Category: Books

Best Books, Part 1

- Ann Leave a comment

It’s that time again – the end-of-the-year recap time! Here at Info Cafe we’re going to take a look back at our favorite books of the past year. Not all of these books were published in 2011, but were read and enjoyed in 2011. Thanks to our diverse group of bloggers, over the next few days you’re going to find a wide range of titles covering all kinds of interests. Enjoy!

Lynn’s favorite book was Following Polly. “It is rare to find a book that surprises you by breaking out of whatever preconceived ideas and expectations you had about what the book was going to be. I also love a book that makes you laugh out loud, or at least snicker a little. Often these are the same books that make you a little sad when you finish them because you’ve come to liek the characters in all their eccentricity and weirdness”. Lynn tells you more about the book in her blog post from earlier this year.

Amber’s vote goes to  Me…Jane by Patrick McDonnell. “In Me…Jane by Patrick McDonnell (creator of acclaimed comic strip Mutts), the reader is introduced to the amazing Jane Goodall as a little girl having adventures with her stuffed toy chimp named Jubilee. Together they begin to wonder about the natural world and explore it for answers – all lovingly captured through the simple, emotive art of McDonnell and actual images of Jane’s childhood drawings and ephemera. Me…Jane is easily my favorite picture book of the year, and, judging by how many people on my holiday gift list will be receiving a copy, it has swung up to be my favorite book of 2011 overall”.

Stay by Allie Larkin

- Ann Leave a comment

This book is a lovely mix of what a romantic comedy should be – light and funny with some undertones of seriousness. Stay by Allie Larkin will make you laugh (out loud), think about some of the big issues in life (without sending you into a tailspin) and wrap it all up with a happy ending.

Savannah (“Van”) Leone has long been in love with her college pal Peter, but he falls for Van’s best friend Janie instead. Van is forced to stand by (as the Maid of Honor) and watch them get married, leaving her to her lonely life. In a fit of self-pity, she gets drunk while watching a marathon of Rin Tin Tin movies and gets it into her head that she needs a German Shepherd that will save her and always be with her. A little drunk-googling soon finds her the perfect puppy and before she can sober up, she’s bought a dog.

Imagine Van’s surprise when the expected cute little puppy turns out to be a huge, nearly full-grown, black, long-haired beast. Who only understands Slovakian commands. And takes over half the bed in no time flat. At first Van is terrified, but Joe (as she renames him) worms his way into her heart almost as quickly as the bed and he turns out to be exactly what she needs – someone who sticks with her no matter what, who makes life more interesting and a lot more fun, someone who will love her back. (Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Joe’s new vet is super gorgeous and available!)

The romance here is pretty predictable – girl-has-heart-broken, girl-meets-cute-guy, girl-and-cute-guy-have-issues, girl-and-cute-guy-overcome-issues, happy-ending. But the characters are likeable and realistic with messy, imperfect lives who try hard to be better. Van’s continuing struggle with her grief over her Mother’s death and her search for her own “family” adds depth and complexity.  The real charm of the book though is Joe with his cheerful personality and big heart. And in no time,  just like Van, you’ll fall in love with Joe too.

Perfect Pies by Michele Stuart

- Ann Leave a comment

I am going to admit to what many people would consider a glaring character flaw: I’m not a big fan of pies. Except for my Mother’s Apple Crisp pie and the Raisin Cream Pie at the Ox Yoke Inn in Amana (don’t ask), I can pass on pie. Well, here’s a book that might just change my mind.

Perfect Pies by Michele Stuart covers a whole range of sweet and savory delights. Ranging from “Farm Stand Pies” (which use fresh fruit) to “Nut Pies” to “Cream Pies”, “Party Pies” to “Savory Pies”  just about every pie craving can be met with this book. Stuart has won multiple National Pie Championship Awards and it shows in her attention to detail. However, don’t be scared off – she favors simple and straightforward to fancy and show-off, allowing the flavor of excellent ingredients to shine through. There are also chapters on making the perfect crust and creating little extras such as whipped creams and sauces.

The hard part is going to be which pie to start with – Chocolate-Pecan-Bourbon Pie? Michele’s Mud Pie? Ultimate Banana Split Pie? Or the classic – Country Apple Pie? Decisions, decisions….

 

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

- Ann Leave a comment

It’s hard to choose a favorite supporting character on The Office, but I consistently enjoy the self-absorbed airheadedness of Kelly Kapoor, played perfectly by writer and actress Mindy Kaling.  So imagine my excitement when I found out that Mindy was about to release a book of humorous essays called Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? And Other Concerns.  In the book, Mindy tells stories about her childhood, how she dealt with living in New York  in her 20s while trying to get discovered, and what it’s really like to work on The Office.  There are also a lot of funny and seemingly-random chapters on things like “karaoke etiquette”, why she likes guys with chest hair and her top eleven favorite comedic moments in film and TV.  By the end, despite the fact that I was thoroughly entertained, I was mostly sad that Mindy and I aren’t best friends.  She writes in such a laid-back, conversational tone and is so relatable despite her fame that it really feels like you’re chatting with one of your good friends.

I find it hard to summarize books like this, so instead, here are a few of my favorite parts and things I learned:

  • Mindy wrote my two favorite episodes of The Office:  The Injury and The Dundies.  If you haven’t seen these, go watch them as soon as you finish reading this so that you can be even more impressed with Ms. Kaling.
  • Her views on romantic comedies:  “I enjoy watching people fall in love on-screen so much that I can suspend my disbelief for the contrived situations that only happen in the heightened world of romantic comedies….I simply regard romantic comedies as a sub-genre of sci-fi, in which the world created therein has different rules than my regular human world.”
  • One of my favorite chapters was the incredibly truthful “Best Friends Rights and Responsibilities”, a list of things your best friend is expected to do for you and vice versa.  For example, “I will try to like your boyfriend five times” and “I must be 100% honest about how you look, but gentle”.
  • Her big break was when Greg Daniels saw her perform in the off-Broadway play that she and a friend wrote called “Matt & Ben”.  Mindy played Ben Affleck.
  • On being a chubby girl when she was young:  “My mom’s a doctor, but because she came from India and then Africa, where childhood obesity was not a problem, she put no premium on having skinny kids. In fact she and my dad didn’t mind having a chubby daughter. Part of me wonders if it even made them feel a little prosperous, like ‘Have you seen our overweight Indian child? Do you know how statistically rare this is?'”
  • And finally, to get herself through a workout on the treadmill, Mindy has to come up with elaborate revenge fantasies to pass the time.  I won’t spoil them here, but trust me when I say this chapter is just as funny as it sounds.

This book inevitably gets compared to Tina Fey’s Bossypants (another excellent book that you can read more about here), and while Kaling and Fey are very different women, both have written laugh-out-loud books that I highly recommend.

Cookies!

- Ann Leave a comment

Warm up your mixers people, it’s Cookie Season again! (Of course, in my book, it’s always Cookie Season, but December is the main event of the year)

Here are some of the latest and greatest cookie books from the Davenport Library.

Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich – Brand-new cookies and delicious new spins on the classics are here, with simple well-tested recipes and all the tips, techniques, and ideas that you need to please a crowd or satisfy the most sophisticated palate around.

 

Crazy About Cookies: 300 Scrumptious Recipes for Every Occasion and Craving by Krystina Castella – Delicious riffs on the classics and more adventurous offerings (like savory cornmeal olive cookies). There’s something for every occasion, from melt-in-your-mouth after-school snacks to fun Christmas cookie constructions.

 

Very Merry Cookie Party: How to Plan a Christmas Cookie Exchange by Barbara Grunes – Make a gorgeous variety of delicious Christmas cookies without spending days upon flour-smudged days mixing, rolling, and baking. This is your guide to the Christmas cookie exchange, where everyone shows up with a few batches of homemade cookies to swap.

 

Betty Crocker Cookies Cookies: 100 Recipes for the Way You Really Cook – Everyone has a favorite cookie, and chances are they’ll find it in this collection of tried-and-true as well as new cookies, brownies and bars from Betty Crocker.

Trick of the Light by Louise Penny

- Michelle 1 Comment

Mystery writer and four-time Agatha Award winner Louise Penny’s seventh book in the Inspector Armand Gamache series, A Trick of the Light, may just be her best yet.  The book follows the same quirky cast of characters who reside in the sleepy village of Three Pines near Montreal, Canada.  Artist and longtime resident Clara Morrow has just reached the pinnacle of her artistic career, a solo exhibition at the Modern Art Museum in Montreal.  The morning after the opening celebration, as Clara is relishing in her triumph, her closest childhood friend, Lillian Dyson, is found strangled in Clara’s serene garden and Clara quickly becomes the prime suspect.

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, of the Surete du Quebec, and his team are called in to investigate the murder, which has become even more complicated as the Inspector is surrounded by the residents of Three Pines, many who have become friendly with him and his team over the years.  Gamache soon discovers that Clara and Lillian had become estranged after a falling out decades earlier, which moves the investigation in a new direction.  In addition to the murder of Lillian, the story gives the reader a glimpse into the competitive art world and the story is peppered with artists, art critics and museum curators.  Gamache soon learns the true nature of the art world, a place where the competition between enemies and friends can lead to murder.

New to Louise Penny’s mysteries?  Start with the first book in the series, Still Life, which is also a must read and introduces all the residents of Three Pines!

At Home by Bill Bryson

- Ann Leave a comment

Hearty praise for Bill Bryson isn’t new to the Info Cafe blog (both Lynn and Ann have gushed about him in the past), but he is new to me! The audiobook of At Home: A Short History of Private Life, read by the author, was the first Bryson book I’ve read, and one of the most entertaining nonfiction books I’ve ever encountered on any subject. Part of the appeal comes from the irresistible subject matter: Bryson deals with the everyday, but elevates it beyond the mundane into something fascinating. The greater part of the book’s success is Bryson himself – dry wit that had me laughing and quoting passages to friends, great writing that’s both intelligent and accessible, and (crucially) excellent narration.

No matter what you’re interested in, there is something for you in At Home: architecture, cooking, engineering, etymology, inventing, transportation, medicine, sanitation and hygiene, social history, entertainment, a dash of politics, and mostly, British and American history. If history isn’t your thing, don’t be intimidated – though much of the book deals with historical matters, it never feels stuffy or boring (with the possible, arguable exception of a lengthy chapter on British architecture that suffers from a lack of the visual aids present in the printed book). The comforts we’re accustomed to – bright lights, running water, soap, sturdy clothing, efficient laundry, regular bathing, doctors who wash their hands, and a reasonable expectation that rats will NOT nest inside your mattress even as you sleep above them – these things are all shockingly new.

I particularly recommend this to anyone who’s a fan of historical novels, from Jane Austen through Diana Gabaldon; once you learn about the privy fixtures and habits of cleanliness in the pre-modern era, your reading of Emma will never be the same!

Super-duper seal of approval: after hearing a snippet while riding in my car, my book-phobic husband insisted on taking it off my hands to listen himself!

Seizure by Kathy Reichs

- Ann Leave a comment

guest review by Georgann

Seizure is the second in Kathy Reichs new YA series, Virals. The background from book one, Virals: a group of four teens and their wolf-dog are contaminated with a man-made virus. It gives them special wolf-like powers. They don’t turn into werewolves; rather, they get super-enhanced senses.

I liked Virals, but Seizure is even better! Our heroes are a group of ordinary teens, verging on “nerdy” but OK with their lowly status on the high school totem pole. These are great characters. In this novel, the group tracks down a long-lost pirate treasure in an effort to save the island on which they live. You just gotta love these kids! Although they are forever off doing things their parents continually ground them for, they just keep after their goal.

I enjoyed letting my imagination soar with the kids as they get into and out of one scrape after another. They are an entertaining group to spend time with! I chuckled out loud more than once. But I also enjoyed the suspense. they get into some dangerous situations, ala Indiana Jones, and I had to keep reading. Will they get through this? Will they get caught? How will this situation turn out? Will they find the treasure and save their home?

I had a day off and read this book in one sitting! It was that fun! Now, if I can only remember what all happened by the time book 3 comes out. Look for Code in 2012.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

- Ann Leave a comment

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline is set in the year 2044 when technology has reached a peak and people don’t interact much in the real world anymore.  Instead, they interact in the OASIS, a virtual reality utopia where you can be whoever and whatever you want.  Created by wealthy programmer James Halliday, the OASIS has become the real world to many people, since the actual real world is in shambles following the great energy crisis.  After Halliday’s death, a video will is released with a challenge:  whoever can find the hidden “Easter egg” that Halliday left in the OASIS will inherit his company and his entire fortune.  The hunt quickly becomes an obsession for the whole world, including teenager Wade Watts.  Wade has lived in a trailer with his drugged-out aunt ever since the death of his parents and has studied Halliday’s life relentlessly in hopes of figuring out the clues Halliday left behind in order to find the Easter egg and create a better life for himself.

If you like advenuture and quest stories, Ready Player One is a really fun and unique one, since it basically all takes place inside a video game.  It’s especially fun if you have fond memories of the pop culture of the 1980s.  Halliday was obsessed with ’80s pop culture and included a lot of it in his clues, so all the best movies and video games of the decade are very well represented.  It’s also really fun as a fan of “geeky stuff” to hear pretty much all of your favorite things referenced (I couldn’t help but get excited that Wade’s OASIS character was riding around in a Firefly-class spaceship).

The book also has a lot of suspenseful moments as Wade tries to become the one to find the Easter egg.  One of the biggest corporations in the world, called IOI, has entered the quest for the egg in an effort to gain ownership of the OASIS and start charging for use of it.  Wade and his friends (including love interest Art3mis and his mysterious best friend Aech, neither of whom Wade has ever met in person) are racing to beat IOI to the Easter egg in order to preserve the OASIS that they have known and loved for so long.  Overall, Ready Player One is an inspiring story about the little guy trying to overtake Goliath and make a better life for himself and the people around him. It’s very affirming for fans of “geek culture”, and it teaches that being yourself and having a little perseverence can get you pretty far.  And of course, it’s a really fun story that I would highly recommend.

Phryne, Rhymes with Briney

- Ann 1 Comment

I had long been attracted to the fun and stylish covers of Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher series, and finally decided to give them a try when the Davenport Public Library’s new Youth Services Librarian, Liza Gilbert, told me they were some of her all-time favorite books. There was just one thing I needed to know before I curled up with the mystery series: how oh how do I pronounce the heroine’s first name?! A quick search online and I learned that “Phryne, rhymes with Briney” which is now stored safely in the corner of my brain right next to “Rowling, rhymes with Bowling.”

Phryne Fisher is the classic 1920’s saucy heroine; she has style, confidence, cleverness and unlimited funds to do with as she pleases, and apparently what she pleases to do is fly planes, outwit lovers, and investigate crimes. In Cocaine Blues, the first in her series, Phryne arrives in Melbourne, Australia to check on the condition of an English aristocrat’s daughter who had been writing worrisome letters home to her parents. Although she assumed her Melbourne visit would mostly involve watching a neglectful husband and testing the girl’s food for poison, Phryne quickly finds herself searching out heavyweight cocaine dealers and criminal abortionists (who are assaulting their patients and depositing them in taxicabs to die).

Despite the gritty, heavy subjects of these investigations, Miss Fisher still manages to wear fabulous gowns, make snarky conversation and have a sexy romp or two. Hurrah! My absolute favorite part about Kerry Greenwood’s writing was the fascinating setting of the growing city of Melbourne, Australia during the 1920’s. Since most of my favorite Twenties novels seem to take place in New York, Chicago or London, it hadn’t even occurred to me that other exciting locales were also having a roaring good time. I highly recommend the Phryne Fisher series to those readers who can’t get enough of bobbed haircuts, silk stockings and smart female characters.