Community of Readers

Title The Piano Teacher Author Janice Lee Call Number other Location Other Rating Highly Recommended Book Review Set at the start of WWII when Japan invaded Hong Kong, this story describes life, detention centers, relationships, class, society, bigotry and internment camps. Woven inside was a story line spanning 10 years describing events in 1942 then zooming to 1952 where a newly married British couple, Clair and Martin move to Hong Kong to live and work. The characters are lively and well crafted. Clair slowly realizing the past was not so long ago. She has an affair with another expat, who was formerly interned by the Japanese. Secrets are revealed while shame and humiliation run rampant. Submitted By Annalisa Goode Department or Major Law School Status Staff Chapman Email agoode@chapman.edu

 

Community of Readers

Title Connie: A Memoir Author Connie Chung Call Number N/A Location Other Rating Highly Recommended Book Review Connie Chung was a monolith to little Asian girls everywhere who grew up Gen X and Millennial. She was the first major news network Asian American woman and paved the way for journalists like Lisa Ling. It was fascinating to read about her parents' immigration story an family's life back in China. She was unapologetic about her career ambitions and still managed to make time for her son and her husband, Maury Povich. Yes, that Maury, who actually was a reputable journalist and news anchor in his own right before he went into his TV hosting career. Submitted By Annie Tang Department or Major Library Status Staff Chapman Email awtang@chapman.edu

 

Community of Readers Title As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride Author Cary Elwes Call Number N/A Location Other Rating Highly Recommended Book Review If you're a huge Princess Bride fan, this book is for you. I highly recommend listening to the audio version, as Elwes got the majority of the cast to speak their anecdotal memories in the book. Elwes is also a master at impersonations and does justice for those who couldn't record. Even Rob Reiner, may he rest in peace, spoke in the audiobook. Submitted By Annie Tang Department or Major Library Status Staff Chapman Email awtang@chapman.edu

 

Community of Readers Title Oh, William! Author Elizabeth Strout Call Number other Location Other Rating Highly Recommended Book Review Strout writes wonderfully compelling characters, readers want to reach in and be of service to them. Guilt, love, betrayal, grief....she writes situations for these and many more emotional interactions, not in a vacuum, but with purpose. William is one of many flawed characters in this story who love too much, ignore too much, whine too much in his love life, work life, and his home life. Alone again after two wives left him, he is gifted an account with Ancestry.com and finds he has a sister in Maine. It does not go well. I enjoyed this story and the deep human ties linking the characters together and of course the resolutions. Submitted By Annalisa Goode Department or Major Law School Status Staff Chapman Email agoode@chapman.edu

 

Community of Readers

Title Star Wars: Revelation Author Karen Traviss Call Number N/A Location Other Rating Recommended Book Review Book 8 of 9. It took 8 books, but the 3 authors finally ventured outside of solely 1-2 characters to explore other characters more. There was story progression with little filler, leading into the final book. I'll save my series summary after the 9th book. Submitted By Carl Privette Department or Major Leatherby Libraries Status Staff Chapman Email privette@chapman.edu

 

Community of Readers

Title Star Wars: Fury Author Aaron Allston Call Number N/A Location Other Rating Somewhat Recommended Book Review Book 7 of 9 in the series. Similar to this author's other 2 books in this series, "Fury" is full of exposition that act more as filler pages than adding significantly to the main plot, which is basically one long rescue attempt. I found myself skimming pages due to the author's repetitive nature. Readers see further character development (or regression) in maybe 2 actors at most.   Submitted By Carl Privette Department or Major Leatherby Libraries Status Staff Chapman Email privette@chapman.edu

 

Community of Readers

Title Blood Bound Author Ellis Hunter Location Other Rating Not Recommended Book Review I think this book could be fun for some people but it really missed the mark for me. Many of the characters were immature despite being mid 20s and the entire thing read like YA. Actually, if you take out the one explicit scene in the book I think this could have been enjoyed more by another audience. The only aspect I liked what the concept of witches and dragons. Overall, fun idea but it would need a serious rewrite to work for me. 2/5 Submitted By Amanda Snow Department or Major Business College Status Staff Chapman Email hasnow@chapman.edu

 

Community of Readers

Title The book of were-wolves: being an account of a terrible superstition Author Sabine Baring-Gould Call Number n/a Location Other Rating Highly Recommended Book Review I was able to get my hands on this book, first published in the 1860s, through Chapman's Interlibrary Loan! It is one of the first and most thorough accounts of werewolves, and it is an interesting history. It has a lot of stories from medieval times, and attempts to cover all animal transformations across all cultures across all time. From Loki turning into a bird to ancient Greek werewolves, the book gives a thorough overview. I wish it had better citations, because there were some stories mentioned that I would love to read up on. It was also an interesting artifact of the author's own ideas, because there is a lot of focus on the religious nature of werewolves, and why people engage in cruelty. Submitted By Laura Neis Department or Major Business College Status Staff Chapman Email lneis@chapman.edu

 

Community of Readers Title The Serviceberry Author Robin Wall Kimmerer Call Number N/A Location Other Rating Highly Recommended Book Review The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World is an essay that covers the ethics of reciprocity in a gift economy vs. a market economy. The author uses the serviceberry as an example of the full cycle of a gift economy and how individuals can participate on their own. It's short, sweet, and something everyone should read to reflect on how they can make a positive impact in their community and in their own lives. Submitted By Caylin Schmenk Department or Major Leatherby Libraries Status Staff Chapman Email schmenk@chapman.edu

 

Community of Readers

Title The Poet Empress Author Shen Tao Location Other Rating Highly Recommended Book Review Dark, anti-romantasy. A fantasy world where poetry can be used as both a blessing and a curse. My favorite of the year so far! Submitted By Julie Johnson Department or Major IS&T Status Staff Chapman Email juliejohnson@chapman.edu

 

Community of Readers Title Mickey7 Author Edward Ashton Call Number n/a Location Other Rating Highly Recommended Book Review This sci-fi novel tells the story of Mickey Barnes, an "expendable" on a colony on a new planet. Mickey's job is to get killed whenever the colony needs someone to test a new medicine or perform a dangerous task, then have a clone with all his memories be re-copied. But a miscommunication leads to there being two copies running around, and how did his previous copies die? This fast paced book was a quick read, and had a lot of jokes I appreciated. Submitted By Laura Neis Department or Major Business College Status Staff Chapman Email lneis@chapman.edu

 

Community of Readers

Title The Count of Monte Cristo Author Alexandre Dumas Call Number PQ2226 .A35 1941   Location 2nd Floor Humanities Rating Highly Recommended Book Review This book is a classic for a reason. While the 1,200+ pages are intimidating, the payoff at the end is worth the extensive build up. Monte Cristo deals with revenge, mortality, happiness, and morality with skilled nuance. If you are even a little petty at times, this book will bring you joy while making you think. Submitted By Amy Telarico Department or Major Leatherby Libraries Status Staff Chapman Email telarico@chapman.edu

 

Community of Readers

Title Star Wars: Sacrifice Author Karen Traviss Rating Somewhat Recommended Book Review Book 5 of the 9-book series. Lots of exposition that leads into an end-of-book plot twist - which I saw coming based a few different types of foreshadowing - that left me upset. Submitted By Carl Privette Department or Major Leatherby Libraries Status Staff Chapman Email privette@chapman.edu