Sammy's House by Kristen Gore

Sammy Joyce may be a trouble-magnet, a klutz, and a hypochondriac, but she is also the talented, young health-care advisor to the Vice President of the United States. Halfway through the Administration's first term, when success seems assured, a damaging leak to the press reveals that the President may be drinking heavily again. Before the source of the leak can be discovered, more scandal breaks concerning foreign drug agreements, illegitimate family members in the First Family, and drug addiction in the Administration. On the personal front, Sammy's deepening relationship with a Washington Post reporter brings more stress and confusion and the possibility of betrayal. Struggling to handle her personal life while dealing with multiple political crises, Sammy fights to keep her career, her dignity and her honesty intact.

Kristen Gore, the daughter of former Vice President Al Gore, writes from the perspective of a White House insider. This is West Wing in print, with all the drama, humor, and pathos of working at the center of American politics today. A fun and thought-provoking read.

Black Elk in Paris / Kate Horsley

I have to admit I picked up Kate Horsley's Black Elk in Paris (FIC HORSLEY) partially because of the cover. Luckily I was rewarded for my superficiality with a great story. Set in Paris at the time of the 1889 Universal Exposition (click here to view actual photos of the exposition, courtesy of the Library of Congress), the story revolves around Black Elk, a Native American healer who has been abandoned in Paris by Buffalo Bill's traveling Wild West show. The story is told from the perspective of a bachelor physician who frequents the home of the Parisian family with whom Black Elk stays. The author uses the city of Paris almost as another character in the book. It is beautiful and self-indulgent, by turns poignant and callous. All the characters are changed by their contact with Black Elk, the "savage" who desperately longs for his troubled homeland in America.

Author Kate Horsley has a simple but lyrical writing style and a penchant for unusual storylines. Her characters tend to have a mystical bent and live in times of great cultural change. She also wrote Confessions of a Pagan Nun (FIC HORSLEY), the story of a Druid woman who becomes a Christian nun in the days of the expansion of the Christianity to the British Isles. I give both books the thumbs-up.

Galveston County Reads

Galveston County Reads is a program which promotes a certain book every year for libraries, schools, and civic organizations to read and discuss. This year's book is Ernest J. Gaines' A Lesson Before Dying, a classic novel featuring a close-to-home setting about a black man accused of murder in post World War II Louisiana. First published in 1993 by already well-reputed author Gaines, the book was well-received by critics and was even a Oprah's book selection in 1997. Copies are available at all county libraries and a telecasted interview with the author has been set up for the new year.

Notable Narrators

Recently I completed a bibliography with some of the most well-known audiobook narrators. Included were such stalwarts of the medium as George Guidall, Anna Fields, Grover Gardner, and Simon Prebble. If you haven't heard of any of these people, be sure to supscribe to our check out our website http://www.texascity-library.org/ and look under "Books & More" to see a copy of it. Guidall has recorded many of Tony Hillerman's mysteries while Fields has been all over the map with books like The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich and a Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.

Greetings

Hello everyone. This is the first entry from the Texas City Library's own weblog. That's right, Moore Memorial Public Library now has its very own interactive space dedicated to books, movies, and other library resources as well as what's new with the library. Moore Musings (I know, I know... it's still a work in progress) will offer a place for patrons to check out the latest bestsellers and get up to speed on what we, the staff, feel are some great books for your reading pleasure.