A mix of good books

Originally published in the Ketchikan Daily News, August 2011; written by Kelly Johnson.

One of the things I love the most about the library is the variety. For example, my parents are visiting from Arizona this summer and I can get my mother all the gentle reads and biographies that she loves, find books on diabetic cooking that my father is needing and round up some craft books and magazines to keep them busy as well. My son who is finally doing some pleasure reading (as opposed to being forced to read) can stock up on Garfield, Pokemon and the Diaries of a Wimpy Kid. My daughters are who are home on break from college are checking out graphic novels, music CDs and Glee DVDs. Keeping the family this well stocked would cost me a fortune if it wasn’t for the library!

Of course I love to use the library myself. I usually have at least two books going at any given time, so the library would be a regular stop for me even if I didn’t work there. I have just finished a trio of books that don’t have much in common other they are all printed on paper and have strong female leads. Oh, and they are wonderful!

The first is Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol, which was recommended to me by Terry Miller (thank you, Terry!). This book has been reviewed by the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and GeekDad! If you pick it up you will see why it is so popular, the characters are interesting, the situation compelling and art is strong – very reminiscent of Persopolis by Marjane Satrapi. So, yes, Anya’s Ghost is a graphic novel, a YA (young adult) graphic novel to be exact, but in my opinion that only adds to the story. Anya is in high school, she doesn’t fit in well there so when she ends up discovering a ghost (at the bottom of a well) she begins to believe she has found a friend at last. However, it doesn’t take her long to realize that the ghost has an agenda of her own and is not happy when Anya is unwilling to go along. Anya’s decision to stand up against the ghost has frightening repercussions making for a tense, but satisfying ending. Anyone, in high school or even with high school in the distant past should enjoy this surprisingly realistic ghost story.

After ghosts I went for something even more dangerous, vampires, were-creatures and Anita Blake. Hit List is the latest in Laurell K Hamilton’s Vampire Hunter series and finds Anita in the Pacific Northwest (Tacoma and Seattle are both mentioned) working on a case concerning the serial murders of were-tigers. She is now (and has been for several books now) a U.S. Federal Marshal as is her friend Edward aka Ted who is also a featured character in this story. I would not recommend just picking up this title and jumping in – there are just too many characters and too much background to really enjoy this work without some interest in the series itself. In fact the last two or three books have featured a very specific side story that is continued here, so starting at the beginning; Guilty Pleasures would be an excellent choice. Of course you will have to read through twenty books to get to Hit List so you will have to really enjoy adult alternative reality novels quite a bit – but I’m sure there are folks out there that fit that description just fine.

The last book in the trio goes even further outside of reality, depending on your point of view. Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch has been around for a while now, in fact her third book in the series Alien in the Family is on the new book shelves now. I looked at these books a few times and finally decided to take the plunge since I needed a good on – the – plane book. I was not disappointed though I did have to really unplug the desire for realism, if the book hadn’t been funny I might not have done so well with that part of the read. The lead in Touched is Katherine “Kitty” Katt a marketing manager who, when a fender bender turns very ugly, doesn’t run away but stays and fights. This bit of heroism puts her directly into the midst of an alien plot to save the world. Yeah, that’s not how it usually goes, but Touched by an Alien is not your average science fiction story. The plot runs fast, and pretty incredulously, but it is a romping fun read especially if you like your science fiction humorous. I’m happy there are two more books in the series already to keep me busy for a while. And of course, there is the whole rest of the library to enjoy. And variety isn’t just about good materials to check out, there is also a Kids Cook on the 20th, Guys Read on the 24th, and the Teen Summer Program End of the Summer Party on the 26th! Good Reading!