius and Heroin” Smith (Pantheon)
by Michael Largo. This cool book is 8. “Loitering with Intent” by
all about creative genius and angst, Stuart Woods (Putnam Adult)
artists, poets and thinkers, bad (and
deadly) habits and obsession. For 9. “The Perfect Poison” by
Amanda Quick (Putnam Adult)
trivia buffs and anyone who loves a bit
of scandal, it’s delicious fun. 10. “Look Again” by Lisa
n If you think a book that makes Scottoline (St. Martin’s Press)
you think is what you want, try “The 11. “The Language of Bees”
by Laurie R. King (Bantam)
This fascinating biology/history book
12. “Long Lost” by Harlan
is steeped in information, tradition, Coben (Dutton Adult)
science, religion and – beware
– some photos that might upset weak- HARDCOVER NONFICTION
stomached readers. Also try “Stuck” 1. “Act Like a Lady, Think Like
by Anneli Rufus, a thoughtful book
a Man: What Men Really Think
About Love, Relationships,
Intimacy, and Commitment” by
n Feeling blue about going green?
Steve Harvey (Amistad)
2. “Liberty and Tyranny:
cosmetics! Just read “The Green
A Conservative Manifesto”
by Mark R. Levin (Threshold
give up harmful chemicals. This book
gives you tons of ideas and resources Editions)
for looking great in an earth-friendly 3. “The Girls from Ames:
way. Bonus: some recipes so you can A Story of Women and
make your own beautifying products. Friendship” by Jeffrey Zaslow
n Love isn’t just for the young, you (Gotham)
4. “Outliers: The Story of
love reading “September Songs”
by Maggie Scarf. Whether you’re
Success” by Malcolm Gladwell
celebrating your 50th anniversary or (Little, Brown)
your fifth date, this book is filled with 5. “Always Looking Up: The
“good news” about marriage and rela- Adventures of an Incurable
tionships in middle age and beyond. Optimist” by Michael J. Fox
Perfect for anybody over 50, this (Hyperion)
6. “Master Your Metabolism:
somethings looking ahead. Also look The 3 Diet Secrets to Naturally
for “Welcome to the Departure Balancing Your Hormones for
a Hot and Healthy Body!” by
funny, touching book about parenting
your parents.
Jillian Michaels and Mariska van
Aalst (Crown)
7. “Columbine” by Dave
Cullen (Twelve)
8. “The Last Lecture” by
Randy Pausch with Jeffrey
Zaslow (Hyperion)
memoir: lots of 9. “The Secret” by Rhonda
excitement; some Byrne (Atria/Beyond Words)
good laughs; plenty 10. “Mommywood” by Tori
of practical-joke-type
Spelling (Simon Spotlight
tales; an abundance Entertainment)
of scampish “fre-
11. “House of Cards” by
quent-flyer” patients
William D. Cohan (Doubleday)
(the supporting cast
kind you see on 12. “10-10-10: A Life-
television); moments Transforming Idea” by Suzy
of tenderness;and Welch (Scribner)
one gigantic story not MASS MARKET PAPERBACKS
for the squeamish. It’s 1. “Burning Wild” by Christine
a trauma-drama fan’s Feehan (Jove)
dream, except for one 2. “At Last Comes Love” by
thing.
Author Grayson’s chapters tend
Mary Balogh (Dell)
3. “Angels & Demons” by Dan
to jump around, timeline wise. There
Brown (Pocket)
were several loose ends here, story 4. “Sail” by James Patterson
arcs that (I thought) were over but
and Howard Roughan (Vision)
then (surprise!) continued several
5. “Dark Summer” by
chapters later with something com-
pletely different in between. I paged Iris Johansen (St. Martin’s
back many times, thinking I had Paperbacks)
missed something. I liked this book 6. “No Choice But Seduction:
very much, but I also happen to like A Malory Novel” by Johanna
linear thinking. “En Route” needed Lindsey (Pocket)
more of that. 7. “Odd Hours” by Dean
If you can ignore the (slight) con- Koontz (Bantam)
fusion, you’ll be rewarded with a ten- 8. “Flowers on Main” by
sion-filled, humorous and thoughtful Sherryl Woods (Mira)
book and an ending you won’t 9. “Just Breathe” by Susan
expect. If you can take each chapter Wiggs (Mira)
individually, pick up “En Route” and 10. “Robert Ludlum’s The
increase your heart rate a bit. Bourne Sanction” by Eric Van
Lustbader (Grand Central
Publishing),
TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER has been read-
ing since she was 3 years old and never goes 11. “True Love & Other
anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill in Disasters” by Rachel Gibson
Wisconsin with two dogs and 11,000 books.
(Avon)
TRADE PAPERBACKS
1. “Vision in White” by Nora
Roberts (Berkley Trade)
2. “The Shack” by William P.
are Murie’s personal Young (Windblown Media)
experiences in track- 3. “City of Thieves” by David
ing and wild animal Benioff (Plume)
encounters. One 4. “The Middle Place” by Kelly
memorable experience Corrigan (Voice)
was when he came 5. “7th Heaven” by James
across a band of elk
splashing and playing
Patterson and Maxine Paetro
(Grand Central Publishing)
in a pond. 6. “Unaccustomed Earth:
A very small section
Stories” by Jhumpa Lahiri
is devoted to bone
(Vintage)
and horn chewing.
Also included is an 7. “Three Cups of Tea: One
extensive bibliography. Man’s Mission to Promote
At the time this book Peace ... One School at a Time”
was published, a free by Greg Mortenson and David
one-year membership Oliver Relin (Penguin)
to the Roger Tory Peterson Institute 8. “Hungry Girl: 200 Under
of Natural History was available with 200: 200 Recipes Under 200
purchase of the field guide. The Calories” by Lisa Lillien (St.
mission of RTPI is to inspire passion Martin’s Griffin)
and knowledge of the natural world 9. “Firefly Lane” by Kristin
in children. Contact the membership Hannah (St. Martin’s Griffin)
department at (800) 758-6841, 10. “Naturally Thin” Bethenny
fax (716) 665-3794 or e-mail Frankel with Eve Adamson
webmaster@rtpi.org. (Fireside)
n Lee’s take: An excellent 11. “Pride and Prejudice and
resource. Zombies” by Jane Austin and
n J.J.’s take: An invaluable field Seth Grahame-Smith (Quirk
guide. Books)
LEE AND J.J. MACFADDEN are twins and
voracious readers living in Bristol, Tenn. E-mail
them at leeandjj.doubletake@yahoo.com. – PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BEST-SELLERS