Karen’s Book Shelf

January (2017) Books – The following materials can be found in your local library!

As many of you know, I try to alternate fiction and non-fiction books.  I am always looking for new ways to stimulate my mind and not get caught up in the fiction world.  Not that a really good fiction book can’t be stimulating, but if I didn’t restrict myself- that would be all I would read! 

As a Media Specialist by trade, I enjoy all forms of media. I especially like Art films and really enjoy ones that have won awards from the Tribeca Film Festival.  This film won a special Jury Prize.

Stand Clear of the Closing Doors, DVD 99 minutes. 2013 👍

Ricky is a 13-year-old autistic boy who decides to run away.  His failure to return home from school puts his undocumented mother into a tailspin. Ricky’s mother, Mariana, begins an extensive search of the city.  We see Ricky wondering the streets of New York and finally ending up on the subway.  He spends many days trapped in the subway. He’s hungry, thirsty, and scared.  He doesn’t know enough to ask for help. No one offers to help him. In fact, some punk kids push him around and tell him he smells.  All the while, his mother is going out of her mind.  She has to be careful not to draw too much attention to herself and her family because they are here illegally from Mexico.

This is such a good story depicting what it must be like to have autism and be lost in a big city where no one really cares or offers much help-people rushing around too busy to notice. The sights and sounds of New York are exactly what I remember. One critic mentions that this movie should be put into a time capsule so future generations can see what New York’s subway system was like.  This movie stays with you.

I would pair this movie with the book Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer.  Bauer’s story is about a medical student with Aspergers who is fascinated with death.  Pairing books with movies is a great way to connect with book club members. 

This family has lots of baggage.  Possibly growing up impoverished has something to do with it.  Possibly the lack of communication and the lack of showing compassion toward one another, has something to do with it. Page 118 reveals a heartbreaking story involving her brother and her father. What happens to her brother would break anyone. Throughout the story, Lucy exposes intimate details that help the reader understand the choices she has made.
Elizabeth Stout delivers a revealing depiction of a troubled family dealing with issues that many readers will be able to relate to.  




Under the Harrow written by Flynn Barry.👍 

Another title similar to Girl on the Train and definitely full of suspense!  As the weekend approaches, Nora can’t wait to leave the busy city and travel by train to her sister in the countryside.  She is looking forward to spending down time drinking wine, cooking, relaxing.  When she arrives at the house, she throws open the door and expecting to hear her sister yell, “Get in here and help me”, she instead is met with a distinct quiet and a disturbing smell. What is that smell and where is my sister?

You need to read the rest to find out what happens to Nora.  This book is a page turner and Flynn Berry is a great story teller.  You will not be disappointed. I look forward to more stories by this author.