Books Read

Almost a Woman by Esmeralda Santiago

A 13 year old girl moves to Brooklyn from Puerto Rico with her family. Esmeralda chronicles her own coming of age, her time in the High School for the Performing Arts in Manhattan, her first relationships. Liked it alot.

Olla-Piska: Tales of David Douglas by Margaret J. Anderson

When I visited the coast recently I saw a sign for the David Douglas Park I had cause to wonder how important David Douglas was to our local history. The day I came back to work, a youth librarian shared her delight with this book, so I checked it out. Funny thing, I read through this book for children (in the form of diaries from several people) about a Scottish botanist searching for new plants in the Pacific Northwest, yet I did not see the punch line. Think Christmas trees from Oregon. Fir trees from the Northwest? Yeah...that Douglas. Liked it.

Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer

Artemis Fowl books are a must-read for the lover of fairy tales with a twist stories. In the first books, Artemis is an evil genius that seeks to harness the power of the magic of fairies for himself. All the creatures of myth live underground and not only have magic but far superior technology to humans. (Stop reading this if you haven't read them but want to.) In this the 5th book he's one of the good guys (but still not completely trusted) and entering puberty and finding himself interested in another evil genius, female. Demons enter the pantheon of the Artemis Fowl world. Liked it alot.

Winter Count by Barry Lopez

I can't remember where I saw this as a recommended read. Short stories that read like poetic non-fiction journals, vignettes that indicate years in a winter count, like a tribal record. Unusual happenings mark the years, like a river disappearing and reappearing, blue herons in New York, cosmic white buffalo. Each story had its own picture, as winter counts do. The book was ok, a quick read...but I'm more tickled about learning about winter counts. I get the idea that there's a lot I could unpack from the book if I had the time, just as winter counts refer to a more detailed oral history.