A Series Of (Un)Fortunate Reviews

I've read all the books in Tess Gerritsen's Dr. Maura Isles (an M.E. for Boston) and Det. Jane Rizzoli series. The series focusses on two women who solve mysteries and fight crime; books in the series tend to take turns on who is the focus of the action. For example, one book might have Isles at center stage, while the next one has Rizzoli at center stage. The Bone Garden , Gerritsen's most recent book, is actually a stand alone novel, though it does feature a cameo appearance by Isles at the beginning of the book. The action flips back and forth between the present and 1830. In the present a woman named Julia is trying to fit together the pieces of a hundred year old series of murders and solve the mystery of the old bones found buried in the back yard of her new house. The majority of the action takes place in 1830 in Boston where the aforementioned series of murders is in full swing; it is up to two medical students and a recent Irish immigrant to Boston named Rose t...

This isn't necessarily a review, more like a spotlight on a fun, new title that has recently been added to our collection here at the Matthews Public Library. I was excited to preview it before it went out on shelf. Members of the Northern Lebanon Area Friends of The Library may find this title especially helpful since they started the tradition of the annual tea party held at least once year in one of the upstairs classrooms as a fundraiser for the library. Admission for the most recent one was $5, and it featured a live reading of poetry. Tea Party: 20 Themed Tea Parties With Recipes For Every Occasion, From Fabulous Showers To Intimate Gatherings by Tracy Stern with Christie Matheson. Sample themed tea parties include a Morrocan Valentine's Day Dinner, a Mother's Day Tea, and a Proper Afternoon Tea. Ideas include guidance on invitations, decorations, menus, recipes, and favors. The book features beautiful photos, creative ideas, helpful hints, and simple recipes. T...

"What I warn you to remember is that I am a detective. Our relationship with the truth is fundamental, but cracked, refracting confusingly like fragmented glass. It is the core of our careers, the endgame of every move we make, and we pursue it with strategies painstakingly constructed of lies ... and every variation on deception. The truth is the most desirable woman in the world and we are the most jealous lovers, reflexively denying anyone else the slightest glimpse of her. We betray her routinely ... This is my job ... What I am telling you, before you begin my story, is this--two things: I crave truth. And I lie." opening lines of In The Woods chapter 1, pages 3-4 In The Woods by Tana French, an Irish writer, is an extremely well-written and well-crafted mystery novel. The downside is that this is French's debut novel, and her website (located at http://www.tanafrench.com/ ) does not off...

Today we have a guest reviewer contributing to "A Series of (Un)Fortunate Reviews" and her name is Samantha; she's been volunteering here at the library for the past few weeks. She is reviewing Premonitions by Jude Watson. This book is incredible. It is about a young girl named Gracie whose mother has recently died. After her mother dies, Gracie starts having premonitions. I think that this is a good book because it goes through Gracie’s mind and shows her feelings and expressions about her mother’s death. This book has many fantastic adventures. If you would like to read this book you can request it from Annville Free Library or Lebanon Community Library. -Reviewer Samantha

Hey, all you American Girl fans, Meet Julie by Megan McDonald is the first of six stories about an American Girl named Julie Albright. The year is 1974. Julie is a nine year old girl who lives in San Francisco, CA, and she's about to experience a lot of changes in her life. Some of these changes include her parents' divorce, changing schools, and moving away from her best friend, Ivy Ling. Meet Julie takes you on a journey with Julie as she learns that she needs to take control of her life and take a stand for what she believes in. In the back of the book the author has a section called "Looking Back: America in the 1970's." This section explains some of the historical events and movements that took place in the 1970's. Other titles in this series are: Julie Tells Her Story Happy New Year, Julie Julie and the Eagles Julie's Journey Changes For Julie They can all be found at J/Fic/Mcd You might also like to try another ...

We have uploaded yet another taped review to our YouTube channel located at http://youtube.com/matthewslibrary . This review discusses a series of books featuring Maine private investigator, Charlie Parker. It is written by the wickedly talented John Connolly. You can view the video here. The video features interviewer, Ms. Natalie, a former library assistant, and the reviewer for this installment is Ms. Angie. We hope you'll check out this video, and perhaps give the featured titles a try. The titles in the series are as listed below: Every Dead Thing is located here at Matthews and also available upon request from Annville Free Library, Palmyra Public Library. Dark Hollow is currently only available upon request through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). The Killing Kind is available upon request from Lebanon Community Library. The White Road is available upon request from Palmyra Public Library. The Black Angel is available upon request from Annville Free Library and Lebanon Communit...

This review is two-fer because both films, Disturbia and Transformers , star the actor Shia LeBeouf. Both films were nearly wall-to-wall thrills and action. Disturbia is about a troubled teenage boy who is under house arrest. Throughout the course of his house arrest, he must come up with ways to entertain himself after his mother shuts off his Xbox and iTunes accounts and disables his TV. Unfortunately, he never heard of picking up a book and READING because he turns to voyeurism to overcome his boredom. He spies on various neighbors, observing their secrets and eventually comes to suspect that one of them is a serial killer. Thrills, chills, and even laughs ensue as the boy and two of his friends embark on an unlikely, but highly entertaining and very intense, mission to prove that this neighbor is indeed who they suspect he is... or is he? I highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys thrillers, psychological suspense, mystery, drama, and heart stopping action. David ...

This will be a fairly unique review as it will span a blog, books, and a museum exhibition. Scratch that because I've just had a burst of inspiration--it's our first review of a phenomenon! This phenomenon is called PostSecret, and it was created by a man in MD named Frank Warren. Basically it began with a postcard campaign in which Warren distributed blank postcards in public places asking folks who found these postcards to write a secret on it and mail it in to him anonymously. The movement began with only a few hundred to a couple thousand postcards distributed by Warren himself and quickly exploded nationally and internationally. I believe that Warren has received upwards of hundreds of thousands of postcards from anonymous people divulging their most private secrets and wishes. You can see a sample postsecret above; I thought this one especially appropriate considering Fredericksburg's status as "Chicken Capital Of The World." Every Sunday Warren post...