One Second After

One Second After
by William Forstchen

If you like apocalyptical stories, One Second After is a scary read. One day all electronic devices stop working. What brings the United States to its knees is an EMP-electromagnetic pulse. Suddenly the USA is hurtled back into the Dark Ages. Food riots, looting, pillaging, murder and disease are all things a small town in North Carolina has to face. It's every man, woman, and child for themselves in this fast-paced, eerily realistic book. Although at times the writing is a little clumsy I was able to overlook it in favor of the subject matter and characters. [If you like this title, you might also enjoy Swan Song by Robert McCammon, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, and World War Z by Max Brooks.] -- recommended by Deanne J. - Walt Branch Library
[Also available in book-on-cd format.]

[ official One Second After and William Forstchen web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.

American Wife

American Wife

by Curtis Sittenfeld

American Wife is a novel loosely based on the life of Laura Bush. I had never read any of Sittenfeld's books before because they seemed like typical chick lit fare, but American Wife is a complex character study of a woman thrust into the public eye. We follow Alice through a tragedy and her subsequent marriage to Charlie, who to everybody's suprise is elected president. I enjoyed this book because it wasn't "fluff", it's written in a serious tone that I found to be quite enthralling. -- recommended by Deanne J. - Walt Branch Library

[Also available in downloadable audio, book-on-cd formats.][ official American Wife and Curtis Sittenfeld web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

Ten (or more) new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

The Mist

The Mist

based on a story by Stephen King

Mists are scary enough, but the mist in this movie is truly terrifying. Citizens in a grocery store hole up to save themselves from the monsters that are flying and creeping inside the mist. But some of the people in the store are scarier than the monsters outside, and the shoppers split into two camps. One is determined to escape and one is determined to appease the vengeful deity they hold responsible for the mist. This movie has great special effects and the ending is different than the short story by Stephen King it is based on. -- recommended by Deanne J. - Walt Branch Library

[ Internet Movie Database page for this film ] [ official The Mist web site ]

Have you seen this one, or read the original story? What did you think?

Ten (or more) new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

Staff Recommendation - The Descent

The Descent

by Jeff Long

What if hell were a real place underneath our feet? That's the premise of Jeff Long's The Descent, which is a rip-roaring adventure book. Mankind has seen demons, gargoyles, and Satan since the dawn of time. What if these creatures were real? The plot of this book sucks you in to a place you never want to visit but can't turn away from. The characters are interesting but the "what if-ness" of the story is what kept me turning the pages. -- recommended by Deanne J. - Gere Branch Library

[ Publisher's page for The Descent ] [ Publisher's page for Jeff Long ]

Have you read this one? What did you think?

Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

Staff Recommendation - The Opposite of Love

The Opposite of Love
by Julie Buxbaum

Julie Buxbaum is a laywer-turned-author whose first novel is a funny, sad tale of finding oneself. Emily sabotages her relationship because she thinks her boyfriend will leave eventually, so she should beat him to the punch. Her mother died when she was fourteen and her father is distant. How Emily finds out who she really is and what she's really made of is not the usual chick-lit journey. -- recommended by Deanne J. - Gere Branch Library
[ Julie Buxbaum's official web site for The Opposite of Love ]
Have you read this one? What did you think?

Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

New Book Talk Booklist: Mostly the Truth...Sometimes Not!

Mostly the Truth...Sometimes Not!
Tag team booktalkers Carol S. and Deanne J. presented a look at a selection of interesting fiction and non-fiction titles recently for both the Gere Books Talk series (Nov 19th 2007) and Bethany Books Talk series (Nov 30th 2007). You can click any of the linked titles below to see the availability of these titles at locations of the Lincoln City Libraries, and in many cases to see plot blurbs. You can also check out the Book Talk Booklists index on BookGuide to see many other recent and past book talk lists.

• Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood by Sy Montgomery


• Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood by Julie Gregory


• Loving Frank by Nancy Horan


• The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver


• Blue Death: True Tales of Disease, Disaster and the Water We Drink by Robert Morris


• The Heartless Stone: A Journey Through the World of Diamonds, Deceit and Desire by Tom Zoellner


• Dancing With Rose: Finding Life in the Land of Alzheimer's by Lauren Kessler


• Touch and Go: A Memoir by Studs Terkel


• Best of Friends: Two Women, Two Continents, and One Enduring Friendship by Sarah James


• The Fortune Hunters: Dazzing Women and the Men They Married by Charlotte Hays


• One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding by Rebecca Mead


• Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders by James D. Scurlock


• The Lincoln Highway: Coast to Coast From Times Square to the Golden Gate by Michael Wallace


• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver


• Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes Mined), and Manipulated Into What America Eats by Steve Ettlinger


• This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin


• Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman


• Black Wind by Clive and Dirk Cussler


• Murder on K Street by Margaret Truman


• Run by Ann Patchett


• North River by Pete Hamill