Come Read With Us!

Queen of Broken Hearts by Cassandra King

2008-04-28T09:24:00.005-04:00

It’s not easy being the Queen of Broken Hearts. Just ask Clare, who has willingly assumed the mantle while her career as a divorce coach thrives. Now she’s preparing to open a permanent home for the retreats she leads, on a slice of breathtaking property on the Alabama coast owned by her mother-in-law. Make that former mother in law, a colorful eccentric who teaches Clare much about love and sacrifice and living freely. When Clare’s marriage ends in tragedy, her work becomes the sole focus of her life. While Clare has no problems helping the hundreds of men and women who seek her advice to mend their broken hearts, healing her own is another matter entirely. Falling in love again is the last thing she wants. So when Lex- a charismatic, charming, burly sea captain- moves to town the run the marina, Claire insists they remain friends and nothing more. But even though she fights it, she begins to fall for him only to find she has a rival, his estranged wife Elinor. A story infused with all the flavors, textures, and intrigues of a small Southern town, with a rich resonant center, Queen of Broken Hearts is a bold step forward for Cassandra King

The story behind the story in an interview with Cassandra King -
Are their parts of this book that you drew from your life experience? Is that always the case for fiction? Was it the case, in particular, for this book?

Almost everything in the book I drew from personal experiences, which has been the case with my other fictional works. QOBH came about this way: As was revising my last book, my sister's twenty-year marriage was falling apart. My own divorce, years earlier, had been bad enough, but witnessing my sister's grief and being able to offer little comfort was a different kind of agony for me. At a signing in Atlanta several months later, serendipity intervened, and the idea for a book was born. I met a woman who conducted divorce recovery retreats, and I not only signed my sister up, I accompanied her in order to do research. Watching the women at the retreat bond with each other, and make the first steps toward recovery, moved me beyond words—or so I thought, until I began working on Queen of Broken Hearts.

Proof Positive by Philip Margolin

2008-04-22T09:31:00.004-04:00

The Mystery Lovers Book Discussion Group will discuss Proof Positive by Philip Margolin on Tuesday, April 22, 2008, at 12 p.m. athe Greenwood County Library.

Author Philip Margolin grew up in New York City and Levittown, NY. After graduating from The American University in Washington, D. C. with a B.A. in Government, he served two years in the Peace Corps in Liberia, West Africa. He attended the New York University School of Law while teaching high school. After graduating law school in 1970, he moved to Oregon to clerk for Herbert M. Schwab, Chief Judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals. Margolin was in private practice from 1972 - 1996, and specialized in criminal defense at the trial and appellate levels. He was the first attorney in Oregon to use Battered Woman's Syndrome to defend a battered woman accused of murdering her husband. Margolin began writing full time in 1996 with his first book, Heartstone.

Forensic science plays a key role in this mystery as defense attorneys Doug Weaver and Amanda Jaffe must prove their clients innocent of crimes that the forensic evidence shows they've committed. Someone is trying to convict a pathetic homeless man and a mobster of murder. Weaver and Jaffe must work against time to find the real killers and learn how - and why - this unlikely pair is being framed.

Sweet Home Carolina by T. Lynn Ocean

2008-04-14T16:06:00.005-04:00

The Ware Shoals Book Discussion Group will discuss Sweet Home Carolina on Thursday, April 17, 3 p.m. at Town Hall.

Jaxie Parker is sleek and sophisticated, and on the fast track at her firm. Just when she thinks her life is perfect, she's sent to the small southern town of Rumton, South Carolina, to create a plan for its revitalization. At first glance, her assignment seems hopeless. Rumton's population has been declining for years; there's no industry, and its economy is poor. She's bored with the town and hating her assignment when a stranger comes to town and wants to buy land. Jaxie is curious, and begins to ask questions. There's a murder and Rumton's secret history becomes very public. Jaxie has a mystery to solve, and realizes small town life may not be as boring as she first believed.

Unsure of what she wanted to be after college, T. Lynn explored various careers including commercial tread rubber sales and retail management. For one summer, her job was to scare people at a haunted house, but that was a long time ago. Most recently, she was a television producer for several years before leaving the corporate career world so that she could make stuff up on a fulltime basis.

She also writes freelance and her articles appear in regional magazines nationwide. (T. Lynn lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with her husband and a few furry critters.

2008-04-07T16:55:00.002-04:00

The Mystery Lovers' Book Group will discuss Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey on Tuesday, April 8, 12 noon. Bring your lunch. Drinks and snacks will be provided.

Written by Elizabeth Mackintosh under the pseudonym, Josephine Tey, Brat Farrar is a classic mystery featuring twins, murder, and an imposter. A young man, Brat, who closely resembles the missing son of a comfortable, horse - breeding English family, agrees to impersonate the young man. The relationship between the imposter and his "family," including a young relative who begins to love him in a very unfamilial way, seems to provide the center of the story. Then Brat stumbles upon information about his new identity which could lead to murder. The difficulties of continuing the investigation and the imposture are intertwined. The answer to one is the solution to both.

The Sportswriter by Richard Ford

2008-04-03T13:53:00.003-04:00

The Southern Writers will be reading and discussing The Sportswriter on Saturday, April 5, 1 p.m. in the Children's Story Room at the Greenwood County Library.

A native of Jackson, Mississippi, Richard Ford published his first novel, A Piece of My Heart, in 1976. The Sportswriter was his third novel, and it made his reputation. It was named by Time Magazine as one of five best books of the year, and received the PEN/Faulkner citation in 1987.

Although the story is set in New Jersey, Ford claims that he was "not trying to write a novel about New Jersey, but a novel about America that is set in New Jersey." We meet Frank Bascombe, a sportswriter who makes his living interviewing professional athletes - mostly men - who have learned to live entirely within themselves. Frank wants to achieve this condition for himself. He is 38 years old, and he has lost a son, a career, and a marriage in a short time. It is Easter weekend, and Frank will face X, his former wife, when they meet at the grave of their son, Ralph, on the morning of Good Friday. The events that follow lead Frank to the brink of a spiritual crisis.

The Sportswriter is the first book in a trilogy about Frank Bascombe. The second, Independence Day, won both the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. The third book, The Lay of the Land, was named on the Ten Best Books list by the New York Times in 2006.

Interred With Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell

2008-03-18T11:18:00.002-04:00

"The evil that men do lives after them,

The good is often interred with their bones."

Julius Caesar - William Shakespeare

Kate Stanley, an expert in "occult Shakespeare," has chosen to leave the academic life for the theater. While she's directing Hamlet at the Globe Theater in Stratford, her old mentor, Roz, makes a dramatic appearance asking for Kate's help. Before she can do more than give Kate a wrapped package, Roz is murdered.

When Kate opens the box, she finds a clue that begins an international treasure hunt for one of Shakespeare's lost plays. As Kate travels from country to country, she's followed by a string of grusome murders, the police, and a killer who's planning a terrible death for her.

If you enjoyed The Da Vinci Code, Interred With Their Bones should be on your reading list.

Portrait of a Killer by Patricia Cornwell

2008-03-10T12:39:00.005-04:00

The Mystery Lovers will discuss Portrait of a Killer - Jack the Ripper: Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell on Tuesday, March 12, at noon in the downstairs meeting room.

Who was Jack the Ripper? That's the question that crime lovers have been asking for over 100 years, and the answers have ranged from England's royal family to a poor Polish lunatic. Now Cornwell takes us to London's Whitechapel area of the 1800's and tries to prove that the notorious serial killer was Walter Richard Sickert, a student of Whistler's and a successful artist.

Cornwell spent a great deal of money trying to make her case. She considered Sickert's works "revelatory," and purchased several of his paintings, destroying one in the hope of finding evidence. The science she used - from mitochondrial DNA to watermark experts - is fascinating. While she isn't always able to prove her theory, Cornwell makes a strong case with circumstantial evidence.

Was Sickert guilty of the Ripper murders? We may never know for certain, but Cornwell's book is gripping with its lessons in science and history and Sickert's biography. Readers must decide for themselves if Sickert is guilty or not guilty.

The Old English Peep Show by Peter Dickinson

2008-02-26T11:08:00.002-05:00

The Mystery Lovers Book Group will discuss The Old English Peep Show Tuesday, February 26, 12.

Talk about quirky! Peter Dickinson, a writer known for his quirky characters and plots, has reached a new level of quirkiness this time. Jame Pibble, a London detective, is sent to Old England (a theme park similar to Colonial Williamsburg) to look into the suicide of Deakins, a faithful retainer. Things just don't seem quite right. Sir Ralph and Sir Richard Clavering, founders of Old England and war heroes, seem a little off. The closer Pibble looks, the worse things seem to be. Then lions become involved in the crime, and Pibble must risk his life to gather evidence.
It's all a little strange, but Pibble manages to solve the mystery despite the madness of the Claverings. This Gold Dagger award winner from 1969 is not for every mystery lover, but if you enjoy something different, you can't do better than The Old English Peep Show.

North Toward Home by Willie Morris

2008-02-18T11:33:00.006-05:00

The Southern Writers will discuss North Toward Home by Willie Morris on Saturday, March 1, 1 p.m. at the Greenwood County Library. Copies of the book are available for borrowing at the Greenwood County Library.

Willie Morris faced created and wrote about controversial issues for more than 40 years. While editor of the Daily Texan, the newspaper for the University of Texas, he faced - and wrote about - censorship. During his two year stint at the helm of the Texas Observer, he covered unpopular topics such as the dangerous and unsanitary conditions in nursing homes, illiteracy, and the dishonesty of some of Texas' leading politicians. When he moved to Harper's Magazine, he was the youngest editor-in-chief in the history of the magazine, and he attracted and encouraged writers like
Robert Penn Warren, William Styron, Ralph Ellison, Arthur Miller, Walker Percy, James Dickey, and Norman Mailer.

When he was 33, he wrote his first book, a memoir called North Toward Home. It was a bestseller, received the Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship Award, and was a Literary Guild selection. Morris tried to explain his feelings about his home state in an interview held a year after the book was published. "The feelings are very complicated, but the older I am the more [the South] means to me, the closer the ties."

Although Morris was one of the South's principal spokespersons, he never considered himself a Southern writer. "I am an American writer who happens to come from the South. I've tried to put the South into the larger American perspective."

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

2008-02-06T12:06:00.000-05:00

The Ware Shoals Book Discussion Group will meet at Town Hall on Thursday, February 21, 3 p.m. to discuss Little Women. Copies are available for borrowing from the Ware Shoals Community Library.
Remember Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy? These "little women" have been a part of American girlhood for over 150 years. Written by Louisa May Alcott in 1868 and 1869, the girls were based on her life and experiences with her sisters Anna, Lizzie, and Abba May. Alcott identified strongly with Jo, the second sister. A tomboy with a passion for writing, Jo is outspoken, awkward, rebellious, and angry. Her flaws make her the most appealing character in the novel.

Born November 29, 1832, to Amos Bronson and Abigail "Abba" May Alcott in Germantown, PA, Louisa May was their second child. She was raised in Concord, Massachusetts, and her neighbors included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau. Her father was an enthusiastic transcendentalist, abolitionist, and teacher, but a very poor provider. The family moved twenty times in twenty years because of his inability to support them.
Alcott volunteered as a nurse during the Civil War and went to Washington, D. C. to work in a hospital. Six weeks after her arrival, she caught pneumonia and was treated with calomel, a mercury compound, which gave her mercury poisoning. For the rest of her life she would suffer with intense pain, weakness, hallucinations, and hair loss.
Although she is most famous for her tales for children, Alcott also wrote sensational gothic novels and serious adult works. These books were never as well received as her children's stories.
Alcott died March 6, 1868, and was buried in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts, next to her father.

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

2008-01-24T11:36:00.000-05:00

Join the Mystery Book Discussion Group on Tuesday, February 12, 12 - 1 p.m. when we discuss Agatha Christie's classic mystery, Murder on the Orient Express. Copies are available for borrowing from the Greenwood County Library.

Christie is often regarded as the Queen of the Golden Age detective and mystery novels. Murder on The Orient Express, written in 1934, is considered a Golden Age, between-the wars, or classic mystery novel. As in Murder on The Orient Express, a.k.a. Murder on the Calais Coach, Christie's novels accurately portray the life of upper-middle class, British men and women of this period. Her novels put little emphasis on the working class; the books typically describe the lives of leisure class, rich tourists. In her later work, she attempted to script the lifestyles of the coffee bar, beat generation kids, but with less success.

Murder on The Orient Express was favorably reviewed and praised in England. It was made into a film in 1974 and is one of the most successful British films ever made. Even Agatha, who generally expressed dislike for film versions of her books, expressed appreciation.

Murder on the Orient Express features Hercule Poirot, one of Agatha Christie's - and the mystery genre's - most remarkable and famous characters. Poirot is a retired Belgian police officer turned private detective. As a private detective he tours Europe and the Mid-East solving mysteries. Because he is a private detective and has no apparent family, Hercule Poirot has a great deal of freedom. He is independently wealthy and the decisions he makes are not subject to law or otherwise. While Poirot does not always obey the law, he always abides his conscience and his sense moral law.

Join us as we figure out "whodunit" on the luxurious Orient Express.

Jubilee by Margaret Walker

2008-01-16T14:47:00.000-05:00

Join the Souther Writers Book Discussion Group on Saturday, February 2, 1 p.m. in the Children's Story Room when we discuss Jubilee by Margaret Walker. Copies are available for borrowing at the Greenwood County Library. For more information about the Library's book discussion programs, please contact Prudence Taylor at 941 - 4650.

Written by Marget Walker over a thirty year period, Jubilee is based on the life of Walker's great - grandmother, Elvira Dozier Ware. The daughter of a slave woman, Hetta, and the plantation's master, John, Vyry is raised in her father's house as a servant to her half - sister, Lillian. Walker breaks Vyry's life - and the book - into three parts: before the Civil War, during the War, and through Reconstruction.

Margaret Walker was a gifted poet and writer who studied at Northwestern University and the University of Iowa. She worked as a social worker, newspaper reporter, and magazine editor before beginning her long teaching career. In 1942 she published her first book, For My People, a series of poems she wrote as her Master's thesis at the Iowa Writers Workshop, University of Iowa. She received the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award and was named to the Honor Roll of Race Relations by the New York Public Library for her book.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

2008-01-12T14:46:00.000-05:00

Join the Ware Shoals Reading Group this Thursday, January 17, 3 - 4 p.m. at Town Hall when we discuss this month's choice, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See.

Set in 19th century China, Lily tells the story of her friendship with Snow Flower. Their lives are typical - and tragic. With bound feet, both girls live in seclusion. They will not be educated since the desirable young woman is not expected to think or feel. Women have developed nu shu, or women's writing, through which they communicate and enjoy deep friendships.

Lily receives a silk fan on which Snow Flower has written a poem introducing herself in nu shu. At the age of 7, they become "old sames," and enjoy a friendship that lasts through arranged marriages, motherhood, and tragedy.

Copies of the book are available for borrowing at the Ware Shoals Community Library.

The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout

2008-01-09T12:24:00.000-05:00

Author Biography

Born in Nobleville, IN December 1, 1886.
Recognized as a prodigy in arithmetic.
Studied at the University of Kansas.
Quit school to enlist in the Navy.
Served as warrant officer on board President Theodore Roosevelt's yacht.
Devised Bank Day, a school banking system which was so successful it allowed him to move to Paris and write full time.
Returned to the United States and built a house in 1930 on the Connecticut - New York State line to avoid having conservative Hamilton Fish as his representative.

First Nero Wolfe novel, Fer - de - Lance, was published in 1934.
Strongly opposed Nazism and, during WWII, served as Chairman of the War Writers Board, MC of the radio program, Speaking of Liberty, and as a member of several national committees.
Resumed writing mysteries after the war, and wrote more than 70 books and short stories about Nero Wolfe.
Won the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award in 1957.
Died October 27, 1975 at the age of 88 and one month after publishing the final Nero Wolfe book, A Family Affair.

The League of Frightened Men was Stout's second mystery featuring Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, and was published in 1935. The story takes place from Friday, November 2 through Thursday, November 15, 1934. A group of Harvard alumni approach Wolfe because they fear a classmate Paul Chapin. A college hazing incident left Chapin crippled years before. The men now fear for their lives after a number of them are found dead under mysterious circumstances, and letters from Chapin hint at his involvement and his intent to harm others of the league. Is Chapin guilty of the murders or not? And why is he writing threatening letters to this group? And if he isn't the killer, who is the real murderer, and what is behind this killing spree?

Copies of the book are available for borrowing at the Greenwood County Library.

The Other Boleyn Girl

2007-12-03T11:16:00.000-05:00

Our book discussion groups are taking a break during December, so I wanted to share one of the best books I've read in a long time.

Written by British historical novelist, Philippa Gregory, The Other Boleyn Girl is told by Lady Mary Carey, mistress to King Henry VIII and sister to Anne Boleyn. The reader meets two women used to advance their family's interests, regardless of the personal cost to each one. After bearing the King two children and being widowed, Mary realizes that she prefers a simpler life to the one she lives at King Henry's glittering court. Anne, as lovely as Lady Mary, is determined and ambitious. Her goal is to best her sister - win the King's love and become Queen of England at any cost to herself and others.

Mary puts aside her own desires to help her family and her sister advance to the greatest seat in England. Knowing that she is nothing but a pawn to her family's ambition and fearing that she will be nothing without her family, Mary is trapped by her blood ties and society's customs until she finds the courage to pursue love and a hope for happiness.
The tale is historically accurate, and the characters are fascinating. Click on the title to visit Philippa Gregory's website for more information about this book and others.

Murder at the Washington Tribune by Margaret Truman

2007-11-26T13:36:00.000-05:00

Author Biography:

Born February 17, 1924 in Independence, MO.
Daughter of President and Mrs. Harry S. Truman.
Attended public school in Independence, MO and a private girls school, Gunston Hall, in Washington, D. C.
Graduated from George Washington University in 1946 with a B. A. in history.
Aspired to be a singer in the 1940's, and performed on stage, radio, and television into the 1950's.
Married Clifton Daniel, assistant to the foreign news editor of the New York Times Washington Bureau, on April 21, 1956 at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Independence.
Had 4 sons: Clifton Truman, William Wallace, Harrison Gates, and Thomas Washington.
Has written both fiction and non - fiction.
Began writing mysteries in 1980 with Murder at the White House.
Is the oldest surviving child of a U. S. President at age 83.

Discussion Questions:

Washington, D. C. becomes a character with Truman's descriptions of its streets, buildings, and restaurants. What place descriptions are especially evocative, or is the locale so well integrated with action that only an overall impression is retained?

Why does Joe continue to try to prove that a serial killer is at work in spite the lack of evidence? How do his actions impact his future?

Why does Joe allow his brother, Michael, back into his life?

How does Paul Morehouse play on Joe's insecurity?

Is Joe threatened by his daughter's ambitions?

What do you think of this book? Would you recommend it to anyone else? Why?

If you have read other books in the Capital Crimes series, how does this one stand up to the rest?

Meet Beth Webb Hart

2007-11-19T10:34:00.000-05:00

A South Carolina native, Beth Webb Hart holds a B.A. in English Literature from Hollins College and a M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence. She is married to Edward Hart, a composer, and the couple live in Charleston with their daughter.

Her books, Grace at Low Tide and Adelaide Piper, were well received. The first one is a book club choice for Ware Shoals. The Library has copies of both books, so please take a look at them when you have time.

She is considered a Christian writer.

Grace At Low Tide - I just finished this one and really enjoyed it. Billy and Dee DeLoach, have gone bankrupt and lost the family's Charleston home on Tradd St. and the family plantation. Their 15 year old daughter, DeVeaux, is taken from everything she's known in Charleston - her friends at Cooper Hall (her private school), her cotillon dances, and her boyfriend, John Henry Drayton. All she has left is her church youth group and its leaders, Bethany and Stu, and her faith.

At first I thought this would be the usual super sweet cheesy Christian novel, but DeVeaux is a strong thoughtful character who challenges God with questions and anger. Why does her mother submit to her father's temper tantrums? How can she continue to respect her father when he calls her a mistake from a romantic 15th wedding anniversary trip?

Everything is tied up, maybe a little too neatly and quickly, but DeVeaux is a great character, and Hart does a fine job of describing Charleston society and its traditions.

Reading Club Questions:

What role do the natural elements of Edisto Island play in the story: pluff mud, the darkness, and the tide?
What kind of impact does the setting have on DeVeaux, Billy, Mrs. Shuzuki, and Cousin Eli?
Although DeVeaux is uprooted and her family becomes more dysfunctional, why doesn't she give up? What mistakes does she make? How is her faith tested?
Do you sympathize with Billy? How does he attempt to rid himself of all the unwanted people, pets, and things in his life?
What does the Sunfish Sailboat symolize to Billy?

The Tale of Hill Top Farm by Susan Wittig Albert - Mystery Book Discussion Group

2007-11-04T14:01:00.000-05:00

The Mystery Book Discussion Group meets the 2nd & 4th Tuesdays of each month at 12 noon. Bring your lunch and eat while we take on a different book and author each time. The Library provides the drinks. The Tale of Hill Top Farm by Susan Wittig Albert is our reading choice for November 13.

Author Biography:

Born January 2, 1940 in Maywood, IL.
Received B. A. from the University of Illinois in 1967, and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1972.
Married twice. Children from the first marriage are Robert, Robin, and Michael.
Married writer, William Albert, in 1986.
Taught at the University of San Francisco; University of Texas in Austin; Sophie Newcomb College, New Orleans; and Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos.
Now a full time writer whose hobby is gardening.
Has been nominated for Agatha and Anthony awards.
Series include China Bayles Mysteries, Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter, and Kate and Charles Mysteries as Robin Paige with husband, Bill Albert.
Also authored and co - authored several mysteries in the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series.

Discussion Questions:

Does the time and setting of the story seem realistic to you?
What do you think of Beatrix Potter? Does her character seem real to you?
What do you think of Beatrix's relationship with her parents?
What does Hill Top Farm represent to Beatrix? How does it change her life?
Near Sawrey is a very small town. How do its people see Beatrix - as a threat or a harmless eccentric?
The animals take as strong an interest in the little mysteries as the townsfolk. Do you think they take away from or add to the story?
The Tale of Hill Top Farm has been called a "cozy" mystery since its mysteries are small. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Refuge by Dot Jackson - Southern Writers

2007-11-03T12:04:00.001-04:00

The Southern Writers Book Discussion Group meets the 1st Saturday of each month at 1 p.m. in the Children's Story Room at the Greenwood County Library. Refuge will be discussed on January 5.

Author Biography:

Born in Miami, FL in 1932.
Attended the University of Miami on a music scholarship.
Married and had 3 children.
Worked as an investigative reporter for The Charlotte Observer, The Greenville News, and the Anderson Indepedent - Mail.
Received several Pulitzer Prize nominations while at The Observer for her work on industrial pollutants, and won the National Conservation Writer of the Year Award.
Co - founder and on - site manager of the Birchwood Center for the Arts and Folklife in Pickens County.
Refuge was written in the late 1970's and rejected for publication several times. Jackson stored it under her bed and then in a friend's refrigerator for safe - keeping until it was published in 2006.
The story is based on a family scandal.
Won the Appalachian Studies Assocation's 2007 Weatherford Award for Refuge.

Discussion Questions:

What do you think of Mary Seneca Steele? Is she realistic? Intriguing?
Is Mary Sen trapped by Charleston's traditions? Why does she head for the hills? What does she hope to find there?
Has Ms. Jackson captured the flavor of the Charleston dialect? How about the mountain dialect?
Do you find the language difficult to read and/or understand? Ex. "Dope" is an old mountain expression for a soda.
Does sexual passion transform Mary Sen and Ben Aaron, or does it destroy them?
Is the book's outlook fatalistic? Are we all doomed?
Would you recommend this book to anyone else? If so, who and why? If not, why not?
What else are you reading right now?