September Book Reviews

Non-Fiction Review by Marjorie Thelen
(Find Marjorie Thelen's books in the catalog or on her website)
 
The Book of Joy – Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu with Doug Abrams, 2016.

Find it the catalog here.

This is an uplifting and inspiring book about two giants in the spiritual community -- Bishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama.  Both are Nobel Prize Laurates. The Dalai Lama is head of the main Tibetan lineage of Buddhism. Tutu was a social rights activist and Anglican Bishop in South Africa. The book asks the question of how to find joy in the face of life’s inevitable hardships. Doug Abrams, writer, journalist, and friend, accompanied Bishop Tutu on a trip to Dharamsala, India to celebrate the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday in April 2015. It was a strenuous journey for the archbishop who was suffering from cancer at the time. He died in 2021. The Bishop and the Dalai Lama had long been great friends. The more delightful part of their friendship was their ability to giggle together, to keep their sense of humor. Dharmsala sits in the Indian foothills of the Himalayas, and it has been the Dalai Lamas’ refuge since he was forced out of Tibet by the Chinese in 1959. Bishop Tutu was a leading force in driving apartheid out of South Africa. Both men have known unbearable hardships, but still retain unspeakable joy. The essence of the book is true joyfulness comes from helping others, the way to change our world is by teaching compassion, and the ultimate source of happiness lies within ourselves. If you need inspiration, read this book.

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Fiction Review (Audiobook) by Cheryl Hancock
(Our Harney County Library Director)

​Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

​Find in the catalog here.

Historical fiction at its best! The reader is fabulous, the story riveting and although it’s a fictional account, it is based entirely on the true story of a woman sniper in the Russian army during World War II. Sometimes called Lady Midnight, other times Lady Death, Lyudmila Pavlichenko was a young single mother who became a sharpshooter so she could also be a father to her son. When Hitler invaded Russia, this young woman joined the army, became a sniper and began to record kills of the enemy, eventually totaling over 300. This fascinating story is full of family and friends, bravery, heartbreak and heroism and narrated perfectly by an extraordinary reader – I highly recommend it! 

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