The titles and links below will direct you to print copies when available. Click on the title to see all available formats, including recorded versions and eBooks.
You can learn more about using eBooks and eAudiobooks on our blog, and contact us if you need assistance. *Restrictions to using Hoopla apply based on your home address.
This unusual memoir flows like liquid, but very expressive and surprisingly cohesive despite a lack of linear structure. Reading it sometimes felt like floating or plunging, depending on the emotional tone. Competitive swimming dominated the author’s girlhood, first in the state of Washington and then in Florida. Along the line, she suffered abuse from her father, an architect. When she escaped to college in Texas, she went wild. Yet she managed to graduate, go on to graduate school and then to teaching. Throughout her excesses (drugs, alcohol and sex) and concomitant traumas, including a stillborn daughter, she kept writing. I was so seized by the immediacy and candor of this book that I roared through it, forgetting about the arrival of the morning paper which I always seize as soon as it comes. (My downstairs neighbor worried at this lapse and came up to check on me.) Now that's an endorsement!
This disturbing memoir shows how a mother's overweening love can destroy a boy's childhood. Stefan wasn't particularly happy at elementary school—the usual bullying and boredom. But his mother was convinced he was too special to have his creativity squelched there and took his education into her own hands. She wanted to keep him very close. This meant some math lessons, but mostly his being on his own to come up with whatever he wanted to do. He missed his friends and wanted to go back to school, but he didn't push it until it was time for high school. Then he had a lot of painful catching up to do. As an adult he tried to understand his mom's story and why she clung so hard to him. At the end of the book there's love and forgiveness, but at what cost. Moving and sad.
We meet the protagonist, Nils, on the last day of his life. He's been ferrying villagers back and forth for decades, even when the bridge was built. When his beloved wife Marta died a few years back, his life felt hollow, but he kept going--until now. His journey takes him through his past via interactions with ghosts, including his dog Luna who adds commentary. Atmospheric—oh those fjords; melancholic—oh those Scandinavians; and somewhat mythic--we all know about that ferryman.
This novel introduces us to G. W. Pabst, a film director who came to prominence in the 1930s. When the Nazis arrived in France, he decamped to Hollywood. But that glittering scene didn't recognize his talents or reputation. A sick mother drew him back to Austria where he gets ensnared by necessity into making movies for the Third Reich. Lots of atmosphere here, with real-life figures populating the story. It's especially chilling to revisit those days, considering the current political climate.
Add a comment to: Neshama’s Choices for May 11