What We're Reading: Tracy

Some fun picture books for lawn season:


Bun, Onion, Burger, by Peter Mandel, illustrated by Chris Eliopoulous.

Kitschy, retro style art highlights this simple story of a backyard barbeque.


Lawn to Lawn, by Dan Yaccarino.

When Pearl's family moves away, the left-behind lawn ornaments (a pink flamingo, gnome, jockey, and concrete deer) undertake a brave journey to find her new home. Unfortunately, it's located in "Ritzy Estates," a gated community.

What We're Reading: Cathy

The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse

Kate Mosse returns to the area of the French Pyrenees and the Cathars in this story. Freddie, unable to stop grieving for his brother who was killed in WWI, goes on a doctor recommended vacation in the south of France. He crashes his car and must spend the night in the nearest village, Nulle. That night, he takes part in their annual festival where he meets a young woman, Fabrissa, and instantly falls in love. How that love saves him and frees the village of its ghosts is the rest of the tale.

What We're Reading: Edward

Eye of the Red Tsar: a novel of suspense

by Sam Eastland

Prisoner 4745-P has been in the Siberian gulags since the fall of the Romanov Dynasty. He is feared by both his fellow prisoners and the gulag's guards. 4745-P was a Finnish soldier who was chosen by Tsar Nicholas to be his special investigator, the Emerald Eye. During the Great Terror, Stalin calls the Emerald Eye back to Moscow to get to the truth about the murder/disappearance of the Romanov family. The Emerald Eye, Pekkala, knows that he and his investigation are pawns in Stalin's larger game. But Pekkala was treated like one of the Royal Family. His pride and curiosity force him to take the assignment. The Tsar's enemies and other fear his investigation. Will his superior skills unearth the truth about the end of the Romanovs? A sequel is in the works. Great Read. This is the first book on my ten best of the year for 2011.

What We're Reading: Abby

Unbroken: A World War II story of survival, resilience and redemption by Laura Hillenbrand.

This is the incredible, true story of my new hero, Louis Zamperini. Louie was a kid heading down the wrong path when his brother got him interested in running in high school. He was such a good runner that he qualififed for the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It was not outside the realm of possibility that Louis might have broken the four minute mile had World War II not happened. But when the war started Louie joined the Army Air Corps and became a bombadier. After many successful missions Louie's plane was shot down somewhere over the Pacific in May 1943. Only Louie and two others survived. For the next 47 days these men battled starvation as well as the elements and very aggressive sharks, day after day, until they finally hit land. Thinking that their ordeal was over they soon discovered that their trials and challenges were only beginning. They were now in Japanese POW camps where they were relentlessly tortured and starved for more than two years. It is impossible to imagine how he could survive all of that but his story is quite a testament to his amazing resilience. There are many times when he comes close to breaking but he never does.

What We're Reading: Edward

Officer's Club

by Ralph Peters

Arizona's Fort Huachuca was founded to keep Geronimo in check. In the 1980s it serves as a Military Intelligence training facility. Wounded by the Vietnam War, the Army is focused on the expected war with Russia in Europe. Lieutenant Roy Banks is tasked by his superiors with devising a difficult battlefield scenario for the Fulda Gap. To deal with the isolation of the fort, Banks and his fellow officers form the Officer's Club. It is code for their Mexican weekends fueled by alcohol and sex. Lieutenant Jessica Lamoureaux works her wiles on her fellow officers. Banks resists her and warns everyone that she is trouble. Jessica manages to destroy many of the lives she touches. When she is found dead, Banks is asked to help find her killer. Banks matures over the course of the novel by confronting his own demons. May there be a another novel at Bank's new posting.

What We're Reading: Tracy

Totally Tubular '80s Toys, by Mark Bellomo.

If you grew up playing with Smurfs, Transformers, Strawberry Shortcake, Masters of the Universe, or Mork and Mindy action figures; if you traded puffy, glitter, or scratch and sniff stickers with your classmates; if you watched The A-Team, Fraggle Rock, or the Dukes of Hazzard on TV: then this book is for you. Author Mark Bellomo writes nostalgically of the toys, music, movies, and TV shows of the 1980s, and accompanies each entry with beautifully photographed layouts of items from his vast collections. Take a trip down memory lane with this "totally tubular" book!

What We're Reading: Edward

The Ninth: Beethoven and the World in 1824


by Harvey Sachs


Endure Courageously, Millions!
Endure for the Better World!


These lines are part of Schiller's Ode to Joy. They were used by Beethoven in his ground breaking Ninth Symphony. It was the first symphony to have a vocal score. When Beethoven wrote this symphony, Europe was in a reactionary period. After the freedom of the Napoleonic era, the monarchies of Europe were limiting the rights of their citizens. In 1824, Lord Byron was killed trying to help Greece rebel against the Ottoman Empire. Pushkin was writing Boris Gudunov, an anti-authoritarian play. Beethoven's Ninth is a cornerstone of Romantic music. Inspired by the artists of the day, the peoples of Europe kept hoping and struggling for freedom. Is history repeating itself? For today we see citizens fighting for their freedom all over the world!