by Beth Cronk, Litchfield head librarian
Our adult winter reading program, “Book Your Winter
Getaway,” is done for this year. We had 46
people participate this year. Those who
brought in three book reviews got to choose a small prize. Participants who brought back six book
reviews were entered in a drawing for small gift certificates to local
restaurants, sponsored by the Friends of the Litchfield Public Library.
The book reviews are interesting to read. They involve just a very short written
description of the book, plus a rating of one to five stars and the question,
“Would you recommend it?” I looked
through the reviews at Litchfield to see if we had some popular authors
reviewed by multiple people, and there were several.
Two people reviewed two different Sandra Brown books, Mean Streak and Mirror Image. Both gave
the books five out of five stars and recommended them. Mean Streak was described as “nail biting
suspense” and Mirror Image as “a twisty tale.”
Two of Jennifer Chiaverini’s books were reviewed by two
different people. Mrs. Lincoln’s Rival was given three stars, and the reviewer did not recommend it, saying it was
only fair and involved long political descriptions. The reviewer of The Spymistress forgot to
give it a numbered rating, but they recommended this story of the adventures of
Elizabeth Van Lew, who worked for the U.S. government as a spy during the Civil
War.
Two of our participants reviewed The Silkworm by Robert
Galbraith, and one reviewed Galbraith’s The Cuckoo’s Calling. These books are the beginning of a new series
by J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, writing under a
pseudonym. Our adult book club read The
Cuckoo’s Calling last month, and it was a hit.
This reviewer gave it four stars, mentioning that the audiobook has a
good reader. The two people who reviewed
the sequel, The Silkworm, gave it four and five stars. One wrote, “Wow, can she write – we want
more!”
Three William Kent Krueger books were reviewed by two or
three different reviewers. I’m analyzing
handwriting to decide if I have reviews from multiple people, so there’s some
guesswork involved! Tamarack County got five stars from its reviewer.
Thunder Bay got four, with the description saying it was suspenseful
and “not as violent as some and that’s good.”
Vermilion Drift got only two stars from its reviewer, and they did not
recommend it. Taste in books is very
individual.
It’s not surprising that six reviews were turned in for
James Patterson books. He comes out with
a book about once a month now, one bestseller after another. The six reviews were for six different
titles. Gone received five out of five
stars and was described as a “fast-moving adventure” but predictable. Kill Alex Cross got four stars, as did Merry Christmas, Alex Cross, Private Down Under, and Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas. A reviewer gave You've Been Warned only two stars and said they would not recommend it, describing it as a
“chaotic read.”
Stuart Woods had two books reviewed by our participants, and
both received four stars. D.C. Dead was described as “enjoyable enough” and Insatiable Appetites as “action
packed as usual.”
149 book reviews were turned in overall, so you will find a
much wider variety of authors and books if you stop in and look through the
reviews, which you are welcome to do.
You won’t know who in our community wrote them, but you can get some
ideas about what people are reading and what they think of the books. I hope you find some four- and five-star
books to read this spring!
