Bayou Bytes Blog

Gone Girl Gillian Flynn Gillian Flynn’s third novel, the chilling and compellingly readable Gone Girl, is told from two perspectives, husband and wife Nick Dunne and Amy Elliot Dunne. We are first introduced to Nick Dunne, a man whose wife has just gone missing on a hot July day, a day which also happens to be their fifth wedding anniversary. Nick returns from the bar he owns to find the house in disarray and no Amy. Eerily enough, there is the first clue to her annual anniversary treasure hunt. He calls the police and begins the bizarre chain of events that will change his life and the lives of those around him.  In the next chapter we meet Amy, the happy, full-of-love Amy, the Amy from five years ago. We see Amy and Nick meet and fall in love, kissing for the first time in a cloud of powdered sugar outside of a bakery. As the viewpoint flips back and forth between Nick and Amy and between timelines, a marriage is born and a marriage begins to disintegrate. Flynn th...

Driving Mr. Yogi:  Yogi Berra, Ron Guidry, and Baseball's Greatest Gift Harvey Araton I caught the last few minutes of the Charlie Rose television show which featured an interview of former Yankees baseball pitcher, Ron Guidry, and former Yankees catcher, Yogi Berra. Their discussion about this book made me want to read it.  The love between these two baseball players was evident, and this book defines that relationship.  The devoted care Guidry provided for the elderly Berra during Berra's visits to the Yankees' Spring Training in Florida was appreciated by the Hall of Famer.  Many baseball stories are told, and some will cause chuckles.  The not-so-funny relationship between the New York Yankees Baseball Team owner, George Steinbrenner, and Berra is presented, along with their reconciliation.  Some of Yogi's mentoring accomplishments and Guidry's achievements are acknowledged without a lot of baseball statistics. ...

Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg When the sting of a wasp sends Elner Shimfissle falling out of her fig tree, she is suddenly whisked away to a heaven where squirrels are polka dotted, her deceased sister is annoyed that they had her hair and makeup done wrong for her funeral, and God is willing to answer a few questions she has been wanting the answer to forever. (By the way, the chicken came first.) Believing she has passed on,  Elner's family and friends back home each reminisce about their dear friend and the impact she's had on their lives as they prepare for her funeral. But Elner's time is not up and she is sent back to Elmwood Springs, MO to tell everyone that heaven is your life; in the friends you have and the people you love. For someone who grew up in a small town, Fannie Flagg's novels always feel a bit like coming home. Though her small town may be a little more idyllic than the one you remember. Through each character, Flagg is showin...

Did you miss the Library’s “Community Read Panel Discussion” on Sunday the 9th? The community gathered together to discuss the importance of community, civility and compassion in an effort to find common ground. Don’t worry, you can watch it here!  

Edenbrooke By Julianne Donaldson In Julianne Donaldson's charming debut novel, Marianne Daventry is living with her elderly grandmother after her mother's death and her father's subsequent removal to France. Her elegant, adventurous twin sister Cecily is in London enjoying the Season, while Marianne is slowly languishing in Bath. When Cecily extends an invitation for Marianne to visit her at Edenbrooke, a country estate, Marianne eagerly accepts. During the carriage ride to Edenbrooke, Marianne and her maid are accosted by a highwayman and thus begins Marianne's tumultuous, life-changing visit. She meets a mysterious stranger who may or may not be a gentleman, is pursued by a fortune hunter, learns about love letters, and falls into a lake TWICE. Humorous, romantic, and lighthearted, Donaldson's Regency novel is easy to devour. There are shades of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer in it, though the characters' speech is less formal and the plo...

Title:   My Life in France Author:  Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme This book was my favorite choice from "Blind Date with a Book" which was part of the CPPL Adult Summer Reading Program.  Child's autobiography with the help of her husband's grandnephew is a delightful account of her life with her beloved husband, Paul.  He worked for the United States Information Service which landed them in France in the beginning of their marriage.  Julia's descriptions of acquiring her culinary skills which began in Paris and of living in different countries are filled with humor.  She doesn't hold back in her descriptions of people in her life, of the tasks of writing cookbooks and of demonstrating her cooking skills on television, or of her husband's trials in working for the government.  Paul's interrogation by Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigators is addressed.  Julia's love of life is evident.  This is not a cookbook, but it does give one th...

Look Me in the Eye: My life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison Look Me in the Eye chronicles John Elder Robison's experience growing up with Asperger's Syndrome in a time before anyone knew there was such a condition. As anyone who's read Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs could tell you, John Elder's home life could only exacerbate his status as misfit even more. His father was frequently abusive and his not-all-there mother was increasingly slipping into the control of the dubious psychiatrist Dr. Finch.  Despite being labeled as a misfit and future criminal in his youth, John Elder learns to design and construct sound equipment which eventually leads him to building special effects guitars for KISS. Later on he helps design early electronic games for Milton Bradley. Then, realizing he works better on his own, starts a business repairing expensive cars. Though the events of the book are not told in strict chronological order, John Elder's hi...