DCL Book Chat

If reading novels about the Tudors has whetted your appetite for historical fiction about powerful, ruthless families, consider a location change to Renaissance Italy. Francesca’s murdered father was the personal poisoner to the powerful Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia before he was brutally murdered. Now Francesca vows vengeance and positions herself as her father’s replacement. But can she perform the brutal murders the evil Borgia demands? Poison is brimming with historical detail, double crosses and fascinating characters.

Dedra

Jennifer Weiner readers can count on a dysfunctional family usually with polar opposite sisters who, underneath their differences, really care for each other. Fly Away Home’s dysfunctional family includes a woman whose politician husband just humiliated her with his affair with a twenty-something, her older, brilliant daughter whose unhappy marriage has led her into a hot affair with a younger man, and her younger daughter who’s just out of rehab. These three women end up taking a family “timeout” and reconnect with great food, tears and a lot of laugh out loud moments. This one’s a great lazy, summer read.

Dedra

Author Rebecca Skloot masterfully weaves a complex story of science with the human side of the story of a woman’s culture of cells that change the course of medical research forever. The story focuses upon the legacy of Henrietta Lacks, a young woman diagnosed with cervical cancer in the 1950s, who died shortly after the birth of her 5th child. During treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital, doctors take a tissue sample during a biopsy. Scientific research show unique attributes of her cells… HeLa cells are the first human cells to grow in culture and not die… This discovery opens the door to research, grow and sell of the cells around the world for groundbreaking medical research.

The Lacks family is woefully unaware of Henrietta’s cells being used in science until 20+ years after her death. The story intertwines the family’s struggle to come to terms with Henrietta’s legacy, while medicine struggles with concerns of consent, research, and bioethics. An interesting and thought-provoking read!

Kyra

Lee Child’s character Jack Reacher, is a former military policeman and loner extraordinaire. In this 14th outing, Reacher has hitched a ride on a tour bus traveling through South Dakota with a group of senior citizens. He awakes from a nap when the bus spins out of control and slides off an icy road during a snowstorm outside Bolton, SD.
Bolton is a town with lots of trouble. Perfect for Reacher, who once it is decided he isn’t a bad guy, is asked by the local cops to help protect a witness from a group of bikers and the crime mob they work for. As the clock ticks down to an unknown event, the tension and action build. Child is a great storyteller; his characters are all fleshed out and we can feel the bleakness of the icy South Dakota winter. Get set for a page turner and one to follow. Child’s next book Worth Dying For, is set to be released in October.

Allison

The book revolves around a mysterious wine chest left to a young, American woman teaching English in Japan during the Vietnam War. Each wine bottle is wrapped with a piece of paper recounting the events of that year (many of them tragic, such as Hiroshima). As the protagonist pieces together the history of her dead friend, she realizes much about her own past. A beautiful and lyrical tale.

Donna

A jumbo jet has crashed for no apparent reason and the NTSB has sent a crack team of experts (called “crashers”) that include a pathologist, an engineer and a voice recording specialist, to investigate. They quickly learn that this was not pilot or mechanical error and that other planes may soon be targeted. Think CSI + 24 + beautiful, deadly spy + dedicated doctor with something to prove and you’ve got it.

Dedra

Imagine getting a taunting letter in the mail one day that ends with the simple declaration – “See how well I know your secrets, think of a number.” And when you comply, you discover the letter writer has predicted your random choice exactly. This intriguing puzzle intrigues a retired homicide detective who discovers that this challenge ignites a massive serial murder investigation. This literary mystery has an unusual slow build of suspense that gets more and more frightening as it goes along.

Dedra