A Woman in Jerusalem by A. B. Yehoshua
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
Arthur & George by Julian Barnes
Gallatin Canyon by Thomas McGuane
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
Help! The Warren Public Library is suddenly short of circulation desk volunteers. Anyone available? Specifically we need staff for Monday from noon to 2, Fridays from 2-4 and from 4-6, Saturdays from 1-4. Need to be detail oriented, outgoing type. The Friday and Saturday timeslots will probably be temporary, the Monday time is for an indefinite time and we always need someone to fill in spaces on a flexible basis (volunteers do need breaks sometimes). Thanks in advance.
A few reviews–books, DVDs and two audio books:
His Excellency George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis. This biography concentrates on Washington’s character. What did he do and why did he do it? For me, the most interesting part discussed his changing views on slavery and being a slave-owner. Well-written and easy to read.
Murder on the Ballarat Train by Kerry Greenwood. Another fun mystery set in 1920’s Australia. A bit of white-slavery, mesmerism and a very clever murderer, neatly entertwined.
Global Warming: The Signs and the Science (DVD). Are things melting? The “yes they are melting” argument, succinctly covered in 60 minutes of pictures and talking heads.
The End of Suburbia (DVD). Mostly about peak oil, but also includes a brief history of suburbia. Other topics covered: highway expansion, food production, shopping as a way of life and, of course, where do we go from here?
Under Orders by Dick Francis. An excellent mystery which offers a complex plot: Internet gambling schemes, steeplechase races, mayhem, secrets and death at the racetrack. Francis is a master of the genre.
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt (audio cassettes, read by the author). An amazing memoir of an Irish Catholic childhood, painfully funny, sad and joyous. The author’s reading is just beautiful.
Blame it on the Rain: How the Weather has Changed History by Laura Lee. An entertaining, and sometimes depressing book about crucial moments in history where mud, snow, sleet or rain changed the course of human destinies. I was fascinated by the chapters entitled “Gee, it’s Cold in Russia” I-IV. In case anyone hasn’t caught on yet, it is a very bad idea to invade Russia because if the snow doesn’t do you in, the mud definitely will. An easy read.
The Golden Door Cooks Light and Easy: Delicious Recipes from America’s Premier Spa by Chef Michel Stroot. Low-fat gourmet recipes from a fancy spa.
Widdershins by Charles de Lint. Fantasy, by one of the best writers in the genre. In de Lint’s world, the mythical and the legendary are one step away from the regular world, with results that are amusing and frightening and mind-stretching, all at the same time.
Everyman by Philip Roth. A brief book about living and dying and the difficult passage through old age and infirmity that some of us are forced to muddle through. A man reviews his life as he is facing yet another operation. Why has his life turned out this way? Whose fault is it? Thoughtful but not soft-hearted.
The Goodbye Summer by Patricia Gaffney (audio CD). A story about trying to get unstuck from the place you are so you can get stuck somewhere else. A young woman tastes freedom when her grandmother moves into assisted living, but isn’t sure what to do with it. Unfortunately, this edition is abridged, and not altogether successfully. I enjoyed the story, but got lost once or twice because of the cuts. [Note: I almost never buy abridged audio books, but sometimes we do accept donated editions.]
See you at the library!
You are all invited to an Open House at the library to hear all about the proposed move to the Warren
Town Hall. Come by anytime between 5 pm and 8 pm on February 8th—and there will be refreshments along with the information.
I’m still doing a radio program, but it was taking too much of my library time, so I’ve switched to a once a month schedule. I’ll be on the air (WMRW 95.1 FM) from 11 to noon on January 19th to talk about some New York Times notable books.
And here is what I’ve been soaking up over the last couple of weeks:
The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho. So, what do you do if the devil shows up in a small rural town and offers the folks a big heap of money—all they have to do is murder someone? A cautionary tale about temptation, and the fine line between good and evil.
Delivering Justice: All the King’s Men: Picking Up the Pieces (DVD). From the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, describing the help available for victims of mail and Internet scams. We have a set of seven of these DVDs on various types of fraud and scams.
Sugihara: Conspiracy of Kindness (DVD). The amazing story of a Japanese diplomat who wrote thousands of transit visas for Jewish refugees who escaped through Russia to Japan. Although the Japanese were allies of the Germans, they refused to cooperate in the murder of Jews and all of the refugees survived the war. An aspect of the Japanese role in World War II that was completely new to me and quite interesting.
Warriors’ Women by Dorothy Tod (DVD). Documentary about Vietnam vets and their wives. Sadly relevant, as a new group of vets are coming home from another war and some of them will probably have similar problems.
Personal Training with Chris Freytag: Create Your Own Customized Workout from Prevention Fitness Systems (DVD). One of several exercise videos we own. This one offers different exercise sequences for particular goals and includes beginner’s level movements on the trickier exercises.
Indiscretion by Jude Morgan. Costume drama about a young woman with a feckless, optimistic father, so she takes a job as a companion. Well-written, cleverly plotted and entertaining, for those who like romantic historical novels.
Nathalie Dupree Cooks Quick Meals for Busy Days. I’ve been feeling guilty that I never review cookbooks, so I tried…but it didn’t work out. I am incapable of following a recipe as written, so how can I comment on the quality of the recipes since I didn’t actually follow them? Seems like a pretty good cookbook for people in a hurry—is the best I can come up with. We do have a good cookbook section (don’t forget to also look in the New Books area) and three excellent cooks’ magazines, Bon Appetit, Cooking Light and Eating Well.
The Cinderella Pact by Sarah Strohmeyer. For everyone who has ever felt that they do not deserve to be loved and appreciated…because they are fat. A fun novel with a bitter twist from the author of the Bubbles books.
The Exonerated (DVD). Originally performed on stage and transformed into a compelling movie. True stories of six people who were convicted of murder, condemned to death and then exonerated after many years on death row.
Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations…One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. True story of a mountain climber who found his true vocation in building co-ed schools in the remotest areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Inspiring and fascinating.
The Devil in the Junior League by Linda Francis Lee. Frede Ware had a perfect life…until her husband left her, stole her money AND threatened her social position in the Junior League. The ups and downs of rich women inTexas. Funny and silly (and made me very glad I live in Vermont and not that other place).
See you at the library!
Are you someone who likes to plan ahead…way ahead? The library needs some volunteers to help us with our next long-range plan, which will cover 2008-2012. The plan will need to be developed during 2007 and will require some of everyone’s favorite social activity: meetings. Give me a call at 496-3913 if you are interested. We would also benefit from a volunteer with a very flexible schedule to fill in when volunteers and staff are away on vacation. Thanks!
My reading (and viewing and listening) has been very diverse indeed. Here is a partial selection.
The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld. This historical mystery includes Freud, Jung and Ferenczi as characters and a young woman named Nora who is almost murdered by a serial killer…and loses her voice and her memory. Twisty, amusing and filled with interesting ideas about truth and analysis.
To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight by James Tobin (audio CD, abridged). How did the Wright Brothers do it? This book tells the amazing story of their meticulous labors as designers and experimenters, along the sad stories of all the other odd characters who were trying to get off the ground at the same time, but failed.
English, August: An Indian Story by Upamanyu Chatterjee. A delightfully odd novel, written in English by an Indian. A view of India that no tourist will ever encounter. The main character, Agastya, heads off to a town called Madna in a remote part of India, where he will train as a civil servant in the Indian Administrative Service. He avoids work, smokes pot, reads Marcus Aurelius, and contemplates the ceiling of his room. Funny, sad, bitter and warm, a book about the pains of facing adulthood and “real” life.
In the Land of the Wild Onion: Travels Along Vermont’s Winooski River by Charles Fish. The best book I’ve read this year. Fluent, thoughtful, deep, amusing, complex, wide-ranging and with a solid sense of place, this book will tell you a lot about Vermont, its history, people, flora, fauna, geology, character. Highly recommended!
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Do you miss the old-fashioned novel, filled with awful family secrets, dark passageways, quirky mysteries, and lots and lots of literary references? This book will hit the spot, dead on.
A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon. This delightfully vertiginous novel from the author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, drops the reader into the middle of several interlocking crises in the life of a middling British family. Amusing and painful at the same time.
The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt (audio CD or book). Meet Venice, an ancient city with some modern problems: pollution, politics, ambition, deception and disaster. The author spent years interviewing Venetians about their city, their lives and their history, centering his tale around the burning and rebuilding of the famous Fenice Opera House.
Through a Glass Darkly by Donna Leon (audio cassettes). Police procedural, set in modern
Venice, which takes a cynical view of modern Italian politics and government. Entertaining, with lots of twists and turns in the plot, plus a quick tour of the Venetian glassmaking industry on the island of
Murano.
Radical Prunings: A Novel of Officious Advice from the Contessa of Compost by Bonnie Thomas Abbott. Actually a novel written entirely in the form of gardening advice columns, including answers to questions from readers and a lot of odd information about the main character’s life, household and ex-husband. Funny. Probably even funnier for readers who know something about gardening which I, alas, do not.
This weeks column is by our children’s librarian, Clare Duplace.
The Red Clover Books are incredible this year so I thought I would review a few of them, and introduce you all to some very good children’s books.
The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster and Chris Raschka. This is the first picture book written by Norton Juster, who is famous as the author of The Phantom Tollbooth, which I read as a kid. This is a beautiful story about a child and her connection to the window at her grandparent’s house where she frequently visits. As the book progresses, though, we see that there is a deeper sense of connection between the child and her grandparents, which makes it a great read for the family. Told from the voice of the child, the story explores what goes on when she visits her grandparents, and how magical an ordinary thing such as a window can be. The illustrations are a beautiful fit to the story, with bold colors and sweeping marks across the pages. What a wonderful time to read this book, with the holidays coming up and families getting together. It will make both children, and adults remember the value of imagination, and how contagious it can be.
Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth. I absolutely love this book! The story of a panda named Stillwater who lives near three children, and tells them the most amazing stories. The three stories presented in the book are classic Zen stories, and bring a feeling of “enlightenment and love.” The watercolor pictures are beautiful, and show the bond the panda makes with each child. I think it is important when children’s books present perspectives from other cultures, and in doing so help us to remember the simplicity and humbleness life holds. At the end of the story, the author takes time to talk about what Zen means and where the stories came from, explaining that he wanted to find stories that would be a good fit for younger children. This is a great read and an introduction to children’s stories from other cultures. Enjoy!
If You Decide to Go to the Moon by Faith Mcnulty and Steven Kellogg. We all know the magical illustrations of Steven Kellogg, with books such as The Mysterious Tadpole, and The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash. I was blown away by the beautiful illustrations in this book, along with a story of a trip to the moon and what it would really be like. I appreciate the author for shedding light on all that goes into a trip into space, including both facts and real life events. This is a great way to combine the dream a lot of children have about space, with fun educational material about how space flight actually works. The idea towards the end of the story is especially moving in today’s world, a reminder about how precious life is and the challenges of sustainability for our planet. The wonderful illustrations also support these themes.
Carmine: A Little More Red by Melissa Sweet. Not only is this book a Red Clover book this year, but it also received the Best Illustrated Children’s Book Award by the New York Times Book Review, and, I can see why it received such acclaim. This retelling of the classic Little Red Riding Hood, isn’t boring or repetitive. It keeps the reader guessing until the very end, with wonderfully drawn illustrations. I was happy to see that within the story, the author also made a point of working with the alphabet, which is helpful for children learning to recognize letters and words. The almost real-life illustrations and commentary with the characters make it a very humorous story, which helps with the retelling of a story about a wolf. The moral towards the end, as well as carmine’s artwork, make it an inspiring read for children.
Roar of a Snore by Marsha Diane Arnold and Pierre Pratt. This story was on the list for the librarian’s materials review session, and I can see why it was picked. Not only is it a funny read, but it incorporates a song like story with rhymes, that make it easy for children to follow along. The topic of the story also makes it a good read for children and families, since we are all humans, and someone we know snores. The story keeps one guessing about what the family will find in the end, and it is worth waiting for. A hilarious, and delightful book!
