Staff Reviews – Whale's Tale Books & Gifts

Staff Picks

Laura’s Picks

Thank you, Jojo Moyes, for giving this funny and positive story to the world! I loved the growth of the characters, the solid female friendships, and the revenge plot. This story was gleefully fun, despite some quite serious topics and situations. The author’s tight and precise writing captured and distinguished each believable character. I could say more, but I’m off to buy some new shoes!

The House of Eve was absolutely a wonderful book. Following the stories of two women, the reader is shown the world in the 1950s, where black and white were separate and not equal, where shades of color mattered, and where a taboo relationship could destroy one’s future. This is only the second novel I have read by Sadeqa Johnson (Yellow Wife was the first), but I will be looking for all her novels now. Move The House of Eve to the top of your TBR shelf now!!

I loved the book. The author created characters who are realistic in their endearing and frustrating traits. Tova is a stoic woman who is grieving the loss of her son years ago and her husband more recently. Cameron is a young man who never knew his father and barely knew his mother before she abandoned him. Marcellus is a Great Pacific Octopus living in an aquarium and with a penchant for sneaking out of his tank. The relationship that develops between these three leads to a sweet and touching story of friendship, mystery and surprises.

In The Measure, everyone on earth gets a box with a string in it that represents how long their life is. The rest of the book explores the issues both personal and societal that go along with that. I loved all the characters, I loved the introspections Erlick expressed and I loved the take-home message. She mostly skipped the “who sent the strings, and how did they get there” questions, which I felt totally appropriate. The only real question I couldn’t answer is, “would I be brave enough to throw my string away without looking?”

Out of all the polar exploration books that I have read, this one and Farthest North are the best. Many of these adventure books can get seriously bogged down in the details: how many caskets of nails did they bring, how many tons of flour, endless detailed daily routines, etc.. This book touches on the details, but then moves on to the real struggles they faced, like procuring food, crew morale, and navigating open waters in a rowboat. Perhaps Endurance is good because the crew faced so many real problems. It is stunning how long they lived on an ice flow during an Antarctic winter, arguably the most inhospitable place on the planet. The amount of physical discomfort they endured is hard to wrap my mind around. Highly recommended for everyone.

Kirstin’s Picks

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

For fans of historical novels, especially maybe one not set during WWII, Elif Shafak offers a book that takes place during the religious and ethnic troubles of 1970s Cyprus. I love how Shafak weaves together humanity, the interconnectedness of nature and generational memory into a sad, yet hopeful tale of love and family.

Bonnie Garmus brings the struggles of Elizabeth Zott, a woman chemist striving to be taken seriously in male-dominated, 1960s California, to light in this poignant, oftentimes frustrating, but consistently funny debut novel. Elizabeth isn’t always likable, but I was always rooting for her.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about this book, but I had an almost permanent smile on my face while reading it. This is the true story of author Chris McDougall and his family’s adjustment to rural Pennsylvania which takes an unexpected turn when they adopt an abused donkey named Sherman. To bring Sherman out of his shell, Chris, and many of the neighbors, teach him to run – a stubborn, scared, out-of-shape donkey – with the ultimate goal of competing in the Leadville burro race. A heart-warming and funny true story with ties to Colorado.

Cynthia’s Picks

The Chronicles of Narnia have given many generations of children a window to worlds of fantasy and imagination.

Millions of babies and toddlers have gone to sleep comforted by a parent or grandparent reading Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon.

Stone Barrington drinks Knob Creek bourbon and always gets the crook (and the good company of the female protagonist).