The Tiger's Wife and Circus of Dreams

This article was submitted by Alyce Deveau.

Books on CD are very popular here at the library. Many people have long commutes to work and realize that time passes very quickly when you are listening to a book. Those of us who have short commutes also listen to books on CD, sometimes in their driveways as they try to get to the end of a chapter. Some of the more popular titles that have been checked out recently are the following:

Night Circus by local resident Erin Morgenstern is a popular book on CD.

This book is the story of star-crossed lovers who work at Le Cirque des Réves (The Circus of Dreams).  They are gifted magicians who are pitted against each other in a game of imagination and will.  When Celia learns that Marco is her adversary, she begins to think of the game as collaboration rather than a competition.  This tale of young love, reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet, is one worth listening to.

Another popular title, which many book groups are reading and discussing is The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht.

Natalia Stefanovic, a young doctor who lives in an unnamed Balkan city early in the 21st century, is the main character of this novel. She works caring for children in this war torn area.

She learns that her beloved grandfather has died and she feels that she must go back and visit his village. She remembers the stories that her grandfather told her when she was a little girl. The most compelling story she remembers is the one of the Tiger's wife.

During World War II her grandfather’s village was snowbound, not even the German troops could get to it. During this time a tiger escaped from the zoo and befriended a deaf-mute woman. Natalia remembered this and other stories that her grandfather had told her.

Many of his tales came from The Jungle Book by Kipling but as The Tiger’s Wife proceeds, the readers become aware that some of his stories were true. This book had become a very popular book discussion book, one that shouldn’t be missed.

The ever-popular Faye Kellerman has a book on CD which is constantly being checked out of the library. The title is Gun Games which is a Decker/Lazarus Novel.

Those readers of Faye Kellermans’s works know that LAPD dectective Peter Decker and his wife, though at times the main characters in the book, sometimes become the background to a story.

It isn’t necessary to have read the other Faye Kellerman titles in order to enjoy this one. This story centers on Gabriel Whitman, a 15-year-old boy who the Deckers have taken into their home. While the Deckers are dealing with having a teenager living in their home, Peter is looking into the suicide of another teen from a local prep school.

Kellerman, as well as her husband and son, produces readable and listenable books.

Pick up one of these titles when you are here at . That is what is ‘off the shelf” this week.