Book Review: New Tech Books

Windows 8: The Missing Manual

Do you have a lot of questions about Windows 8? Since the radical change in Windows last year, many customers are confused on how to use the new features. This book answers beginner questions about Windows 8 like “Where is my Start Menu?” and “Are my old programs compatible?”

Other topics include security, included software, Internet Explorer, photos and video, backing up, printing, and more.

Network Security

With the rise of malicious hackers on the Internet, it couldn’t hurt to become savvier in the world of cyber security. With this book, you can learn to defend your network against a wide range of existing and emerging threats.

Topics include attacker types, exploits used, and how to prevent them from accessing your data.

Microsoft Word 2013

Microsoft has done it again. In their latest version of Microsoft Word, they have added support for Windows 8, which allows for office documents to be manipulated in the cloud!

Learn how to create documents on your PC or touch-enabled device, create custom styles/templates, organize content, collaborate on SkyDrive, and more.

Kindle Fire HD: The Missing Manual

Do you own a Kindle Fire? Maybe. Do you know how to use it? Maybe not. This book is written to bring you up to speed on how to use a Kindle Fire HD. You’ll learn how to download music onto the device, browse the web, watch TV shows and movies, and of course, read!

Other topics include sending email, playing games, listening to audiobooks, and more.

Laptops for Dummies

Learn the basics of laptops with this book. If you are considering buying one, this book will help you assess your needs. If you already own one, this book gives step by step instructions on how to set it up, what the different slots are, how to start it, how to connect to the Internet, and maintain it.

HTML

Have you ever wanted to design your own website? How about modify and existing one? With this book, you can get started with creating custom websites in minutes. Learn the key skills and concepts, practice your knowledge with hands on exercises, get tips from the experts, and more.

Other topics include multimedia, Cascading Style Sheets, and JavaScript.

Networking for Dummies

This book will put you on your way to becoming a networking guru. It begins with an overview of standards, hardware, network operating systems, and other essentials, and moves on to TCP/IP, security, servers, and finally, Linux. 

Reviewed by S. Lutz

Book Review - The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan

A stunningly good first novel, this book had me hooked from the start. Grace Winter tells us her story of how she became a newlywed, a widow, and on trial for her life, all by the age of 22. Grace is introduced to the reader as she walks through the rain to a hearing. Her light-hearted antics in the rain present a stark contrast to the story that immediately follows.

It is 1914, two years after the Titanic. Grace and her new husband, Henry, are aboard a luxury liner returning to America after their European honeymoon when the liner is stricken by a mysterious explosion.  Henry maneuvers to get Grace on a lifeboat, which the survivors soon learn is filled beyond its capacity.

As the survivors battle the elements, and each other, Grace recollects the unorthodox way she and Henry met, and the new life of privilege she thought she had attained. Her narration weaves between the days that drag on and on, waiting for rescue, and the saga of the life that brought her to the ill-fated honeymoon.

I do not usually like a book with a prologue that relates an event and then flashes back to the story leading up to that event. I spend most of my reading wondering when the event will happen. That was not the case with this book. While I knew there would be a trial, I did not hang on waiting for the offense that prompted that trial. Because the ordeal on the lifeboat was so engrossing and harrowing, I waited for their rescue, and took all other events as they came. And very often, I found myself wondering what I would do if I were in that situation.

Since this story is told by Grace, from her point of view, there are elements we can never know completely. Characters and events can only be as thoroughly related as they are known to her.  The setting is also colored by the time period in which it is set, with that era’s view of gender and class. Grace emerges as both creator and victim of her circumstances, and is as memorable and complex as the events she describes.

Reviewed by Jeanette Walker

Book Review - All Roads Lead to Austen: A Yearlong Journey with Jane

I stumbled upon All Roads Lead to Austen: A Yearlong Journey with Jane by Amy Elizabeth Smith while searching for an ebook to read on the train this summer. I browsed through Freading ebooks since I knew everything would available for download immediately (no wait list!)  While I'm not an Austenite, I do seem to gravitate to books centered around Jane Austen's books ... The Jane Austen Book Club is a good example of this.

I'm also an armchair traveler so I really liked that All Roads Lead to Austen is part travelogue. During a yearlong sabbatical from teaching, Smith journeys to six countries in Latin America (Guatemala, Mexico, Ecuador, Chile, Paraguay, and Argentina) to conduct reading groups using three of Austen's novels - Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma - in an attempt to discover if Austen's books translate across time and culture.  Since this book is a memoir, it was lots of fun for me to "meet" real people from these Latin American countries, not just fictional characters created by an author. 

My absolute favorite part of the book is when Smith asked the members of her reading groups to suggest the authors from their country that they thought she should read. I diligently jotted down the author's names, vowing to read as many of them as I possibly can (translated into English, of course). I won't embarrass myself by revealing how many of the authors were new to me.

If you are curious about All Roads Lead to Austen, you can check out additional reviews on Goodreads.

This book review was submitted by Jill S.

Freegal 4.0 Is Here!

If you're not already familiar with Freegal Music, it allows you to download 3 FREE songs per week from a collection of over 7 million songs!   The songs are downloaded as MP3 files and they are yours to keep forever. Freegal Music currently has music from over 28,000 labels, including the complete catalog of Sony Music Entertainment.

In addition to songs, you can now download music videos from Freegal.  The music videos count as 2 credits compared to the 1 credit cost of each song, but like the songs, the MP4 video files are yours to keep forever. Choose from over 10,000 videos from artists including Adele, One Direction, Miley Cyrus, Michael Jackson, and many, many more.

Another feature new to Freegal 4.0 is the ability to create a wishlist of songs that you'd like to download in the future.  This will come in very handy when you see all the new songs being offered!

Each person with a Matawan Aberdeen Library card is given 3 credits per week (Monday to Sunday) which you can used to download songs and videos. To access Freegal 4.0, please visit our website at www.matawanaberdeenlibrary.com, click on Electronic Resources, select Music, and then click on the Freegal icon ... or simply click here. You can browse without signing in, but you must sign in with your library card number in order to download videos or songs.

Enjoy!

This post was written by Dennis K. and Jill S.

Book Review: Unleashed by David Rosenfelt

If you are a dog-lover, (as I am) and you like mysteries, (as I do), then you will love this latest mystery from the author, David Rosenfelt.  It is an addition to the Andy Carpenter series, but it is also enjoyable as a stand-alone.  Rosenfelt lived in Patterson, New Jersey and this is his 11^th Andy Carpenter mystery featuring this New Jersey city.

 Andy is an independently wealthy, criminal defense attorney.  His main interest is his girlfriend, his dog, and the Tara Foundation, a dog rescue center.  So it is no surprise that he is reluctant to take on new clients but after much persuading agrees to take on his accountant’s friend, Barry Price.  Unfortunately, Barry dies in a plane crash before meeting Andy.  It is soon discovered that the plane crash was not accidental and Barry’s wife is arrested for his murder.   Without spoiling the mystery, I can tell you that the story involves a mob of international terrorists threating a major attack on the United States, a group of octogenarian computer whizzes who assistant our attorney, and of course, you will meet some pretty special dogs, and have a thoroughly entertaining time.  This book will keep you turning the pages as fast as the plot keeps coming up with unexpected twists and turns to the very exciting end. The story is told with Andy’s wisecracking humor and unusual courtroom behavior and candid observations.  All this keeps his fans coming back for more and I believe you will be a fan after reading, Unleashed.

After you read this novel you may want to try his nonfiction book, Dogtripping.  Rosenfelt is an ardent dog lover and has rescued many throughout his life.  This book chronicles his funny account of a cross-country move from California to Maine, and the beginnings of the Tara Foundation, a dog rescue center.  Oh, and did I forget to mention that the family did this move with twenty-five rescue dogs, eleven volunteers, and three RVs?

As a side note, I would also like to add that one of our own staff members at MAPL has met David Rosenfelt and has corresponded with him.  She is also a lover of dogs.

Genre:  Legal thrillers; Suspense stories   Writing Style:  Compelling; Witty

Book reviewed by Cecelia R.

Adult Summer Reading Club ends soon!

Week 7 raffle prize

There are only a few days left to participate in the 2013 Adult Summer Reading Club.  While the Children and Teen Summer Reading Clubs both end on Friday, August 9 with the Finisher’s Day activities, the Adult SRC will continue until Monday, August 12 @ 1 PM.   This means you have plenty of time to finish that book you’re currently reading, or even start a new book if you are a fast reader.  Just remember to return your book (or audiobook) by Monday @ 1 PM to get that last raffle ticket.

Sometime after 1 PM we’ll draw for the Week 7 raffle prize, a beautiful basket of assorted summer goodies and two new books – Unwritten by Charles Martin and The Moon Says It Will by Vell Sweeney. Next we’ll pool together all the adult raffle tickets from the entire summer and draw for the Grand Prize - a Barnes & Noble NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight (courtesy of the Friends of the Library)!

Remember, you can’t win if you don’t enter!  Good Luck everyone!

Book Review: Full Body Burden by Kristen Iversen

Have you ever heard of the Rocky Flats Plant in Jefferson County, Colorado? If not, don't worry, because after reading Full Body Burden by Kristen Iversen, you'll learn the history and the secrets behind the plant.  In Iversen's autobiography she writes about her childhood (from heartbreak to family secrets and her family experiences living near the plant), and of course the real agenda behind Rocky Flats. Most residents living near the plant believed they were making cleaning products, but secretly it was a working nuclear plant creating plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons.  Throughout the book she highlights specific workers and their experiences in the plant along with events happening in her family and is able to interweave these two topics into a wonderful narrative.   
Kristen Iversen's autobiography of her time growing up near the plant reads more like a work of fiction, and at times you have to remind yourself that these events really happened and that the people highlighted were real.  If you enjoyed the movie Erin Brockovich you will love reading this book about the secrets that a plant hid from its community and the outcomes that followed the residents and workers.   

This post was written by Dennis K.

Book Review: The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer is the story of six friends who meet at summer camp in 1974 and remain part of each others lives for the next few decades. It’s a summer camp for the arts so the book has plenty to say about creative people and what role creativity plays in their lives. Is it enough to be talented without ambition? Is it better to be talented and lucky, or wealthy? At what point do you "settle"? Smart and funny, The Interestings has well drawn characters, with dramatically different lives and relationships. They support each other, they drift apart. They share secrets and lies. They celebrate each other but they can also be jealous. Wolitzer has a remarkable eye for detail, and ear for dialogue. She captures a lot of life’s beautiful small moments and larger truths. The Interestings is aptly named, and a great addition to your summer reading list.


This post was written by Susie B.

Prizes and Fun are guaranteed this summer at MAPL!

Sign up now for our annual Adult Summer Reading Club. Every time you return a book, audiobook, or Playaway, you will have the chance to win fun weekly prizes such as gift cards, gift baskets, and much more! The more you read, the more chances you have to win. In order to win prizes you'll need to register for the club at the Circulation Desk.  You'll be assigned a number and receive a FREE tote bag courtesy of the Friends of the Library. While you're there pick up a brochure with details on all the amazing programs going on at the library this summer! Learn about Life At An Edwardian Manor (7/22 @ 7 pm) , the History of the Jersey Shore (7/31 @ 7 pm), or listen to the music of Gregory Irish (7/19 @ 7 pm), plus so much more.  The sooner you get started, the more chances you'll have to win. At the end of summer all the raffle tickets will be put back in the jar for a chance to win the Grand Prize - a Barnes & Noble NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight (also from the Friends of the Library).

Good luck to everyone!

This post was written by library intern, Dennis Kuhn, with reference librarian, Jill Stafford.

Peeling the Onion

I like books that evolve and reveal, and like peeling an onion, show what’s underneath or what’s behind. Two of my favorite books of this sort are People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks and Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.

People of the Book follows Hannah Heath, an Australian rare-book expert, as she restores the Sarajevo Haggadah, a beautifully illuminated Hebrew manuscript created in fifteenth-century Spain. Hannah has her own life story drama, but for me the real drama came as she peels apart the book and finds the relics that reveal the book’s rich history: an insect wing fragment, wine stains, salt crystals, and a white hair. Inspired by the Haggadah’s true story, each relic’s origin is imagined with touching, engrossing stories that bring each character to life. In fact, at times, I found myself more interested in the people of the book’s past than in Hannah’s story. Yet, there is mystery and intrigue afoot around one of the oldest Sephardic Haggadah’s in the world, and Hannah unwittingly is entangled in the connivance. I have read this book twice and still love it.

Forgotten Garden, I realize, is similar in that a book leads to a historical past. Found abandoned on a pier in Brisbane, Australia, a young girl carries a suitcase that contains some clothes and a single book of fairy tales. On her twenty-first birthday, the harbor master who adopted her tells her the truth of her origins. Feeling lost and foundation-less, Nell, as she was named, has little but the book to lead her to her true past. After many years of pondering her past, Nell decides she will finally travel to England but she is suddenly left to care for Cassandra, her granddaughter, and her search is thwarted. After Nell’s death, Cassandra finds clues that set her off on the hunt. Her pursuit leads to all the layers of Nell’s story being unpeeled. This book intertwines stories more “densely” than People of the Book does, in that chapters jump between time frames more rapidly and diversely, but each chapter is dated and each story is easily followed. Nell and her granddaughter Cassandra are both strong women, each with a tale I loved following. The unveiling of Nell’s childhood home will likely sound familiar to fans of The Secret Garden with some traces of Downton Abbey thrown in, as well. I have only read this book once but know it too will be read again.

This blog post was written by Adult Services Librarian, Jeanette Walker.

Book Reviews: New Computer Books

The Matawan Aberdeen Public Library has recently acquired some new books that are perfect for tech-geeks and aspiring learners alike. The books range from topics such as:

·         Communicating with Siri

·         Cloud Computing

·         Pinterest

·         Searching the Internet Effectively

·         Blogging

Talking to Siri by Erica Sadun is a great way to learn how to maximize your productivity with your iOS device. Learn how to teach Siri to recognize requests and take dictation more accurately, launch apps, look up movie reviews, send messages by voice, answer math and science problems, and more.

Cloud Computing in Easy Steps by David Crookes is a great way to get started in learning to utilize the cloud. Written in plain English and full of illustration, this book is easy to follow from Chapter 1. Learn how to use Google’s cloud services, such as Google Drive & Google Calendar, as well as services such as Microsoft’s SkyDrive, Dropbox, Apple’s iCloud, and more.

 

My Pinterest by Michael Miller can show you how to get started on the latest social network, Pinterest. Read how to create new pinboards, pin items such as intriguing digital media, comment on your friends’ pins, and more. This easy read is complete with easily understandable pictures that will enable you to immediately get the hang of the site.

 

Extreme Searcher’s Internet Handbook by Randolph Hock is an excellent tool for power users. Learn how to optimize your search engine of choice to instantly redirect you to your page of interest. Whether you’re looking for Historical Documents, Statistics, Maps, Professional Directories, or Databases, this book will assist you in learning to become an efficient Internet searcher.

Blog Inc.: Blogging for Passion, Profit, and to Create Community by Joy Deangdeelert Cho is an excellent start on the journey to blogging online. Learn how to design an attractive site, manage content, choose the right advertisements (if any), use great photos, and more. While the book may be text heavy, it is worth the read for any aspiring blogger who wishes to make a name for themself.

 

Hybrid Cloud for Dummies by Judith Hurwitz is a book primarily aimed at aspiring technical professionals. Concepts include information management with regards to hybrid clouds, identifying business value, delivering cloud services, and making it all work together seamlessly.

Come check out these books and our technical book selection today!

Skyler Lutz

Computer Technical Assistant

Matawan Aberdeen Public Library

Freegal = Free and Legal Music

I hope everyone who comes into the library or has visited our website is familiar with Freegal, the awesome service for downloading FREE mp3 music files that can be played on any music device.  Freegal has changed quite a bit since it's debut a couple of years ago. First of all, there is so much more music – over 3 million songs from 10,000 labels including the labels of Sony Music Entertainment. They have tens of thousands of popular artists in hundreds of music genres.  You can find albums such as:



Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience

Brad Paisley’s Wheelhouse

P!nk’s The Truth About Love


Children will enjoy albums such as:



Blues Clues Boogie

It's a Wiggly Wiggly World!

Dora the Explorer Party Favorites

There’s a Freegal app for the iOS devices available at the Apple Store as well as an app for the Android at the Google Play Store.

Finally, if you want to keep up with the latest offerings by Freegal, check out their blog here.

You can download three mp3 files every week.  All for FREE with your library card from the Matawan Aberdeen Public Library!

Enjoy!

Book review: Color Me Vegan

It’s not what you think.

If you’re like me, you made one or two New Year’s resolutions back in January. One of my resolutions was to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into my diet since it seemed like there were days when I was lucky if I could count three servings of fruits and vegetables in my meals. This was somewhat alarming since the American Cancer Society recommends we eat at least five servings EVERY DAY for optimal health.   It’s not that I didn’t like fruits and vegetables; I just don’t always know how to prepare them. 

To work on my resolution I did what any good librarian would do – I checked some vegetable oriented cookbooks out of the library (and downloaded some from Freading, but that’s another post).  One book especially caught my attention – Color Me Vegan by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. I don’t aspire to become a vegan, but I figured adding grain and vegetable based meals would help me on my quest.

The first thing I noticed about Color Me Vegan is the way it’s organized.  The chapters are arranged by the colors of the rainbow and given names like Color Me Green and Color Me Red.  Patrick-Goudreau starts each chapter explaining the phytonutrients found in a particular colored vegetable, as well as the benefits of these phytonutrients.  Eating a wide range of colored vegetables means we get a full spectrum of phytonutrients that prevent diseases, strengthen the immune system, and slow the aging process.

What about taste? We’ve all been tempted by beautiful cookbooks only to be disappointed when the dish we cooked doesn’t turn out looking like the picture, or worse, the dish just doesn’t taste good. That’s the best thing about this book.  The dishes are delicious … and so easy! So far I’ve made about a half dozen of the recipes, a few of them multiple times. My new favorite breakfast is the “Green Smoothie” (p.129).  Yes, I was skeptical the first time I added raw spinach to a smoothie, but it’s absolutely true that you don’t taste it.  I now start my day having consumed a few servings of fruits and vegetables, probably more than I used to get in an entire day.  Another favorite recipe is the “Roasted Orange Beets with Tangerines” (p.49) from the Color Me Orange chapter of the book. Until I tried this salad recipe, I had always thought I didn’t like beets.  Even my very finicky father-in-law enjoyed this salad when we served it for Easter dinner!  This weekend I’ll be cooking “Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Apples and Pecans” (p.118). Yum!

I could go on praising the variety of recipes in this book, but I think you get the point.  The best recommendation I can give Color Me Vegan is that I actually purchased a copy for myself since I had renewed the book the maximum number of times and it needed to go back on the shelves for someone else to enjoy.

For once in my life I stuck to a New Year’s resolution and I feel great!

Are You a NJ Business Owner?

Do you own a small business in New Jersey, or are you an aspiring entrepreneur?  The New Jersey State Library has organized a FREE breakfast event so you can learn about the many cost-effective resources available to help your business grow and thrive.

 From the New Jersey State Library's website:

You are invited to a FREE, 2-hour breakfast event, which will bring together NJ business partners and a team of business marketing experts, for a training session on Social Media and Email Marketing. Join them for a showcase of useful resources for business planning and research. Representatives from participating agencies will be onsite to answer your questions, and discuss how these resources and programs can help you rebuild, improve and grow your business.

Click here to read more of the article and to register for the event at a library location near you.

Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Genre: Science fiction, Dystopia

If you liked the Hunger Games, you are sure to like this new dystopia trilogy beginning with Book 1, Divergent by Veronica Roth. In a future post-apocalyptic Chicago, you are born into one of five factions, each of which has its own strength and focus: Abnegation (service), Candor (truth), Erudite (intellect), Amity (friendship), or Dauntless (fearlessness). But on your sixteenth birthday, you can choose a new faction if you so desire. That is what happens to Tris, a teenage girl forced to choose between her routinized, selfless family and the adventurous, unrestrained future she longs for. She shocks everyone by exchanging the drab gray robes of Abnegation for the piercing and tattoo stylings of Dauntless. What follows is a contest, where only the top 10 initiates are accepted into the final group. This is another Young Adult novel that is also for Adults. Roth tells a riveting and complex story with well-developed characters. It is an unpredictable journey that will hold you to the very end and leave you wanting to check out the second in the trilogy, which is the book, Insurgent.

I have read both trilogies, Hunger Games and Divergent and thoroughly enjoyed both. These books are filled with suspense and action packed. After reading Divergent, you may even want to speculate as to which faction you would be born into and which faction you would choose.

Submitted by: Cecelia Ruegsegger

eLibraryNJ has a New Website!

          The Matawan-Aberdeen Public Library is pleased to announce that eLibraryNJ has launched their new website! Intuitively redesigned from the ground up, eLibraryNJ has never made it easier to borrow your favorite eBooks and Audiobooks. Choose from a massive selection of titles, and download them right to your Amazon Kindle, Nook by Barnes & Noble, iPad, or Android Tablet. Best of all, every one of the thousands of titles offered are completely free of charge.

          eLibraryNJ’s new website comes loaded with new features. Users can now borrow digital eBooks and Audiobooks, and read or listen to them directly in a web browser—with no eReader needed! Other features include easier-to-use advanced search, overhauled title filtering, and bookmarking/wish lists—so finding your favorite title is a snap. If you are using Internet Explorer, you may be prompted to install the Google Chrome Frame Plugin, to allow the site to behave properly. Fortunately this plugin is free, and can be installed in minutes.

          To take advantage of all of these wonderful features and more, simply type in http://www.lmxac.org/mata/pages/resources.html in a web browser, click on the eLibraryNJ link, choose a title, click Borrow, then Read (In your browser), and begin reading from a remarkable selection of eBooks that our library has to offer. For assistance on reading eBooks and listening to Audiobooks on your mobile eReader/tablet device, feel free to stop by our eReader Hour held between 2:00pm and 3:00pm every Saturday. Happy Reading!

By Skyler Lutz

Book review: Some Kind of Fairy Tale

Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce

Genre:  Psychological fiction, Urban fantasy fiction

When 16 year old Tara Martin suddenly goes missing, her parents begin to fear the worst for her survival and believe that her boyfriend, Richie, has something to do with her disappearance. As years begin to pass, the Martin's begin to move on, but Richie is physically and emotionally hurt from the outcome of being blamed for her disappearance.

20 years later on Christmas Eve, Tara turns up on her parents doorstep looking as if she barely aged, and telling them that she was traveling the world for 20 years and finally decided to come back. However, when her brother Peter, now an older man in his 40's, married with four kids finds out his missing sister is back, he is less than reluctant to believe her story. As they dig deeper into Tara's explanation, she begins to reveal where she was for 20 years, even though she believes she was only gone for 6 months.

This was a great psychological drama and it really deals with the question, "How can you prove to your family and friends that you're not crazy?" I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a book with depth and character. I really felt for Tara as she was trying to fit back into the reality she left. 

This book review was written by Library Assistant, Dennis Kuhn

HeritageQuest Online

Calling all genealogy enthusiasts - this one’s for you!  Trace your family’s journey through history by searching U.S. federal census records from 1790-1940, Revolutionary War Era Pension & Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, and Freedman’s Bank records with HeritageQuest.  Over 28,000 family and local histories and over 2.3 million genealogy articles are also included in this database, which is the perfect place to start or continue your exploration into your family’s roots.  For searching tips and helpful hints, as well as the opportunity to meet others interested in uncovering their ancestry, consider joining the Genealogy Club, which meets the first Thursday evening of every month. Email club leaders Diane Oliver and Barbara Plock at barbanddiane@yahoo.com  for more information.

This blog post was written by Rutgers University graduate student, Liz Ryan.

January 2013 book review

Beginning this month we are going to post reviews of books we've read and would like to recommend to you.  We in the Adult Services department read a variety of different genres so you'll see posts from all of us for the latest bestsellers, science fiction, nonfiction, and anything else that captures our attention. Enjoy!

Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan

Do you recall novelist Ian McEwan’s haunting Atonement?  There are plenty of us that have been chomping at the bit for Ian to pen another historical novel with a strong female lead. This time it’s in the seventies.  Ooh, how groovy.  And, it’s about the morally gray world of MI5... and reading!  

Our heroine, Serena Frome, is a Cambridge mathematics graduate and a lover of books. She devours everything from pulp fiction to classic literature.  Nearing her graduation, Serena falls for an older, wiser man. Based on her degree, intelligence, and book knowledge, he decides her career destiny lies in the mysterious world of the British spy agency.  Are you hooked now? 

McEwan accompanies us into the bygone decade so fluently you don’t miss the present at all.  The intrigue mounts as Serena is assigned to “Sweet Tooth,” a program to secretly fund left-wing, anti-communist writers, in an effort to do combat on the cultural front of the Cold War.  

Serena is asked to evaluate the handsome Tom Haley, and then to fund him via a front organization.  Haley’s stories are Chekhovian and gothic. They are summarized in detail, sometimes directly quoted.  This allows McEwan to entertain us with a remarkable collection of short stories within the book! What a novel idea!

Here’s where the Booker Prize-winning novelist shows his masterpiece: Serena is captivated by Tom not only by his words on paper but by the man himself.  They have an affair, and she struggles hour by hour whether or not to reveal her true identity.  

I highly recommend Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan.  A tasty book that’s a real treat for the senses.

Review by Susie B.