Staff Favorites/ Who & What 3

Who We Are & What We're Reading

Maple Street Staff & Books We Love – Rhoda's Favorites

Jernigan by David Gates (fiction)
Read this, if you can stand reading about a self-destructive, alcoholic, depressed, mixed-up modern man who is also loveable and trying to be a good father. The black humor is non-stop and right on target, and it makes the whole book somehow a joy to read. It’s very reminiscent of Keys to Tulsa by Brian Fair Berkey, which is even darker-humored and more uproariously funny, thank God, because it stars Richter Boudreau, who has no loveable bone in his body.

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (fiction)
The narrator of this beautifully written novel, an English butler, reveals enormously moving clues about himself as he tells his story. That the most important clues are subtle and sometimes seemingly inadvertent is what makes this quiet book compelling to the very end, which knocks you out.

Madeline L'Engle, Rosa Keller

Double Whammy by Carl Hiaasen (mystery)
My favorite thing–a funny mystery and it doesn’t come even close to being silly the way some funny mysteries do. Fabulous dialogue along with wacky but believable characters and several murders to solve make this Florida-set book a real pleasure.

Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd (fiction)
What a find! This brilliant book has everything and it all works: an intelligent, amusing narrator, a fast pace, at least two story lines going at once that come together beautifully, a love story, mystery, crime, and a good ending.

Foolscap by Michael Malone (fiction)
This well-plotted, fast-paced novel is stunningly hilarious while, at the same time, it provides enough weight to make you care about the characters and, in several cases, love them.

Marquis at Bay by Albert Belisle Davis (fiction)
This is a colorful, very humorous, extremely painful book that is sometimes joyous. The writing is occasionally so brilliant that it takes your breath away. It also takes a lot of your time because it is difficult; you cannot go fast. I was proud of myself for sticking with it. (Cindy recommends this book, too.)

The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford (fiction)
If you’re willing to work hard to piece together the plot and information about the four main characters, you will love this highly acclaimed, self-serving, somewhat autobiographical novel. It’s the slow-moving story about two couples. The husband in one is having an affair with the wife in the other, which is revealed long after the fact by the husband of the adulterous wife. The author makes one thing very clear–how difficult it is to know the truth and how deceiving appearances can be.

A Traitor to Memory by Elizabeth George (mystery)
For British mystery fans who like long and detailed books, I highly recommend this huge book. Fans of Dorothy Sayers, Reginald Hill, and P.D. James like George even though she's American (although George's books aren't as dour as some of James's). Elizabeth George's other characters, Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley and Detecttive Sergeant Barbara Havers, who appear in every book, are complicated and fun to spend time with. And they are not a detecting couple, thank God. I hate it when the detectives are in love with each other.

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