Iola Public Library
Caia Paine takes an unlikely route to acceptance and a kind of peace after her 13-year-old son is killed by a car while skateboarding in Redemption Song by Tanya Anne Crosby. Her grief and anger obsess her to the point that others in her life are driven away, leaving her isolated. Caia cant believe the driver who killed her son is free to live his life, and decides to track him down and ruin his life. When she finds him, she watches him every day until she finds a way to insinuate herself into his life. Much to her surprise, she finds herself beginning to like him and his family, opening the way to move on with her life.
A different type of obsession moves the plot in The Innocent Wife by Amy Lloyd. A documentary that casts doubt on the verdict in the case of a convicted murderer causes Samantha to correspond with him, and in a short while she moves from correspondent to girlfriend to wife.
When the convict, Dennis Danson, is released based on new DNA evidence, Sam expects wedded bliss. Unfortunately, Dennis proves to be erratic, distant, and unreasonable and while he may have not been guilty of the murder for which he was convicted, might he be guilty of others?
In the 1970s and 1980s, someone stalked and sexually assaulted at least 50 people in California, murdering 10 of them. The Golden State Killer is still at large. Author Michelle Mc-Namara researched the case and began writing a book about it. Unfortunately, she died of an undiagnosed heart condition before completing it. Her husband, comedian Patton Oswald (you may know him as Spencer in The King of Queens), couldnt bear the thought of all her work going to waste. He hired an investigative journalist and a researcher to help him sort through her files and complete the book. The resulting book Ill Be Gone in the Dark has been on the bestseller lists for the past month.
Two biographies and a memoir round out my book selections this month. Without Precedent by Joel Paul looks at the life of Chief Justice John Marshall, a towering figure in U.S. history who led the Supreme Court at a crucial time and established its role as the ultimate authority on constitutional matters. Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life by Laura Thompson delves into the life of the most famous author of the golden age of detective stories. Educated, by Tara Westover, unlike the other two books, is a memoir of someone youve never heard of but whose life may be even more fascinating.
When Westover took a history course in college and the Holocaust was mentioned, she had no idea what that was. She and her siblings were raised in near isolation by a survivalist father who was distrustful of public education. After an older brother made the break from home to attend college and returned with stories of the nearly unknown outside world, she determined to go to college as well. Her story makes a powerful memoir.
