Tag Archives: Five Book Friday

Five Book Friday, Forsooth!

So it’s time once again for our Five Book Friday, but we’re serving that to you today with a side of Shakespeare, to really help you get in the mood for his Birthday Bash tomorrow.  So here are five immortal soliloquies for you to savor as you consider which books to come and take on your incredible weekend adventures.

Our first comes to us courtesy of The Guardian, which lined up a city’s worth of highly-regarded actors to perform Shakespeare in honor of his birthday (and death day, I suppose).  Here we have Roger Allam performing the “Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks” soliloquy from King Lear:

…And Eileen Atkins as Emilia in Othello, performing the ‘If wives do fall’ speech:

Next is David Tennant in Hamlet, directed by Gregory Doran:

And next is Tom Hiddleston performing Henry V’s St. Crispin’s Day speech, with thanks to WGBH’S Great Performances.

http://youtu.be/hHia1zu_YNI

Also from Great Performances comes Ben Whishaw in a phenomenal performance as Richard II.

http://youtu.be/AXGkbBbXVSA

And now that you’re fully prepared for tomorrow’s celebrations, shall we take a look at the books?

 

Five Books

 

3712878The Everything Box: So this book is on the shelves at the South Branch, which is technically cheating for 5BF, but I’m in charge here, so we’re going to run with it.  From Richard Kadrey, creator of the Sandman Slim series, which is one of my favorite things in the history of The Things, comes a brand new tale about the angel who loses the key to humanity’s destruction, a thief named Coop who is hired to find and deliver it to particularly mysterious client, and The Department of Peculiar Science, the fearsome agency in charge of policing the otherworldly and supernatural, who are determined to contain it before it unleashes Armageddon.  While Kadrey’s imagination is like a cabinet of curiosities–a little dark, thoroughly entrancing, and wholly unique, he uses language in a way that makes even the mundane seem a bit wondrous–so you should read this book…as soon as I’m done with it, of course… Publisher’s Weekly agrees, saying, “Kadrey’s plot doesn’t depend on magic; instead, magic is the broth bringing all manner of delicious ingredients together in this wonderful stew of a story. This unusual urban fantasy is a delight.”  So you know what I’m doing this weekend…

3732608Downfall of the GodsK.J. Parker is a marvel of the novella, creating stories that are complex, engaging, and of the perfect length to be read in the course of a single sitting.  In this newest offering, we meet Lord Archias, a penitent at the Temple of the Goddess.  But there is little to indicate that Lord Archias’ wishes will be fulfilled–as the man who murdered the Goddess’ musician, it seems far more likely that he will be smote in revenge than rewarded.  But the Goddess’ father insists that she follow the rules, and set challenges for Lord Archias to follow, with the promise of redemption at the end.  If he survives to the end.  If he manages to survive long enough to begin….  Parker’s works may carry the “fantasy” sticker, but his work deals with the very real world issues of power, hubris, and just desserts, and this book packs plenty of imagination with a very healthy dose of humor (for more like this, check out Parker’s alter-ego, Tom Holt).  Library Journal loved this one, too, giving it a starred review, and saying, “Parker…bring[s] a full measure of snark to this novella. The Goddess’s interactions with her family are laugh-out-loud funny as is the increasingly hapless Lord Archias, who soon prays the Goddess will just leave him alone.”

3738142 (1)A Man Lies Dreaming: The Melville House has developed a phenomenal reputation for publishing the very oddest–and the most fascinating–book, and this Lavie Tidhar novel in an irrefutable example. Set partly in the world of a man named Shomer, an inmate at Auschwitz, and a pulp tale of a disillusioned German refugee who fled the Communist invasion to become a private detective in London, this book gradually brings these two men closer and closer together, with results that are wildly funny, bizarre, and profoundly heartbreaking.  This is a startling, unsettling book, especially as the truth behind the two mens’ tales become clear, but, precisely because of that, it’s a really important one, forcing us to question the stories we tell, and how we truly deal with our demons.  The Guardian loved this book as well, calling it “Brilliant . . . Shocking . . . A twisted masterpiece . . . A Holocaust novel like no other, Lavie Tidhar’s A Man Lies Dreaming comes crashing through the door of literature like Sam Spade with a .38 in his hand.

3738044 (1)The Universe in Your Hand: A Journey Through Space, Time, and BeyondChristophe Galfard is a theoretical physicist and a successful young adult author (he co-wrote with Stephen Hawking and his young daughter), which is a combination I have never before considered….but in this book, he combines those twin passions into a single book that delves into the most complex, mystifying aspects of our universe, from the death of stars to the true size of an atom, and explains each in beautifully straightforward, accessible language.  This is hardly the physics textbooks of high school.  Rather, Galfard maintains the wonder and imagination necessary to make the real beauty and power of the universe come to life.  Publisher’s Weekly raves “Entertaining and comprehensive… The deft and dazzling imagery makes difficult concepts accessible, streamlining the progression through topics and fulfilling Galfard’s promise to ‘not leave any readers behind.’… Readers looking to expand their knowledge of physics and cosmology will find everything they need here.”

3733574Your Song Changed My Life: As the creator of All Things Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts, Bob Boilen has met a heap of famous, influential, and intriguing people.  And, in each of his interviews with musicians, he asked one simple question: Is there a unforgettable song that changed your life?  This book is a collection of the remarkable and insightful answers that he has received, from artists as diverse as Hozier to The Decembrists’ Colin Meloy to Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy.  The range of answers, emotions, and experiences related in these essays are surprising, joyful, and delightful, and make the power of music, and the poetry that are song lyrics, tangible.  L.A. Weekly reveled in this book, observing that “Boilen clearly loves his job and loves musicians, and this good-naturedness comes through in Your Song Changed My Life. It’s a short geek-out of a music book…”

 

Five Book Friday!

Ok, so it’s Tax Day, I know, I know….

And that’s why today’s Five Book Friday begins with a List Of Things To Make You Happy, which is among my favorite things to assemble for Fridays.  Enjoy!

1) This happy red panda, who is very, very pleased to see you today!

www.cutestpaw.com
www.cutestpaw.com

 

2) Some lovely daffodils, which I photographed just for you:

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I took this one.

 

3) Redefining “comfort food”, this lovely plush piece of toast that you can hug without worrying about butter stains.

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www.squishable.com

 

4) This chair with build-in book shelf-things, which looks like one of the only such chairs in which I would actually want to sit for any length of time:

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www.homeandheavens.com

 

5) NEW BOOKS!!!  We are awash in new fiction selections this week, many of them featuring daring journeys to other realms, other worlds, or other states, in any manner of historical (or future) setting–here are just a few to whet your appetite:

Five Books

 

3703975Theater of the Gods: When this book first wandered into the Library, I opened it up to a random page, as I am wont to do, and saw a letter from a man who was about to be eaten by murderous trees.  Which, naturally, has me all in a dither to read the tale of M. Francisco Fabrigas, explorer, philosopher, and physicist, who takes a shipful of children on a trip into another dimension.  Having broken the bounds of conventional reality, Fabrigas and his troupe of interdimensional tourists encounter any number of bizarre and deadly foes, in a wild story that has drawn comparisons to Douglas Adams, Mervyn Peake, and Terry Pratchett…or, as The Guardian observed, “this antidote to formula fiction reads like Douglas Adams channeling William Burroughs channelling Ionesco, spiced with the comic brio of Vonnegut.”  If anyone needs me, I’ll be under the Free For All Display table reading….

3719905The Eloquence of the Dead: Irish journalist Conor Brady made quite a splash with his first historic mystery last summer, and this follow-up, featuring the deceptively complex Sergeant Joe Swallow, brings readers back to the murky and fascinating world of Victorian Dublin, where a pawnbroker has been murdered, and the lead witness has vanished.  Swallow is handed what seems on the surface to be an unsolvable case, and the approbation of a city on edge.  What he finds, however, is deep-seated corruption and a dastardly foe that lead Swallow to the very seat of British imperial power.  Brady packs his stories with loads of historic details and revel in the complications of Dublin society, making it as much a character in these novels as Swallow and his comrades, giving Kirkus plenty of reasons to cheer “The second case for the talented, complicated Swallow again spins a fine mystery out of political corruption in 1880s Dublin.”

3706554The North Water: Another historic setting for you; this time, though, the location is the Arctic Ocean, aboard an ill-fated whaling ship.  Ship’s Medic Patrick Sumner, a disgraced veteran of the Siege of Delhi, thought he had seen all the horrors that humanity had to offer, but the longer he spends with the crew of the Volunteer, particularly the savate harpooner Henry Drax, the more that Sumner becomes convinced that the worst by yet to come–particularly after discovering what is lurking in the hold of the great, doomed ship.  This is a tale of human nature and human endurance, set in one of the most foreboding places on earth, a perfect and terrifying escape that has critics raving.  The New York Times called this “a great white shark of a book―swift, terrifying, relentless and unstoppable…Mr. McGuire is such a natural storyteller―and recounts his tale here with such authority and verve―that ‘The North Water’ swiftly immerses the reader in a fully imagined world. […] Mr. McGuire nimbly folds all these melodramatic developments into his story as it hurtles toward its conclusion.”

3703647Daredevils: This time, our setting is the American West of the 1970’s, specifically Idaho and Arizona, and our protagonist is Loretta, a daring fifteen-year-old girl who is caught with her Gentile boyfriend by her strict Mormon parents.  When she is married off to an older, devout fundamentalist, Loretta finds herself surrounded by a strange family–including Jason, her husband’s free-spirited nephew, who convinces her to flee with him to the open road.  This coming of age tale features a wealth of vivid, utterly unique characters, ranging from the idealist to the sleaziest of grifters, who join Loretta and Jason on their adventures, and is full of the kind of descriptive detail that journalist and writer Shawn Vestal has spent a lifetime observing.  The San Fransisco Chronicle gave this book a glowing review, calling it “[A] full-throttle, exhilarating debut novel about faith, daring and the unexpectedly glorious coming-of-age of a Mormon teenager…This on-the-road novel takes twists and turns that are on no literary map you’ve ever seen…Vestal plays with points of view at a dizzying speed, so that at times the novel feels like a symphonic chorus…The writing, too, feels revolutionary in how it startles you…Ingenious, haunting, wild and hilarious.”

3738205Eating in the Middle: A Mostly Wholesome Cookbook: Andie Mitchell documented her difficulties with weight loss and self-perception in her book It Was Me All Along, and now, in her first cookbook, she shares with readers the dishes–and the stories–that helped her change her life for the better.  As ever, I am attracted by the pictures in cookbooks, and let me tell you…these look particularly delicious.

 

Until next week, beloved patrons–happy reading!

Five Book Friday!

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http://favim.com/image/1545830/

I don’t know about you, dear patrons, but it feels like it’s been a really long week.  I’ve been snowed on, rained on, discovered holes in the soles of my shoes that I never knew existed…and that’s only the beginning.

You know what this calls for?

A blanket fort.

Thankfully, the interwebs has provided yet another list of Do’s and Dont’s for Blanket Fort Construction–which specifically states that Blanket Forts go better with books.  And, if your feeling really ambitious, take a look a this...the world’s largest blanket fort, made by Challenge12, Big Box Education, North London Collegiate School, Benchmark Scaffolding and Mace Group in London last summer:

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Courtesy of http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com

Can you imagine the sheer number of books you could fit in a 3,304 square foot fort?! 

Here are a few titles to get you started, selected from the new books that clambered up onto the library shelves this week.  Come in and find some to stock your blanket fort for a lovely restorative weekend!

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3729031Tuesday Nights in 1980: For all you who remember hammer pants and shoulder pads–get ready.   Molly Prentiss has crafted a tale of lost souls and fortuitous meetings, set in SoHo at the opening of the 1980s, bringing together a synesthetic art critic, and an exiled Argentinian painter and revolutionary.  Both men are wandering, somewhat aimlessly, through the New York art scene, until they are brought together by the arrival of a stunning woman and a lonely orphan, who help these two men rediscover themselves, and begin to change them irrevocably.  I am in loved with the brilliantly-colored cover of this book, and there are a number of critics and readers who are equally as enamored of the words between those covers; Booklist gave this one a starred review, saying: “An agile, imaginative, knowledgeable, and seductive writer, Prentiss combines exquisite sensitivity with unabashed melodrama to create an operatic tale of ambition and delusion, success and loss, mystery and crassness…she also tenderly illuminates universal sorrows, “beautiful horrors,” and lush moments of bliss. In all, a vital, sensuous, edgy, and suspenseful tale of longing, rage, fear, compulsion, and love.”

3703578The Last Painting of Sara de Vos: The enduring hero of Dominic Smith’s latest novel is actually a painting that spans four centuries and brings together two remarkably talented and passionate women.  In Amsterdam in 1631, Sara de Vos becomes the first woman to be admitted as a master painter to the city’s Guild of St. Luke, and defies all convention and tradition by refusing to paint indoor subjects, and instead paints the portrait of a young girl standing by a window.  Nearly three hundred years later, in New York of 1957, young and hungry art student Ellie Shipley agrees to paint a forgery of Sara de Vos’ painting in order to help her wealthy patron dupe an art dealer…but it is a choice that will come back to haunt Ellie later in life, threatening to expose all the secrets she has so carefully hidden away.  I am fascinated by books that use words to describe the visual–like the painting at the center of this story, and it would seem that Smith has mastered that unique art in this book.  Kirkus gave this novel a starred review, hailing, “This is a beautiful, patient, and timeless book, one that builds upon centuries and shows how the smallest choices—like the chosen mix for yellow paint—can be the definitive markings of an entire life.”

3703582Cold Barrel Zero: Former journalist Matthew Quirk’s debut novel was an international hit, and is currently being developed as a major motion picture–and, just in time for your weekend, his second thriller is being hailed as a sure-fire hit, feature two men who were once close as brothers–but now are caught in a desperate game of cat and mouse.   Special Operative John Hayes went rogue on a deep-cover mission and betrayed his own comrades, and is now trying to return to his wife and daughter before launching his final revenge.  The only man who can stop him is Thomas Byrne, a former combat medic who fought by Hayes’ side.  As their quests bring them treacherously closer, both men will be forced to consider–and re-consider–whom they can really trust, in a world where the rules are constantly changing.   Publisher’s Weekly loved this book, cheering, “Quirk goes flat-out explosive in this superior military adventure novel. . . . There’s plenty of cool cutting-edge technology, but in the end it comes down to action, and the riveting battle scenes are among the best in the business. Readers will look forward to seeing more of the skilled and deadly John Hayes.”

3707748The Story of KullervoThere’s always a risk in publishing a dead author’s unpublished works–the stuff that probably was never meant to see the light of day.  On the one hand, there is an uncomfortable invasion of privacy that need to be considered, but, for scholars and dedicated readers, these pieces can immeasurably add to an author’s legend and cannon.  The latter seems to be the case with this ‘previously unpublished’ story by the great J.R.R. Tolkien.  Dedicated fans will see inklings of The Silmarillion here, as the ugly, sharp, and magical Kullervo, son of Kalervo launches on a plan of revenge against the magician who destroyed his family and his life.  This copy of the story includes a forward and introduction by Verlyn Flieger, who transcribed this work from Tolkien’s original manuscripts.  Booklist said of this work–considered the foundation of many of Tolkien’s fantasy novels–“The tale blends Tolkien’s trademark prose and epic poetry, and it is fascinating to catch this tantalizing glimpse into his brilliant mind . . .Will please readers who wish to unveil how Tolkien’s creative process evolved.”

3733523The Rise of the Rocket Girls: Many of us grew up hearing about America’s Space Race, and the impressive brains that made it all possible…but no textbook ever told you about the women who worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  Amazon’s reviewer mentions that they invented the pant suit…le sigh.  These women were some of the brightest minds of their generation, consistently broke down barriers, not only in their workplace but in academia, and Nathalia Holt has at last put their story on the page in a tale that Library Journal says “seamlessly blends the technical aspects of rocket science and mathematics with an engaging narrative, making for an imminently readable and well-researched work.”.  Now…once and for all…who says women can’t do math?

Until next week, dear patrons–happy reading!

Five Book Friday!

Happy April, Dear Readers!

hello-april-quotes-1

The weather is topsy-turvy, the world seems a bit…out of whack, to put it mildly, and my tea has gone cold.  But there is still (and always) reasons to celebrate!  Here are a few quirky, off-the-beaten-track holidays in April that you might consider recognizing as a way to brighten up the month:

April 1: April Fool’s Dayapril_fool
Well, obviously.
There is no single origin for this holiday, though many cultures had traditionally celebrated some sort of widespread-day-of-hilarity at the beginning of spring; in Rome, it was known as the festival of Hilaria, while in India, it is known as the festival of Holi.  Chaucer wrote in The Canterbury Tales about his characters playing tricks on each other sometime at the end of March, as well.  So feel free to join with tradition today.  Just play nice, ok?

April 10-16: National Library Week!
And you can bet we’ll be celebrating this week in style!

April 13: Scrabble Day
True story: Once upon a time, my neighbor played the word “zucchini” on a Triple Word tile, and scored 122 points in a single move. I wouldn’t challenge him to another game, but today is as good excuse as any to give this classic game a try.

April 25: Penguin Awareness Day
I want to hug a penguin.

And do you know what you can do anytime in April (or any other month, for that matter)?  Come into the library and check out something fun to read, watch, or hear.  Here are a few ideas to get you started, selected from the books that appeared on our shelves this week:

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3719010Mrs. Houdini: Remember how we were celebrating Harry Houdini’s birthday just last week?  Well now, thanks to author Victoria Kelly, we have a novel about Bess Houdini, and the pact that she and her husband made to try and communicate beyond the grave.  Following Harry’s death, Bess begins seeing Harry’s coded message to her in the most unlikely of places, leading her to suspect that Harry as an urgent message to convey.   Her quest leads her to the doorstep of a young photographer, who indeed has plenty to tell Bess about her husband, and the magic that he created.  Kelly makes this fictionalized Bess Houdini into a three-dimensional, complex, and wonderfully strong character, and expertly conveys her intelligence and determination, making her an ideal heroine for this novel, which the Associated Press called,  “A marvel that gallops through time and space…Mrs. Houdini offers a rollicking ride from a Coney Island music hall and a traveling circus in the 1890s to Hollywood and Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the 1920s. It’s a ghost story, a love story and a great tale of suspense…Without a single misstep, Mrs. Houdini is a pure delight from the first page to the last.”

3713549A Little Life: Though this book has been out for some time now, we just got our paperback versions in, which may make it easier to bring along with you on your daily adventures.  Hanya Yanagihara’s novel tells the story of four college roommates who, like all of us, really, are adrift and a little scarred, but kept hopeful by their friendship with each other, and the bond with Jude, a  brilliant and mysterious man whose life has been forever marked by his traumatic childhood. As the men grow up, grow apart, and grow into their own particular vices, they find themselves drawn back again and again to Jude, whose very presence becomes the challenge that will define each man’s life.   Her book has become one of the most celebrated books of the year, being shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Award, and winning the Kirkus Award for Fiction–in giving the award, the judging panel of the Kirkus noted “The phrase ‘tour de force’ could have been invented for this audacious novel”.

3718730Interior DarknessPeter Straub is an undisputed master of the horror novel, reinventing classic themes of the genre to continue terrifying generations of readers.  This book brings together sixteen of his shorter works, written over a period of twenty five years, and might very well solidify his place as a master of the short story, as well.  Those ostensibly horror stories, each of these tales deal far more with the darkness in human nature, rather than the threat of ghosts or demons–which frankly makes them all the scarier, as far as I am concerned. These bite-sized pieces of devilry have been receiving rave reviews from all quarters, but my favorite quote comes from Neil Gaiman, who said of this book, “Peter Straub’s shorter fictions are like tiny novels you drown in: perfectly pitched, terrifyingly smart, big-hearted, dangerous, and even cruel. Interior Darkness shows off his range, his intelligence, his bravery and, sometimes, at the edges, allows glimpses of his fierce sense of humour. Straub deploys a host of voices that cajole and whisper and talk to you from the darkness. If you care about the short story, you should read this book, and watch a master at work.”

3718059Spain in Our Hearts: Adam Hochschild made his career with King Leopold’s Ghost, telling the harrowing story of imperial slavery in the Belgian rubber plantations of Africa.  Since then he has gone from strength to strength, and currently, that strength is this work on everyday Americans who left their lives behind to travel to Spain and fight Fascism during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930’s.  The picture he paints is nothing like Hemingway’s depictions.  Instead, he emphasized the full complexity of this war, the looming threat of Naziism in Europe, and the global significance that this war would have.  Historian Jill Lepore has provided an excellent review of this book, saying, “Few writers grapple so powerfully with the painful moral and ethical choices of past actors as does Hochschild, who brings to Spain in Our Hearts his exceptional talents — and his moral seriousness — as a reporter, as a historian, and as a writer.”

3720362Tasting RomeAs a history student, and someone who really likes food, this cookbook represents All The Things that make my heart go pitter-patter.  Chef Katie Parla and photographer Kristina Gill take us on a round-trip tour of present-day Rome, and offer recipes that reflect the city’s 2,000 year history, and the unique groups of people, visitors and residents alike, that make it such a unique (and delicious!) place.  The snatches of narrative and description found throughout this book help you feel that you’re not only re-producing a recipe, but really taking part in a tradition of food and family.  Saveur magazine called this lovely work, “A fantastically detailed look into Rome’s most remarkable dishes… a new classic in the Italian food library.”

Until next week, dear readers, Happy Reading!

Five Book Friday!


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I realize that the parking lot of the Warren Street Post Office is hardly the most picturesque spot in Peabody, but yesterday evening, as I came to the Library through the surprise downpour, what did I spy, but a double rainbow for St. Patrick’s Day.

And where did that rainbow end?  Why, right at the door of the Library, of course.  Naturally.

So, if you’re looking for some treasure this weekend, look no further than our shelves, and some of the newest books that have arrived there.

3654339 (1)Beauty Is A Wound:  Eka Kurniawan’s English language debut (stunningly translated by Annie Tucker) is a bizarre, beautiful, and unsettling exploration of Indonesia’s troubled history, from the pain and insatiable greed of colonialism and the utter, irredeemable disruptions that it caused in society, culminating in the class-based genocide of suspected communists in 1965.  The novel follows the lovely prostitute, Dewi Ayu, who rises from her grave twenty-one years after her death to watch over her four daughters and the country in which they live.  Kurniawan’s narrative is shot through with folklore and shadows, maintaining both a deeply personal narrative and the epic history of a whole nation, making for a book that is totally, utterly, and unforgettably original.  The Saturday Paper wrote a particularly interesting review of this book, saying that “The final wonder of Beauty Is a Wound is how much pure liveliness and joy there is mixed up with the pain, as if the verdancy of the author’s imagination was racing to cover a million corpses with fresh green tendrils.”

3710286Stork Mountain: Miroslav Penkov’s debut novel is a similar exploration of a nation’s history and a family’s private story–this time, set in the high mountains of Bulgaria, as a young man returns to the place of his birth in a search for his grandfather, who cut all ties with the family three years previously.  What he finds there is a land of fables and mysteries, and black storks nesting in the tress, where there is very little truth and a world of dark secrets that will change everything this family has ever believed.  The Chicago Review of Books loved this novel, saying, “Stork Mountain is a beautiful and haunting novel, one that delves into a painful past and begs the questions: To what extent are we doomed to relive the past and carry it with us? At what point must we relent and set it free?”

3705915The Last Confession of Thomas Hawkins: Antonia Hodgson, who wrote the wonderfully atmospheric, engaging The Devil in the Marshalsea has returned with another of the (mis)adventures of Thomas Hawkins, the most endearing ne’er-do-wells of the Georgian period.  When this story opens, Tom is on his way to the gallows, accused of murder–an unprecedented fate for a gentleman.  In recounting his adventures, Tom has to admit that he probably shouldn’t have told England’s foremost criminal mastermind that he was bored and looking for adventure.  And he definitely shouldn’t have agreed to help the King’s mistress escape from her brutal husband…and he never, ever should have trusted the cunning Queen Caroline…but he’s willing to live with those regrets…if he can devise a way to go on living…Hodgson has a great talent for combining gritty, grimy historic settings with brilliantly vivid characters, making all her books a genuine escapist treat to read.  Library Journal agrees, giving this novel a starred review, and hailing “Hodgson has provided another pell-mell romp through the top and bottom of English society, as seen through the eyes of a gentleman who is both a rogue and a naïf. Those who relish their historical action fast and vivid will enjoy the second installment of Hawkins’s misadventures.”

3711536The Age of Genius: The Seventeenth Century and the Birth of the Modern Mind: A.C. Grayling has breathed new life into a fairly old historical argument–that the sixteenth century witnessed the birth of the modern age–by standing in the middle of his historic world and surveying everything from art to astronomy to legal codes to religion.  His work touches on the fascinating dichotomies of the era–Newton was the founder of modern physics, yet spent most of his life hunting for the secrets of alchemy, Descarte’s attempts to reconcile humanist philosophy and religion, and the battles between Galileo and the Church over the movement of the planets.  In so doing, he makes a strong case for this century of monumental changes, not only within society, but within the human mind.  The Sunday Times remarked, “Grayling is particularly good at illuminating the knottiness of moral discourse”, making for a book that will surprise as much as it will educate.

3736574 (1)The Devil You Know: K.J. Parker is the pen name of two time World Fantasy Award winning author, Tom Holt, and while this book is full of devilish magic and wild imagination, it’s quite different in scope and tone.  In this super little bite-size novel, Saloninus, the greatest philosopher of his time (well, at least according to him), has agreed to sell his soul to the Devil in return for twenty years to finish his life’s work.  It would seem like a straightforward bargain, but Saloninus is also the greatest trickster and liar the world has ever known, and there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that there is a con afoot.  But where?  Publisher’s Weekly gave this book a starred review, cheering “Parker cheerfully stays one step ahead of the reader until the last moment”, and watching this game unfold is absolutely going to provide you an adventure worth remembering.

And until next week, Happy Reading, beloved patrons!

Five Book Friday!

And a very, very happy birthday to Douglas Adams!

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Adams was born on this day in 1952, in Cambridge, England–and stood out from a very early age.  It wasn’t just the fact that he was six feet tall by the time he was twelve years old (his final height was 6’5″), but it was also his very early talent for storytelling.  He was the only student in his primary school to be award full marks for creative writing–a fact that remained a source of pride his whole life.  It was on the strength of his writing that he was able to matriculate to St. John’s College, Cambridge, where he formed his own review show, and was elected to the Footlights, a comedy troupe that also included Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.

towel-dayFollowing graduation, he wrote for, and appeared in sketches for Monty Python, but it was The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxywhich he originally wrote as a radio performance in 1977, that changed everything.  According to Adams, he was lying drunk in a field in Innsbruck, Austria, and looking at the stars one night (with a copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Europe in his hand), when the idea for the story came to him.  Whether this is strictly true is a little unclear, but Innsbruck still celebrates “Towel Day” in honor of Adams’ story.  The novel version of Hitchhikers was released in 1979, and became the first in a five-volume series.  He was also the author of the Dirk Gently series, which are just as delightful and remarkable insightful.

One of Adams’ final public appearances was at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he delivered a speech titled “Parrots, the Universe and Everything“, in which he talked about books, his adventures, and his deep, abiding environmentalism, in his own magical way.  The video is available here for your enjoyment:

Personally, I first read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in high school (and loved it), but it wasn’t until I was living in London, and had no money whatsoever, that I truly read that book, along the whole subsequent series, thanks to the Stoke Newington Library, and the world’s most benevolent used bookshop owner, who let me sit on the floor for hours and absorb the books via osmosis.  So this birthday wish comes with sincere thanks, not only to Douglas Adams, but to the wonderful people who helped me discover him.

And, speaking of books–here are some more that have made it on to our shelves this week!

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3679654A Midsummer’s EquationThis is the sixth mystery novel featuring Manabu Yukawa, the physicist known as “Detective Galileo”.  In this adventure, Yukawa arrives at a run-down summer resort to speak at a conference on the highly controversial underwater mining operation slated to begin soon.  But when a local police officer is found murdered, Yukawa will soon be putting his detecting skills to work, along with his professional acumen.  Keigo Higashino has sold millions of copies of his work in Japan, and his fame has finally begun to spread in the US, as well.  Of this latest installment, The New York Times Book Review says, “To dispute a common complaint: They are indeed writing confounding puzzle mysteries the way they used to. They just happen to be writing them in Japanese. And by “they,” I mean Keigo Higashino, whose elegant whodunits… are feats of classic ratiocination.”

3724805BorderlineMishell Baker’s debut is a genre-bending urban fantasy that has all the critics buzzing.  Her heroine, Millie, has lost her legs–and her filmmaking career–in a failed suicide attempt.  But her second chance comes in the form of the Arcadia Project, and organization that protects the borders between our world and the parallel reality that is home to fairies and monsters alike.  In her first assignment, Milie is charged with locating a missing movie star (who is also a fairy nobleman)–but her investigation soon turns up a conspiracy centuries in the making that could end both worlds in a cataclysmic war.  Library Journal gave this book a starred review, saying “Baker’s debut takes gritty urban fantasy in a new direction with flawed characters, painful life lessons, and not a small amount of humor.”

3699705Spill Simmer Falter Wither: Here we have another acclaimed debut, this time from Ireland’s Sara Baume.  Her tale features two outcasts: an unnamed man, whose whole life has been utterly overlooked by those in his village, and the one-eyed dog that he takes in, and to whom he tells his stories.  This is a story of outcasts, transformed into something magical through Baume’s incredible insight and magnificent use of language.  She already been awarded a number of Irish literary awards, and the Irish Times has raved: “This is a novel bursting with brio, braggadocio and bite. Again and again it wows you with its ambition…At its heart is a touching and inspiriting sense of empathy, that rarest but most human of traits. Boundaries melt, other hearts become knowable…This book is a stunning and wonderful achievement by a writer touched by greatness.”…and it seems high time that we get a chance to enjoy it, too!

3696024The Family Tree : A Lynching in Georgia, a Legacy of Secrets, and My Search for the Truth: In 1912, Harris County, Georgia, a white man, the son of the local sheriff, was shot and killed on the porch of a black woman.  Several days later, the sheriff sanctioned the lunching of four innocent black residence in revenge for the death of his nephew.   Karen Branan is the great-granddaughter of that sheriff, and this book is the result of some two decades of research, not only into the lynchings, but into the history and society in which permitted such behavior to occur.  This is not only a history, but also a consideration of one women’s privilege, guilt, and courage to confront the darkest moments of the past in order to move forward.  This book is being acclaimed by critics and activists alike, with W. Fitzhugh Brundage, the Chair of the History Department at UNC saying, “Branan has written a book of exceptional courage.  She gives us a rare glimpse into the lives and minds of white southerners who lynched their black neighbors, engaged in moonshining, lived desperate lives, and yet were held in high esteem in their communities.  As much as any book I know, The Family Tree gives a human face to the tragic human relations of the Jim Crow South.”

3719703Bowl : Vegetarian Recipes for Ramen, Pho, Bibimbap, Dumplings, and Other One-Dish Meals: I dare you to take one look at the pictures in this book and not want to try each and every dish found within its pages.  I am so hungry right now, it’s difficult to actually put into words.

 

 

Until next week, dear readers, and in the words of Douglas Adams, “Don’t Panic”.  And happy reading!

 

Five Book Friday!


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Reasons to smile today:

1) In one week, we get some daylight savings time, and in a little more than two weeks, it’s spring!  (She says, looking at the snow incongruously falling outside…)

2) Sunday is National Oreo Cookie Day.  Celebrate accordingly.

3) FORT FURNITURE.  Apparently, we have single-handedly launched the Blanket Fort Revolution, my friends, as Flavorwire is now highlight all these cool pieces of furniture that double as forts.  Seriously.

4) This Beluga Whale, who is part of a species that seems always happy to make new friends:
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5) New books!  Always new books!  Here are five of those new books that leapt onto our shelves this week.

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3690158The Opposite of Everyone Brilliant and outspoken Paula Vauss spent her childhood with her free-spirited mother, an itinerant storyteller who re-interpreted and re-invented history with every tale she told.  But Paula’s own attempts to tell stories ended with her losing everything, even her birth name, Kali Jai, as she ended up in foster care.  But when she receives a note from her mother hinting at a final trip, and suddenly finds herself the caretaker of her heretofore unknown sister, Paula realizes that, having spent her career separating families, she is now going to have to begin putting her own back together.  Aided by her ex-boyfriend, a romantic PI named Birdwine, Paula sets off on a journey of discovery and self-redemption that is causing a number of critics to sit up and take notice.  RT Bookreviews made this book a Top Pick for the month, cheering, “Beautifully written, fascinating and deep, The Opposite of Everyone is another must-read novel… Jackson has done a phenomenal job of weaving the past with the present and unfolding the story layer after layer. This is a masterfully written tale that readers cannot put down.”

3717214A Gathering of Shadows:  Did you ever have one of those days when you see a new book on the shelf and scare people because you start jumping up and down and singing a happy song to see the sequel to a phenomenal book has arrived?  I did when I saw V.E. Schwab’s newest book on our shelves.  Fans of her A Darker Shade of Magic will be thrilled with the return of the Kell, his multi-dimensional coat (I want that coat.  So badly.), and the multiple Londons through which he travels.  This book picks up four months after the close of the first, with Kell dodging lingering feelings of guilt and suffering from dreams of magical foreboding–dreams that becoming terrifyingly true when a new London begins emerging.  A London that everyone believed dead.  And in order to keep the balance, Kell realizes that another London must invariably fall.  Schwab has already earned herself quite a reputation as a YA author, but her foray into adult novels has made her the talk of the proverbial town, and this series is an absolute joy, not in the least because of Schwab’s courage in showing a caring, conflicted hero, and a heroine who is willing to take on the world without reservations.  Publisher’s Weekly gave this book a starred review, saying “Tensions rise steadily, culminating with the exciting Element Games, and the finale will leave readers breathless. This is how fantasy should be done.”

3700752Imbeciles : the Supreme Court, American eugenics, and the sterilization of Carrie BuckIn 1927, during the height of the eugenics craze (a movement which championed the creation of a “perfect race” through sterilization and over racism), the Supreme Court permitted the state of Virginia to sterilize a young woman named Carrie Buck, on the pretense that she was an “imbecile”.  There was nothing wrong with Carrie Buck, but, as Adam Cohen reveals in this conscientious and timely work of history, she, and some 70,000 other Americans, were victims of a world that eagerly downgraded the humanity of many in the pursuit of creating a utopian society.  In the process, Cohen reveals that even those men whom history upholds as legal heroes, from William Taft to Oliver Wendall Holmes, were willing to give credit to eugenicist before their victims.  This is not an easy read, but it is a vital one; and Booklist say of it, “Cohen not only illuminates a shameful moment in American history when the nation’s most respected professions—medicine, academia, law, and the judiciary—failed to protect one of the most vulnerable members of society, he also tracks the landmark case’s repercussions up to the present.”

3703644Ways to Disappear: When celebrated Brazilian writer Beatriz Yagoda disappears, her American translator, Emma, takes it upon herself to discover Yagoda’s whereabouts.  But upon her arrival in Brazil, she finds a far more complicated mystery than she ever imagined.  Yagoda left behind an enormous gambling debt, and a wealth of quirky, fascinating people, each eager for her return (for various, and not always benevolent reasons).  Idra Novey is herself a translator, and her insight in the workings of words makes this fiction debut one that is delighting many a reader.  NPR lauded this book, saying, “Novey’s novel delivers on its promises in so many ways. Yes, there’s carnage, but there’s also exuberant love, revelations of long-buried, unhappy secrets, ruminations about what makes a satisfying life, a publisher’s regrets about moral compromises in both his work and his use of his family wealth and connections, and an alternately heartfelt and wry portrait of the satisfactions and anxieties of the generally underappreciated art of translation.”

3703571A Murder Over a Girl: Justice, Gender, Junior High:  When psychologist Ken Corbett first hear of the murder of high school student Larry King,  who was shot on Feb. 12, 2008, at E. O. Green Junior High in Oxnard, California by his 14-year-old classmate, reportedly as a result of Larry’s decision to use the name “Leticia” and wear makeup and jewelry to school, he was, understandably, devastated.  However, the subsequent media reports of the case staunchly refused to discuss the gender and identity aspects of the case, giving Corbett the impetus to travel to LA, and observe the trial for himself.  This book is more than just his observations, however; it is the work of a scholar who has spent his career studying gender, sexuality, and the human mind, and the way that a single act of violence can damage an entire community.  He details this case with the precision of a scientist, but the heart of a human being, making this an accessible, moving, and very necessary work.  Library Journal writes, “Corbett powerfully documents the life-threatening consequences of America’s persistent fear of gender difference. This will be read by those with academic, political, and personal interest in making the world safer for LGBT youth.”

 

Until next week, beloved patrons–Happy Reading!