Ocean City Free Public Library Book Blog

Acting as a follow up to the epic Pillars of the Earth , World Without End continues to follow the lives, tragedies and successes of the citizens of 14th century Kingsbridge. This time around, Follett's main characters are a group of young friends - brothers Ralph and Merthin, independent Caris and crafty Gwenda. As the four age throughout the book, each character becomes intertwined with each other as they each take different routes in life - knight, builder, healer and farmer. Kingsbridge is well known throughout the area for having a beautiful cathedral (built in POTE ) and there is much drama when it comes to how the priory is run. Things don't get any better when the Plague hits. Though this is a really really lengthy work, it goes by exceptionally fast. I still have the same qualms with this one that I did with POTE (unrealistic dialogue and character life spans, etc), but it was still a very enjoyable read.

Sometimes you don't really need to write a lot to write a really good book. Case in point - Lalami's debut novel Hope and other Dangerous Pursuits . The fact that Lalami manages to evoke such sadness and hope in such a petite book speaks volumes for her talent. The novel focuses on 4 individuals who are trying to illegally cross the international waters from Morocco to Spain. What's different about this novel is that there are essentially only 8 chapters, a "before" and "after" for each character. All of the characters are trying to reach Spain in an effort to create a better life - whether they actually achieve that goal remains to be seen. Whether it's Halima, a mother trying desparately to escape her abusive husband, or Murad, who doesn't want to be the disappointment in the family, in the end, they all must accept the consequences of that fateful voyage to Spain. A quick read, but in this case, quality trumps quantity.

Despite the fact that I like to think of Jodi Picoult's books as "Lifetime TV movie" fodder, every time she has a new one out, I always try to snag it (working in a Library definitely has its perks). At any rate, with Change of Heart , we have the usual suspects - the devoted and emotionally torn mother, the lawyer/public defender/judge with a heart of gold and a controversial theme with an emotionally charged ending. This time, it's concerning organ transplants, the death penalty and the potential reincarnation of Jesus. Shay Bourne is a convicted murderer on death row when he declares that he wants to donate his heart to the girl whose family he killed eleven years earlier. Now that he's made this decision, strange "miracles" have been occuring throughout the prison. Pretty hefty stuff. If you're in a book club, this one will be sure to spark many debates. Despite the soap opera feel that Picoult's novels ALWAYS seem to have, I can't p...