Hall Memorial Library
-Serving the towns of Northfield and Tilton-
18 Park Street Northfield, NH 03276
Phone:286-8971 Fax:603-286-2278
Email:
hallmemo@metrocast.net
Open
Monday & Thursday 10-8 |
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 10-6 | Saturday 10-2
Here are a few of Mary's favorites
updated July, 2008
Shannon, John, The Devils of
Bakersfield. California at its worst, in a story that shows that a lot of
things just
don't change much. Think Grapes of
Wrath in 2008.
Gillis, Tina, Writing on Stone.
Death of sons, islands, ways of life, and a bit about the life of another
favorite
writer of mine, Ruth Moore.
Scottoline, Lisa, The Vendetta
Defense. Another good legal "thriller" from an author who never disappoints.
Burke, James Lee, Heartwood.
Outside the box.
Bechel, Alison, Fun Home,
Graphic novels aren't always my favorite, but I thought this one was excellent.
Keller, Jon, Under Sanborn.
Can't wait until it's published! It is about a New Hampshire that if not yet
gone, will
be soon, but relationships between
brothers make it universal. Great read.
Wroblewski, David, The Story of
Edgar Sawtelle. If you like dogs, Hamlet, or the north woods of the midwest,
read this book. If you like all of
the above, you will love it.
Kenyon, TK, Rabid, Greed
comes to scientific research. There is a lot of sleaze in this book!
Crowther, Yasmin, The Saffron
Kitchen. Growing up Iranian in London and finding out what makes us "home".
McLarty, Ron, The Memory of
Running. What a heart warming story!
Koryta, Michael, Sorrow's
Anthem, Nitty gritty Cleveland, with real people to get to know.
Krist, Gary, Chaos Theory,
What can happen to a couple of kids who get mixed up in a bad deal. Engaging
read.
Lovesey, Peter, The
Headhunters, Fun to read and to guess.....
Murakame, Haruki, Hard Boiled
Wonderland and the End of the World. Kind of a "The Giver" for adults. Great
story!
Mitchell, Jim, Lover's Crossing.
An insider's look at life on the Mexican-US border, in novel form.
Melville, James, The Death
Ceremony. An interesting look at the Japanese tea ceremony and some of its
practioners.
Alexie, Sherman, The Absolutely
True Story of a Part Time Indian. Absolutely great!
Lescroart, John, Betrayal.
This story goes beyond San Francisco to Iraq, and outsourcing our war support to
for profit (big profit) corporations.
Tremayne, Peter, A Prayer for
the Damned. Early Christian Ireland.
Gilbert, Elizabeth, Eat, Pray,
Love. A really popular book right now. I think younger women than I might
appreciate
more than I did.
McMahon, Neil, Lone Creek.
So "Montana", and a good story too.
Newman, Sandra, The Shanghai
Tunnel. Interest material about Portland Oregon, and another chapter in
our not often stellar history.
King, Laurie,
Touchstone. Her writing, this time about the 20's and 30,s never fails to
touch me.
Henkes, Kevin, Olive's Ocean. I read this "j" book because it was on the
most challenged list and
thought it insightful and touching.
Pettersen, Per, Out Stealing Horses, Norway during the resistance in
WWII.
Vizzini, Ned, It's Kind of a Funny Story.. But it's way more that that.
Millett, Lydia, Oh Pure and Radiant Heart. Remarkable book for its wealth
of information about the
history and current status of the
atomic bomb, and the hearts of the scientists who worked on it.
Moriarty, Laura, The Center of Everything. The voice of the main
character is remarkable.
Hessler, Peter, Oracle Bones. China past and present, in words from a
master storyteller and observer.
Indridason, Arnaldur, Voices. What a great storyteller.
Park, Linda Sue, A Single Shard. Read "j" books now and then. This one is
great!
Pattison, Alan, Prayer of the Dragon The story connects
the Navaho and Tibetan cultures and religions.
A fascinating read.
Hornby, Nick, Slam. Great voice.
Hockensmith, Steve, On the Wrong Track. Just plain fun if you like old
trains.
Russo, Richard, Straight Man. No missteps in this tale of academia.
Wood, Patricia, The Lottery. Greed, intelligence (all kinds), and big
money wend their way through this great tale.
Smith, Martin Cruz, December 6. A different perspective on Japan in WWII.
Borchert, Daniel, Free for All.
If you want to know what working in a library is really like, read this
book!!!!
Murray, Sabina, Forgery. Makes me want to have a rich friend to spend
some Greek Island time with.
Atkinson, Kate, One Good Turn.
If you predict the outcome you are a more observant reader than I!
Noel, Katherine, Halfway House.
A story about teen onset bipolar disorder. Hopeful,
but also heartbreaking.
Mankell, Henning, Kennedy's
Brain. Please explain the title of the excellent but horrifying book to me!
Seigal, Barry, The Perfect
Witness. If you like Grisham, you will like this author.
Larson, Erik, The Devil in the
White City. Architecture, serial killing and lots about life in Chicago
during the period around the
Columbian Exposition, including how Pabst Blue Ribbon beer got
its name!
Rabb, Jonathan, Rosa.
Learned a lot about pre WWII Germany in a well told story
Gregiro, Michael, Critique of
Criminal Reason. A very interesting book about Konigsberg and Kant
during the period when The Critique
of Pure Reason was written.
Through 2007
Saul, Jamie, Light of Day.
Sad, disturbing, but feels so honest.
Smith, Mary-Ann Tirone, An
American Killing. Compelling political intrigue.
Fitzgerald, Penolope, The Book
Shop. A lovely but strangely disheartening read.
Hoeg, Peter, The Quiet Girl.
This intriguing book would be even better on a CD that included the music
which is so much a part of the story.
Mosher, Howard Frank, Waiting
for Teddy Williams. Small town Vermont baseball, the Red Sox, and
a fabulous cast of characters.
Patterson, Richard North, Exile. An
attempt, I would say fairly successful, to put the conflict in Israel/
Palestine into human, understandable
terms.
Weisman, Alan, The World without Us, Opens
our eyes to the enormous impact humans have on the earth.
Full of attitude-changing information,
this book could affect the way you live, but it is pretty
discouraging.
.
Crutcher, Chris, Deadline. What would you do
if you knew you had a year to live? Would it be different if
you were still in high school? This
is a great book on a multitude of levels.
Xinran, Sky Burial, a beautiful story of
loyalty and love with Tibetan lore, land, and politics woven seamlessly
through it.
Picoult, Jodi, 19 Minutes, certainly not an easy read, but it rings too true. Listen when teenagers want
to talk to you!
Gardam, Jane, Old Filth, an intriguing look at the relationship
between Hong Kong and England, just
prior to the end of the "colony".
Fforde, Jasper, The Big Over Easy, This book about the Nursery
Crimes Division's lead detective,
Jack Spratt, and what really happened to Humpty
Dumpty, is hilarious. If you don't agree with me,
we definitely don't have the same
(sick?) sense of humor!
Schwartz, Lynn Sharon, The Writing on the
Wall. 9/11 New York City features in this story about
survivor's guilt and family
secrets.
Fitzgerald, Bill, The Organ Grinder, a laugh
out loud look at more than I ever wanted to know about
organ transplants.
Fossum, Karin, The Indian Bride,
an intriguing story about the reality of racism in Norway.
Relin, Oliver, and Greg Mortenson, Three Cups of Tea, One person can make
a difference. This book is an
inspiration to read!
Temple, Peter, The Broken Shore, another book for the armchair traveler, this time
taking us to Australia.
Adichie, Chimananda Ngozi, Purple
Hibiscus, a deeply moving novel about the difference faces we present
to the world and to our own families,
with the flavors of Nigeria present throughout.
Seliy, Shauna, When We Get There,
I will always think of this as "the pear book" but that says a lot.
McFarland, Dennis, Letter from
Point Clear, another lucid, gentle take on what it means to be family.
Pollan, Jonathan, Botany of
Desire, history, sociology, religion biology woven together in the stories
of four plants. A great book!
Ward, Amanda, Forgive Me, an
interesting take on perspective, set in South Africa at the time of apartheid.
McGrory, Brian, Strangled,
another possible explanation of the Boston Strangler "real" story.
Whorton, James, Approximately
Heaven, A bit like a country song, but never trite.
Min, Katherine, Secondhand World,
Katherine writes beautifully if sadly, about growing up a part of both Korea and the US.
Kalpakian, Laura, American
Cookery, family history is always with us, but some of us have more
interesting
stories than others.
Qiu, Xiaolong, A Case of
Two Cities, one in China and one in the US. The world is so small, and
greed exists everywhere.
Stewart, Amy, Flower Confidential,
all you ever wanted to know and more, about flowers from gene to sale.
Fascinating stuff!
Ehrenreich, Barbara, Bait and Switch. Her commentary about corporate jobs
and the difficulty in finding them sometimes, is also apt commentary on our society
today.
Blunt, Giles, By the Time You Read
This. Small town Ontario has just as much going on as anywhere else.
If you like novels that take place in Boston, and almost always have
something to do with fly fishing, try
William Tapply.
And if you like to go to Martha's
Vineyard, but don't want to leave home, read Phillip Craig.
McMurtry, Larry, Boone's Lick. How one woman "conquered" the west.
Toews, Miriam, A Boy of Good
Breeding, a town called Algren, a young mother named Knute, and her daughter
Summer Feelin'.... What's not to love?
Shute,
Henry, The Real Diary of a Real Boy, written in the early 1900s, it is still a
treat for the New England
soul.
Kingsolver, Barbara,
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, packed with information and inspiration on the
benefits of
eating locally (a localvore?), this book is one of my favorites of the year.
Gawande, Atul, Better.
Depends on your perspective. But
Gawande sure raises a lot of interesting questions
about health care in the USA.
Brandeis, Gail, Self Storage, you've got to love the main character.
Harrison, Jim,
Returning to Earth, the story of a man for whom his geography is part of his
bones.
Greenway, Alice,
White Ghost Girls, I found
this book extraordinary, at least partly because of my own
childhood in an Asian country. (Mine was much less dramatic.) Great story.
Tyler, Anne, Breathing Lessons. There is always room for an Anne Tyler on
a reading list of mine!
Avery, Ellis, The Teahouse
Fire, if you liked Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha, give this fascinating
book a try!
Sansom, Ian, The Case
of the Missing Books, the whole library full gone missing all over Northern
Ireland.
Parker,
T. Jefferson, The Fallen. how interesting and challenging, to be able to
see the colors of the emotions of
people talking to you.
Wagner, Marsden, Born in the USA, all that work in the 60s and 70s to
change the way we think about birth, and
now it's time to start again.
Abbott, Bonnie
Thomas, Radical Prunings. Laugh, get garden tips, and think about what is
important,when you
read this absolutely charming story.
Vonnegut, Kurt, Welcome to
the Monkey House, a trip back in time, just as relevant today, and just as
funny/sad.
Vida, Vandela, Let the
Northern Lights Erase Your Name, if you read this I want to discuss it with
you. I also
want to go to Lapland!
Li, Chuxin, Mao's Last Dancer, if you are interested in
classical ballet and/or China, this book will fascinate you.
Zusak, Markus, The Book Thief, narrated by death, it took me a while
to get started, but so worth staying the
course.
Powers, Richard, The Echo Maker, profound, many layered, and moving,
as well as a great story.
Leon, Donna, Death at
La Fenice, interesting story, as are all of her's, about Venice from top to
bottom.
Fessler, Ann, The Girls who Went Away. Have you ever thought about
women who give their children up for
adoption, especially when the choice is not their's to make? Read this book, and
you surely will.
Fergus,
Jim, 1000 White Women. What would have happened if they Cheyennes had
incorporated white women
into their tribes, to give native and white Americans shared responsibility for a
generation of children?
Pears, Iain, An Instance of the Fingerpost, one of my patrons said I had
to read this book, no matter how long it
took me. What a lot there is to learn, and how little some things change!
Myss, Caroline, Anatomy of the Spirit, thoughts on health from a medical
intuitive's point of view.
Liss, David ,The
Ethical Assassin, raisies questions about a lot of things we should think
about but don't necessarily want to....
McKay, Ami, The Birth House, birthing, powerful women, and change, set in
Nova Scotia.
Obama, Barack
The Spirit of my Father a memoir about growing up in
multiple cultures, and somehow managing to find the best in each.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mead, Margaret Blackberry Winter
an autobiographical account of an
influential, controversial, woman.
Parks,
Linda Sue The Mulberry Project a "juvenile"
book which makes
me want to try to raise silkworms!
Meek James
The People's Act of Love - very strange and moving
story
Hebert, Ernest, Spoonwood touches the heart of NH
people and issues
Tyler, Anne Amateur Marriage and Digging to
America
Fossum, Karin When the Devil Holds the Candle - Life in Scandinavian countries is just as
difficult as it is here!
Otsuka, When the Emperor was Divine Moving, and evoking a profound
hope that we
as a nation have changed for the better
Fong Bates China Dog thought
provoking stories about being an American
of Asian heritage
Haddon, Mark A Spot of Bother marriage, getting
old, having adult children;
he writes of all these things in a quirky, entertaining way!
Krauss,
Nicole The History of Love
The people in the book discussion group either loved or really didn't
like this book. If you read it, I would be interested in what you think!
Walls, Jeanette The Glass Castle
If you think you grew up in a dysfunctional family, read this for
perspective!
Kaminsky, Stuart Terror Town
All of Kaminsky's Chicago stories are remarkably good
Palahuniak,
Chuck,
Diary
Very weird, very creepy, very good
Barnes, Linda The Heart of the World
One of her best books, and it really does have heart
Housewright
Tin City
About life in a city of "trailers" in the middle of the "twin
cities"
Harvey, John
In a True Light
Love, painting, and finding peace with the path you take
Strout,
Elizabeth Abide with Me
Life as a New England small town minister with all it means. GREAT!
Schaffert,Timothy,
Singing and Dancing Daughters of God
Life in the midwest with a strange combination of booze and Bible
King, Laurie,
The Art of Detection
She has the art of writing detective fiction down. And if you want to go
to
San Francisco this summer, but don't want to leave NH, read this
book
Lee,
Chang-Rae, Native Speaker
Great story, with lost of insight into the Korean-American part of
living in the US
Sedaris,
David, Dress your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Listen to this one but be careful if you're driving. Some of this is
very funny!
Waldeman,
Ayelet, Love and other Impossible Pursuits
A book about how to go on living when the worst things happen
L'Engle, Madeleine,
Circle of Quiet
A look at life from a favorite children's fantasy writer of mine
Pears,Iain,
The Titian Committee Intelligent art mystery....
Hebert, Ernest, Any of Ernest Hebert's books are gems of New Hampshire small town life.
I recommend starting with Dogs of March, and continuing from there
Tursten Helene,
Torso If you can stand dark Swedish stories, she
is great
See, Lisa,
Snowflower and the Secret Fan
A story of friendship with a lot of information about the Chinese practice
of footbinding.
Smith, Dominic
The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre
Historical fiction at it's best....especially for anyone interested in the
beginnings of photography
Brock and Parker
Proverbs of Ashes
Two theologians present a radical perspective of Christianity.
Certainly food for thought.
Barnes and Ambaum
READ Unshelved
!!! The best way I know of to see what
librarians are really like
Tapply
Nervous Water
Hidden history in Maine, NH and Massachusetts small towns
Hannigan
Ida B What resources are available to us when bad
things happen?
Ida B finds them in nature, her parents, a teacher, and herself. A book
written for children that is good for adults to read too.
Tan
Saving Fish from Drowning
Amy Tan brings the plight of minorities in Burma (Myanmar) to our
attention in an unforgettable way
Added in January, 2006
Indridason
Jar City
Silence of the Grave
Both these books are mysteries taking place in Iceland. They are as much about
place
and culture as anything else, and offer a lot of insight into another culture.
They are
good stories too!
Gunn, Elizabeth
Crazy Eights
Another Minnesota mystery, All of Gunn's books are fun to read.
Nabokov
Pale Fire
If you read "Reading Lolita in Tehran" you may be tempted, as I was, to try
Nabokov again. I found the poem more accessible than the commentary.
Erdrich, Louise The Painted Drum I think this is
one of her best books. Listen to it for a real
treat!
Giminez The
Color of Law If you like Grisham and Turow, try this.
Vonnegut, Kurt Man Without a Country One of my
heroes telling it as he sees it.
Hiaasen, Carl Flush What does happen to
septic waste from those riverboat casinos?
Lee, Harper To Kill A Mockingbird The
best book of the 20th century according to a poll of
US librarians. See if you agree.
Wilder, Thornton The Eighth
Day Another classic worth a reread
Truss, Lynn Talk to the Hand Her take
on manners in culture is fascinating.
Upfield, Arthur Murder Down
Under
Mystery of Swordfish Reef
His stories of Australia in the 20's and 30's are classic, and touch on racial
and societal
issues that I haven't often thought about.
Gibbons, Kaye Ellen Foster What a
voice Ellen has!
Dufrense Love Warps the Mind a Little maybe
the first book I have ever read that takes
place in Worchester. And it is a great story!
 |
Any bitter thing by Wood
Good writing, great story, makes you
think again |
 |
The Darwin Conspiracy by Darton
Contrived but interesting. |
 |
Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
The tape is
extremely well done and the story is hilarious and heartbreaking. Not
easy,
but a great read. |
 |
Fate is the Hunter by Ernest K. Gann
Classic Nonfiction about
flying in the 30's, 40'3 and 50's. |
 |
Fire Sale by Sara Paretsky
Chicago, illegal aliens, and good
people trying to make things better. |
 |
Knitting by Anne Bartlett
What kind of knitter are you? I know
which one I am and I am not telling. |
 |
Maisie Dobbs by Winspear
The first of a WWI mystery series, great
story. |
 |
Q and A by Vikas Swarup
Quiz show in India with a most unlikely
hero. Great! |
 |
Second Glance by Jodi Picoult
Takes a while to get into, but what
I didn't know about Vermont in the early 30's shocked me.
She sure
raises issues in this one. |
 |
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Read it and see why it is a
classic! |
 |
Spook by Mary Roach
Do you believe in ghosts? Nonfiction at its
most readable. |
 |
St. Alban's Fire by Archer Mayor
Another winner by Mayor, sadder
than some. |
 |
The Virgin Suicides By Jeffrey Eugenides
Very Strange. |
 |
The wild ride up the Cupboards by Bauer
What happens to a family
when one of their children is disabled. |
 |
The Blue Afternoon by William Boyd
The first book I have ever read
that takes place in the Philippines. Fascinating. |
Calendar | Staff |
Services | Library Policies |
Online Catalog
| Kids Only |
Did You Know?
|
Virtual Tour |
Mary's Pick |
Annual Report
|
Brit's Picks