Catherine Coles
Coles’ Notes
The staff of the County of L&A Libraries are avid readers and always eager to share their favourite books. Here we bring you a list of some of the reads we’ve recently enjoyed. This month you’ll find historical fiction, science fiction, a courageous memoir, a zany juvenile series, and a new novel of contemporary fiction that will pull at your heartstrings.
Marg recently enjoyed The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons
“Once in a while a special book comes along that tugs at ones heartstrings, The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons was that book for me. This charming, heart wrenching story is one that I came across at just the right time for me and is one I will not soon forget. Eudora Honeysett is a proper English lady and is the very epitome of curmudgeonly. When we meet Eudora she is contemplating beginning the process of voluntary assisted suicide at a clinic in Switzerland where it is legal. She is 85, done with living and wants to go out on her own terms. When an extremely precocious 10-year-old girl named Rose moves next door and insists on becoming friends, Eudora is hesitant at first but is eventually won over by her. Rose, along with another neighbor, recently widowed Stanley and Eudora become an unlikely trio going on outings and adventures. Eudora realizes that life may just be worth living again.”
Kristin recently enjoyed The Orphan’s Song by Lauren Kate
“The Orphan’s Song begins by dropping us in 18th century Venice, where the lives of two orphans are about to be changed forever. One night, Violetta and Mino, meet on the roof of the Hospital of Incurables by chance and bond over their mutual love of music. An immediate connection forms between these two and it will set them on a path full of adventure, love, betrayal, lies and forgiveness. These two young dreamers plan on escaping and choosing a life for themselves, far away from their restricted and secluded lives at the Incurables. As fate would have it, Violetta is soon selected for the Incurables’ world famous coro, and must sign an oath never to leave or even sing beyond the church doors again. To make matters worse, Mino is seemingly lost to her forever when he manages to flee from the Incurables on a search for his true family. Without him, the walls start to close in on Violetta, and she begins to take some dangerous risks in the hopes that her talented voice can secure her freedom. This novel will send you on a breathtaking journey that highlights the unexpected and transformative power of love, as well as the risks people will take to find their true passion in life.”
Patricia recently enjoyed the Megabat series by Anna Humphrey
“Young readers or families looking for a humorous book series are sure to enjoy this lighthearted series by Canadian author Anna Humphrey with illustrations by Kass Reich. In Megabat the reader meets Megabat, a fruit bat who one day went to sleep on a papaya and woke up in a vastly different place halfway across the world in a big old house in rural Canada. Daniel is not thrilled about his move to a new house or his new bedroom in a cold wet attic that is haunted – or is it? Soon the sad pair meet and form a remarkable friendship filled with adventure, buttermellon, and Star Wars. Readers of Katherine Applegate, Mary Pope Osborne, or Tracey West may also enjoy the Megabat series.
Jennifer recently enjoyed This One Looks Like a Boy by Lorimer Shenher
“This is a candid #ownvoices Canadian memoir that reflects on Lorimer Shenher’s gender journey to life as a man. I picked it up because Shenher’s last book That Lonely Section of Hell struck me as an insightful and compelling nonfiction account of the near failure to apprehend Robert Pickton, a serial killer who primarily preyed on sex workers in Vancouver. While Shenher’s first book touched on the post traumatic stress he acquired in leading such a complex and protracted investigation, it did not reference his gender revelation. The declaration that he was transgender in his personal memoir made me wonder how his search for self had impacted both his work and family life since he had presented himself as a lesbian female for a long time. His life story is engrossing in its depiction of the common fabric of our lives — threads like family dynamics, vagaries of friendship, sport tribalism, and ups and downs of dating and lifelong partnership. It also presents a unique existential angst rooted in his confusion of being born in the wrong body. If social malaise could be cured by a dose of good medicine this might be just what the doctor ordered.”
Coleen recently enjoyed To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini
In To Sleep in a Sea of Stars you can see Paolini’s imagination at work in the wonderful creations he imagines for this story set in space. I enjoyed that he used a female protagonist, Kira Naverez, a xenobiologist, a member of a team, not a captain or astronaut. Her profession lends to her curiosity and inquisitiveness over the life forms, from plants to alien habitats, bringing more depth to the story. Paolini’s character development leads to such great interactions among human and alien life forms. The action sequences are fast-paced with numerous battles taking place throughout different planets and galaxies. Concepts of spacecraft propulsion systems and space habitats, to ideas of human and alien consciousness, intertwine within the plotline giving the reader insights into theories and possibilities about the future of humankind in space.”
All of these items can be reserved County of Lennox & Addington Libraries online at www.CountyLibrary.ca.