Ocean City Free Public Library Book Blog

Melissa Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson This fantasy story follows the main character, Vin, who is a young female thief trying to survive on the streets. When she gets saved by an ambitious leader of thieving crew, she gets swept away along with their plans to overthrow the unjust government and comes across something she never expected: people she can truly trust. The characters are realistic and the story shows how people can have hope even after experiencing horrible things. Quite simply, I loved this book. Shoot Like a Girl by Mary Jennings Hegar This is a nonfiction account of an Air National Guard’s experiences in three tours of Afghanistan piloting medevac missions. Told in her point of view, this story shows her - at times strenuous - journey to rescue her allies in the middle of a firefight despite being injured. Her story become a pilot, leading up to a intense mission where she still manages to she kept fighting for women’s rights back hom...

      The beginning of March marks the beginning of Women's History Month, and specifically March 8th as International Women's Day. According to the official International Women's Day website , March 8th is " a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future."       This day is set to remember the  suffragettes worldwide who protested, campaigned, and made their voices heard in order that women everywhere in the world would gain the equality and rights they deserved in order to make their voices heard. In some countries, such as China, Vietnam, Russia, and Bulgaria, International Women's Day is an official national holiday.       It's not just a day to remember the past, though. It is also a time to call attention to the fact that despite the efforts and many accomplishments of our suffragette ancestors, that there are still issues that need addressing--wage gaps,...

Andrea (Andy) is a freshly minted graduate of Brown University and dying to break into the world of journalism. The only problem is the sheer amount of competition in New York City. So when she gets hired to act as a personal assistant to the EIC of Runway magazine, a staple in the fashion world, she thinks it will be a perfect springboard into her dream career. The problem is is that her boss, Miranda Priestly, is the titular devil and proceeds to make Andy's life hell on earth. The woman really is demanding - calling her at all hours of the day, issuing half assed instructions and expects mountains to move for her. As a result, Andy's relationships with her friends, family and boyfriend start to fail. Can she pull it together? I think this was one of those very rare times where the film adaptation was better than the original book. I'm a sucker for anything with Meryl Streep and I much preferred Anne Hathaway's goody-two shoes portrayal of Andy instead of the sarcasti...

This book serves as a companion piece to Atwood's 2003 novel Oryx and Crake , in which the world has changed irrevocably due to political and biotechnological uprisings. In this book, a horrific pandemic plague has killed off virtually everyone, leaving Toby and Ren alone in their hideouts (a luxury spa and a sex club respectively). Atwood spends a lot of time describing the womens' pasts- they were both members of an agrarian compound group/cult called God's Gardeners, and there is a fair amount of sociological, Biblical and cultural commentary. This is Atwood's third novel that deals with dystopic societies - as usual, she delivers a critical and thoughtful book.

If there's one thing I love, it's Indian authors - Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Rohinton Mistry, and now, Thrity Umrigar. Indian authors, as a rule, tend to write really depressing literature with such a light and humorous tone that it makes reading about poverty and slums much more palatable (and I don't feel like slitting my wrists afterwards). The Space between us is a tale of 2 women of opposing social classes. Bhima (an uneducated grandmother who lives in the slums) works endless hours as a servant to Sera (a upper-middle class housewife), though the two have more of a friend-friend relationship than boss-underling one. Over the course of the novel, Umrigar details the personal histories of both women (who have helped each other equally over the years) and ultimately, the two share more than one would think. The climax of the novel is shocking, but ends on an unexpectedly cheerful note.

As a rule, I have a tendency to love dystopian novels - 1984 , Brave New World , Children of Men , and so on. Daughters of the North is another work that slides quite nicely into that genre, albeit with a considerably feminist agenda. Cumbria (read: England) has deteriorated into a colony filled with disease and anarchy. Women are fitted with metal coils to keep from reproducing and there is no sense of personal freedom. The protagonist, Sister, escapes from her home and sets out to join Carhullan, an all female commune located far outside city limits. Once there, she becomes indoctrinated into the organization, only to find that its agenda has changed to more terrorist matters. Overall, a good read, though the ending occurs rather abruptly. As a heroine, Sister is kind of annoying, simply because she rambles on a lot over things that probably could be stated in a few words. Oh well.

Another standard book club pick, this non fiction expose describes life of a fairly well off book seller and his family in post 9/11 Afghanistan. Sultan has struggled all his life (and even gone to jail) to maintain the written word in his country despite the Taliban and/or government pressures to eradicate all forms of modern culture and ancient literature. Norweigan journalist Seierstad spent several months shadowing him and his family and paints a really depressing picture for modern Afghani women. Sultan's youngest sister Leila has a particularly suffocating and bleak life. Honestly, the book was written well and has a lot of information about the political history of the country, but MAN is it a downer.