Patch Picks: Saline's Top Librarian Recommends 5 Books

We asked Saline District Library Director Leslee Niethammer to recommend five books. She graciously agreed. Here are her picks:

1.  McMurtry, Larry.  Lonesome Dove (1985) — McMurtry’s sense of Western history told from the wry, tongue-in-cheek and droll sense of humor of his characters is a delight to read.  Augustus McCrae and Woodrow F. Call are two crusty veterans of the West who in turn work together and against each other.  This is a Western that every person should read – even if they saw the TV miniseries years ago.

2. Follett, Ken.  The Pillars of the Earth (1989) —  This book was a “labor of love” for spy writer Ken Follett.  12^th century England is the setting for this massive epic of the building of a Gothic cathedral.  25 years later, Follett published the sequel World Without End, to the delight of his followers.

3. Simmons, Dan.  Drood (2009) —  Authors Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens were good friends and frequent literary collaborators in the mid-1800s.  This historical fiction tells the story of Dicken’s train crash accident and Collins’ descent into madness from his constant laudanum habit, from Wilkie’s point of view.  Did Dickens lead a secret life or was Collins going mad?

4. Bradley, Marion Zimmer.  The Mists of Avalon (1982) — This is a cult favorite of the retelling of the Arthurian legend, from the women’s side of the story. The tale begins with Arthur’s mother Igraine, a Priestess in Avalon and concludes with the voice of Morgaine, Arthur’s half sister.  This 875-page story sweeps the reader into an unforgettable world that this reader didn’t want to end!

5.  Jones, Edward P.  The Known World (2003) —  Henry Townsend is a Black farmer, boot-maker and former slave who develops his own plantation in antebellum Virginia.  When he dies and his widow Caledonia takes over, things start falling apart, as it does in the larger world.  This is a window into a world that is now gone, but the ramifications of our slavery system are still felt in today’s world.