The Front Porch prints book reviews by local librarians, rotating to a different library each month. November book reviews are by Amy DelPo from the Schlessman Family Branch Library. Amy hosts a book group at Schlessman 1:30-3:30pm the third Thursday of every month.
Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler.
Set in rural Wisconsin, Shotgun Lovesongs is a meditation on friendship, love, and the power of community. The book focuses on four men and a woman who grew up together in the fictitious farming town of Little Wing. The action takes place both in the present and the past, and the book examines how their friendship influences the trajectory of these people’s lives. The point of view shifts among all of the friends—from the world famous rock star who always returns home to the poor struggling farmer who is his best friend to the woman who loves them both. The book is big-hearted and romantic, but also rugged and spare with a strong sense of place. There is something here for everyone. This is a compelling read—well written with a good plot, and much of the sensibility feels very western, very Colorado, even though it is set in the East.
Now I See You by Nicole C. Kear
Nicole C. Kear is a 19-year-old drama student at Yale when she finds out that she has a degenerative eye disease that will eventually leave her blind. While giving her the bad news, the doctor tells her she has maybe 10 years of sight left and advises her to change the way she lives. Instead of preparing for her blindness, she pushes the diagnosis to the back of her mind and lives life to the fullest. But she can’t hide forever. In this memoir, which at times is poignant and other times laugh-out-loud funny, she recounts the arc of her coming to accept and ultimately live with her diagnosis.
Earth Girl by Janet Edwards
In the year 2789, humanity has colonized many different planets and only the unlucky “handicapped” actually live on shabby old Earth. People from other worlds come back to study humanity’s history in archeological digs, but otherwise, they stay away. Enter Jarra, an Earth dweller who decides to teach the off worlders that their negative impressions of Earth and her inhabitants have no foundation in the truth. This book has a sweet tone, and Jarra is a smart, brave, and defiant heroine—a girl any teen would love to hang out with. The world we see is believable and interesting and, comfortingly, not so bad. There’s a touch of romance in the plot, but mostly there is adventure and discovery of an Earth 700 years from now.
The Story Starts Here by Caroline Merola
Read this book from back to front because Little Wolf says so! And so begins a story in which contrarian Little Wolf gets to decide how to do things on this day, from playing the piano with his toes to wearing his pants on his head. Kids will delight in a book in which a little one rules the day and silliness ensues.
