book talk january 07 2025

02/18/25 • 56 min

Book talk for Jan 7 2025

Christmas At the Borrow a Book Shop
by Kiley Dunbar

'Tis the season for finding love... and the perfect book! With just two weeks until Christmas, everything in Clove Lore should be perfect. But the latest holidaymaker to the Borrow a Bookshop is feeling far from festive...
Icelandic ex-bookseller Magnús Sturluson might be surrounded by love stories in the Bookshop, but he’s nursing a sadness that not even fiction can fix. When Alexandra Robinson winds up stranded in Clove Lore, she finds a safe place to hide from heartbreak. After all, all that’s waiting for her at home is a cheater boyfriend and the memories of her parents.
As Alex is slowly embraced by the quirky village community, she finds her tough exterior thawing – and as she grows closer to Magnús, she discovers an equally soft heart under his gruff shell. However, when a great flood on Christmas Eve brings devastation in its wake, it’s up to Magnús and Alex to batten down the hatches, help bring the village back together again, and introduce the locals to the Icelandic tradition of the jólabókaflóð – Yule book flood.
Can Magnús and Alex rescue the ruins of the village and salvage their Christmas spirit? Or is there another problem lurking even closer than they thought? A totally uplifting read that will lighten the winter gloom, for fans of Jenny Colgan and Trisha Ashley. Booklovers will adore this seasonal treat!

5 nonfiction books

5 Freedom's Forge: How American business produced Victory in World War II
by Arthur Herman

Dual profile of General Motors executive William "Big Bill" Knudsen and shipbuilder Henry J. Kaiser and their efforts in the militarization of industrial businesses during World War II. Describes their partnership, the benefits and costs of high productivity, and their lasting legacy. 2012
DB83788

3 Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda
by Megan Basham

“This may just be the single most important book on modern Evangelicalism in recent years. It is bold, clear, and very well-researched.”—John MacArthurHow deeply have leftist billionaires infiltrated America’s churches?In Shepherds for Sale, Megan Basham of the Daily Wire documents how progressive powerbrokers —from George Soros, to the founder of eBay, to former members of the Obama administration— set out to change the American church. Their goal: to co-opt evangelicals for political purposes. She exposes:· The left-wing billionaires, foundations, and think tanks that deliberately target Christian media, universities, megachurches, nonprofits, and even entire denominations· The celebrity megachurch pastor who secretly encouraged a group of pastors to change their views on sexuality· The revered Presbyterian theologian who backed a congregation rebelling against his own denominationThese are just a glimpse into the compromises and astroturf campaigns Basham uncovers. Many evangelical leaders are pushing their members to “whisper” about sexual sins, reconsider the importance of abortion, lament the effects of climate change, and repent of “perpetuating systemic racism.” And in exchange for toeing a left-wing line, many of those church leaders and institutions have received cash, career jumps, prestige, and praise. Basham brings the receipts, and names names.A rigorously reported exposé, Shepherds for Sale is a warning of what happens when the church trusts the world’s wisdom instead of Scripture.
by Megan Basham

2 The indispensable Right: Free Speech in an age of Rage
by Jonathan Turley

"This book places the current attacks on the right of free speech in their proper historical, legal, and political context. The United States was born in an age of rage and for 250 years we have periodically lost sight of the value of free expression. The history of the struggle for free speech is the story of extraordinary people-nonconformists who refuse to yield to abusive authority-and here is a mosaic of vivid characters and controversies. Jonathan Turley takes readers through the figures and failures that have shaped us and then shows the unique dangers of our current moment. The alliance of academic, media, and corporate interests with the government's traditional wish to control speech has put us on an almost irresistible path toward censorship. Turley reminds us that we remain a nation grappling with the implications of free expression and with the limits of our tolerance for the speech of others"-- Provided by the publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
DB123041

1 Nuclear War: a Scenario
by Annie Jacobsen

"Every generation, a journalist has looked deep into the heart of the nuclear military establishment: the technologies, the safeguards, the plans, and the risks. These projects are vital to how we understand the world we really live in: where one nuclear missile begets one in return; where the choreography of t...

Book talk for Jan 7 2025

Christmas At the Borrow a Book Shop
by Kiley Dunbar

5 nonfiction books

5 Freedom's Forge: How American business produced Victory in World War II
by Arthur Herman

3 Shepherds for Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda
by Megan Basham

2 The indispensable Right: Free Speech in an age of Rage
by Jonathan Turley

1 Nuclear War: a Scenario
by Annie Jacobsen

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book talk for october 22 2024

Book Talk for October 22 2024

Sanibel Dreams 1 a Shellseeker Beach novel
by Hope Holloway

"When 53-year-old Eliza Whitney loses both her beloved husband and her high-powered job in the same month, she's uncertain what the next chapter of her life will look like. Then her estranged father's widow contacts her and asks her to come to Sanibel Island to help settle his affairs. Eliza sees the trip to a place called Shellseeker Beach as a distraction from her loss, and maybe a way to get some closure on the difficult relationship she'd had with her father. For seventy years, Theodora Blessing's sole purpose on this earth has been to heal the hurting, and to run Shellseeker Cottages, a cozy beachfront resort that has been in her family for decades. But Teddy no longer owns the gorgeous property, and Eliza is her only hope to get it back. Will Eliza help Teddy and save the family business ... or claim it as her own and sell it to developers? Together, the two women begin to unravel the mystery of Eliza's father, the late, great "Dutch" Vanderveen, an enigmatic pilot who led multiple, secretive lives. With the help of Teddy's healing heart, Eliza discovers a family she never knew she had, a purpose she never knew she needed, and a life she never dreamed was possible. Come to Shellseeker Beach and fall in love with a cast of unforgettable characters who face life's challenges with humor, heart, and hope. For lovers of riveting and inspirational sagas about sisters, secrets, romance, mothers and daughters ... and the moments that make life worth living."--OCLC. Some strong language.
DB119582

A Spark of Light
by Jodi Picoult

When a gunman bursts into a reproductive health clinic, he takes everyone inside hostage. Police negotiator Hugh McElroy rushes to the scene, only to get a text from his fifteen-year-old daughter, who is among those trapped inside the clinic. Some violence and some strong language. Bestseller. 2018.
BR22484 DB92508

A Plus one for murder
by Laura Bradford

Emma Westlake has always wanted to own her own business. When her travel planning job dies out, she creates a business of being a paid companion. When one of her clients tells her people want him dead, and then drops dead at an event, Emma must find the killer. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2021.
DB106308

The Land of Mango Sunsets
by Dorothea Benton Frank

New York socialite Miriam Swanson, estranged from her grown sons, has become a miserable social pariah since her divorce. But, after visiting her aging hippie mother in Sullivans Island, South Carolina, Miriam changes her attitude. With the help of her tenants she begins to enjoy life. 2007.
DB64906

The nightmare Thief
Meg Gardiner

Wealthy Peter Reiniger buys a three-day crime-spree reality game for his daughter Autumn's twenty-first birthday. But when real kidnappers grab Autumn and her friends, forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett, pararescueman Gabe Quintana, and journalist Evan Delaney are the young women's only hope. Violence and strong language. Commercial audiobook. 2011.
DB74712

Mrs. Pargeter Principle
by Simon Brett

Two mysteries, written between 2015 and 2016, featuring Melita Pargeter, an English widow of a thief. In Mrs. Pargeter's Principle, she goes to the funeral of respected Sir Normington to find out his connection with her late husband. Also includes Mrs. Pargeter's Public Relations. 2016.
DB91005

Sybil
by Flora Rhetta Schreiber

In an account of the first psychoanalysis of a person with multiple personality disorder, the author relates the eleven-year treatment of Sybil Dorsett (a pseudonym), who unknowingly assumes sixteen different personalities. During her treatment, assisted with drugs and hypnosis, Sybil's illness is traced to a battered childhood tied to a schizophrenic mother and a derelict father. Violence.
BR11940 DB09222

No End Save Victory Perspectives on World War II
by Stephen E Ambrose and Robert Cowley

Historians and participants provide accounts of incidents from the war fought between 1939 and 1945. Includes the memoirs of Kanji Suzuki, a Japanese kamikaze pilot who survived a suicidal attack on an American ship. Articles were previously published in MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History. 2001. 2001.
DB51886

The Paradise Problem
By Christina Lauren

"Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam "West" Weston for access to subsidized family housing while at UCLA. She also thought she'd signed divorce papers when the graduation caps were tossed, and they both went on their merry ways. Three years later, Anna is a starving artist living paycheck to paycheck while West is a Stanford professor. He may be one of four heirs to the Weston Foods conglomerate, but he has little interest in working for the heartless corporation his family built from the ground up. He is interested, however, in his one-hundr...

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book talk january 14 2025

Book talk for January 14, 2025

Papa Married a Mormon
by John Dennis Fitzgerald

Cheerful reminiscences of the author's early life on the old Utah frontier where his father, a respected Roman Catholic newspaper editor, and his spunky Morman mother made an unorthodox but very happy home for their children.
DB13297

The Braille Killer: An Alice Bergman Novel
by Daniel Kuhnley

"Blind at birth, Alice Bergman's sight has been restored--but her childhood struggles and the assault she endured have never been forgotten. For the last ten years, she's been secretly receiving letters from her attacker-letters written in Braille. Now a homicide detective, Alice is assigned a murder case. The victim? A blind girl. The scene is preternaturally clean, far more than can be explained in any rational way. Alice is able to relive the girl's last moments-but she can't see the girl's killer. That doesn't matter, though. Alice knows the killer is the same person who attacked her as a teen."-- From publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
DB124174

The things we do for Love
by Kristin Hannah

"Years of trying unsuccessfully to conceive a child have broken more than Angie DeSaria’s heart. Following a painful divorce, she moves back to her small Pacific Northwest hometown and takes over management of her family’s restaurant. In West End, where life rises and falls like the tides, Angie’s fortunes will drastically change yet again when she meets and befriends a troubled young woman. Angie hires Lauren Ribido because she sees something special in the seventeen-year-old. They quickly form a deep bond, and when Lauren is abandoned by her mother, Angie offers the girl a place to stay. But nothing could have prepared Angie for the far-reaching repercussions of this act of kindness. Together, these two women—one who longs for a child and the other who longs for a mother’s love—will be tested in ways that neither could have imagined." -- Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.
DB116672

Two by Two
by Nicholas Sparks

Russell Green is happily married, has a daughter, and loves working as an advertising executive. He is stunned when he loses his wife and job in rapid succession, and he struggles to raise his daughter. Bestseller. 2016.
BR21824 DB85812

A Patchwork Planet
by Anne Tyler

Thirty-year-old Barnaby Gaitlin is the black sheep of his genteel Baltimore family, who attribute their successes to advice from a series of angels. After a youth of petty crime, Barnaby now works for Rent-a-Back doing chores for elderly people. On the train to visit his young daughter, Barnaby thinks he has finally met his own angel. Bestseller.
DB46222

Gone
by Lisa Gardner

Private investigator Pierce Quincy's partner -- who is also his lover -- is missing, as is the child whose case she's been working on. Then her car is found with blood stains.
BRC01045 DB61335

A Prisoner of Birth
Jeffrey Archer

London mechanic Danny Cartwright and his fiancée are celebrating their engagement with her brother when four men attack them. The strangers kill the brother and frame Danny for murder. Sentenced to twenty-two years in prison, Danny gets an unexpected chance for vengeance. Some violence and some strong language. Bestseller. 2008.
DB66147

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
by Kim Michele Richardson

Kentucky, 1936. Nineteen-year-old Cussy Mary Carter has been working as part of the Pack Horse Library Project, but her father hopes she'll marry--despite the family trait of blue skin. In addition to her father's hopes, Cussy must also face the prejudice of the community she serves. Some violence and some strong language. 2019.
BR24038 DB95243

The Book Woman's Daughter
by Kim Michele Richardson

As the daughter of the famed blue-skinned Troublesome Creek packhorse librarian, Honey and her family have been hiding in the Kentucky mountains from the law all her life. But when her mother and father are imprisoned, Honey realizes she must fight to stay free, or risk being sent away for good. Sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (DB 95243). Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2022.
DB108304

A continual feast: words of comfort and celebration collected by Father Tim
by Jan Karon

Words of wisdom, faith, and encouragement, as well as lively ideas, humor, commonsense advice, and more, that fictional Father Tim of Mitford has collected over the years from writers, philosophers, and the Bible. Companion to Patches of Godlight (DB 61575). 2005.
DB62403 BR16532

A true history of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and of the Conspiracy of 1865
by Louis J Weichmann and A. C Richards

An account of the assassination of Lincoln and its aftermath by a boarder at the Surratt home who later served as a chief witness against the conspirators.
DB12880

Criminal Conversations