Mantor Monday

It's a bit of a slow news week at the library. Summer doldrums have arrived with the high temperatures. So I thought I'd take an informal poll, see what staff here in the library are reading, and if they'd give a thumbs up or down so far. I'm including links to each book's Goodreads page. If you aren't a Goodreads member already, why not join Mantor's Goodreads Group?

Sarah is reading Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror, the current selection of the Young Adult Book Group at Devaney, Doak and Garret bookstore. Sarah hasn't made up her mind about this Potter-esque tale of not-so-ordinary kids enrolled in a school for monsters, but she wants everyone to know that the author, Jennifer Boylan, is going to be visiting Devaney, Doak and Garret on July 13th. Discussion session begins at 6:00pm if you've read the book, and at 7pm Boylan will do readings and book signing. If you're in the Farmington, Maine, area, check it out!

Janet is reading two books:

Sue Miller's For Love, which she described as "entertaining", and "better written than your typical beach read". She's also reading Partner to the Poor: A Paul Farmer Reader , an anthology of Farmer's writings about his experiences bringing medical care to the most impoverished of the world's places. People familiar with Janet's humanitarian work in Haiti, and her deep and obvious regard for the country and it's people, would not be surprised to see this book in her hands, or that she gives it "her highest recommendation".




Melissa is reading 1000 White Women, an "alternate history" account based on Cheyenne Chief Little Wolf's suggestion, in 1875, to President Ulysses S. Grant that he trade 1000 white women for Cheyenne horses. In author Jim Fergus' version, Grant takes Little Wolf up on his offer, and authorizes a clandestine program to provide "brides for Indians" to help assimilate the Cheyenne into white culture.
Melissa gives the story 3 out of 5 stars. She wishes the author had made it clear up front how much of the story he had fictionalized - just the characters, or part of the story, too?
Note: Other reviews on this book make it clear that other than Little Wolf's suggestion, the "brides" program was a product of Fergus's imagination.


Sharon is reading Night Sins. She claims that although this "abducted child"
mystery thriller is not her usual genre-of-choice, it was recommended by a friend, and she is really enjoying it.






Bryce is reading The Book Thief, and while he likes the book very much, he's having a hard time getting through it right now. Having read the book myself, I know just what he means. I also, would recommend it highly, but it's not exactly a light-hearted, reading-in-the-hammock-with-a-glass-of-something-frosty kind of book. It's more of a curl-up-under-a-comforter type of book, in my opinion, it's beautiful but somber story more suited for winter reading.

And me? Well, I was almost late to work this morning, because I only had a few more pages of Neil Gaiman's Stardust, and I refused to put it down. It required a bit of multitasking, but by reading while I ate my cereal, brushed my teeth, and found a matching pair of shoes, I was able to finish. Neil Gaiman can do no wrong in my book, so I give two big thumbs up to this fairy tale, sweet and sunny as a ripe strawberry, and equally perfect for beach, hammock, or winter fireside.


What about you? What are you reading?