Staff Picks! Staff Picks!

Here are a few titles that have been recently recommended by the fine readers on staff at the Three Rivers Public Library District:

Tell No One by Harlen Coben - Eight years ago, Dr. David Beck's wife, Elizabeth was kidnapped and killed while they were on their honeymoon - so why suddenly is he receiving emails that could only be from her? With the cops now breathing down his neck, how can he prove his innocence and figure out the mystery at hand? A suspenseful read.

Blue Diary by Alice Hoffman - What I enjoyed about this book was the "what would I do" question. Jorie and her husband have what appears to be a storybook marriage. They are loved by townspeople and one of those families you can count on for anything. Then comes a knock on the door that changes their lives forever. What would you do? Could you stand by your man?

Sweethearts Knitting Club by Lori Wilde - This is a romance about a small town and high school sweethearts meeting up again after the bad boy goes to jail and ends up the sheriff of the town is not as good as every one believed he was.

A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel - Essays from novelist Kimmel on her unusual childhood growing up in a tiny town in Indiana. This book is funny and touching, and reminds me of my own childhood here in Minooka!

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - Circus animals, romance, unforgettable characters (including an elephant!) and a memerizing plot make this book one to savor. Best of all, it has one of the best endings to a story I have ever read!

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang

Chelsea Handler, known for her E! network television show, Chelsea Lately, had produced another book detailing her irreverent take on life. Following her successful My Horizontal Life and Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea, her new title takes off where the others left off.

In this particular book, Chelsea seems to have settled down quite a bit - she has a steady boyfriend (who is the president of the E! Entertainment Network) and even shows her softer side when she decides to adopt a dog. Her family plays a central role in many of the exploits as well. The conversations that take place between herself, her siblings and their father are particularly memorable. Despite the relative calmness of her escapades, she is still hilarious...if you like her sort of humor in the first place. If you find her a bit too much on television, this book might not be for you. However, if you are looking for a few laughs, don't mind salty language or sarcasm, give this one a try.

Happiness Key by Emilie Richards

Tracy DeLoche wasn't looking for a fresh start when she headed for Happiness Key, Florida, after her divorce. Hoping to remove the tenants and sell the property as quickly as possible, she certainly did not want to plant any roots in the area. However, when one of her tenants passes away soon after her arrival, she becomes far more involved in her tenants' lives than she ever planned, and in the process, learns to open up and live again herself.

This book has a little bit of everything in it - romance, mystery, humor, suspense - which all wraps up with my personal favorite - a happy ending! The main characters all come from very different backgrounds, which leads to tension among the neighbors at first, but they all learn to overcome and get along in spite of this. Overall, this is a story of friendship and sisterhood, but all of the side plots help add some pizazz and keep the book moving along.

If you enjoy this book, I would recommend Emilie Richards' earlier work, particularly her Donoghue sisters books, The Parting Glass and Whiskey Island.

Wealth Watchers by Alice Wood

After a freak brain injury caused author Alice Wood to have to relearn many basic skills, personal accounting among them, she developed this personal finance system based on the principles of the Weight Watchers healthy living program. Because I am very familiar with the Weight Watchers philosophy, and can always use some financial guidance, I thought this book sounded very intriguing.

For those of you not familiar with the basic tenets of the Weight Watchers program, it basically assigns point values to foods, based on its calories, fat, fiber, etc. Each person has so many points that they can use on a daily basis, so they must budget their points to ensure they have enough quality meals to get them through the day. Wealth Watchers works much the same way, except instead of points, individuals work out what their "DDI" - (daily disposable income) is and attempt to stay within these guidelines to maintain good financial health. If they want something above and beyond the daily DDI, they must save for it.

Wood's book does a good job of laying out the basic tenets of the program, and includes some background information on how she ended up needing the program in the first place. Roughly half the book is a space for journaling your finances, so the book itself is a quick read. As with the Weight Watchers program, this book provides the tools for financial health; it is up to the reader to utilize them! I would recommend this book to those who are looking for a technique to get their financial lives in order - this book provides a simple solution for a complicated issue.

Prospect Park West by Amy Sohn

Amy Sohn, a former editor for New York magazine, has authored a book that is pop-cultural, name-dropping and offers a scathing portrayal of urban mommies in a trendy Brooklyn neighborhood.

While there are all kinds of plotlines going on here, there is not a whole lot of substance to the book, so it moves along very quickly. Prospect Park West follows four well-to-do mothers and their sometimes intersecting dramas which unfold on the playgrounds and local food coop. I did not find any of the main characters, all women and mothers, either very likable or sympathetic, and that is a problem for me in reading fiction - I need someone to root for! The descriptions of the neighborhood and lifestyles are interesting but not enough to rescue the book as a whole.

On the other hand, if you are looking for something light and fluffy to read, this might be just what you are looking for. Personally, I would prefer something with a little more humor and more fleshed-out characters. While there are all kinds of plotlines going on here, there is not a whole lot of substance, so the book moves along very quickly. Fans of Sex in the City, The Devil Wears Prada or Nanny Diaries may enjoy this dishy novel.