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Anne McLeod

I'm the librarian at Moon Lake Community Library in Mentone, Alabama. I read a wide variety of books and write about them here. Reviews are also posted to https://www.goodreads.com/cannemcleod.

Follow BRB - I'm Reading to find out about the library's latest books, as well as some that are not yet published but will eventually land on our shelves.

The cover photo above was taken by Kelly Smith Leavitt when we visited the amazing Richland Library in Columbia, SC, as part of a Creative Placemaking Summit in 2019. It was an honor to meet the Wild Things. 
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Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley

4/19/2022

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Rules are made for breaking, but when you break them, there's no telling what the results might be. 

Iona Iverson is an experienced advice columnist whose editor would love to trade her in for a younger, cheaper, hipper model. But Iona loves her work, knows her value, and plans to cling to her job for dear life. As the stressful battle for her job begins, Iona breaks the rules of her London commute, speaking to another commuter on her train. To be fair, he was choking to death on a grape. And Iona doesn't speak to him but noticing his predicament, actually bellows, "Is there a doctor on the train?"

There isn't. But there's a conscientious male nurse called Sanjay who Heimlichs the choker, Piers,  back to life. That's just the beginning of the chain of actions and reactions that changes the lives of a group of commuters on train. By the time "Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting" winds down, readers will have enjoyed a bit of romance, break-ups, humiliation, trauma, career changes, and redemption. The cast of characters includes Sanjay the nurse, his crush Emmie, teenaged outcast Martha, and Piers, along with Iona and Bea, the love of Iona's life. 

The book is a reminder of the sweetness of human connection, something that is easy to lose in a world of virtual relationships. Iona is her own woman, a character with a strong voice, and a streak of independence. But when she needs her new friends, they rally around her, just as she ministered to them in their time of need. "Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting" will be published June 7, 2022, by Pamela Dorman Books, and I look forward to purchasing a copy for the library. Fans of Frederik Backman's "A Man Called Ove" will enjoy Iona and her train mates.  

I received a pre-publication copy of the book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. ​
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Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

4/6/2022

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​Fangirl is a sweet, funny, quirky young adult romance with some bittersweet tones. It's a reminder too of how few YA books take place at college. Catherine's freshman year in Lincoln, Nebraska is off to a rough start. She'd assumed her twin sister would be her roommate, but to her shock, twin Wren had other plans. Now off at school, her social phobia is fierce, and she's living off granola bars because she doesn't want to ask anyone where the dining hall is. 

Online, Cath is a star, a respected author of fanfiction based on a Harry Potteresque series. The problem is in real life, the actual author of the books is about to finish the series, so Cath's online fans expect her to write her own conclusion, a deadline on top of all her college coursework. What's a fangirl to do? 


For starters, fall in love. Then watch helplessly as her sister develops a serious partying problem. And then somehow help her dad
back home when his bipolar disorder starts a dangerous cycle. Next, throw in the girls' mother who's not been a part of the family for years but now seems to - maybe- want some kind of relationship. It's a lot to deal with. 

And there's a lot to appreciate here: love interest Levi's unwavering support of Cath, Rowell's homage to writing and fanfiction, the nods to Nebraska writer Willa Cather, The Outsiders, Good Night Moon, and even Twilight. One of my favorite characters is Catherine's  dad, who's able to channel the manic part of his brain into his work at an ad agency, at least most of the time. 

If you enjoy romance books, Fangirl is a good introduction to Rainbow Rowell's work. She has written for both adult and YA audiences. This one could be considered a crossover, though it's shelved in the Young Adult section at Moon Lake. 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell was published September 10, 2013, and is available for checkout from the library.

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The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown

4/1/2022

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The Boys in the Boat was hands-down my favorite book I read last year. The story of the University of Washington's crew team is one of sheer determination and grit. Most of the boys in the boat were working class kids. The University of Washington's eight-oar program was a work in progress. The schools that dominated the sport California and the Ivy League universities back east. But under coach  Al Ulbrickson and with a shell built by George Pocock, Washington was finally in contention for the national title. 

I'll just say here that I knew nothing about crew and in all honesty cared even less. The power of Brown's writing lies in his ability to educate and inspire his readers by focusing on the individual stories behind the boys in the boat, primarily Joe Rantz. 

Joe's childhood was filled with grief, abandonment, and poverty. His resilience in the face of all the trauma, combined with a work ethic that would not allow him to quit, got him into the University of Washington and onto the crew team. Although he was finally in the right place at the right time and had remarkable abilities, Joe's coach saw an inconsistency in his performance. For a team to win in a sport like this one required a level of trust in the others in the boat that Joe struggled with, given his past experiences. 

The Boys in the Boat has it all: riveting history, a setting primarily in the Pacific Northwest during the Great Depression and later Berlin under Hitler, compelling biography, a love story, and detailed explanation of what crew is and the process of building shells. The book is available for checkout at Moon Lake Library. 

Boys in the Boat was published June 4, 2013 by Viking Adult.

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