Eye on Books #6

WE HOPE YOU GOT TO THE MYSTERY BOOK mini-sale at Reston Regional Feb 7 to the 11^th. The spring Children’s sale is March 14-17. Watch for reminders! On Tuesday, Feb 19, 7 p.m., the Director’s Choice Book Club will meet at Reston Regional to discuss The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Sam Clay, FCPL Director, will lead Adult discussion.

AS THE SHORTEST MONTH of the year, February certainly packs an enormous number of events into its 28 days! This year, we have Groundhog Day on the 2^nd, Chinese New Year on the 10^th, Mardi Gras on the 12^th (Lincoln’s actual birthday), Valentine’s Day on the 14^th, Presidents’ Day on the 18^th, and Washington’s actual birthday on the 22^nd! With a little effort, we could probably turn up a few more! And it’s Black History Month! Here are a few topical books to stretch your mind and your horizons!

FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR (this is the Year of the Snake), it’s time to visit (or revisit!) Amy Tan’s first novel, and now classic, The Joy Luck Club, that explores the stories and relationships of four Chinese women who came together years earlier in San Francisco to play mah jong and intertwine their lives and families.

TO VISIT THE ‘BIG EASY’ from your living room, try the AARP-recommended (Sept., 2012) thriller, City of Refuge, by Tom Piazza, a tale of two families (one black, one white) trying to rebuild their lives after Hurricane Katrina; or James Lee Burke’s Creole Belle, latest in the series with sleuth Dave Robicheaux. He investigates the disappearance of Cajun singer Tee Jolie Melton. Or if you’d rather travel on your taste buds, try Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table, by Sara Roahen.

FOR MORE ON OUR 16^th PRESIDENT now that you’ve seen Lincoln, try Team of Rivals, The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, the Pulitzer Prize winner by Doris Kearns Goodwin on which the movie was based.

IN CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY, discover the powerful novel by James McBride (author of the memoir The Color of Water), Miracle at St. Anna, based on the true story of the Buffalo Soldiers of World War II.

HIS EXCELLENCY GEORGE WASHINGTON, by Joseph J. Ellis, is a humanizing portrait of our revered but remote first president. Ellis won the Pulitzer Prize in history for his earlier work, Founding Brothers.

STOP IN AT THE LIBRARY and browse for a romantic novel to celebrate this month for lovers-- and if you curl up with a cup of hot chocolate, you’re all set to read your way to spring, whatever the groundhog says! So many books, so little time!