Library Loot ~ October 19-25

Joy for Beginners ~ Erica Bauermeister, 2011, fiction

At an intimate, festive dinner party in Seattle, six women gather to celebrate their friend Kate's recovery from cancer.  Wineglass in hand, Kate strikes a bargain with them.  To celebrate her new lease on life, she'll do the one thing that's always terrified her:  white-water rafting.  But if she goes, all of them will also do something they always swore they'd never do — and Kate is going to choose their adventures.

I started reading and fell in love with how Kate felt after a year when doctors had been in control of her body.

"Now the medical professionals had declared it hers again, handing it back like an overdue and slightly scuffed library book" (p. 2).

Don't you love that image?  Especially for a library loot post.  I made a list of the friends as they arrived at Kate's house and what they brought to the meal:  Kate herself (green cloth napkins, sour cream and enchiladas with roasted chicken and carmelized onions), Caroline (salad and champagne), Marion (tomatoes from her garden), Sara (cake), Hadley (loaf of bread), Daria (wine).  It made me want to be there with them.

"Daria and Marion were sisters, Sara and Hadley neighbors, Kate and Caroline had met when their children were in preschool..." (p. 5).

And then Ava arrived, late.  Who's Ava?


Undercover ~ by Beth Kephart, 2007, YA fiction

Summary:  High school sophomore Elisa is used to observing while going unnoticed except when classmates ask her to write love notes from them, but a teacher's recognition of her talent, a "client's" desire for her friendship, a love of ice-skating, and her parents' marital problems draw her out of herself.

House of Dance ~ by Beth Kephart, 2008, YA fiction

Summary: During one of her daily visits across town to visit her dying grandfather, fifteen-year-old Rosie discovers a dance studio that helps her find a way to give her grandfather one last gift.

The Heart Is Not a Size ~ by Beth Kephart, 2010, YA fiction

Summary:  Fifteen-year-old Georgia learns a great deal about herself and her troubled best friend, Riley, when they become part of a group of suburban Pennsylvania teenagers who go to Anapra, a squatters' village in the border town of Juarez, Mexico, to undertake a community construction project.

Library Loot is a weekly meme co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.  If you would like to share a list of the loot you brought home from the library, Marg has the Mister Linky this week.