Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

If you're looking for a light, quick, satisfying read to cap off your summer, you will enjoy devouring Fingersmith. Set in England in the Victorian age, this somewhat gothic historical novel boasts a delightfully twisting plot and a solid cast of memorable characters. This was a hard-to-put-down book that I tore through in a couple of days.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3503.R167 A6 1990
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Chris Rynd, Senior Writer, University Advancement
Rating: Highly Recommended

The Vintage Bradbury by Ray Bradbury

This is a great collection of short stories by Orange County's own author of fantasy and “speculative fiction,” though some of my favorites, like All Summer in a Day, are omitted. I cut my teeth on collections like R is for Rocket and S is for Space as a youngster and enjoyed these stories just as much as an adult. Bradbury has his own style and every line is rich with imagination, vitality and wonder.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3503.R167 A6 1990
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Chris Rynd, Senior Writer, University Advancement
Rating: Recommended

Fury by Salman Rushdie

Although this short novel is far from his best work, it's a nice showcase for everything that Rushdie does best. Densely layered with cultural, political and literary references and double entendres, Fury is a hilarious, farcical, intellectual romp. On the skewer this time are American society in the first years of the 21st century, academe, the Internet generation and gender politics to name just a few.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR6068.U757 F87 2006
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Chris Rynd, Senior Writer, University Advancement
Rating: Recommended

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

Whether you're an avid reader of graphic novels or are looking for a good one as your foray into this genre, Alison Bechdel's Fun Home is for you! Her book has all the essential elements of an exemplary graphic novel: good writing, captivating artwork, and a highly engaging storyline. The author's depiction of her family life, especially the relationship she shared with her dad, is candid, touching, and outright hysterical. This is truly one of my favorite graphic novels of all time.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PN6727.B3757 Z46 2007
1st Floor Graphic Novels Collection
Review submitted by: Annie Knight, Coordinator of Brandman Library Services, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Balzac by Edgar Saltus

This engaging volume was an entertaining introduction to Balzac, whom I had always imagined to be a snobbish academic (I have never actually read anything by Balzac). The penultimate chapter was essentially a list of what Saltus identified as Balzac's words of wisdom, the best of which was, "As soon as a misfortune occurs, some friend or other is always ready to tell us, and to run a dagger into our hearts, while expecting us to admire the handle."

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PQ2178 .S3 2010
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Nancy Stenerson Gonzales, Cataloger, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac

The Dharma Bums is a semi-fictional account of two young men that alternates between their outdoor adventures, including their quest for dharma via Zen Buddhism and solitude in nature, and their more bohemian adventures in the San Francisco area, including wild parties and beat poetry readings. While I enjoyed the road trips, hobos, and mountain climbs, as well as examining rural-urban duality, this was a somewhat disappointing introduction to Kerouac for me that left me wanting something more meaningful. Though, I learned about the Asian passion for tea and that "you can't fall off a mountain!"

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3521.E735 D48 1976
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Andrew Tessandori, Cataloging Assistant, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Somewhat Recommended

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Shadow of the Wind is a great story, full of mystery, that strengthened my love for reading. At its foundation, it's a book about the value of books, about their influence on each of us as we read and are impacted by them. It highlights the sense of community that any piece of literature can build amongst its readers and the surprising connections that follow. Meaningful and entertaining, it's the perfect combination of what fiction can be!

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PQ6668.U49 S6613 2004
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Justin Koppelman, Program Coordinator, Department of Student & Campus Life
Rating: Highly Recommended

The Autobiography of My Mother by Jamaica Kincaid

Everything I have read by Jamaica Kincaid is rhythmic and repetitive in a hypnotic, intoxicating way. She is amazing. In this novel we meet Xuela Claudette Richardson, whose mother died at the moment she was born. The title is perplexing and definitely open for much interpretation, since Xuela is haunted by her mother's absence, but knows very little about her (which leads to the reader also knowing very little). Kincaid's novel is sensual and richly layered while she examines disturbing and difficult aspects of love, poverty, class, race, and sexuality.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR9275.A583 K5636 1997
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Stacy Russo, Chair of Public Services, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

This is latest in the Stephanie Blum series. She teams up with her fellow bounty hunters, Lulu and Connie, to save their boss from the mob. As always Stephanie is aided by Morelli, her policemen/ boyfriend and Ranger who heads a security company. Mix in some “hobbits” and the result is a fun and fast paced story.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Cathy Elliott, Law Library
Rating: Recommended

Shadow Zone by Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen

Shadow Zone (2010) by Iris Johansen and (her son) Roy Johansen. I have read many of her books, primarily the Eve Duncan forensics series and found them to be quick, entertaining reads a little short on character development. Shadow Zone is the sequel to the Johansens' Silent Thunder (2008), which I have not yet read. Shadow Zone is sort of a downer where expected things more often than not happen: the main character, Hannah Bryson, world-class submarine designer, is reunited with previous love-interest, the enigmatic Russian assassin Nicholas Kirov, each bringing an assortment of baggage which is not particularly intriguing in terms of the plot. There's a lost ancient city of Marinth, submerged in a massive tsunami 4,000 years ago in the Atlantic Ocean and still holding the promise of a secret treasure - well, it's really more like a potential secret weapon. Greedy bad guys and gals; loyal friends and family; and some persistent dolphins round out the cast with a lot of the action taking place under water.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Cheryl Highsmith, Coordinator of Electronic Resources & Serials, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Somewhat Recommended

Mr. Incoul's Misadventure by Edgar Saltus

Edgar Allan Poe meets Edith Wharton in this suspenseful novel of wealthy world-traveling New Yorkers. Is Mr. Incoul a good guy or a bad guy? Is Mrs. Incoul innocent? And what about Lenox Leigh? The description of a Spanish bullfight is especially interesting.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS 2752 .M7 2010
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Nancy Stenerson Gonzales, Cataloger, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

I have been meaning to read Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain since viewing the 2003 film adaptation by Anthony Minghella. I absolutely loved the film, and the novel is even better. Cold Mountain is the beautifully written tale of Inman, a civil war soldier fighting to stay alive so that he can return home, and his love, Ada, and her friend, Ruby, who are desperately fighting their own war trying to keep the farm afloat.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3556.R3599 C6 1998
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Lisa Champ, Gift Recorder, University Advancement
Rating: Highly Recommended

Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer

The current pop-culture vampire story comes to a close in this novel, finally answering, in the wake of realizing how deeply she feels about the shape-shifter Jacob Black, whether Isabella Swan actually “goes vampire”' or not. The story captivates the reader sensorially but especially visually. It also brings to a conclusion not only Edward Cullen's and Jacob Black's relationship with Bella, but also sheds light on a reluctantly formed relationship between Edward and Jacob, due to a new character in the story.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3613.E979 B74 2008
3rd Floor Education Muth Library
Review submitted by: Serena Pascual, Music Library Assistant, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

8 Minutes in the Morning by Jorge Cruise

“A simple way to shed up to 2 pounds a week GUARANTEED” cites the subtitle, which seems a little far-fetched to me, but I thought I'd investigate anyway. If you've never worked-out or haven't for years and are looking to shed extra pounds, the guidance this book lends is a good place to start.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: RA781 .C78 2003
3rd Floor Science & Technology Library
Review submitted by: Serena Pascual, Music Library Assistant, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

Temples of Sound by Jim Cogan

If you like pictures in your books, this is definitely a good read! The book ushers you through a geographical journey into some of the most notorious recording studios from roughly the late 1930s to the 1970s, during some historically noteworthy sessions and pictorial moments. It brings to light the great recording engineers of those days whose names were rarely cited, if at all, in the credits on the end product.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: ML3790 .C64 2003
3rd Floor Music Library
Review submitted by: Serena Pascual, Music Library Assistant, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

This is a marvelous compilation of Edith Wharton's personal correspondences regarding Ethan Frome; the text itself dotted with footnotes that explain term derivations and inspirations; articles on female hysteria and the hardships of working women in early 20th century Boston, and criticisms of the story then and now. Many critics found the author cruel, and the story morbidly somber. I, nevertheless, felt sufficiently removed from the story’s miseries by the narrator, an outsider who evokes empathy with compassion rather than with the sources of its requirement. This left me plenty of space to be mesmerized by the moving descriptions of winter’s wonderland, and the contrast of characters who play across it.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3545.H16 E7 1995
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Tracie Hall, Librarian, Law Library
Rating: Recommended

A Shortcut Through Time by George Johnson

Quantum computing offers the scary potential of a world where our digital bits can no longer be scrambled and protected by means of cryptography (if you're shopping online, you might just as well hand your credit card to the next stranger you pass in the street). Johnson's book covers the basic concepts of quantum computing and provides accessible examples of how a quantum computer could be put to use in code breaking. Although a bit dated—the book was published in 2004—this is an excellent introduction to a revolutionary technology.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: QA76.889 .J647 2004
3rd Floor Science & Technology Library
Review submitted by: Doug Dechow, Coordinator of Reference & Instruction Services, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Postmodernism for Beginners by Jim Powell

When all of the cool kids are sitting in the coffee house musing about "Inception", Baudrillard, and Hyperreality, is your PoMo kung-fu to weak to bring it? Here's your self-study manual to all things postmodern: from Lyotard to Baudrillard, Blade Runner to Neuromancer, Madonna to Barbie. Trippy drawings and coverage of many of the boys in the postmodern band—Foucault, Derrida, Deleuze, and Guattari are all represented—round out this entry-level introduction to postmodern critical theory.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: B831.2 .P696 2007
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Doug Dechow, Coordinator of Reference & Instruction Services, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

Bogeywoman by Jaimy Gordon

Gordon's novel is a coming of age story about a young woman named Ursula (referred to as 'Bogeywoman'), who is trying to come to terms with her lesbian identity in a world that doesn't fully embrace her. Rejection and desperation drive Bogeywoman to self injury and she winds up in a psychiatric hospital where she meets Dr. Zuk, her liberator, lover, and inspiration. Despite the serious subject matter, Gordon is able to weave in humor through her playful and imaginative use of language (e.g. "dream box mechanics" to refer to psychiatrists).

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3557.O668 B64 1999
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Ashley Bloomfield, Program Assistant, Rodgers Center
Rating: Recommended

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis

This is an interesting book about the crash of the stock market in 2008. This book has great character development, but I felt it was a little drawn out in some areas. I wanted to see who won and lost without too many details. Nevertheless, this is an interesting read.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: James McCulloch, Carpenter, Facilities
Rating: Recommended

Clans of the Alphane Moon by Philip K. Dick

Philip K. Dick's sci-fi novel "Clans of the Alphane Moon" poses an interesting query: What would happen to a colony of mentally ill individuals left to fend for themselves on a remote moon? The results are not nearly as disastrous as one might expect. While I enjoyed the first 2/3 of the novel, I found the ending forced and a bit rushed as Dick tried to wrap up numerous loose ends in the last 20 pages.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3554.I3 C5 1980
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Ashley Bloomfield, Program Assistant, Rodgers Center
Rating: Somewhat Recommended

This Body of Death by Elizabeth George

The latest in the Thomas Lynley mystery series doesn't disappoint! After suffering an indescribable grief, D.I. Lynley returns to solve a crime that leads him to uncover past heinous acts that threaten an uncertain present. What makes Elizabeth George a compelling novelist is her probing of character and motivation, with revelations that lead to a satisfying read.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Julie Artman, Chair, Collection Management Division, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Graphic novels are always interesting to me...maybe that's why we like "picture books" so much! It's fun to read a story that has pictures. Although the story is dark (are all graphic novels like that??) everything turns out OK in the end. Reading this book was just plain fun!

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PN6727.R85 C67 2008
1st Floor Graphic Novels Collection
Review submitted by: Kathy Wright, Executive Assistant, Office of the Executive VP & COO
Rating: Highly Recommended

Breathless by Dean Koontz

I think the reason I enjoy reading 99.9% of Mr. Koontz's work is that he takes humble human beings, puts them in situations I know I can't even imagine, then gives the hero/heroine (although their deeds do not always seem "heroic" in the usual sense) the grace to turn a scary situation into something noble. And there's always the dog who loves us and is exasperated by us, by turns. Mr. Koontz is always a great read.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Kathy Wright, Executive Assistant, Office of the Executive VP & COO
Rating: Highly Recommended

Pillars of the Almighty by Ken Follett

I read Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth and found this book in our library. This companion book combines illustrations of beautiful stone work in cathedrals described in Pillars of the Earth with excerpts from the book. Other photos showed the beautiful artwork of cathedrals around the world.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR6056.O45 P552 1994
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Kathy Wright, Executive Assistant, Office of the Executive VP & COO
Rating: Highly Recommended

Noah's Compass by Anne Tyler

Faced with early retirement from a 5th grade teaching position, Liam decides to downsize and moves to a cheaper apartment. On his first night there he is attacked and wakes up in the hospital unable to remember anything from the night before. This is a touching story of a simple man who tries to accept life as it comes and to do his best.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Cathy Elliott, Law Library
Rating: Highly Recommended

Peony in Love by Lisa See

I suppose, if you are familiar with the writings of Lisa See, you already suspect that, Peony in Love isn't an ordinary love story. In fact, if that's what you've come for, you may be tempted to set this book down permanently before you get to the end, but don't. Read it to the end. I don't think you'll regret it.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS 3569 .E3334 P46 2007
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Tracie Hall, Librarian, Law Library
Rating: Recommended

What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool

This very interesting book gives insight into the daily life of all classes in 19th century England. It covers everything from society, etiquette, money, government, the home, food, hygiene and so on. To provide a touchstone for readers, the author uses specific examples from the works of Thackeray, the Brontes, Dickens, Trollope, Hardy, Austen, Eliot, etc. Having read many of the novels Pool utilized, there were parts of this book that almost seemed like a bit of review. The final third provides an extensive glossery of terms used during the 19th century.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR468.S6 P66 1994
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Lisa Champ, Gift Recorder, University Advancement
Rating: Recommended

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Mikael Blomkvist, a financial journalist who is facing jail time, and Lisbeth Salander, a unique and talented young woman, team up to solve a 40 year old mystery. Full of twists and turns, once you start, you won't want to put it down.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PT9876.22.A6933 M3613 2009
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Cathy Elliott, Law Library
Rating: Highly Recommended

Ice Cold: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel by Tess Gerritsen

Ice Cold: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel (2010) by Tess Gerritsen is the latest installment in the series following the lives of Boston-based friends medical examiner Maura Isles and homicide detective Jane Rizzoli, the former a divorcee unhappily dating a priest and the latter a happily married mother. Guess which one goes off to a conference in Wyoming, decides to look for adventure, and then disappears and is presumed dead? Throw in a charismatic cult leader and a whole bunch of bad winter weather, and the plot just continues to thicken. This is a good one with a few intriguing plot twists at the end, one of which might be the setup for the continuing adventures of a newly introduced character.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Cheryl Highsmith, Coordinator of Electronic Resources & Serials, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

206 Bones by Kathy Reichs

Unfortunately, I couldn't get the lively BONES TV show out of my mind when reading the book series for the first time. A dry read as compared to other mystery and crime genre writers like Michael Connelly, Elizabeth George, and even Sue Grafton. Here, forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan awakens in an underground tomb and recounts her own lab mistakes that landed her at the mercy of a serial killer, or has it?

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Julie Artman, Chair, Collection Management Division, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Somewhat Recommended

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig

In this intriguing and culturally/historically significant autobiography, Pirsig and his young son go on a long motorcycle ride (for awhile they are joined by a married couple) and encounter some beautiful things, but they also struggle with their emotions and the natural elements. Along the way, Pirsig reveals the story of Phaedrus (Phaedrus is really Pirsig in his earlier life), a former professor who struggled with mental illness, was placed in a mental hospital, and underwent electric shock therapy. Much of this journey I loved, particularly the emphasis on the wonder of a simple life, but the very long passages on philosophy became increasingly more difficult for me to wade through.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: CT275.P648 A33 1999
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Stacy Russo, Chair of Public Services, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

The Story of My Life by Farah Ahmedi

This is a simply written autobiography by a young Afghan girl. It is a story of extreme loss, several frightening journeys and a new start in the United States. The significant part to me was her plea to her American peers to reach out and befriend students from other cultures who are timid and shy and unsure of how to make the first move.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: HV640.4.U54 A3 2005
2nd Floor Social Science Library
Review submitted by: Diane Gennuso, Student Teaching Advisor, Antelope Valley Campus
Rating: Recommended

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris

David Sedaris will be at Chapman University this coming fall, and several people had recommended When You Are Engulfed in Flames to me in the last couple of years. I especially appreciated the balance between memoir and cultural commentary and also the respect for the essay form, but I don't find it as hilarious as people told me it would be--it's pretty darn serious, even when it's funny. The lengthy piece on quitting smoking is wonderful, probably even more so for readers who've actually accomplished that feat (it gave even me an unexpected craving for a cigarette because the description was so well done).

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3569.E314 W48 2008
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Anna Leahy, Associate Professor, English
Rating: Recommended

Payment in Blood by Elizabeth George

If you're in the mood for what begins as a true drawing room murder mystery, replete with the famous and infamous follies and foibles of a group of theatre pros, then this drama-rama is for you! Egos, infidelities, and the British aristocracy collide into murderous mayhem. Although you may need a family tree and list of characters to sort and track the various intrigues, all becomes nicely focused, clear, and resolved, except, perhaps, for Inspector Thomas Lynley's impassioned proposal to his Lady Helen who may be dating one of the murder suspects...

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3557.E478 P39 1989
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Julie Artman, Chair, Collection Management Division, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended