Here are November's picks for Baldwin Bookworms, a book club partnership between GCM and the Foley Public Library.
Each month, three library staff members choose something they're loving or …
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Here are November's picks for Baldwin Bookworms, a book club partnership between GCM and the Foley Public Library.
Each month, three library staff members choose something they're loving or looking forward to. Read them all or just one.
If you read any, let us and your fellow readers know what you think. Email editor@gulfcoastmedia.com or comment on either group's social media posts.
Picked by: Mae
Genre: Children's Fantasy/Historical Fiction
Pages: 240
Goodreads rating: 3.78
Description:
Gareth may not have nine lives, but he's no ordinary cat. For one thing, he can talk. For another, he has magical powers to take Jason anywhere in time. From ancient Egypt to Japan, Leonardo da Vinci's youth to a witch trial, their adventures span centuries and cultures, carrying them through nine extraordinary lifetimes.
Why did you pick this book?
This has been one of my favorite books since I was a kid, when I first listened to it on cassette tape. I checked it out all the time — partly because the narrator's voice was so good and partly because a cat and his boy traveling through time was just too cool and sparked my love of history and travel. Even now, I still like to pick it up for a quick reread, usually in the fall, because to me it's always felt like a cozy, fall kind of book.
Picked by: Maggie
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian/Science Fiction
Pages: 333
Goodreads rating: 4.07
Description:
An audacious, darkly glittering novel set in the eerie days of civilization's collapse — the spellbinding story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.
Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of 'King Lear.' That was the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end.
Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band's existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed.
Why did you pick this book?
A book about a world-altering pandemic has every right to be a depressing rumination on the monstrosities of other people, but, oh, it can also be so much more than that as "Station Eleven" proves time and time again.
Following a group of people who are either loosely or intimately tied to one another, St. John Mandel celebrates the strangeness and luminosity of human connection, the constellations we form without even knowing them. Our stories don't die when we do, she suggests. They continue to play out in the lives of other people.
And living! Well, what exactly does it mean to live after nearly everything and everyone is gone?
It's wonderful, and it's terrible. It's being human, that's what it is.
Why do you like this genre?
Post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction have always been favorite genres of mine because not only do they typically function as commentaries (and even critiques) about societal issues at large, but they also serve as intimate character studies of humanity in general. In exploring people and the structures they create at their most vulnerable, dystopian writers are often able to uncover profound truths about our existence as a whole.
Picked by: Janet
Genre: Romance/Christian
Pages: 288
Goodreads rating: 4.19
Description:
Christmas is a great time to be snowed in with the woman who saved your life in this heartwarming, small-town holiday romance from New York Times bestselling author Sharon Sala.
One minute, Trey Austin is driving through torrential rain; the next, he's being rescued from a car wreck by an angelic woman with the courage to brave the storm. Her face was the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness. No one got her name — but she lost one shoe stuck in the mud. It's Trey's only clue, so he takes to the internet, hoping against hope that he'll find his angel.
Just when he's almost given up, Trey gets a message from Hailey Beaumont, owner of a cozy bed and breakfast in Colorado, and he instantly knows he's found her. Without hesitation, Trey heads to the mountains to meet Hailey just in time to spend an unforgettable Christmas snowed in with his dream girl, who, when finally in front of him, is even more special than he remembers.Why did you pick this book?
I am a huge fan of Sharon Sala...from her kids books to her non-fiction books to her romantic suspense and her romance books. She is a wonderful author, and I highly recommend her to anyone.
Why do you like this genre?
I am a romantic at heart and love Christmas books.
