Game Point

A Necessary Spectacle by Selena Roberts

On September 20, 1973, Billie Jean King defeated aging male former Wimbledon champion Bobby Riggs in a nationally televised match ballyhooed as the "Battle of the Sexes." At the time, it seemed like made-for-television tripe, but there were larger issues at stake, many understood only by King and a handful of supporters. Roberts explores the events leading up to the match as well as the subsequent consequences. Riggs had created a context for the match by proclaiming women players so inferior to men that the best woman couldn't beat an over-the-hill hustler. His first challenge match against Australian Margaret Court, seemed to prove his point as he demolished one of the top-tier female stars. But Court was no Billie Jean. Roberts explores the match in terms of its cultural significance, its impact on Title IX legislation, and the rise of feminism. (Booklist Reviews)

The Rivals by Johnette Howard

For 16 years, Evert and Navratilova faced each other on the tennis court; they met 80 times-and 60 times in finals. Newsday columnist Howard captivatingly tells the story of how these two women came together from disparate worlds and founded a complicated though lasting friendship. Evert, the charming, pony-tailed daughter of a middle-class, all-American family, captured many fans' hearts when she arrived on the scene at 16. Navratilova, on the other hand, exuded seriousness; her determined look and sturdy frame matched her history, a dramatic, heart-wrenching one that involved leaving her family behind in communist Czechoslovakia. Howard shows how Evert and Navratilova's paths slowly merged, until they finally faced each other for the first time in 1973. (Publisher Weekly Reviews)

The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese

Verghese had just taken a teaching position when he met intern David Smith, a former tennis pro who turned to medicine when his athletic career ended. With twice-weekly meetings over a net, a shared profession, and other common interests, the two became good friends. Verghese found in Smith and tennis a refuge from his own failing marriage and general middle-age angst. Just as Verghese began to discover renewed satisfaction in his work, Smith's life became engulfed in turmoil. He had a number of destructive relationships with women, and, a former drug addict, he lapsed back into substance abuse, which left him unable--physically or legally--to continue in medicine. This is a meditation on friendship, its fragile underpinnings, and, sadly, its limits. But it also reveals that through the shared experience of sport, men especially can forge a enduring relationship. (Booklist Starred Review)

Need Another Beach Read?

Looking for another beach read? Stop by our display on the lower level of the library for some quick picks including:

Summer Sisters by Judy Blume: Two women from very different families become inseparable companions during summers on Martha's Vineyard during their coming-of-age years, forging the bonds of a lifelong friendship that weathers growing up, marriage, children, careers, and betrayal.

Something Borrowed by Emily Griffen: Rachel has always been the consummate good girl---until her thirtieth birthday, when, after too many drinks, she ends up in bed with her best friend's fiancé. Although determined to put the one-night fling behind her, Rachel realizes she has genuine feelings for the one guy she should run from. As the wedding nears, Rachel knows she has to make a choice. In doing so, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk all to win true happiness.

Ruby by Anne Hood: Following the tragic death of her husband, Olivia, a grieving New York City milliner, desperately struggles to rebuild her life, until she meets Ruby, a young, pregnant delinquent abandoned by her family, who takes up residence in Olivia's Rhode Island beach house. An unlikely friendship is forged as Olivia nurtures Ruby and her unborn child and experiences the daily challenges presented by a wayward teen, who may or may not teach Olivia how to live again.

A Patron Recommends

In Walking on Water, the fifth entry in the New York Times bestselling Walk series, Richard Paul Evans’s hero Alan Christoffersen must say some painful goodbyes and learn some important lessons as he comes to the end of his cross-country walk to Key West.

After the death of his beloved wife, after the loss of his advertising business to his once-trusted partner, after bankruptcy forced him from his home, Alan's daring cross-country journey—a walk across America, from Seattle to Key West, with only the pack on his back—has taught him lessons about love, forgiveness and, most of all, hope.

Now Alan must again return west to face yet another crisis, one that threatens to upend his world just as he had begun to heal from so much loss, leaving him unsure of whether he can reach the end his journey. It will take the love of a new friend, and the wisdom of an old friend, to help him to finally leave the past behind and find the strength and hope to live again.

New to the Walk Series? Here are the books listed in reading order and available at the library:

1. The Walk

2. Miles to Go

3. The Road to Grace

4. A Step of Faith

Book Review: 'That Part Was True' by Deborah McKinlay

In Deborah McKinlay's charming novel, That Part Was True, Eve Petorth, a long divorced and lonely British woman strikes up a friendship through letters and emails with a successful American author. Jackson Cooper, who is approaching his 50th birthday and has recently divorced for the second time, likes that Eve is straightforward and a foodie. The pen pals offer each other help and support with their relationship dramas before agreeing to finally meet up in Paris.

"A charming and quick read, That Part Was True introduces two innocuous, somewhat lonely, characters who forge an unlikely friendship through mailed letters. The pair's platonic relationship is comforting and reliably innocent, yet their discussion of food and love is wonderfully sensory. The ending is hardly unexpected, but provides a nice wrap-up to this quiet, slice-of-life tale." - Romantic Times Book Reviews

What is Bildungsroman?

A popular label for our blog posts is bildungsromans. What is it you ask? Per the Oxford English Dictionary, bildungsroman is "a novel that has as its main theme the formative years or spiritual education of one person" Origin of the word bildungsroman is German, "bildung" for education and "roman" for novel. Simply put, it is a coming-of-age tale.

Interested in reading one? Check out one of these titles:

• One Tiny Lie by K.A. Tucker: Livie faces a new set of challenges as she navigates freshman year at Princeton, a time involving wild parties and Ashton, the gorgeous rowing team captain. Facing mediocre grades, career aspirations she no longer thinks she can handle, and feelings for Ashton that she shouldn’t have, Livie’s forced to let go of her last promise to her father, and, with it, the only identity she’s ever known. 
• Etched on Me by Jenn Crowell: Faced with an unexpected pregnancy in her 20s, Lesley, who has overcome sexual abuse and a troubled adolescence to become a social services success story, must fight for her unborn daughter when the same team that saved her as a teenager questions whether she is fit to be a mother. 
• Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall: Fleeing her strict grandmother's home in 1963 Mississippi, 9-year-old Starla Claudelle becomes an unlikely companion to an African-American woman at whose side she learns harsh lessons about period segregation and family. 
• Rules for Becoming a Legend by Timothy S. Lane: Destined for a legendary future in the NBA, a young basketball prodigy begins suffering the tragedies that have cursed his family for generations and destroyed his father's sports dreams, a situation that compels him to find a way to break the cycle.
• Pelican Point by Donna Kauffman: Hoping to reconnect with herself after suffering a personal tragedy, Alex McFarland agrees to renovate the Pelican Cove lighthouse and finds herself falling in love instead.

Looking for more bildungsromans? Click the label below or stop by the reference desk on the main floor of the library to speak with a reference librarian.

The Daring Ladies of Lowell

From Kate Alcott, the New York Times bestselling author of The Dressmaker, comes The Daring Ladies of Lowell. Eager for an independent life and a chance to escape from her family's farm, young Alice Barrow moves to the mill city of Lowell, Massachusetts in 1832. Alice takes a job at a cotton mill and although the work is hard and dangerous, she forms strong friendships with her co-workers, especially with Lovey Cornell, a sassy, strong-willed girl who shows Alice the ropes of the mill. Alice finds herself representing the mill workers as their work conditions become increasingly dangerous at the same time she finds herself falling in love with her boss' soon. After Lovey is found strangled to death, a sensational trial follows and Alice must choose between her mill friends and her new love.

"As she did with her debut, The Dressmaker, Alcott draws from dramatic events indelibly etched in history and offers a fresh perspective. The resulting tale is reminiscent of the British television drama series North & South, in that it also explores issues of class and gender and is set primarily on a cotton mill during the same general time period. And like the series, Alcott's work will attract historical romance fans who will be entertained by the antics of the daring ladies who leave everything they know and embrace less-than-ideal conditions to gain their freedom." -Library Journal Reviews

Book Review: The Realm of Last Chances by Steve Yarbrough

Kristin Stevens has no choice but to move to the East Coast with her husband, Cal, after she loses her administrative job in California’s university system.  The move takes a toll on the marriage and introverted Cal withdraws into himself even further, while Kristin, who feels acutely isolated, becomes close with one of their new neighbors, Matt Drinnan.

"Yarbrough has written a deeply intelligent and wildly moving story about the many permutations of love, betrayal and redemption." - Kirkus Reviews

Four Female Friends

If you enjoy stories about the close bonds between female friends, you might want to try the newly released book Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner, in which the lives of four women intertwine around issues of fertility. In a more lighthearted take on the theme of four female friends, Shelf Awareness recommends Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan, in which thirty-something African-American women experience sexual adventures on the path to finding Mr. Right. Amy Tan's classic Joy Luck Club talks about eight Chinese-American women, four mothers and four daughters who, despite age and cultural differences, have more in common than they think. And let's not forget about Louisa May Alcott's classic Little Women, in which four sisters make sacrifices to preserve their family during Civil War-era New England. Commencement, the 2009 debut novel by the author of the current bestseller Maine, also delves into the four female friends theme: over a period of six years Celia, Bree, Sally, and April, who met as college freshmen, experience both happiness and disappointment as they to find fulfilling love relationships, deal with changes within their families, and pursue successful careers.

Got any other suggestions for books on this topic? We welcome your comments!

Book-to-Movie: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Lisa See's riveting work of historical fiction Snow Flower and the Secret Fan tells the story of two best friends in ancient China, following their lives from girlhood to motherhood and old age. They commemorate special moments in their lives on a silk fan, until a miscommunication threatens to tear their friendship apart. The film adaptation, which premieres in movies today, also introduces a second storyline set in modern times. Check out the book that inspired this blockbuster film adaptation! (And don't forget to submit your review to the Summer Reading Club for a chance to win the prize of the week!)

Author Spotlight: Elin Hilderbrand

Although Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library owns multiple copies of Elin Hilderbrand's books, you probably won't find them on the shelf; enthusiastic readers have made sure her books are constantly checked out. Here's what the library's readers' advisory database Novelist has to say about this rising star:

"While Elin Hilderbrand's characters change from novel to novel, her setting remains consistent - the historic island of Nantucket. Using the island as a jumping off point, Hilderbrand's works offer the hallmarks of an ideal summer vacation read: romance, friendship, a beautiful setting, conflict and characters facing personal challenges. While rife with tales of people living privileged lifestyle, Hilderbrand grounds her stories in topics that will feel familiar to all women: love, illness, friendship, and family relationships."

Because each book is a stand-alone story, newcomers can start with any of Hilderbrand's books. Her most recent book, The Island, is also available to Mastics-Moriches-Shirley patrons in large print and on CD.