Melanie's Suggestions

Sarah: The Life of Sarah Bernhardt

by Robert Gottlieb

256 pages (HARDCOVER)

Synopsis: Gottlieb launches Yale’s Jewish Lives series with a digestible account of the life and times of the “Divine Sarah.” Although much has been already been written about Sarah, most of it has been embellished—the imaginative actress herself was not above creatively reworking or entirely fabricating episodes from her own life. What Gottlieb attempts, and mostly succeeds in doing, is separating the legend from the reality. When he is unable to do so definitively, he grounds each scenario in whatever historical evidence or plausible data does exist, allowing readers to draw their own educated conclusions. Where this biography truly shines, however, is in the mini-portraits of the people who played significant roles in Sarah’s saga; family, friends, colleagues, rivals, admirers, detractors, and lovers are vividly brought to life. The result: one of the greatest actresses of all time stars in the story of her life, surrounded by an extraordinary cast of supporting characters.

Falling Home

by Karen White

464 pages

Synopsis: Cassie Madison has it all: a high-powered advertising career, a stylish Manhattan apartment, and a sophisticated, rich, and gorgeous fiance. It's a far cry from her childhood in Walton, Georgia, home of the annual Kudzu Festival and hot, sticky summers. And then there are all the bad memories, the heartache. When Cassie's estranged sister calls to say that her father

is dying, Cassie knows it's time to set aside her feelings and go home and face the sister she hasn't seen in 15 years. When her father dies, he leaves the family home to Cassie, who can't wait to get rid of it and get back to New York, her job, and her fiance, even if it means having a developer tear down the house. But something keeps her in Walton, and she doesn't know if it's her mending relationship with her sister; the irresistible, aggravating Sam Parker, who wants her to preserve her house; or the fee

ling of finally being home.

Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Education in Afghanistan and Pakistan

by Greg Mortenson

448 pages

Synopsis: In his latest book, Greg Mortenson hosts the reader as a valuable and welcomed traveling companion as he retraces his steps through the most remote areas of Pakistan's Northwest Frontier areas and the formidable terrain of Afghanistan holding a mirror to our humanity. Mortneson introduces us to his trusted companions, turned employees, of Central Asia Institute, the so-called "Dirty Dozen", who truly embody the virtues of goodwill and perseverance in the name of literacy and, of course, God.

Mortenson's committment to cross-cultural understanding beyond the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan is rivaled only by his determination to educate the under-served girls in the most remote areas of these countries. Stones into Schools is a suspenseful, heart-breaking as it is heart-warming, true account of a life well lived and a people well served. Mortenson is an honor to the human race and a diplomat for world peace. About now, Greg Mortenson would do well to take his own advice and sit for a month under a walnut tree to recuperate.