Braille Book Review

July-August 2006
Books for Adults--Fiction

Fiction

Arrowsmith; Elmer Gantry; Dodsworth BR 15684
by Sinclair Lewis
12 volumes
Three early-twentieth-century American classics by Nobel Prize- winning author. In Arrowsmith, an idealistic young doctor is disillusioned by greedy and self-serving colleagues. Elmer Gantry takes aim against the hypocrisy of a tent-show evangelist. In Dodsworth, a retired auto maker's dull marriage comes unglued during a European tour. 2002.

A Mulligan for Bobby Jobe BR 15849
by Bob Cullen
4 volumes
Bobby Jobe leads the PGA Championship until an attractive woman distracts him. He loses the tournament, fires his caddy, and is struck by lightning on the practice tees and permanently blinded. Therapist Angela Murphy reunites caddy and golfer and unexpectedly urges Jobe to return to the game. Strong language. 2001.

I Know Who Holds Tomorrow BR 15854
by Francis Ray
3 volumes
Madison and Wes Reed, both popular TV personalities, seem like a perfect couple, but actually they have become estranged since the loss of their child. When Wes is critically injured in an accident, Madison discovers that he has a mistress and baby daughter. Some explicit descriptions of sex. 2002.

Sacred Time BR 15860
by Ursula Hegi
2 volumes
Bronx, 1953. Calamity strikes Anthony's Italian Catholic family when Uncle Malcolm goes to jail for theft and his wife and twin daughters move into Anthony's house. An unthinkable event and reverberations of guilt reshape the family for generations. Strong language and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2003.

Prince of Thieves BR 15884
by Chuck Hogan
4 volumes
Boston. After robbing a bank, career bandit Doug MacRay romantically pursues branch manager Claire Keesey, who is unaware Doug was her masked assailant. Lovesick Doug reconsiders criminal ways but can't resist one last heist. Violence and strong language. 2004.

Rockville Pike: A Suburban Comedy of Manners BR 15886
by Susan Coll
3 volumes
Suburban Maryland soccer mom Jane Kramer has problems: her marriage is crumbling, her teenage son has turned "goth," and the family furniture store is bankrupt. Jane finds solace visiting F. Scott Fitzgerald's grave and in scrapbooking. But a weekend alone forces Jane to reevaluate her life. Some strong language. 2005.

A Place Called Wiregrass BR 15889
by Michael Morris
3 volumes
Alabama. Erma Lee Jacobs flees her abusive husband, uncaring mother, and dead-end factory job and makes a fresh start in Wiregrass with granddaughter Cher. Friendship with elderly socialite Miss Claudia and the arrival of Cher's father force all three women to confront buried secrets. 2002.

Before You Know Kindness BR 15908
by Chris Bohjalian
4 volumes
Matriarch Nan Seton hosts her annual family reunion in New Hampshire. When twelve-year-old Charlotte mistakes her father, Spencer McCullough, for a deer and wounds him with her uncle's hunting rifle, Spencer's animal rights activist group views the accident as another cause. Some strong language. 2004.

The Great Divide BR 15912
by T. Davis Bunn
4 volumes
Attorney Marcus Glenwood retreats to North Carolina following a devastating tragedy. He agrees to prosecute New Horizons, a local multinational conglomerate. Gloria Hall has disappeared while investigating the company's Factory 101 in China. Glenwood uncovers an international web of deceit that circles back to North Carolina. Christy Award. 2000.

The Warlord's Son BR 15915
by Dan Fesperman
3 volumes
After the terrorism of 2001, veteran journalist Stan "Skelly" Kelly heads to Pakistan hoping for a major scoop. American- educated translator Najeeb Azam, who is on bad terms with his tribal leader father, negotiates Skelly's crossing into Afghanistan, where intrigue and betrayal confound them. Some violence and some strong language. 2004.

Whose Body? A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery BR 15920
by Dorothy L. Sayers
2 volumes
Lord Peter Wimsey derives considerable amusement from outwitting Scotland Yard. When a nude corpse, wearing only a golden pince- nez, is found in a timid architect's bathtub, Lord Peter cleverly untangles the mystery with the help of a friend. 1923.

Kissing Vanessa BR 15922
by Simon Cheshire
1 volume
In England, fifteen-year-old Kevin plans to improve at school, but when the next term begins he is smitten with his new classmate Vanessa. Kevin's energy becomes focused on getting the girl's attention. Some strong language. For junior and senior high readers. 2003.

Eve Green BR 15924
by Susan Fletcher
2 volumes
During her first pregnancy, Evangeline Green recalls her childhood in Wales, where she came to live with her grandparents after her mother's death. Eve puzzles over family secrets, has a few comfortable friendships, and becomes involved in the drama of a local girl's disappearance. Whitbread Book Award. 2004.

The Language of Sycamores BR 15926
by Lisa Wingate
3 volumes
Karen Sommerfield loses her job and learns the cancer that left her childless may be back, so she accepts Missouri sister Kate's invitation to visit her on their late grandmother's farm. Newly discovered kinfolk and a young neighbor needing nurture help Karen recover joy and forgotten purpose. 2005.

Blind Curve BR 15929
by Annie Solomon
3 volumes
Detective Danny Sinofsky loses his sight in an undercover operation. Martha Crowe, who worshipped Danny in high school, becomes his mobility instructor. When Danny and Martha are sent to a safe house for protection, they fall in love. Violence, strong language, and some explicit descriptions of sex. 2005.

God's Gym BR 15932
by John Edgar Wideman
2 volumes
Ten stories about African Americans by a prize-winning author. In "Weight" a son honors his mother, who shoulders life's calamities the way others lift weights, by saying she should wear a T-shirt with "God's Gym" printed on it. Other themes include love, death, and age-old mysteries. Strong language and some violence. 2005.

Baker Towers BR 15933
by Jennifer Haigh
3 volumes
Post-World War II. After their father's sudden death, the five Novak children struggle to survive in the coal mining town of Bakerton, Pennsylvania. All eventually leave town to pursue their dreams. But while the boys escape the constraints of small town life, the girls eventually return. 2005.

Maine Squeeze BR 15946
by Catherine Clark
2 volumes
The summer before Colleen goes to college, her parents travel to Europe while Colleen stays with her friends at their Maine island home. Although they try to obey house rules, Colleen breaks up with her boyfriend and rekindles a romance with Evan. For senior high readers. 2004.

21: The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey, including Facsimile of the Manuscript; the Aubrey-Maturin Novels BR 15955
by Patrick O'Brian
1 volume
Following Blue at the Mizzen (BR 12454), Jack Aubrey, now a rear admiral, is ordered to South America. Trouble brews when Catholic inhabitants along the coast resent the Protestant crew and the nations they represent. Manuscript unfinished at the author's death in 2000. Afterword by Richard Snow. Strong language. 2004.

Cat Fear No Evil: A Joe Grey Mystery BR 15957
by Shirley Rousseau Murphy
3 volumes
When a sophisticated thief strikes sleepy Molena Point, California, tomcat detective Joe Grey from Cat Seeing Double (BR 14690) investigates. More troubling, a waiter mysteriously dies at artist Charlie Harper's gallery opening. Meanwhile, who should return to town but Joe's owner's friend, Kate, as well as Azrael, Joe's sinister feline adversary. 2004.

Pitcairn's Island BR 15995
by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall
3 volumes
South Pacific, 1790s-1800s. Fletcher Christian, his fellow H.M.S. Bounty mutineers, and their Polynesian wives flee Tahiti for Pitcairn's Island. Living undiscovered for eighteen years, they establish a primitive but thriving settlement until a bitter struggle for vengeance shatters the peace. Sequel to Men against the Sea (BR 15979). 1934.

The Fyre Mirror: An Elizabeth I Mystery BR 15999
by Karen Harper
2 volumes
England, 1565. Queen Elizabeth holds a competition between three artists to paint her official portrait. The rivalry intensifies when Elizabeth's protégé Gil Sharpe returns from studying art in Italy. Gil harbors a secret that may be causing the fires that kill one artist and destroy portraits by the others. 2005.

Conviction BR 16088
by Richard North Patterson
4 volumes
Attorney Christopher Paget from The Lasko Tangent (BR 10255) and his wife, Terri, reexamine a fifteen-year-old rape and murder case involving a nine-year-old Cambodian girl. Rennell Price, convicted for the crime, is headed to California's death chamber when Terri questions his guilt. Strong language and some violence. Bestseller 2005.

My Sunshine: The Coulter Family, Book 6 BR 16096
by Catherine Anderson
3 volumes
Isaiah Coulter's mother is matchmaking for him again, this time with a neighbor whose granddaughter works as a kennel keeper. They hope the couple's mutual love of animals will spark a romance. Sequel to Bright Eyes (BR 15705). Some explicit descriptions of sex and some strong language. 2005.

Boy Proof BR 16098
by Cecil Castellucci
1 volume
Hollywood. Nerdy high school senior Victoria Jurgen, called Egg after her favorite science fiction movie character, is a loner. But when Max Carter, a gifted new student, invades her space, she is not as boy-proof as she thought. Strong language. For junior and senior high readers. 2005.

Tooth and Claw BR 16100
by Jo Walton
3 volumes
A tale of love, money, and dynastic intrigue--among dragons. When patriarch Bon Agornin dies, his heirs maneuver for position and power within the family. At the customary eating of the deceased, Bon's greedy son-in-law consumes more than his share, sparking a series of unexpected calamities. World Fantasy Award. 2003.

The Empress of the Last Days BR 16103
by Jane Stevenson
3 volumes
This sequel to The Shadow King (BR 15553) moves forward to the twentieth century. Oxford don Michael Foxwist is shown seventeenth-century documents that lead him to believe a young black scientist in Barbados may have descended from Elizabeth of Bohemia and Pelagius and be the true queen of England. 2003.

The Professor's Daughter BR 16104
by Emily Raboteau
2 volumes
Yale freshman Emma's dyslexic brother Bernie has an accident and becomes comatose. Emma always struggled with being biracial, while Bernie embraced his blackness. Now Emma tries to understand her professor father's southern background, her mother's family secrets, and her role without Bernie. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2005.

The Untelling BR 16109
by Tayari Jones
2 volumes
Atlanta. Twenty-five-year-old African American teacher Aria struggles with memories of a fatal childhood car accident. When Aria happily believes she is pregnant, her boyfriend, Dwayne, offers to marry her. Later Aria discovers she is actually infertile and withholds the truth from Dwayne. Strong language and some descriptions of sex. 2005.

Lifeguard BR 16143
by James Patterson and Andrew Gross
2 volumes
Palm Beach, Florida, lifeguard Ned Kelly takes part in a mansion art heist to get rich quick. After Ned's friends and lover are killed, he flees to Boston. FBI agent Ellie Shurtleff tracks Ned down but believes that he is innocent. Explicit descriptions of sex, violence, and strong language. Bestseller 2005.

Miss Julia's School of Beauty BR 16144
by Ann B. Ross
3 volumes
Miss Julia and Sam are finally married--or are they, since their marriage may not have been legal? While Sam investigates, Miss Julia helps Hazel Marie instruct beauty pageant contestants on poise and etiquette. Sequel to Miss Julia Meets Her Match (BR 15461). 2005.

Girl, 15, Charming but Insane BR 16173
by Sue Limb
2 volumes
British fifteen-year-old Jess Jordan deals with having an imperfect body, a beautiful best friend, and a crush on an unattainable boy. Jess aspires to be a comedian and ends up appreciating a nerdy guy whom she has taken for granted. For senior high readers. 2004.


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