Customer's Picks

Local customer Linda Crosskey enjoyed the soon to be released novel "Cleopatra" by Stacy Schiff.  I really enjoyed this new biography of Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff.  Unlike many biographies which are quite dry, this one reads like a racy novel because Cleopatra was quite a "dish."  Along with her fabled feminine wiles, Schiff shows us what a brilliant tactician, and survivor she was in a political climate that was incredibly violent and dangerous.  Cleopatra has sex with only two men, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, who just happened to be the most prominent Romans of their day, and she had children by both.  During her 22 year reign as Queen of Egypt, she eventually lost both lovers, one to murder and one to suicide.  Along the way, Cleopatra herself murdered numerous relatives including a brother and sister who threatened her throne.  As Schiff points out, "incest and assassination were family specialities."  When her back was finally up against the wall, she chose her famous exit on her own terms rather than be paraded through the streets of Rome as a captive by Octavian.  Whether she really put the asp to her breast as Shakespeare and others have dramatically suggested or chose another more convenient means is just one of the fascinating mysteries Schiff explores.  I highly recommend this book.  The reader will learn a lot about the intense power struggle between Rome and Egypt which rivals any political battle taking place today and will be mesmerized by this portrait of one of the most powerful woman in history.

After I finished this book (staying up until the wee hours to do so!) I read the New York Times review, which was titled "Cruel Love." I couldn't agree more with the reviewer, who praised Erdrich's compelling prose, but found this story of a tormented marriage pretty hard reading. The story is told from the point of view of the Native American wife, Irene America, who is keeping two diaries--one she knows her husband is reading, the other entirely private; hence the title, Shadow Tag. She is trapped in an abusive marriage and uses the diary her husband reads as a weapon to escape. In the end everyone loses, including the children, who become pawns in their parents' cruel game. I couldn't put it down, but afterwards I felt like a voyeur who can't stop looking at a gruesome traffic fatality. It's brilliantly written, but you may not like the ugly picture it protrays of a marriage gone horribly wrong.

Linda Crosskey 

Readers who have experienced caregiving will appreciate the depiction of dedication and difficult choice-making. It is a beautiful and moving novel about finding your soulmate, with excellent character development. Read it with tissue nearby. (This one's for adults.)

M. Lyker

The author depicts life in the 1960s and '70s with accuracy that brought back my own memories of those times. It is an often shocking and sad story. The characters are well developed and interesting enough to keep you reading till the end to find out how they do. Highly rated, but for adults as it includes sex and violence.

Madeleine