Mornington Peninsula Library - Our Recommendations June 2010
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Our Recommendations June 2010  Printer Friendly
Private Patient



The Private Patient by P. D. James
Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

The Private Patient by P. D. James
In her character driven style James, pits the wit of Dalgliesh against a group of very defined personalities living in (or staying at) or near the facility of, Cheverell Manor, a private nursing home run for the rich and privilege classes recovering from the plastics surgeons knife.

It is James’ characters that jump out at you; their motivations, their histories and their desires. Readers get an insight into modern Britiish education system, the life of a rich, greedy doctor, and the English version of a scared site, white stones in a circle, used for pagan practices. Nothing new here you might say, but wait till the end. Every thinking women, who has every read James for her most famous character, the dective who has the soul of a poet, will have a small part of their heart broken at the end. This is the book where Dalgliesh gets married.

Picked by Victoria (Library Headquarters)

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Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield
Love is a Mix Tape
 		 Love is a Mix Tape, written by Rolling Stone contributing editor Rob Sheffield, is both a touching memoir of his late wife and a description of the author’s musical influences through his life.

Each chapter begins with a playlist from one of Sheffield’s mix tapes and then describes the period of his life in which that collection of songs was significant. The music featured is the tapes include some great artists and some not so great ones – but Sheffield’s respect for the songs and their influence on him is present throughout the book.

What makes this such a memorable read however is Sheffield’s depiction of the love of his life, Renee, and her unexpected death at age 31. The obvious live and adoration he still holds for her is simultaneously heart-warming and heart-breaking.

This book is full of musings on music and love, and how they intertwine. It leads us through Sheffield’s childhood to his suddenly being a widower, and also includes some great music recommendations.

Picked by Faith (Mornington Library)

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Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
Zeitoun
 		 In August it will be five years since Hurricane Katrina nearly washed away New Orleans. Zeitoun is written about the Zeitoun family – a father who is a painter by trade, his wife who converted to Islam in her early 20s, their three daughters and their son from the wife’s first marriage. Just an average family making life and death decisions about whether or not to leave and what to take.

The husband decides to stay and help his home and those of his tenants to weather the storm as best they can. Nothing survives Katrina unscathed but Zeitoun and the houses under his care fare better than some. Although his office seems to have been underwater, he cannot check on it the first time he visits because there is an armed group of men looting across the street from it.

Zeitoun remains in the flooded city and this book describes his trials and tribulations vividly. Some incidents are understandable, some are horrific and one or two simply miraculous. Any given page could fill me with outrage and amazement both at the same time. Ultimately I found this book thoroughly uplifting, a triumph of the human spirit under excessive duress that only other humans could create.

Picked by Larissa (Hastings Library)

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