City Lights Bookstore

I just finished reading Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier (to be published January 2010). I really think this is her best book yet. Maybe the subject matter just appealed more strongly to me, but for whatever reason, it's a book I highly recommend. It is a novel but is based largely on the lives of two women who were fossil hunters in Lyme Regis, England, in the early 19th century. Tho' I think the title is meant to refer to the fossils they found, these two women were remarkable creatures themselves. The younger woman, Mary Anning, was 'of the lower classes' & basically was uneducated (tho' very bright & ultimately very knowledgeable about fossils). Originally, she just hunted fossils to sell to tourists to supplement her family's income. For the older woman, Elizabeth Philpot, who was gentry, fossil hunting was a hobby that grew into an avocation. Their lives coincided with the early days of modern geologic studies, and their work greatly contributed to its foundations. However, because they were living in the era before women were accorded any status, they had to struggle for recognition of their accomplishments. Joyce, Jessica and I have all been hooked by this book -- read the first paragraph or two and see if you can put it down! Margot Wilcox, City Lights Bookstore, Sylva, NC

A delightful book I read a few years ago is If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name. The author, Heather Lende, moved to Alaska with her husband right after they graduated from college; some 25 years later, they're still there. Those of us who appreciate the intimacy of living in a small town and accept its inconveniences will relate to Lende's stories about life in Haines, Alaska, where she writes a social column and obituaries for the weekly paper. The book is a celebration of life; Lende's vivid descriptions of the beautiful natural setting of her town and of the colorful people who live there make it wonderful reading!
- Margot Wilcox

Susan Wittig Albert, author of the popular China Bayles series, is off on a delightful new tack. Her book, The Tale of Hill Top Farm, is a gentle mystery featuring Miss Beatrix Potter, best known perhaps as the author-illustrator of The Tale of Peter Rabbit. The story is just good fun! And if you value a well-told story with a strong sense of place, this book is a must-read. Having recently returned from a trip to the English Lake Country that included a visit to Hill Top Farm, I reveled in Ms. Albert's depiction of the farm, the village and the surrounding countryside, as well as the details of Miss Potter's amazing life.

-- Margot Wilcox

Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains is a compelling read. Through Kidder we meet and get to know Dr. Paul Farmer, a most engaging person, caring physician, a husband and father, medical anthropologist, infectious disease specialist, and tireless warrior for the poor. His life is formed by his belief that 'the only real nation is humanity.' The hospital he has built in Haiti would be an amazing lifetime accomplishment for anyone, but Farmer's boundless energy and passion for serving the underserved have lead him also to Peru, Cuba, and Russia, where he has worked to improve the treatment of drug-resistant TB and AIDS in slums and prisons.

Love in the Driest Season is reporter Neely Tucker's memoir of the years in which he was a foreign correspondent posted to the "Dark Continent". He and his wife began volunteering in a Zimbabwean orphanage that was desperately under-funded and short staffed. The needs of each child were overwhelming, but one day their hearts were lost to a tiny baby girl who had been left in a field to die. They nursed the baby through life-threatening ailments and soon decided that she was meant to be their daughter. The problem: it is unspoken social norm that foreigners are not permitted to adopt Zimbabwean children. Interwoven with this moving story of their determination to adopt Chipo (her name means 'Gift') is an overview of both the political and social history of Africa in the last few years of the 20th century, told through the eyes of the reporter who covered the events. -- Margot Wilcox