Category: Staff Picks

Read Everything Janet Evanovich Wrote?

- Lynn 1 Comment

Then you may very well enjoy Lisa Lutz’s series about the nutty, but lovable Spellman family. Unfortunately, there are only four books in this series.

The Spellman Files introduces us to Isabel, the narrator, her incorrigible younger sister Rae, her parents, or “the Units” as she calls them, who run the family business. Because that is a private investigation firm, they spend much of their free time spying on each other – literally making secret tape recordings.

The series is written in the style of reports for a client, complete with footnotes,  (Isabel calls each book a “document.”)

Isabel, like Stephanie, has many personal issues. Rather than eating too much junk food, Isabel drinks too much. She has a hard time with commitment and, though she loves her family,  they also drive  her nuts.

She has a cast of eccentric friends that recur in each book. Petra, a hair stylist and Isabel’s best friend from high school, Morty, an octogenarian lawyer who tries to keep Isabel out of jail, and Henry Stone, a police detective, though normal himself, albeit exceptionally neat and healthy, gets ensnared by the Spellmans.

As will you,the reader….

Young Victoria on DVD

- Ann Leave a comment

What’s the first image that comes to mind when you think of Queen Victoria? I bet it’s of a photograph of her as an old woman, dressed in black widow’s weeds with a glum look on her face. With that indelible image, it’s easy to forget that she was once a young woman of 17 who loved to dance and was falling in love. The Young Victoria brings the early years of Queen Victoria’s life – just before and after her coronation – brilliantly alive.

Kept isolated and under tight control throughout her childhood by her mother, Victoria was poorly prepared to rule what was then the richest country in the world. Her mother’s adviser, Sir John Conroy, tried to force Victoria to sign a regency document allowing him to rule through her, but Victoria, showing surprising spunk and determination, refused. Just six weeks after her 18th birthday, King William died and she became Queen. Now dependent on various politicians for guidance, she found herself turning more and more to her cousin Albert.

Planned by their uncle that they should eventually marry since they were babies, Victoria and Albert did the nearly unthinkable and fell in love. They made a nearly perfect team, complimenting each others strengths, and together ruled England for 20 years until Alberts death. Victoria mourned him for another 40 years.

The Young Victoria is a sumptuous production with superb acting, beautiful settings and gorgeous costumes (which won numerous awards including an Oscar) While the screenplay fudges on some historical details, it is overall accurate, and it is especially evocative of one of the great romances of all time.

Brava, Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

- Ann Leave a comment

This sequel to Adriana Trigiani’s Very Valentine continues to follow custom shoemaker Valentine Roncalli and her vibrant Italian family.  Brava, Valentine opens with the romantic wedding of her 80-year-old grandmother in Tuscany, then segues back to their shop in Greenwich Village where Valentine must learn how to deal with her brother as a freshly-ordained business partner.

The most interesting scenes, however, take place in Buenos Aires, where Valentine discovers a long lost cousin who coincidentally operates a similar business.  At first cousin Roberta appears reticent and a bit defensive, actions which appear reasonable once the full, scandalous story is told.  Plus, Buenos Aires is where she passionately reunites with sexy Italian tanner, Gianluca.  True to Trigiani’s usual form, this new novel is both heartwarming and humorous.

The author, earlier known for her Big Stone Gap series, has also written an entertaining cookbook, Cooking with My Sisters, which includes many memorable anecdotes and photos of her colorful family.

Emma on DVD

- Ann Leave a comment

Beautiful, wealthy and secure in her place in society, Emma Woodhouse rules her tiny part of England with a sunny disposition. Emma occupies herself with somewhat clumsy if well-meaning attempts at matchmaking, yet she completely misses seeing her own true love until it is almost too late. The latest adaptation of the beloved Jane Austen novel (first shown on PBS), this version of Emma succeeds in every way.

As you would expect from a BBC production, every detail is exquisite. Costumes, scenery, settings, props all help to bring this version of Emma beautifully to life. The film reflects the bright and sunny personality of the heroine with lush gardens, elegant homes, lively conversation and charming villages. Beautifully adapted and acted, you will not be disappointed.

There are many film versions of all of Austen’s books; one of the great advantages of the mini-series versus a feature film is that there is much more room for the story to grow and develop; side stories that add interest and atmosphere need not be cut and the main characters can shine as they should. All of this comes together here making it a pleasure to slip into the sharp and witty world of Austen.

Mandela’s Way by Richard Stengel

- Ann Leave a comment

I have long been fascinated by Nelson Mandela — intrigued by how an individual could endure 27 years in prison and then become South Africa’s charismatic leader during a critical phase in its history.  Though not a biography, this compact book, subtitled Fifteen Lessons on Life, Love, and Courage, gives us insights into the man’s character and allows us to easily absorb some of his life’s essentials truths.  Here are a few examples:

  • Courage is Not the Absence of Fear
  • Have a Core Principle
  • See the Good in Others
  • Know When to Say “No”

The author, Richard Stengel, editor of Time magazine, spent nearly three years with Mandela, eating with him, traveling with him and watching him interact with other dignitaries — and it shows.  Stengel obviously has deep affection for his subject, and he uses events in Mandela’s life  to illustrate the lessons — how as a child, Mandela was raised by a tribal king as a companion for his own son — how he became a freedom fighter and seldom saw his own family —  and how he found new love and remarried at the age of eighty.

I enjoyed this easy-to-read book and would recommend it not only to adults eager to gain new leadership skills, but also as an appropriate gift for those soon-to-be graduates on your list.

Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

- Ann Leave a comment

The title of this amazing book, full of incredible stories about women overcoming obstacles, is taken from an old Chinese proverb: “Women hold up half the sky.”  The authors, Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, received the Pulitzer Prize in journalism, and I first saw their work featured on the Oprah show.  Their primary premise is that, “Throughout much of the world, the greatest unexploited economic resource is the female half of the population … Unleashing that process globally is not only the right thing to do; it’s also the best strategy for fighting poverty.”

Rather than tire the reader with boring statistics,  the authors wisely chose to illustrate their point by letting us “get to know” individual women.  Warning — the majority of these reports are very sad, even horrific at times, dealing with subjects such as sexual slavery, inequities in gender education, and maternal mortality.  However, each chapter is also followed by a success story, proving time and time again that one person can make a difference.

April 18-24 is National Volunteer Week; I can’t think of a better book to read for it than this.  Besides a plentitude of inspiration, the final chapter gives suggestions on “What You Can Do” with “Four Steps You Can Take in the next Ten Minutes.”  Step One?  Go to GlobalGiving or Kiva and open an account.

Remember Euell Gibbons?

- Lynn 1 Comment

My favorite essay in John McPhee’s book, The Silk Parachute is “My Life List.” McPhee talks about the weirdest things he’s ever eaten, and, in doing so, he describes an encounter he had with that icon of the 70’s, Euell Gibbons. He shared boiled dandelions and water mint tea (remember the Grape Nuts commercial?) with Euell.

This  seems mighty tame compared to the weasel, lion, whale, grizzly bear and bee spit meals he had.

McPhee’s great skill is to make any subject, no matter how arcane, fascinating. He supplies just the right detail and sets the scene and before you know it, you’re sucked in.

In this series of essays written for the New Yorker, he often refers to feedback he received from legendary editor, Wallace Shawn.

The Surrendered by Chang-Rae Lee

- Ann Leave a comment

Author Chang-Rae Lee admits that the first chapter of his book is based upon a tragic event in his father’s life — something so traumatic that his father had never disclosed it — until questioned by his then college-aged son.  The chapter features June Han, an 11-year-old orphaned refugee during the Korean War, desperately struggling to flee the approaching military with her younger siblings in tow.

The chapters often leave the reader hanging, wondering what happened, only to open the next one to discover a new character in a totally different time period. We are later introduced to Hector, a handsome American who enlists to fight in Korea, but then decides to remain after the war to work in an orphanage.  There, his life becomes entwined with June’s and also with Sylvie Tanner, the beautiful wife of the minister who runs the place.  But Sylvie’s story reveals her own scarred and tragic past.

We primarily see June thirty years later, now a successful New York antiques dealer who is dying of cancer, as she reunites with a reluctant Hector in a search for her long-lost son.  As the book spans three decades and several continents, The Surrendered is an epic saga, masterfully written with complex characterization, but also, according to Publisher’s Weekly, “a harrowing tale, bleak, haunting, often heartbreaking — and not to be missed.”

Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard

- Ann Leave a comment

Falling in love in Paris – what could be better than that? How about falling in love in Paris with recipes! Elizabeth Bard lets us tag along in Lunch in Paris as she meets and falls in love with Gwendal, maintains a long-distance relationship (with frequent visits to France), and then at first reluctantly, then whole heartedly, becomes an ex-pat living in Paris.

As a student in London working on her PhD, Elizabeth is able to make frequent weekend trips to Paris to visit friends. Her travels quickly center around food – the sidewalk cafes, the shop with the best croissants, the tiny restaurants known only to the locals. When she begins dating Gwendal, she begins to view meals and eating like the French do – even the simplest meal should be created with care and attention, eaten slowly and enjoyed. She learns to shop like a Parisian, buying just enough food for each meal, going to the fishmonger, the butcher, the farmer’s market for fresh ingredients. Along the way she finds a doorway into the French culture and thought, while gaining new insights into her American heritage.

Bard writes with confidence and wit, unafraid to expose her American learning curve. She is enthusiastic about trying any dish, and an adventurer in the kitchen. Each chapter is wrapped around a meal (or the memory of a meal) that fits the current stage of her life and finishes with recipes for the food she’s written about. While the recipes are mostly French, she has rewritten them for Americans, with ingredients that are easy to find in the US. This a delightful, mouth-watering memoir will satisfy the cook, the foodie and the traveler in all of us.

The Bad Book Affair by Ian Sansom

- Ann Leave a comment

The Bad Book Affair by Ian Sansom is a light, easy-read mystery is a novel choice for National Library Week.  There’s a lot of dialog (maybe too much at times) but since it takes place in Northern Ireland, I guess it’s reasonable to espect a bit of blarney or wit-repartee.  Enter Israel Armstrong, the primary character, now living in a converted chicken coop, and according to the first sentence is” possibly Ireland’s only English Jewish vegetarian mobile librarian.”

Israel is depressed; his girlfriend Gloria has just broken up with him, he’s about to turn 30, and he’s under suspicion in the disappearance of a local teenager.  Some consider him responsible because (horror of horrors) he lent the girl a book from the library’s special “Unshelved” collection.  Rather than be run out of town, he hops in the library van and does his own research, of sorts.  Israel, in his frumpy cords and rather slovenly ways, is a very unlikely detective, but much of the humor comes from this self-effacing characterization.  This is not classic literature, but book-lovers, especially, will find some good laughs.