Serving the communities of Palisades and Sparkill, NY
Don Brown has written a sobering account of what the citizens of Mariupol in Ukraine experienced in the 83 days of bombing by the Russians. The people fought back, but with terrible consequences. Many died in the bombings, or were shot by Russian soldiers. This is considered a teen graphic novel, and I hope teens do read it, to understand how lucky we are to live in a free country like the U.S., compared to life in war torn Ukraine.
When Andrew McCarthy’s son Sam was nineteen, the duo accepted the challenge of the Camino de Santiago. If you aren’t familiar with this, it’s literally a walk across Spain from the French border to Santiago, Spain. Travellers are issued a passport that must be stamped at each stop along the way. And “the Way” is 484 miles long, thus not for the faint of heart. But many who have walked it agree that it was a life-changing experience, McCarthy included. I enjoyed his account of the walk, from personality issues with his son to the difficult relationship that he had with his own father. I found it a heart-warming and easy read and would highly recommend it.
I want to like this guy. We like the same things. But he desperately needs an editor. So much of this book reads like a high school kid trying to pad his prose to fit a required word count. It’s a mix of heavy metal book report with a dash of memoir, but the memoir stuff is so few and far between that when it does arrive it feels jarring. 3/5 stars. –An anonymous Winter Reading 2023 participant.
This memoir by poet Stephen Kuusisto details his experience of getting a guide dog in his late 30s, after stumbling through life pretty much pretending not to be blind. (Really.) It’s so beautifully written and it offers perspective from a very different way of life from most of us. Kuusisto also enlightens the reader on many details of the history of Guide Dogs and the process of training them and matching them with the right people. It was a delightful, humbling, and inspiring read. 5/5 stars. –Laura Zaino for Winter Reading 2023.
Back to the Prairie is Melissa Gilbert’s memoir of her recent years, starting in 2019 with the purchase of a home and property in upstate New York. Living in rural Michigan after marrying actor and director Timothy Busfield, Melissa & Timothy’s work takes them to New York City. Life in the busy and hectic Big Apple leads the couple to purchase a house in the country to relax and get away from all the demands of modern day living. However, the home they purchase has been abandoned for years, and takes the two (along with the help of friends) a great deal of sweat and equity to ready it to be lived in. This is accomplished just before COVID 19 strikes the country, and they settle in as pioneers, living off the land. Ms. Gilbert is a down- to- earth writer, and I enjoyed reading about her life and times.
Palisades Free Library Blog 