Category: Books

Dilbert Meets the Recession

- Lynn Leave a comment

then-we-came-to-the-end1Seems like there is a novel for every situation. We can take some comfort from the fact that people have gone through layoffs and recession before.

Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris is the devastating tale of an ad agency, where, one by one, workers carry their box of belongings out of their office during the dot-com bust of the late ’90’s. Ferris captures exactly the love/hate relationship we have with our cubicles and our co-workers. He depicts how painful it is to lose the community, the gossip , the petty resentments, and the infantile behavior that make up our work lives.

Described  as “The Office meets Kafka,” (Nick Hornby) the characters are written with compassion and depth by Ferris,  a University of Iowa graduate.

On Display — Irish Authors,Tales & Trips

- Ann Leave a comment

What better time than St. Patrick’s Day than to honor the Irish?  Just so you have something green to read,  we’ve put together a display of some popular Irish authors at the Fairmount Branch.

When Frank McCourt came on the scene with Angela’s Ashes, it seemed everyone was speaking with an Gaelic lilt.    If you’ve already read that, then try his ‘Tis or Teacher Man.

If you’d like a fun little romp, try The Pig Did It by Joseph Caldwell.  I blogged about it last year, so I won’t repeat myself.

Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle, and for good reason.  If you’re thinking about traveling, this beautifully green country has got to be on your list.  Check out our travel section and then reserve your chance to kiss the blarney stone.

ireland1

s-ashes pig-did-it1

Emma’s Table by Philip Galanes

- Ann 1 Comment

emmas-tableIn Emma’s Table by Philip Galanes, Emma Sutton – famous interior design and lifestyle guru – attends the prestigious FitzCoopers auction determined to purchase a unique antique table, no matter who stands in her way. Fresh from a stint in Federal Prison and feeling battered by the accompanying public scrutiny, Emma doesn’t realize she’s going to come away with much more than a table.

Still enjoying great success professionally, Emma’s personal life needs some work – her ex-husband has returned to try to work things out, her adult daughter is aimless and angry and Emma  goes through personal assistants at an alarming rate. Despite the public image of perfection, she has no idea where or how to make the needed changes.

Emma’s weekend-personal assistant Benjamin (one of the few that has hung on), struggles with his own issues – a social worker during the week, he is puzzled by the case of Grace, a troubled, overweight little girl and her mother, as well as demands from his girlfriend. And then there’s the Japanese diplomat whom Emma outmaneuvered for the table. Emma searches for a way to make things right, heal all the insults and wounds she’s inflicted and therefore somehow save herself.

These disparete characters slowly come together in a story that is both lighthearted and thoughtful, about second (and even third) chances, redemption and starting again. Because everyone deserves a second chance.

Pizza : Grill It, Bake It, Love It by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough

- Ann Leave a comment

pizza-grill-it-bake-it-love-itWho doesn’t love pizza? An Italian staple that has been embraced by America and made our own, we consume, on average, more than 46 slices of pizza a year. From deep-dish to exotic toppings, loaded with meat or vegetables only, the pizza can be adapted to any taste, any whim and still be delicious. Now Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough take it up another notch in Pizza : Grill It, Bake It, Love It when they show you just how easy – and scrumptious – homemade pizza can be.

The authors first cover the basics – including in-depth descriptions of different cheeses, recipes for eight crusts and three basic sauces – and then launch into ideas for putting together your masterpiece. Pizzas range from the classic Pepperoni to international Tandoori Chicken to modern Prosciutto and Arugula as well as ten variations of Deep Dish pizza. Weinstein and Scarbrough also provide inspiration for “appetizer” pizzas (including Artichoke, Olive and Feta) and “salad” pizzas (such as Chicken Ceasar Salad)

Our own Frugal Librarian will soon be posting his own tips for making this dinnertime favorite that is both economical and fun – watch this space!

Good Dog!

- Lynn 1 Comment

dog-trainingYet another way libraries can transform your life! What if you need to introduce a couple new dogs to a cat household? It’s critical to have some control over the dogs’ behavior (forget about controlling the cat).

Many will tell you, “Just throw them all together and it’ll work out.” Maybe, but probably not without a lot of needless stress.

The following books will fundamentally change the way you think about training; it’s amazing to witness the transformation in your pets and yourself:

Dog-Friendly Dog Training by Andrea Arden explains in clear language the philosophy of the Reward-Good-Behavior/Ignore-Bad-Behavior method of training.

Teach Yourself Visually Dog Training by Sarah Hodgson then shows you how to do it with well-chosen photographs and concise instructions.

Another wonderful service your library provides is interlibrary loan. Dvds in the PetsIncredible series are great reinforcement to the techniques you’ve read about.  Just ask at the Reference staff for more information.

Snark attack

- Bill 1 Comment

snark1David Denby is a man on a moral, ethical mission in Snark: A Polemic in Seven Fits. In it, he seeks to quell “the bad kind of invective — low, teasing, snide, condescending, knowing” he refers to as snark.

This extended essay of a little over 100 pages has a definite academic lean. In it, he defines and traces forms of this disdainful rhetoric over the centuries. Included is a section on the purported origin of the word in Lewis Carroll’s Hunting the Snark, as well as its roots among macho posturing poets and warriors over the ages.

The more poignant examples are culled from the combatants in the last presidential campaign.  A shocking revelation, I know.

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

- Ann Leave a comment

housekeeper-and-the-professorThis lovely jewel of a novel, set in Japan, explores the power of memory and how it shapes our lives, and how love and friendship can transcend hardship and loss.

The Professor is a brilliant mathematician, able to describe and demonstrate the most complex formulas into something simple and poetic and beautiful, but due to a traumatic head injury his short-term memory lasts only 80 minutes. The Professor spends his days in his study, working on difficult mathematics problems; everything before that fateful night in 1975 still clear and real to him, everything else more than 80 minutes old, new and confusing.

The Housekeeper, a struggling single mother, is assigned to care for him. Gradually they make a connection – the Professor pins multiple notes to his coat to help him cope with his handicap – and the Housekeeper’s young son often joins them. The Professor shares his love of numbers with them and joins the boy in his love of baseball.  Together the three form an unconventional family.

Thoughtful, poignant and bittersweet, this spare, elegant novel will stay with you long after you’ve finished.

Explore Darwin in Fiction

- Lynn 1 Comment

evolution-of-janeHave Darwin’s birthday celebrations piqued your interest in natural selection and evolution? One painless way to learn about a complex subject is to explore it through fiction.  A funny, easy-to-read example is The Evolution of Jane by Cathleen Schine. While on an ecological tour of the Galapagos Islands, Jane  begins to apply Darwin’s principles to her own relationships – in particular, the unexplained break with her childhood friend, who(coincidentally!) is leading the tour.

Barbara Kingsolver calls the book  a “beautifully descriptive travelogue of the Galapagos, loaded with mini-lectures on natural history, evolutinary theory and Darwiniana, wrapped around a rollicking family saga tinged with hints of sexual intrigue….My hat is off to any writer who can render such complex ideas comprehensibly in English…”

The New African-American Kitchen by Angela Shelf Medearis

- Ann Leave a comment

new-african-american-kitchenFocusing on the various cultural traditions that have influenced modern African-American cuisine, Angela Shelf Medearis’ The New African-American Kitchen will have you heading for the kitchen in no time. Known as “The Kitchen Diva” on her PBS cooking show, Medearis sprinkles historical information and quotes throughout the book, making it as entertaining to read as it is to cook from.

Recipes begin in Africa, then travel to the Caribbean and then to slave kitchens where the ingenuity and skill forged by the hardships and conditions of each situation have help create the unique dishes of modern African-American dishes.

Medearis also includes a chapter on healthy eating, aimed at providing delicious recipes for diabetics (more than 3 million African-Americans have some type of diabetes) and one with recipes for African-American holidays such as Juneteenth and Kwanzaa. Emphasis throughout is on healthy, organic ingredients, simple preparation techniques and the joy of sharing good food with family and friends.

A Matter of Justice by Charles Todd

- Ann Leave a comment

matter-of-justiceThis is the 11th in the Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery series, but the first one I’ve read.  As a historical mystery, it makes for an interesting genre, but what I found even more intriguing was that the author, Charles Todd, is a pseudonym for a mother-son team who don’t even live in the same state!  Even in this high-tech world, I still marvel at that kind of skill, but for now, let’s focus on the story.

A Matter of Justice takes place in 1920’s England, and the main character, Rutledge, is an inspector for Scotland Yard.  He is called to the rural village of Somerset to investigate the brutal murder of a successful London financier, Harold Quarles.  There are no shortages of suspects, as many of the villagers openly admit to totally despising the man.  Even Quarles’ wife and the town’s police officer are under suspicion.

In what turns out to be a very effective technique, the reader is clued in to the real killer early on, and as the pages kept turning, I began to fear that Rutledge would arrest the wrong person or never literally bring the “matter to justice.”  Another useful ploy was the voice of Hamish in Rutledge’s head.  Hamish,  a soldier who died under Rutledge’s command in the trenches of WWI,  serves as a sort of guilty conscience for the inspector. This contributes greatly to making him a fully human character and not just some singular sleuth.  Though some will find this similar to an Agatha Christie mystery, I found it refreshingly superior.