Lisa C. recommends:

The Reconstructionist by Nick Arvin

"You might remember Arvin's debut novel Articles of War, which won the Colorado Book Award and was the One Book One Denver choice. It is still on my favorites of all time list. The Reconstructionist is as finely written as his first novel. Nick has a spare way of writing, making each word necessary to the story. His writing is exquisite, really no other word will do. In the new novel, the character, Ellis, as a boy hears the fatal car accident which kills his older half-brother. This changes his life. Years later, after college Ellis becomes a forensic reconstructionist. He investigates fatal car accidents, finding the reasons behind them. But Ellis' life takes another turn and becomes its own crash site. You won't be able to put this book down and trust me, if you haven't read Articles of War - you might as well put it immediately on your reading list as well."

Pete S. recommends:

"In many -- if not all -- big time sports events, the second the action stops here comes the ear-splitting pop songs, the launching of cheap t-shirts, the advertisements racing across the jumbo-tron. You wonder if you're experiencing an actual athletic contest, or if you're merely part of someone's dazzling marketing strategy. Thoughts of this kind race through Billy Lynn's brain as he and the rest of the Army Bravo Company spend an afternoon at Texas Stadium during a two week break from fighting in Iraq. They'd won a crucial battle, though not without consequences, and as guests of the Dallas Cowboys Bravo Company is besieged by grateful fans (grateful if their team is winning, if the weather is nice) with heavy words such as heroic, patriotic, blessed, values, and freedom, freedom, freedom for our way of life. But Billy has discovered that words alone cannot describe exactly what's going on out there in the desert, cannot describe what it's like to hold his buddy as his young life has come to an end on the battlefield.

Bravo Company is being honored and used at the same time. On the plus side, there is a movie deal in the works. On the minus side, every movie studio it seems is trying to ace them right out of the project. The guys are given autographed footballs and other swag, but then have to pose stupidly in front of the camera and shout out someone's pre-written script about God, country, and home. In the end, all the Bravos really want to do is not get blown up during the next part of their extended tour of duty. Billy Lynn's got less than 24 hours to make sense of it all. That's a lot for someone just 19, when the fog of war sometimes makes more sense than what's happening at home.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk is already being hailed as this generation's Catch-22 for its darkly comic take not only on war, but what happens back home when you simply start asking the question...why?" 

"Most of the reviewers for the highly acclaimed The Art of Fielding (now in paperback and google ebook download) go to great extent in writing that this novel is not really about baseball, and therefore may be enjoyed without knowing anything about the sport. To that I would agree, except to say so what if it is about baseball? In this time of year, with light snow still falling, it's comforting to know that signs of baseball -- its green grass, warm sun, hot dogs, beer, and the game itself -- are right around the corner.

The Art of Fielding is really about four students and the president of Westish College, the kind of small, picturesque mid-western school maybe you wish you'd attended. The psychological impact of one errant throw alters the lives of each of the characters. Four stumble into something akin to love while the fifth completely falls apart. But in baseball the game is never over until the final out, so there is an opportunity for redemption no matter how grievous the error. We're talkin' baseball all right, though it's not really about baseball (even though it sort of is)."

 

Linda M. recommends:

"Penelope Lively is one of our most gifted storytellers - dry witted, insightful, compassionate. In How it All Began she has done it again, presented us with a story of real characters, flawed but hopeful, pursuing their lives in search of meaning, love, safety, acknowledgement.

She is a master at unfolding a story, layer after layer, giving us multiple perspectives on the same event, showing us how our separate, single lives affect each other.

In this story, Charlotte, an older woman, is accosted by a petty thief on the streets, and from this single act lives are changed, not only Charlotte's but many others, as well, who don't even know Charlotte. This is a storynabout chance and the role it can play in our lives. With the lightest of touches, Penelope Lively wryly spins out a delightful and thought provoking novel."

Linda also recommends:

The Voice of the River by Melanie Rae Thon

"The Voice of the River is a lovely book, with the twists and turns, the clarity and murkiness of a river winding its way to the sea. It sings its song with a haunting musicality and the characters who walk it in search of the lost boy and his dog feel like cousins to the characters in Winesburg Ohio - each carrying within them the secrets and burdens and the hopes of their own lives, each with their own deep and murky stories to tell, drawn together in this small town, along this river.
 
Each chapter adds another verse and another person's voice to the song. And, while it is the song of the search for the boy, it is the song of the bigger search that each one of us undergoes as we follow the paths our lives take.
 
This is a book that takes some unraveling or, rather, one must be willing to allow its unraveling and to let it take you along with it and discover its mysteries as it slowly winds along its way."

Jackie B. Recommends:

Planet Tad by Tim Carvell

"Tim Carvell is the lead writer for The Daily Show, and has been writing Planet Tad for Mad Magazine for quite some time.  But now, at long last, comes the first volume in what I can only assume/hope will be a series, because this stuff is just wicked funny.  This is definitely a book a family could share with each other.  It's a one year blog/diary of Tad's life, observations, and ruminations of being 12/13 year old.  Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are fans--what more to you need to know?"

Jackie also recommends:

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen

"This is about being a woman, past, present and to some extent future.  It's what she learned in her life and what she made peace with over the years.  Read this book with a pencil or some book darts on hand, because it is full of wonderful quotes.  It's realistic yet uplifting, and it makes you wish you were sitting at her kitchen table with a cup of coffee and a chance to ask questions and draw out more stories from this brilliant woman.  Given the current political climate, I especially loved hearing about the progression of the women's movement in her lifetime--what she has seen in the past could not be more relevant to this very moment.  I think this would be a wonderful book club book--there are so many things in this book that could fire amazing conversations.  I'd also argue that it would be a lovely gift for any woman, whether she is graduating college or celebrating her 75th birthday."

Jackie also recommends:

Grace by T. Greenwood

"T. Greenwood is a master at writing riveting family drama, and this book might just be her best yet.  Kurt and Elsbeth have been together forever it seems, and they've fallen into a number of common traps--accidental pregnancy that canceled college plans, taking over Kurt's family business after his brother was driven out of town, his mother died and his father became ill.  The recession and a refinanced mortgage that now involved a huge balloon payment made things that much worse.  Then there was Trevor--always a difficult child, and now that he's a teenager, and 6'2", the problems seem to be worse.  What his parents don't understand is that he was only defending himself from some major bullies at school who were making his life a living hell.  Little 6 year old Grace is the light of everyone's life.  But the problems mount, and everyone tries to cope.  Kurt picks up a second job, Elsbeth shoplifts compulsively as a way to deal with an ever present feeling of wanting, and Trevor picks up a camera to find a new way to see the world.

In a parallel story, there is the story of Crystal, a high school senior in the same town who has just given birth to a baby that she was forced to give up for adoption.  She's struggling with what everyone else wants her to do and what she wants for herself.

Lack of communication and too many assumptions by too many people brings both stories to a literally explosive conclusion in this tightly woven, complex and completely absorbing drama.  If you are like me, after reading the first two pages, you will not be able to put this amazing book down." 

Among Jackie's Favorite Reads of 2011:

Joe Recommends:

Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd:

"This is the first novel I've ever read by William Boyd, and having read this one, I'm a little ashamed at myself. How have I missed this amazing writer? I've heard a lot of praise for his writing, and now I get it.

In Waiting For Sunrise, William Boyd takes the reader to pre-World War One Vienna. Birthplace of both psychoanalysis and the Hapsburg Empire that started the first world war, Vienna is a fascinating place even now, but then, it was a city struggling with the modern world even as it held on to its traditional ways. In this city, we meet Englishman Lysander Rief, abroad to sort out his life before he marries back in England. While in his analyst's office, he meets an intriguing woman with whom he falls into an affair. His sojourn in Vienna ends when he is accused of a crime he didn't commit, and becomes indebted to the British Embassy for his
legal woes.

Lysander returns to England, and resumes his career as an actor. But as Europe blossoms into war, the British government calls on Lysander to help repay his debt by spying for them. What follows is an international tour-de-force of such intensity and twists and turns that kept me guessing right until the end.

William Boyd's writing is excellent, and his descriptions of life during wartime are fascinating and horrible at once. Boyd describes early espionage as if he had been there, and same goes for the scenes of wartime carnage. As I said, the book kept me guessing... who was the traitor? How do these characters all relate together? And it is all brought together in a surprising and satisfying conclusion. Lysander Rief uses the skills he gleaned as an actor to good effect in the world of international espionage. William Boyd uses his skills as a writer to bring this world, these characters, to life. This is a novel not to be missed."

Our Children's Buyer Judy B. Recommends:

Little Bird by Germano Zullo

"Winner of the 2011 French Caldecott, Little Bird is a story for all ages.  Extremely visual, with very few well-chosen words, the story unfolds as a man drives his truck out to the wilderness and releases several colorful birds to the sky. One tiny bird remains. He encourages the tiny bird to fly. The ending will surprise readers. The message?  'There are no greater treasures than the little things.'"

Judy also recommends:

The Dog Who Danced by Susan Wilson

"Justine has her dog, Maksim, and then, just like that, she doesn't.  Mack is named after Maksim the dancer because Justine and Mack take part in a competitive dancing, canine freestyle.  Although a grown woman now, Justine still has issues with her father.  Old ones, the kind that are hard to resolve.  There's grief involved, and mistrust, and pain--lots of pain.  Alice and Ed have some of these same issues with each other.  There used to blame, too, but that's not there as much anymore, these years later.

Mack has intertwined his life with all of them, like some graceful, swirling waltz of devotion.  He has given Justine, Alice and even Ed, who reluctantly let him, a measure of grece-giving love that has lifted them each over that hard wall of pain.  It may just finally have let them soar.  And because of that realization, neither Justine nor Ed and Alice want to lose Mack.  About this one thing they are quite certain.

How pets heal us with their extraordinary love is the focus of this book.  It was inspiring--I give it 10 wags!"
 

Judy's Favorite Young Adult Reads of 2011:

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Lynn F. Recommends:

Under the Surface: Fracking, Fortunes, and the Fate of the Marcellus Shale by Tom Wilbur

"One of the more notable voices this month joining the chorus of concern over hydraulic fracturing (or 'fracking') to get at natural gas was James Hansen's in an op-ed in the New York Times (5-10-12). Hansen calls what's going on 'a frantic stampede to extract every fossil fuel through mountaintop removal, longwall mining, hydraulic fracturing, tar sands and tar shale extraction, and deep ocean and Arctic drilling.' The trouble with fracking is that an enormous amount of water (another arguably even more precious resource) is required in the process and that, despite industry claims to the contrary, many drilling methods, including fracking, put water sources at great risk of contamination. If you are a person who pretty much takes for granted the ability to turn on the tap and trust that potable water will reliably keep coming to you with ease, consider the experiences of a community of Dimock, Pennsylvania residents, who initially saw the split estate arrangement (when the landowner has surface rights to their land, but a petroleum corporation has the go-ahead to do whatever it takes to get at the natural gas 'under the surface') as a tremendous windfall of luck, but over time came to regret that their homes sat atop such a coveted resource.

In Under the Surface, author Tom Wilber reveals the complexities of life for those determined to extract every drop of what they see as a 'clean', job-producing 'bridge fuel' that liberates our nation from dependence on foreign oil vs. those determined to prevent what they see as a nightmarish waste or misuse of water and human skill that is despoiling communities, dividing neighbor against neighbor, postponing dealing with the root problem of oil/gas addiction, and, ultimately, harming the planet for short-term gain.

Wilber has been reporting on the interests and challenges of all constituencies involved in fracking for years, and this book focuses in particular on putting the current controversies in Pennsylvania and upstate New York in blow-by-blow historical context. We meet a range of fascinating characters that span from those with the power to make, bend and break the rules of resource extraction with near total impunity to those for whom nothing short of a ban on fracking is acceptable. They have been battling it out via home-rule charters and packed town hall meetings to regulate and ensure transparency in an environment where all odds seem stacked in favor of more and more drilling.

One incident of semi-local interest is that of a gas roughneck whose chemical exposure sent him to Mercy Regional Medical Center in Durango in spring of 2008. Cathy Behr, who treated the man ,became seriously ill after breathing the vapors from the victim.  Doctors were unable to determine the chemicals that had poisoned her due to what is termed 'the Halliburton Loophole', which exempts the industry from having to divulge specific 'proprietary' chemicals used.  Lucky for Cathy, she recovered despite this secrecy.  But there remain many who are dealing with contaminated wells, the aftermath of explosions caused by 'methane migration' and a slew of environmental and health issues, let alone being tied to property, the value of which has skyrocketed, plummeted, or, in any case, changed dramatically due to natural gas content, whatever one's perspective.

Whether or not one is living directly above a gas deposit of any type, there are few of us, whether we're aware of it or not, who don't have a stake in the issues surrounding fracking or any of the other  'unconventional' (or, for that matter, conventional) drilling techniques employed to get atnatural gas, now that the 'low-hanging-fruit' is clearly being exhausted. Wilber's patience in condensing a wealth of information into a highly readable and coherent expose on this very current and important topic is enhanced by his storyteller's eye for the all-too-human quandaries involved and makes for a highly engaging, at times truly riveting, read... one which will hopefully find its way into the hands of decision-makers and citizens across the country, as public discourse strives to make sense of what goes on 'under the surface' of our hyper-mobile, fuel-dependant lifestyles."

Lynn also recommends:

Private Empire by Steve Coll

"For top-notch investigative reporting about the petroleum industry, you're not likely to do better than to pick up Private Empire by Steve Coll.  A New Yorker staff writer and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars, Coll's latest book provides a timely window into the petroleum industry's cast of characters and a context often worthy of an action/intrigue thriller.  Starting with the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 and ending with the BP Macondo spill in April 2010, Coll reveals a corporate culture that has proven more powerful in many respects than the presidencies that have come and gone during its tenure as what truly can best be described as a 'private empire'.

This in-depth saga follows, via fascinating material gleaned via hundreds of interviews and previously classified documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the fateful decisions that have led to a perfect storm-like escalation of challenges to the fossil-fueled world we live in and that the high-stakes players like Exxon/Mobil profoundly influence.  These challenges include volatile geopolitical relationships not only in the Middle East or Venezuela, but with formidably unpredictable human beings in numerous countries like Equatorial Guinea and Russia... as well as wrestling with the maintenance of share prices despite the precarious vagaries in 'unconventional gas' development, mounting lawsuits, rampant corruption and violence worldwide connected with dwindling resources, the expense of lobbyists battling regulations, industry PR/media damage control and, of course, the environmental costs/limits of energy replacement to keep up with worldwide demands with an economic neoliberal mindset bent on growth.  The story in some ways is an antidote to the quick sound-bites that so often gloss over or entirely ignore the ramifications of our oil dependency and can't help but continue to inform one's perspective long after the final page."