• The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
• Resistance: A Novel by Owen Sheers
• David Crocket: The Lion of the West by Michael Wallis
• A Wanted Man by Lee Child
• Joseph Anton: A Memoir by Salman Rushdie
• Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson
• Garment of Shadows by Laurie R. King
• Back to Blood by Tom Wolfe
• The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change by Al Gore

Of course, this is only a small selection of the amazing books we have available at the VC/UHV Library. Feel free to stop by during Library hours to browse our Leisure Reading collection on the 1st floor or Ask A Librarian for assistance finding a book.

• Beyond Earth Day: Fulfilling the Promise by Gaylord Nelson
• Worldchanging: A User’s Guide for the 21st Century
• Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet by Bill McKibben
• Adapting to a Changing Environment: Confronting the Consequences of Climate Change by T.R. McClanahan
• Changing Planet, Changing Health: How the Climate Crisis Threatens our Health and What We Can Do About It by Paul R. Epstein [Electronic Book]
• The Copenhagen Diagnosis: Updating the World on the Latest Climate Science
• Hack the Planet: Science’s Best Hope-or Worst Nightmare-For Averting Climate Catastrophe by Eli Kintisch
• Requiem for a Species: Why we Resist the Truth About Climate Change by Clive Hamilton [Electronic Book]
• Hope for a Heated Planet: How Americans are Fighting Global Warming and Building a Better Future by Robert K. Musil
• Global Warming: A Very Short Introduction by Mark Maslin
• On Thin Ice: The Changing World of the Polar Bear by Richard Ellis
• Global Warming: The Science of Climate Change by Frances Drake [Electronic Book]
• Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming by Bjorn Lomborg
• Climate Change: Observed Impacts on Planet Earth
• Gaia In Turmoil: Climate Changes, Biodepletion and Earth Ethics in an Age of Crisis

Demick does a fantastic job of capturing the day-to-day lives of the men and women she interviewed for the book. The interviewees tell stories about their childhood, school, growing up under a communist regime with a rigid class system and the propaganda that makes Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il look like gods to the North Korean people.

Multiple chapters of Nothing to Envy are dedicated to describing life during the famine of the 1990s. While it was interesting to learn about the famine and read the stories of people who survived it – the stories were heartbreaking. The men and women, along with their families, were willing to do or eat anything just to survive. It made me realize how lucky I am to have such an abundance of food at my disposal.

Finally, the book ends with the story of how each person defected from North Korea and tells a little bit about their life in South Korea. Although all six of the people profiled in the book escaped from North Korea, some of the stories of defection do not truly have happy endings.

One thing (in a long list) that I enjoyed about Nothing to Envy was the author’s ability to integrate historical facts about the Korean War, North Korean politics and international relations and the Korean Peninsula into the book. Demick fit them into places effortlessly so the book never lost its flow when transitioning between the stories and historical facts.

With all of the present day events happening in North Korea,  I highly recommend Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. This book is available for checkout at the VC/UHV Library. You can find it in our Leisure Reading area.

Review written by Amanda B.

During Pepper’s stay, he makes friends with a host of colorful characters who, a lot of the time seem pretty normal, but then suddenly reveal their quirks making the story even more fun to read and continue. The patients at New Hyde Hospital’s psychiatric ward are all afraid of the devil. Several patients have mysteriously gone missing, or have been injured by the devil. Pepper has his own experience with this mysterious creature, and bands together with several other patients in attempt to get to the bottom of it all. They want to find out, who is the devil, and how can they stop it from hurting more patients.

This novel touts itself as being a thriller, but I’m not entirely convinced. If you’re looking for a story to keep you up at night, this is not it. I think Lavalle gives away the who and what of the devil in the story, far too soon. However, the banter between characters and the general comedic delivery of the author is enjoyable and entertaining. Skillfully, the author orchestrates story elements that are sometimes hilarious, other times incredulous, and sometimes just down right angering or upsetting. But it’s definitely worth the time and effort to read, and it’s a great story; I just don’t know that I would call it a great thriller.

The Devil in Silver is available for checkout at the VC/UHV Library.

Review written by Allyson H.

More often than not, the book is better than the movie (in my opinion). Books contain much more character development and detail plus they allow the reader to use his or her imagination.

So in honor of the 2013 Oscars and my theory that books are often better than the movie, consider reading one of these books if you are looking for your next great read.

• Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
• Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History by Antonio Mendez
• The Silver Linings Playbook: A Novel by Matthew Quick
• Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
• No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden by Mark Owen
• Beasts of the Southern Wild by Doris Betts
• Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
• The James Bond Series by Ian Fleming
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Review written by Amanda B.

Skloot tells the story of Henrietta Lacks from childhood to her death in 1951. She grew up very poor having to work long days on a tobacco farm. She married David Lacks in 1941 and had 5 children together. At the end of 1941, the Lacks’ left the tobacco farm and moved to Turners Station, now part of Dundalk, Baltimore County, Maryland.

In 1951, Henrietta was treated for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital. During the treatment for her tumor, two samples of Henrietta’s cells were removed without her permission. In the medical world, these cells eventually became known as HeLa and were sold for profit.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks details the use of HeLa cells and their use in medical research. The author presents the scientific element of the story in a way that anyone can understand. Skloot gives specifics about the use of HeLa cells but does not get too bogged down in the science of things.

On the other side, Skloot also informs the reader about Henrietta’s family. She illustrates how Henrietta’s family was unaware of the use of HeLa cells in medical research and the confusion about how her cells were taken without conesent.

The Immortal Life on Henrietta Lacks not only tells the story of a woman, her cells, and her family but it makes one think about ethical issues involving medical research and race.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is available for checkout at the VC/UHV Library.

Review written by Amanda B.

These are heavy matters for a young boy, and since the narration comes from the point of view of an adult looking back on his childhood, the book is replete with sensitive articulations of emotions, many of anguish and uncertainty.  Yet there are spots of humor throughout the book.  Many of the comical scenes occur in the presence of Joe’s three friends, Cappy, Angus, and Zack, who have typical teenage adventures, ride bikes, and sneak beer.  Levity can also be found in Joe’s colorful relatives, such as his grandfather Mooshum, who contends that he is 111 and still calls Joe “Oops,” since 13 years ago, Joe was the baby of a surprise pregnancy.  Other playful spots occur unexpectedly, such as the first time Joe’s mom smiles after she is attacked.  In this scene, Joe is eating dinner with his mother and father, a dinner that Joe’s father had prepared, intentionally using smelly, rotten vegetables in the preparation, in the hopes that Joe’s mother will feel compelled to start making dinner again.  As Joe clears away the dinner, he notices his mother smiling as she teases his father about the food.  She questions him and the father responds:
Exactly how old were those turnips?
Older than Joe.
And where did you get that onion?
That’s my little secret.
And the meat, roadkill?
Oh, god, no. It died in the backyard.

Overall, The Round House is an affecting coming-of-age story.  It won the National  Book Award in Fiction and is available for checkout at the VC/UHV Library.

Review written by Laurie N.

• You are your own gym: The bible of bodyweight exercises by Mark Lauren
• Wheat belly: Lose the wheat, lose the weight and find your path back to health by Willian Davis
• The blood sugar solution: The ultrahealthy program for losing weight, preventing disease and feeling great now by Mark Hyman
• Clean start: Inspiring you to eat clean and live well with 100 new clean food recipes by Terry Walters
• Unlimited: How to Build an exceptional life by Jillian Michaels
• Clinch!: Conquer cravings, drop pounds, lose inches by Cynthia Sass
• 100 questions and answers about managing your cholesterol 
• 20 years younger: Look younger, feel younger, be younger! by Bob Greene
• Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us by Daniel Pink
• Food Maters: A guide to conscious eating with more than 75 recipes by Mark Bittman

This is only a small list of the books we have available in the VC/UHV Library to help with your health and fitness in 2013. So stop by the Library and check out our collection to jumpstart healthy habits.

Besides needing to achieve a look of perfection, Cinderella Ate My Daughter discusses the other messages conveyed by Disney princesses.  What does it tell little girls about female friendship when most stories portray only one princess, set apart from everyone else?  The Disney princesses don’t tend to have female friends.  Even when consumer products put multiple Disney princesses together, they don’t look like they are friends.  Indeed, in many such portrayals the Disney princesses do not even look at each other.  Instead the princesses stare dreamily into space, each presumably thinking about her prince or her clothing.

The book goes on to explore other cultural pressures on young girls, including the TV shows Toddlers & Tiaras and Hannah Montana, women superheroes, and Facebook.  Toddlers & Tiaras follows the beauty pageants of children and their parents, while Hannah Montana features actress and singer Miley Cyrus, who as she grew older had difficulty transitioning from her role as an innocent child star to a new adult sexiness, much as Britney Spears did before her.  One might think that women superheroes would be a better role model for girls than Disney princesses, but the stories behind Wonder Women, Batgirl and Supergirl are not well known; unlike their male counterparts they are better known for wearing revealing costumes than fighting crime.  Teenage girls who participate in online social networking such as Facebook must navigate a similar conundrum to child stars.  Teenage girls often have hundreds of online “friends,” and there is tremendous social pressure to appear beautiful and attractive without crossing over a subtle line and becoming labeled as “slutty.”

This book will open your eyes to the message that our consumer culture tends to send to our daughters:  that how they look equates with their worth as a person.  And, though Cinderella Ate My Daughter focuses on marketing to little girls, marketing to little boys raises similar questions.  Our little boys are sold costumes to dress up as superheroes, sports heroes, gladiators, ninjas, rangers, and gangsters–but not as princes.  Are we setting up our little girls for failure, by teaching them to hope for a prince while encouraging our young boys to be anything but?  What male superhero has ever been able to (or chosen to) devote his life to happily-ever-after with his love?  Are we teaching little boys to be tough but not teaching them to be gentle?  And, perhaps most importantly, how does this gender-based marketing affect our children as they grow older and become adults themselves?  Although Cinderella Ate My Daughter cannot answer all of these questions, it helps raise awareness about the potential pitfalls of gender-based marketing to young children.

Cinderella Ate My Daughter is available for checkout at the VC/UHV Library.

Review written by Laurie N.

• The Host: A Novel by Stephenie Meyer
• Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
• Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
• Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis
• Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell
• The Lost Heros by Rick Riordan
• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
• Miracle in the Andes by Nando Parrado
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
• The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
• Madam Secretary by Madeleine Albright
• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• The Book Thief by Mark Zusak
• Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer