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In praise of the letter….

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I love a fair amount of the things that make up the holiday season…I love candy canes.  I love strings of lights wrapped around tree branches (though, frankly, the blinking ones make me a little uncomfortable, but if that’s your thing, go for it!).  I love how many different holiday are happening all at once, and hearing about everyone’s wonderful, bizarre, utterly unique traditions (my dad reads us A Child’s Christmas In Wales every Christmas Eve.  I love when you find a flicker of common sympathy with a total stranger while you’re waiting for your latte, or when someone holds the door for you, and suddenly the world isn’t such a horrible place anymore.  I have been known to start dancing to the holiday music while waiting in line–and I love the people who dance with me.

But most of all, of all the things, I LOVE HOLIDAY CARDS.

Like, the ones in the mail.  The ones with stamps.  That people use a pen or a pencil to write out.  Ones with glitter and snowmen on the front, or the weird, bookish ones, or the ones with pictures of people’s families standing in front of a picturesque sunset mountainscape.  I don’t care.  I love cards.  I tape them up around the kitchen doorway and they are the last part of the holidays that I take down again.

mary-oliver-snow-cardThis is not a plug to get holiday cards, don’t worry.  But it is a passionate plea for the letter, for the written expression of human feeling.  For the tangible expression of human interaction that can be read years and years later…and thereby, make us immortal.

And then, today, the internet bestowed upon me a recording of the near-perfet Tom Hiddleston reading a letter from naturalist and zoologist Gerald Durrell, author of My Family and Other Animals, to fellow naturalist and zoologist Lee McGeorge, before their wedding in 1979.  Brought to you courtesy of the people who brought you Letters of Note:

 

(http://letterslive.com/letter/all-this-i-did-without-you/)

*Passes round the tissues*

And now since nothing I will write here can top that, I thought I’d offer you a few recommendations of works that feature letters.  Maybe they’ll inspire you to send some of your own?  Or maybe to cherish those than find their way into your mailbox…even if Tom Hiddleston isn’t there to read them to you…..

3560371Letters of Note: We’ve quoted from this site a few times in the past, and with good reason.  The letters featured show the beautifully human side of some of the great names in history, from responses to fans and letters to editors to notes to their children and missives to librarians.  This book is the first collection of letters to be published in tangible form, and makes for some sensational reading.  I think my favorite is “Things to worry about”, from F. Scott Fitzgerald to his daughter Scottie, but I hope you’ll soon find your own!

3486864Eugene Onegin: True story–the first time I read this book, I missed my stop on the bus and was only alerted to said fact when the bus driver got up and asked me to leave so he could go eat dinner.  Pushkin’s masterpiece is a stunningly beautiful, surprisingly funny, insightful and remarkably accessible story about human beings and love, and the mistakes that we make on the spur of the moment.  The foundation of the work are two love letters, one from the young and naive Tatiana to Onegin, and one from him to her, but the circumstances surrounding the writing of both couldn’t be more different.  For more information, you’ll have to read this yourself.

downloadThe Documents in the Case: Though Dorothy L. Sayers is best known for her mysteries featuring the marvelous Lord Peter Wimsey, she also wrote this cunning little epistolary novel with Robert Eustace (the pen name of Dr Eustace Barton, who wrote medical-mysteries).  This mystery is a fascinating blend of art and science, about tiny little slips of the pen, and grand theories of life all contained in the letters between Mrs. Harrison, the young, lovely, and somewhat silly young women, and Lathom, the artist with whom she carries on an affair…but as many of the letters contradict each other, it’s up to the read to decide which of these characters to trust…

1368226The Color Purple: Alice Walker’s award winning novel of two Black sisters is not an easy read, mostly because Walker doesn’t shy away for a moment from the realities of being Black, being a woman, and being poor in the South.  But her insight and empathy are so overwhelming that it makes this book a thing of beauty.  This tale of two sisters is told almost exclusively through letters between two sisters, one of whom is a missionary in Africa, and one of whom is the young bride of a man who cannot love her.  This book is a constant reminder of the power of words, and the strength of those words to define our lives.

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The Romance Garden!

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It’s that time, once again, patrons, when our library’s genre devotees share with you their favorite romance selections for the month.  Especially with the days grow shorter and the skies bleaker, romances feel more and more like the perfect antidote to these increasingly stressful days.   So here are some of our favorites to brighten your days, and make your heart sing!

Bridget:

3706563Confucius Jane by Katie Lynch

This book crossed my path wholly by happenstance, but swiftly became one of those books that makes you want to tap the shoulder of random strangers and tell them they look grumpy and should read this book.  Katie Lynch has a real gift for creating atmosphere and capturing the utter inanities and oddities that make families real and whole, and tells this story with genuine empathy and insight that makes it as touching as it is quirky and fun.

Jane Morrow has taken an extended leave from college and is helping out at her uncle’s fortune cookie factory, writing out words of inspiration and hope for all the people who walk by her window–but she can’t seem to dream up any insight for her own dead-end life.  She’s surrounded by family, and supported by the close-knit community in her Chinatown home, but nevertheless, she knows something big is missing.

…That is, until she sets eyes on Sutton St. James, who hides out most days in the noodle shop across the street from Jane’s apartment.  Sutton is torn between her professional dreams of conducting stem cell research and her personal ties to her father–a former surgeon general who is dead-set against stem cell work of any kind.  Confused and feeling increasingly lost, Sutton finds a home-away-from-home in the noodle shop.  And when Jane and her incredibly precocious cousin come charging into her life, Sutton and Jane both begin to realize just what they have both needed–but will Sutton’s powerful connections threaten the family that Jane and Sutton dream of making together?

Though this is definitely a love story, there are lots of different kinds of love here–the romantic kind, the familial kind, the kind that holds you down and the kind that can set you free.  Jane’s journey with Sutton is definitely not like any I’ve read before, but that is a marvelous thing.  It’s past time that we had stories that feature such diverse characters and identities, but Katie Lynch’s work definitely goes a long way to making up for lost time.

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Kelley:

3653281When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare

When painfully shy Madeline Gracechurch invents a conveniently absent Scottish beau in order to avoid the cutthroat marriage market of London society, she never expects that years later the man of her imaginings will turn up on the doorstep of her newly inherited castle.  The latest in Tessa Dare’s Castles Ever After series brings together a hero with a life overshadowed by abandonment, and a heroine so trapped in a web of self-protective lies that she will go to almost any length to avoid the revelation of the truth. But will she marry Captain Logan MacKenzie, a complete stranger, just to keep up appearances? And if she does will she find love?

With When a Scot Ties the Knot, Tessa Dare delivers a romance that is just as sweet as it is passionate. It’s easy to care about the story’s vulnerable main characters, and the ways in which they strengthen each other are equal parts charming, funny and heart-warming. This is a romance novel, so it’s almost a given to expect a happy ending, but the real treat of Tessa Dare’s latest is that it’s a feel-good story all-around. From cover to cover, When a Scot Ties the Knot is a delight to read, so grab a cup of tea, park yourself in your most comfortable chair, and don’t plan to get up until the last page is turned. I’ll just say, “You’re welcome” now because you’ll want to thank me for this enthusiastic recommendation later.

 

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Saturdays @ the South: Holiday Entertaining Help

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Anyone who knows me will tell you that I love to cook and bake and those who have been to my house can tell you how much smaller it looks when it’s packed to the rafters with Christmas decorations. For me, the holidays are an exciting and fun, albeit busy, time. (Please keep reading; I promise you’ll find reasons not to hate me in this post.) I know this isn’t the case for everyone. For some, the holidays are a stressful experience with pressure to present your “best self” to family, friends, acquaintances and, sometimes even total strangers. Holiday entertaining can be a big part of that. Whether you’re trying to find the perfect dish to bring to someone’s house, you’re putting something together for people coming to you, or making sure the house is appropriately festive, it can be stressful prepping for a holiday celebration.

Over the years, I’ve amassed a few tricks that have helped me cope with the extra demands the holidays add, so in the spirit of giving synonymous with the holidays and with the spirit of sharing resources, synonymous with libraries, I thought I’d share a few tips with you here. DISCLAIMER: I am not Martha Stewart, Ina Garten or any other household maven with unlimited space and resources; therefore, these tips haven’t been tested and re-tested by teams of staff. They’re what’s worked for me in the past and hopefully will be able to help you in the future, but they’re not set in stone. Take them or adapt them to your individual needs as you see fit.

Start Early

You may be saying “it’s a little late for that now,”  but it’s still fairly early in the holiday season and people (both shoppers and sales clerks) haven’t yet reached their tolerance limit for holiday cheer. This is also a great time to pull together recipes that you’ll be needing for your celebrations and make shopping lists to minimize the last-minute runs for eggs or pumpkin.

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So many choices, so little time…

Cookie Dough Refrigerates and Freezes Beautifully!

If, like it does for me, the holidays mean trays and trays of cookies, know that you don’t have to spend an entire day making batch after batch. I’ve yet to meet a cookie dough that doesn’t freeze exceptionally well. Start small and make one or two batches of dough at a time. If the dough calls for refrigeration (you know the instructions: refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight), who says you have to stop at overnight? If your dough needs chilling, make it and leave it (well covered) in the fridge for a few days. Or, put it in the freezer for  weeks and  your dough will be ready when you’re ready to bake, not the other way around.

Take Stock of What’s Important to You

Aside from wrapping paper, I don’t fancify the gifts I give. My cat thinks ribbons and other “present garnish” are delicious, so I decided it’s not worth the time and effort to make gifts extra-pretty only to have to shoo my kitty away from the tree for nearly a month.  I channel that time into baking, instead. A long time ago, my mom changed Christmas dinner to a make-ahead and bake-on-the-day lasagna, instead of a big, fancy meal. She realized that what was important was time to open gifts and focus on the desserts (see above re: lots and lots of cookies) without being rushed or pulled away to make the food. When it comes to easing holiday stress, decide what will make the best memories for your holiday and focus on that.  As long as you keep your focus on the important stuff, the smaller stresses of the holiday tend to seem like less of a big deal.

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Caffeine helps, too…

For more hints on holiday entertaining by people who are definitely more qualified than I am, givethese selections a try:

2366080The Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook

Let’s not kid ourselves here. Whatever you may think of Martha Stewart, she’s had the market cornered on holiday entertaining for some time now. This book is comprehensive but well organized with recipes organized by course, plus a menu guide, an extensive array of full-color photos to give you an idea of how the food should look and a source guide for where to find some of the somewhat more obscure items (though I think more of the items are readily available since this book was first published).

3699284The Year of Cozy by Adrianna Adarme

This book is arranged seasonally throughout the year and as such only has a small section on the holidays, but those small sections are worth exploring. Taking more of a “whole life” approach, rather than focusing on individual tasks, Adarme offers tips that are unusual in the “I never would have thought of that; what a cool idea!” kind of way, helping to make your holiday contributions stand out and be a little more personal. Her focus on simplicity and wholesomeness is bound to ease just a little bit of stress.

3584274Sweet Treats for the Holidays by Noreen Cox

This book has a cuteness factor to the power of 10, so if you’re more into mainstream or monochromatic simplicity, you may want to give this one a pass. If you’re like me, though and love new ideas that are both creative and adorable, you’re guaranteed to find something you like in here. Cox covers holidays from Halloween through to New Years, including an impressive array of Hanukkah treats, and all of them are adorable, professional looking treats from pre-made ingredients. Her tips, tricks and organization techniques will make you the hit of the party in no-time. So if you’re not a from-scratch person, this book is a must-try.

3582064The 12 Bottle Bar by David Solmonson and Lesley Jacobs Solomonson

If you’re more of a cocktail party person, this book is a great guide to setting up a minimalist bar that can make hundreds of cocktails with tested recipes and good, old-fashioned standards like the martini, sidecar and gimlet. The book offers both budget and high-end bottle options so you can stock up and save or make splurges where you choose. If you are lacking space or inclination, they also have chapters devoted to creating your own 1-bottle, 3-bottle and 4-bottle bar so you can test the waters a bit. With the inclusion of hundreds of drink recipes, you’d think this would be a massive brick of a book, but it’s actually compact and well-designed, so you can easily scan a recipe while holding your cocktail shaker.

3588591Wine Bites by Barbara Scott-Goodman

If you prefer more of a wine-and-appetizers, low-key affair, Scott-Goodman’s book is perfect for creating just that type of party. She offers tips on stocking your pantry so that you’re ready for any type of impromptu gathering (or one that was pushed upon you last-minute; we’ve all been there…) She then proceeds to take the reader on a tour of snacks, dips and small dishes (think tapas but with less fuss) pretty much all designed to be eaten with your hands and pair perfectly with a glass (or more) of wine. What makes this book stand out for me is that she doesn’t recommend a specific bottle of with each dish, just one or two types of wine, which means you don’t have to be a sommelier or even a wine-enthusiast to pull of a delicious party. If you have a few bottles on-hand you can tailor your menu to the types of wine you already enjoy and put the focus where it belongs – on having fun!

I hope these tips and resources will make the holiday season a little happier for all of you. Till next Saturday, dear readers, I’m off to make some cookie dough…

 

 

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Five Book Friday!

God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.
(James M. Barrie)

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Five Things worth being excited about this December:

1) It is apparently National Egg Nog Month

2) And National Fruit Cake Month.  Which isn’t all that surprising.  But here is a picture of a very cute little fruitcake I found…

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Hello, Little Fruitcake!

 

3) Today (December 4) is National Cookie Day.

4) Library Staff the world over run on cookies.

5) It is also National Read A New Book Month–how convenient!  For new books you can read right now, check out some of our selections below!

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3644605Beatlebone: Irish author Kevin Barry delights in pushing the limits of fiction in any and all directions, so the opening of this book seems somewhat tame: John Lennon arrives in Ireland, hoping to find some peace and quiet in the estate he purchased nine years previously.  However, when he finds himself in a cab with a shape-shifting driver, the term “Magical Mystery Tour” takes on a whole new meaning that only Barry himself could invent.  The judges of the Goldsmith Prize, which this book won, said it is  “a novel that takes its reader to the edge—of the Western world, of sanity, of fame, of words…Intricately weaving and blurring fiction and life, Beatlebone embodies beautifully this prize’s spirit of creative risk. We’re proud to crown it our winner.”

3651376American Blood: New Zealand author Ben Sanders’ hero–ex-NYPD officer Marshall Grade–is being compared to Jack Reacher, which is high praise indeed.  In this debut we meet Marshall, who is in hiding after a botched undercover job landed him in the Witness Protection Program in Sante Fe.  Hoping to atone for his mistakes, Marshall begins investigating the disappearance of a local woman–only to find himself caught up in a conspiracy involving human trafficking, drug lords…and the very men who want him dead.  Kirkus has decreed that this is “A fast-moving thriller that leaves a trail of blood and grit across the pages. Great dialogue and a hero who won’t stay hidden make this a winner for crime fans.”

3696937Tasting Wine and Cheese: An Insider’s Guide to Mastering the Principles of Pairing: Whilst walking through Whole Foods today in search of Free Cheese, I thought how nice it would be if I knew how to pair wine and cheese properly.  Also, it would be nice if there were Free Wine to accompany the Free Cheese…However, until that lovely day arrives, there are free books at the Library, like this one, which can teach you all you need to know.  Adam Centamore’s style is based on classes he has taught around the country, including the Boston Wine School, making this book as accessible as it is informative. Tim Bucciarelli author of Formaggio Kitchen raves, “Adam employs the same approach in this book as he does his classes – comprehensive, fun and filled with practical information for anyone interested in the enjoyment of food. The result is a pairing of its own as both a solid primer and a worthwhile reference for your future wine and cheese pairing adventures.”  Let the Cheese Hunting begin!

3679714Unstoppable: I admit to being a child of the early 1990’s, so when Bill Nye and his bowtie speak, I listen.  In this newest release, Nye confronts climate change as a challenge that we as humans are capable of meeting.  With an engineer’s brain and a scientist’s love of discovery, he discusses ways to reduce energy, new inventions that could produce cleaner emissions, and, at the same time, debunks a number of myths and fictions that continue to plague any productive discussions about climate change, energy efficiency, and human agency in the process.  And he makes it all sound cool.  Don’t just take my word for it: the Boston Globe cheers “When he’s not being summoned to act as a voice of reason for news outlets or leading meetings as CEO of the Planetary Society, [Bill Nye] …enlightens readers while using a conversational, educational tone. After all, it’s his ability to break down even the most complicated topics into bite-size pieces that made him such a hit on his ’90s children’s show ‘Bill Nye, the Science Guy’.”

3699308The Girl with Ghost Eyes: M.H. Boroson’s debut historical fantasy novel sounds refreshingly and intriguingly different–set in 1898, in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Boroson introduces us to  Li-lin, the daughter of a renowned Daoshi exorcist, who has the ability (or the burden) of being able to see the spirit world.  When her father is crippled by a sorcerer, it is up to Li-lin to save her family, and all of Chinatown–but how can a girl survive in a male dominated and traditional world?  With courage, martial arts, magic, and the help of a sharp-witted spirit who takes the form of a human eyeball.  Publisher’s Weekly gave this book a starred review, calling it “A brilliant tale of magic, monsters, and kung fu in the San Francisco Chinatown of 1898 . . . smoothly mixes Hong Kong cinema with urban fantasy, and Li-lin is a splendid protagonist whose cleverness and bravura will leave readers eager for her future adventures.”

 

Happy December, beloved patrons, and happy reading!

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Our Favorites: The Peabody Library’s Favorite Books of 2015

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We’ve had some chats here about various “Best Book” Awards for 2015, from the Baileys Prize to the Man Booker Prize to National Book Award.  And since we decided that other people’s favorite books of 2015 are so much fun, that our own list of favorite reads from 2015 would be a blast.  This series was kicked-off by our super-terrific Archivist yesterday, and now we’re off and rolling….

So, for the next few weeks, we’ll be bring you our staff’s favorite reads from this year, in the hopes that you can discover a new book to treasure…Because asking a library employee to name just one favorite book is like asking them to pick the loveliest star in the sky, or a perfect grain of sand… Some of these books have been mentioned here before.  Some books were published a while back; some are brand, spanking new.  All of them come with a gilt-edged guarantee from your favorite library staff (wink, wink) that these are some ideal books to carry with you into the New Year.

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This week’s selections come from none other than Lady Pole herself, who has made our Saturdays on the blog such a joy:


3553458The Supernatural Enhancements: This was one of the first books I read this year and still is pretty strong in my mind. The disjointed, sort-of-epistolary style, the edge-of-your seat suspense and the overall story itself easily made this one of the best books I read this year.

 

 

 

 

1944503Bartleby the Scrivener – This is a supreme example of passive-aggression put into words and how utterly destructive and useless that tactic can be. No matter how many times I keep reminding myself how funny Melville is, he keeps surprising me in the best of ways.

 

 

 

3447688Don’t Pigeonhole Me – This is an amazing example of how versatile Mo Willem’s talent truly is. The art and content is msot definitely for adults, but still has the sense of whimsy and on-point humor that makes pretty much everything he does entertaining.

 

 

3578839Trigger Warning – I always wish I was more into short-stories than I am, but I had no trouble devouring this book. If anything the brief stories in so many different styles and formats made this book even more of a delight. Neil Gaiman is easily one of my favorite authors and this book not only shows that he is as much a master of short-form fiction as he is long-form, but it also demonstrates his masterful ability to frame a collection and discuss his thoughts on fiction in an introduction that I wanted to print out and hang up on my wall.

 

3652539Furiously Happy – I really can’t say enough about Jenny Lawson’s courage, eloquence and completely side-splitting humor. She takes some truly horrible situations and retrospectively finds the fun and joy in them, allowing her to appreciate her good days more fully, know that she will come out of the other side of the bad days and, I sincerely hope, help people who are in similar situations.

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Happy Birthday, Rex Stout!

It’s a good few weeks for literary birthdays, with Louisa May Alcott’s last Sunday, Mark Twain’s and Lucy Maud Montgomery’s on Monday (who saw the adorable Google Doodle dedicated to Anne of Green Gables?), and Rex Stout’s today (and there are more yet to come!).

Rex Todhunter Stout was a wizard words, a devil at mysteries, politically active, deeply concerned with issues of civil liberties and censorship and, not insignificantly,  is one of the very few gentlemen who could pull off facial hair like this:

 

Rex Stout, age 35
Rex Stout, age 35

Seriously, this beard should be reason enough to earn this guy a Wikipedia entry…..but, incredibly, he actually lived up to his facial hair with a life that went from Incredible Story to Incredible Story….

Born in Indiana on December 1, 1886, Stout was one of nine children, and raised by Quaker parents who were devoted to their children’s education–apparently, young Rex read the Bible twice by the age of four, and was the Kansas spelling bee champion at age 13.

From such illustrious beginnings, he joined the Navy in 1906, and served a yeoman of Theodore Roosevelt’s presidential yacht…pictures, of course, or it didn’t happen:

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Though Stout had written for most of his life, he began making a career out of writing in about 1910, penning pulp fiction stories for popular magazines.  These stories ranged from science fiction to romance to action-adventure…and two serialized murder mysteries.

It turned out that Stout enjoyed writing mysteries.  After a decade of working to make money, during which he served on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Council on Censorship in 1925, he decided to return to mysteries, and in 1934, published Fer-de-Lance, a mystery featuring a private investigator named Nero Wolfe, and his assistant, the long-suffering and thoroughly charming, Archie Goodwin.

Wolfe and Goodwin would go on to become one of the most beloved mystery-solving duo in literature, and the collection of their adventures, who was comprised of 33 novels and about 40 novellas written between 1934 and 1975 won the nominated Best Mystery Series of the Century at Bouchercon XXXI, the world’s largest mystery convention.  Incidentally, Stout was also nominated as the Best Mystery Writer of the Century.

Hughes_Fer-de-lance-by-Rex-StoutFor those who have yet to encounter the delightfulness that is Nero Wolfe, allow me to introduce you.  Nero Wolfe is a massively overweight man (according to Archive Goodwin, he weighs “a seventh of a ton”) who was apparently born in Montenegro and who, gloriously, is always 56 years old.  Wolfe is a man of habits, almost obsessively so.  He refuses to leave his house–actually, he refuses to move–for anyone’s pleasure but his own.  He is a fanatical orchid-grower, and beer aficionado.  And honestly, this description makes him sound rather maudlin–but through the eyes of Archie Goodwin, he becomes a wonderfully loveable curmudgeon.

Archie Goodwin is, pure and simple, one of the best sidekicks in all of literature.  He is clever, street-smart, caustically sarcastic, dapper, sweet, and a narrator par-excellence.  It is Goodwin who makes this series so attractive, and Goodwin who keeps Nero Wolfe from taking himself too seriously, so that we can enjoy him, too.

Apart from this series, though, Rex Stout created Dol Bonner, one of the first female private detectives in 1937, who continued to appear in the Nero Wolfe books through the years.  Think about that…how many female private detective novels have you read?  Rex Stout knew we needed more of them 78 years ago.

PelhamDuring the Second World War, Stout joined the Fight for Freedom organization, and wrote propaganda for the American War Effort.  After the war, he moved to an estate in New York and became a ‘gentleman farmer’, and fostered a life-long friendship with P.G. Wodehouse (pictured at right), who created Jeeves and Wooster.  They were so close, in fact, that Stout actually appears in the Jeeves and Wooster novels–it turns out Bertie Wooster and his Aunt Dahlia are fans.  So you don’t have to take my word for it….

And yes…he rocked that beard for the rest of his life:

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If you want to get a little better acquainted with the wonderful works of Rex Stout, here are some suggestions:

1345075Fer-de-Lance: The book that introduced Nero Wolfe and Archie Godwin to the world.  This story begins with Wolfe giving up bootleg beer and sending his cook, Fritz, to find a suitable replacement (setting the book 2 months after the sale of certain beers was legalized again in the United States).  But the action really started when a local blue-collar investigator, Fred Durkin (who would become a recurring character) brings a woman to Wolfe whose husband has disappeared after coming into a great deal of money.  Though the characters in this book aren’t all as well-developed as they would become, Wolfe and Goodwin are vivid, unique, and delightful from the very start.

3179608Nero Wolfe: Back when A&E was a TV powerhouse, they adapted a number of Stout’s stories for television, starring Maury Chatkin as Nero Wolfe, and Timothy Hutton are Archie Goodwin.  The writing and scenery are spot-on in these stories, but better than anything is the casting.  These men are precisely what I pictured when reading the books, and their banter together is pitch-perfect.  Though nearly a decade old, these are shows that just get better with viewing, and would make an ideal binge-watch for a lazy holiday weekend.


2986506Son of Holmes: Fans of Sherlock Holmes will love John Lescroart’s spin on the cannon, and the introduction of Auguste Lupa, the son of Sherlock Holmes.  Though how that all happened is (thankfully) obscure, these stories are historically detailed, engrossing, and have the same understated emotion and razor-sharp insight that make the Holmes stories so terrific.  Why am I mentioning this book here?  Because, rumor has it, Lescroart intended Auguste Lupa not only a sequel to the Sherlock Holmes stories…but a prequel to the Nero Wolfe stories.  That’s right…Lupa and Wolfe may very well be one and the same.  Which, now that I know that, is going to necessitate an immediate re-reading.

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Happy Birthday, Louisa May Alcott (and Bronson, too!)

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There’s been lots of talk lately in the bookish sections of the internet discussing feminism in YA novels, and how fiction can teach young women (and older women, and men, and all the humans, really) how feminism can make the world a better place.  We’ve even had a few chats about the subject here.  And this is fantastic.  But it’s also important to remember that feminism in YA literature isn’t a new thing…Louisa May Alcott was a feminist before it was cool.  Which is a joke, obviously, because it’s always cool to be a feminist.  And Louisa May Alcott is very, very cool.  As was her father, Bronson Alcott, who was also born on this day.

Alcott was born on this day in 1832, the second of four daughters born to Abigail May Alcott, who was from a prominent Boston Brahman family, and Bronson Alcott, who is one of the most misunderstood and unfairly maligned idealists of the 19th century.  Bronson was a dreamer, yes, but he was a man who practiced what he preached.  Did that earn him a lot of money?  No, it certainly did not.  Did it earn him the respect of his family?  Yes, it very much did.

053Bronson was a Transcendentalist, which, essentially, means the belief that there is a “divine spark” in everything in nature–that all living things carry a bit of their creator inside them.  For that reason, Bronson was a very early vegan, consuming no animal products at all.  He was also a staunch abolitionist, taking in at least one slave that we know about, and asking that slave (whose name was John) to talk to his daughters, so that they could learn first-hand about the issues going on in their world.  He was also a pioneering educator, developing a curriculum that was geared toward making children want to learn and think for themselves.  He was fired several times for his progressive teaching practices…which involved asking children what they thought about lessons, and engaging them in discussions on a regular basis.

While Bronson may have not made a steady paycheck doing what he did, he married a strong woman who was more than willing to help out by getting a job of her own at a halfway house for abused women in Boston.  Together, they raised four strong, independent daughters who weren’t afraid to be precisely who they were.  Louisa’s own life story shows the success of their parenting and the lifelong support they provided.

Louisa_May_Alcott_headshotLouisa’s first book, published when she was sixteen, was a collection of fairy tales, called Flower Fables, and though she was exceptionally proud of her work, the hard truth was that she needed to make money to help out her family.  Then (as now), scandal sold much more than fairy tales.  So Louisa wrote what she called “pot boilers”–short stories full of murder, disguises, illicit passion, drug use, and general mayhem–mostly under various pen names.  When the Civil War broke out, Louisa volunteered as a nurse, beginning in December of 1862.  Though she only served for six weeks before contracting typhoid pneumonia, she saw, felt, and remembered enough to write the book that would begin to make her a household name: Hospital Sketches was the first work Louisa published under her own name that achieved commercial success, and she followed that success with Work, which discussed how industry was changing job opportunities for women.

4cd89a9d4c84f9d19ac5d12ed9c7e9beAnd, of course, there is Little Women, the book that finally gave the Alcott family financial independence, and earned Louisa fans than span some six generations.  Her heroines, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, were, as you might know, based on Alcott and her sisters.  But one of the things that isn’t too often discussed is how much her father’s teachings run through each page of the book.  None of the Alcott sisters are perfect, but rather than hide their shortcomings, or bad habits, they talk about them openly with each other, and find strength in the support of their family.  None of the women feel that they must marry in order to be successful–they marry for love, even if that means financial hardship, or, in Jo’s case marrying a man who is significantly older (and completely awesome).  And, most of all, each woman in the book works to live life on their own terms, whether that is as a mother, a writer, a caretaker, or an artist.

These were all lessons instilled in Louisa by her father.  So today, take a minute to celebrate one of the most remarkable father-daughter duos in American history…better yet, come in and check out some of their work!

2360641The American Transcendentalists: For those looking to get to know the Transcendentalists better, this is a terrific place to start.  From Emerson to Thoreau, from Alcott to Fuller, there is a wealth of insight in these pages, ranging from issues of feminism to abolition to the beauty of nature.  Particular for our cause today, there is also a section from Bronson Alcott’s “Controversial experiment in progressive education : part two”, which got him fired from his teaching job, but is still used by teachers today as a model for engaging kids in the classroom.

2190335Alternative Alcott: For those who have only read Little Women, this volume is a great introduction to all the other wonderful things that she wrote over the course of her very full life.  Hospital Sketches and Work are both here, as well as Transcendental Wild Oats, a story of her family’s experiences living on an experimental farm  called Fruitlands in the 1840’s, and a few of her Gothic romances, just to keep things interesting!  More than anything, this volume highlights Louisa’s immense range and insight, and the introduction frames these works beautifully.

2335435Little Women: Seriously, I can’t recommend this book highly enough. I’ve seen grandmothers and mothers and dads, too, share this book with their daughters, friends chat about it…it was even featured in an episode of Friends, in which we learn about “freezer books”-but that is a topic for another blog post.  Suffice it to say, this book has more than earned its reputation as an American classic, and should continue to be read.  Also, it features Theodore Lawrence, who was my first love.

2071688Louisa May Alcott: A Biography:  There are a lot of lousy biographies of Louisa and her family out there.  This is not one of them.  Read this one.