By Darlene Bowers
Join us this summer as the Ada Public Library and the Ada Icon team up to share favorite books from readers of all ages all over the region. Summer is the perfect time to check out the new library renovation (if you haven’t already) and check out some books. Check the Ada Icon frequently to see who is reading what and grab some ideas for your next reading adventure.
“And who ever said the world was fair, little lady? Maybe death is fair, but certainly not life. We must accept the unfairness as proof of the sublime flux of existence, the capricious music of the universe−and go on about our tasks”
―Tom Robbins, Skinny Legs and All
Beth Gray, Lecturer, Biology Department, OSU Lima and 24 year resident of Ada
Beth’s favorite book is Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins. Beth shares that Skinny Legs and All is “an imaginative novel that weaves art, religious history, and ambition with the most human female characters ever devised by a male author.
Plus, the word-play is dazzling: ‘The sun came up like an engineering project, hoisted with considerable strain up a scaffolding of thin, icy cloud.’ ‘The priest, the rabbi, the imam, the swami, the philosophical novelist were traffic cops, at best.
They might direct you through a busy intersection, but they wouldn't follow you home and park your car.’ ” The novel centers around an Arab and a Jew opening a restaurant together across the street from the United Nations and covers the gamut of topics from politics and race to art and religion to money and marriage while steadfastly beating an upbeat tone to keep in step with the dazzling word-play.
Beth is now reading The Family That Couldn't Sleep: A Medical Mystery by D.T. Max and her five other book recommendations are:
• Forward from Here by Reeve Lindbergh. Series of insightful essays about one’s seventh decade and beyond. (non-fiction, aging)
• Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach. Fascinating, eye-opening, and often hilarious. (non-fiction, science)
• Dust and Shadow by Lindsay Faye. This novel is for any Sherlock Holmes fan, as he investigates Jack the Ripper. London itself is practically a character, and John Watson’s voice is very good. (fiction, mystery, suspense, historical fiction)
• Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson. Very interesting account of two divers' discovery of a German U-boat that sank off the coast of New Jersey during World War II. (non-fiction, history, military)
• Karen by Marie Killilea. This book from 1952 about raising a daughter with cerebral palsy is inspirational, and still resonates. (non-fiction, biography/autobiography)
So what are your favorite books? What books do you recommend to others? Join in, fill out the Ada Icon/Ada Public Library Favorite Book Survey (see attachment below) and submit your recommendations. Let’s start a reading revolution or at least have a spectacular time sampling all sorts of reads and exploring the Ada Public Library.
