November 2009
My Picks of the Month, Reading History, People (Biographies and Autobiographies), Health, Military Matters, Kids and Teen Books, Novels
My Picks of the Month
Here’s a book to put on your Christmas list. It’s Celebrating Peanuts: 60 Years ($75.00, Andrews McMeel Publishing) and it comes in a deluxe, slip cased edition. It is filled with all the many things a generation of Americans came to love about this wonderful comic strip creation by the late Charles Schultz. Peanuts fans will find quotes from Schultz that shed light on how his mind worked, how his life shaped the strip, and how in turn it shaped his life. There are more than 500 pages of classic Peanuts strips, including many full color Sundays. It doesn’t get much better than this. Another large format book that will please fans of the late actress Betty Davis is a tribute written by two noted film critics, Richard Schickel and George Perry. Betty Davis: Larger than Life ($35.00, Running Press) captures the life of a quite extraordinary woman, outspoken and unapologetic. Her career spanned six decades and more than 100 films and few actresses rival her for longevity and appeal. As she put it, “Until you’re known in my profession as a monster, you’re not a star” and she was the epitome of a star. “Of Human Bondage”, “Jezebel”, and “All About Eve” became classic films in part from her performances. She broke ground for actresses who followed her, but she left an indelible imprint on an era we sometimes call the golden age of Hollywood.
If you know someone who loves to travel or someone who prefers to do so from an armchair (that’s me), then one of the most fabulous gifts to give this year is Visions of Europe ($99.99, a boxed set of 12 programs on ten discs, Acorn Media), good for over 15 hours of some of the most extraordinary views of Europe, all shot in high definition video from a helicopter-mounted camera. Seen frequently on PBS, in this great set, you will find “Visions” of Italy, France, Greece, Germany and Austria. There’s also the “Great Cities of Europe”. Either for yourself or as a gift, you will float above places whose names reflect the history of Western civilization. The music and the narration is never intrusive. It’s a trip of a lifetime without every leaving home.
Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America is an intriguing book by Rich Benjamin ($24.99, Hyperion). He begins by pointing out that, by 2042, whites will no longer be the majority population in America. As people of color driven by the massive illegal immigration across our southern border increase, more whites are moving to small towns and exurban areas that are predominantly, even extremely white. It goes way beyond prejudice and it goes straight to the heart of American values of “individual liberty, shared civic responsibility, and equal opportunity.” Benjamin writes, “Insecure over the strength and prospects of American values, many white Americans fear for the nation’s ability to absorb newcomers.” This is especially true when they arrive poorly educated and with cultural dispositions to neglect wherever they live. It is hard to claim prejudice given the fact that Americans elected the first black president in its history, though the election, says Benjamin, obscures the racial and economic segregation still vexing America. Benjamin advocates “diversity” even though it looks more and more to me like termites eating the foundations of American society. At the book’s conclusion, the author opts for a more liberal approach to the demographic changes occurring, something that struck me as the antithesis of the theme of his book.
For an administration that has promised greater “transparency”, it is increasingly clear that much of the information on which decisions are based is kept from public view. Over the years, the Freedom of Information Act has been utilized by journalists and those dealing with public affairs issues to learn more about what the government is doing and why. Jacqueline Klosek has written The Right to Know: Your Guide to Using and Defending Freedom of Information Law in the United States ($44.95, Praeger). An attorney practicing law in New York City, it need be said this book will be of greatest use to those engaged in these battles to pry open the doors of government agencies. There are, she notes, many exemptions to the law that prevent access, but she does provide practical methods for citizens to use the act to protect themselves and their communities. The most dangerous aspect of what is occurring is the increasing effort to deny Americans access to government generated information with which to make an informed analysis of what is really occurring. Tom Fenton is a four-time Emmy winner from his years with CBS News, so one might expect his analysis, Junk News: The Failure of the Media in the 21st Century ($14.95, Fulcrum Publishing) to be more incisive. However, his association with CBS News reminds us of the expose of Dan Rather’s appalling bias (a court recently dismissed his case against CBS) and it similarly infects Fenton’s examination of trends. He now works as a freelance commentator for the BBC. This little book rather swiftly loses much of its credibility when he veers into political opinion, but is worth reading when Fenton addresses the actual mechanics and costs of news gathering. His lament about the closing of foreign bureaus by U.S. media rings true, along with some other complaints. He devotes too much time blaming the former Bush administration for all the ills of the world, much as the present administration does. Those of a liberal persuasion will enjoy this book.
Cornelia Dean has written Am I Making Myself Clear?: a Scientist’s Guide to Talking to the Public ($19.95, Harvard University Press). This is a book for scientists who want to share their expertise, analysis and opinions with the general public and I recommend it because I see lots of scientific information that often defies the understanding of even a seasoned science writer like myself. A distinguished science editor and reporter, Dean makes a case for the importance of scientists taking an active role in making their work accessible to the media and, through them, to the general public. This book is especially timely given the decades of junk science regarding a “global warming” that was a natural climate cycle, barely one degree Fahrenheit, to a previous “little ice age.” And the kicker is that the Earth has been in a new cooling cycle for at least ten years. It’s not likely you’ve heard about that!
One cannot help being impressed by The Big Book of Parenting Solutions: 101 Answers to Your Everyday Challenges and Wildest Worries by Michele Borba, Ed.D. ($19.95, Jossey-Bass, an imprint of Wiley, softcover). The initial reason being its sheer size. It’s truly a big book at nearly 700 pages as it addresses common parenting challenges for kids from age 3 to 13. The answers to bedtime battles, chores wars, tantrums, bad friends, sibling rivalry, cheating, growing up too fast, eating disorders, selfishness, anger and countless other common problems are addressed, along with Internet safety, stress and much more. The solutions are time-tested and, for today’s time-challenged parent, the ability to go to specific chapters on problems they are encountering is invaluable.
For the sports nut in your life, a great Christmas stocking-stuffer would be No Dribbling the Squid: Octopush, Shin Kicking, Elephant Polo, and other Oddball Sports are the subject of a book by Michael J. Rosen with Ben Kassoy ($12.99, Andrews McMeel, softcover. It would appear that just about anything humans do can be and has been turned into some kind of sporting activity as it takes a look at those from around the globe that are weird and entertaining, from Wife-Carrying races to professional Rock-Paper-Scissors competitions and Extreme Ironing. This book is just plain fun.
Reading History
There is no understanding of the present or hint of predicting the future if you have not read history.
The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Epic Story of the Map That Gave America its Name by Toby Lester ($30.00, Free Press, an imprint of Simon and Schuster) tells of the way Europeans believed that the world consisted of three parts, Europe, Africa and Asia. These parts of the world had been visited by traders and seafarers to an extent that they were known to exist. For the Europeans, they existed to be exploited, a noted trait. The “fourth part of the world”, however, was largely a land of myth until, in 1507, Martin Waldseemulller and Mathias Ringmann, two obscure scholars working in the mountains of eastern France created a map. It depicted a new world beyond the vast Atlantic Ocean. It would draw on the explorations of Amerigo Vespucci and Christopher Columbus. It would set Nicholas Copernicus to thinking that the Earth was not the center of the universe. Thus was life in 16th century Europe. Eventually, in 2003, the Library of Congress paid $10 million to add it to its treasures. The story of the map is one of the great stories of discovery and it is fascinating.
From the earliest civilizations to our own there have always been people ready to predict the end of the world and people ready to believe them. As we draw closer to 2012, the ancient Mayan calendar, said to predict this is gaining renewed attention. Simply put, it does not make such a prediction, but the long, more complex story is told by John Major Jenkins in The 2012 Story: The Myths, Fallacies, and Truth Behind the Most Intriguing Date in History ($25.95, Tarcher/Penguin). There have been some 200 books written concerning December 21, 2012 and some movies based on the myth. Jenkins is an expert on the Mayan civilization and that is the crux of his book and, if that interests you than you will not be disappointed by this portrait of the cultural and scientific roots of what, in fact, was a Mayan belief in transformation and renewal. (See the Novels section for one based on the end of the world theme.)
If you have been trying to figure out why the Middle East is such a mess, a good place to start is the Kingmakers: The Invention of the Modern Middle East by Karl E. Mayer and Shareen Blair Brysac ($18.95, W.W. Norton, softcover) which looks at the Middle East as the geographic, geostrategic, and religious center of the world; one that Alexander, Caesar, and Napoleon tried to control long before oil was discovered and in which, at varying times France, Britain, Germany, and the United States have all sought to extend their hegemony. The modern Middle East is the result of a secret treaty between England and France that divided it between them following World War One and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. For anyone who loves to read history, this book is high adventure full of folly and a cast of characters Hollywood could not have invented. Beyond America’s Grasp: A Century of Failed Diplomacy in the Middle East by Stephen P. Cohen ($27.00, Farrar, Straus and Giroux) rapidly turns out to be a disappointment and the tip-off is the first sentence of its preface. “Right after the 1967 Six-Day War, I set out to educate myself about the Zionist conflict with the Arabs in Palestine.” The “Zionists”, not the Israelis. Because, despite the wars waged against it, the sovereign nation of Israel has demonstrated that Jews have a right to their ancient homeland. And, largely ignored or unmentioned is the fact that Israel has a million Arab citizens! Cohen, a Harvard-trained social psychologist is the founder and president of the Institute for Middle East Peace and Development. He is a dreamer who, while he has a grasp of the basics of Middle East history, views it through the gauzy hope for a peace that has always been beyond reach in a region whose dominant faith and culture makes it impossible
People, People, People
The favorite subject for people to write about is, well, people. And, of course, there is often much to be learned by reading about people since one can hardly cram that much experience into a single life.
I will begin, for no particular reason, with a memoir by a wonderful singer and entertainer, Moon River and Me by Andy Williams ($25.95, Viking). I was surprised to learn that he is 82, but only because, being ten years younger, he has been a part of my life before and since he became a superstar on television by the 1960s. There are few achievements in show business he has not garnered, but it was his warm tenor voice and seemingly effortless delivery that earned him his position. The book tells of a humble beginning in Iowa, an ambitious father who encouraged his sons to form a singing group, a move to Los Angeles, and the gradual climb to a place in the hearts of Americans who embraced him. Along the way he became friends with other famous folk like Bobby Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Elvis and others. He relates stories about them and his success on television, in Las Vegas, and with his theatre in Branson, Missouri. This is a memoir worth waiting for.
William Rehnquist was a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for a third of a century and served contiguously with four presidents and yet I cannot help but think that most Americans were and are largely unaware of him because of his modest demeanor. He did not seek the limelight, but now those for whom the Supreme Court, its decisions, and the men and women that made them in modern times are of interest, Rehnquist: A Personal Portrait of the Distinguished Chief Justice of the United States meets the need for a greater insight and understanding of the man ($27.00, Threshold Editions, an imprint of Simon and Schuster). Herman J. Obermayer provides a candid look at one of the most influential men to hold the job. He takes the reader on an interesting journey from his dissenting opinion in Roe v. Wade to his strongly stated positions on issues as various as freedom of the press, school prayer, and civil rights. It was Rehnquist who played a visible role in two very contentious events, the impeachment trial of President Clinton in 1999 and the decision that made George W. Bush the winner in the presidential election of 2000. Obermayer, a journalist, was friends with him for nineteen years and the result is a book well worth reading for a better understanding of the man and times he influenced
From an earlier era, the 1920s and 30s, a name synonymous with those times is Amelia Earhart, one of the first women pilots and, in many ways, a woman who demonstrated that her sex could equal the exploits of men. Amelia Earhart: The Thrill of It by Susan Wels ($35.00, Running Press) is a large format book to match her personality and exploits which famously ended with her mysterious disappearance somewhere in the Pacific in 1937. Well written and extensively illustrated, the woman that emerges from its pages does much more than fly planes. She was a polymath, a poet, photographer, fashion designer, wife, friend and lover. She was, above all, someone who lived for adventure. “Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace,” she wrote. She lived life on her own terms and broke the glass ceiling long before the term existed.
The Holocaust, the deliberate killing of six million Jews by the Nazis during World War Two has generated hundreds, if not thousands of books, but it remains essential that later generations and humanity in general not forget it. Surviving the Angel of Death: The Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz by Eva Mozes Kor and Lisa Rojany Buccieri ($15.95, Tanglewood Press) is actually written for younger readers, aged twelve and up. One of the worst chapters of the Holocaust was the selection of some 300 twins for Dr. Josef Mengele’s cruel medical experiments. Only about 200 survived. The author and her sister were only ten years old at the time. A lesser known story from that period is told in They Dared Return: The Untold Story of Jewish Spies Behind the Lines in Nazi Germany by Patrick K. O’Donnell ($26.00, Da Capo Press). Some Jewish refugees, by 1942, had found safe haven in America, but with courage that is hard to imagine, were eager to serve in the armed forces to stop the persecution of their overseas families and friends, some of whom languished in concentration camps. The book focuses on “the Jewish five” who joined the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor of today’s CIA, to become spies, parachuting into enemy territory to gather information for the Allied forces. O’Donnell, a military historian, has done a great service in writing this intriguing book. (See History section below for more on this topic)
Writers often find their own lives more interesting than anything they could invent or report, so it is not surprising that two books reflect that trait. The Face in the Mirror edited by Victoria Zackheim ($25.00, Prometheus Books) brings together recollections by writers such as Malachy McCourt, Joyce Maynard, among some twenty writers of fiction and non-fiction who relate the choices they made, their achievements, and their disappointments. Their stories are a cautionary tale for all would-be writers, but they answer the question of who it is they see when they look in the mirror. Mentors, Muses & Monsters: 30 Writers on the People Who Changed Their Lives ($24.99, Free Press) collects essays by writers ranging from Joyce Carol Oates to Edmund White, at least two are Pulitzer Prize winners, six won National Book Awards, and others who saw their work become bestsellers but who recall how either encouragement or criticism shaped their careers, each thriving or surviving to make a name for themselves.
After decades of reviewing, I have seen my share of memoirs. Most lives fit into comfortable patterns, but occasionally someone comes along with a truly nutty notion, divorced from reality, and a path to a life that strays from the ordinary. Such is the case of Jerramy Fine who was born in 1977 in western Colorado, but possessed of the idea that she was switched at birth and her “real” parents must surely be English aristocrats. Ms. Fine was convinced that she was born to marry into the British Royal Family. She is what is called an Anglophile, in love with things and men who are British. She writes about it in Someday My Prince Will Come: True Adventures of a Wannabe Princess (15.00, Gotham Books/Penguin Group, softcover) While attending the University of Rochester, she spent a semester working in the House of Commons and later completed her master’s at the London School of Economics. She did not marry an English prince, but she lives in London with an English boyfriend and she forgives him for being a commoner. The result of this is a whimsical real life story of a girl who began writing to Buckingham Palace around age six, gets to London, dives into the party scene and discovers life is not the fairy tale she imagined. Turns out that London is very expensive and too many British boys are a real pain. This one is strictly for the girls, but it will resonate with any one of them who wanted to be a princess.
The Topic is Health
Americans are taking a greater interest in maintaining their personal health these days, perhaps in response to the national debate on proposed, controversial revisions to Medicare, arguably the most popular government program other than Social Security. It also reflects the endless coverage of health-related topics in the nation’s media. An excellent place to start is The Intellectual Devotional: Health ($24.00, Rodale) with 365 daily entries on all aspects of health that cover seven categories on health and wellness such as drugs and alternative treatments, the men, sexuality and reproduction, children and adolescents, diseases and ailments. It is endlessly fascinating for its facts.
Smoking: 201 Reasons to Quit by Muriel L. Crawford ($19.95, plus $5.50 shipping and handling, from Dillion & Parker Publishing, softcover), is addressed to people like me and the thirty million other Americans who say they want to quit. It is one scary book, listing more than a hundred ways tobacco harms smoker’s health, often leading to prolonged disability and early death. It offers methods to quit smoking, and discusses all the other aspects of smoking such as social and relationship problems. I would hazard that this is the most comprehensive review of this problem and, who knows, it might just get me to quit, too. Visit www.ReasonsNotToSmoke.com.
I loved The Art of Overeating by Leslie Landis ($9.95, Sterling) and give it a big thumbs up! Written by a practicing clinical psychologist, the author has practical experience helping people who eat, spend, avoid, deny, and defy their way through life. As Americans continue to be hit over the head with endless discussion and even proposed legislation about what and how much we can eat, this book approaches the subject with lots of laughter. Peppered with fascinating food facts, plus the author’s natural wry style of making her case about food phobias, she exposing the uselessness of trying to shame over-eaters. Using humor, though, helps a lot. If you’re tired of the endless stream of diet books and advice, this is probably the book for you!
It seems like hardly a day or week goes by without the public being informed that some health threat is going to kill millions and now Dr. Brad Spellberg has written about the latest in Rising Plague: The Global Threat from Deadly Bacteria and our Dwindling Arsenal to Fight Them ($26.00, Prometheus Books). The focus of his book is on antibiotic-resistant microbes that are said to infect two million Americans and kill more than 100,000 every year. What makes this an even worse threat, according to the author, is that research and development of new antibiotics has “ground to a screeching halt.” This book is a major warning against the collapse of antibiotic R&D and for anyone with an interest in health issues, this is “must” reading.
A new memoir is The Sugarless Plum: A Ballerina’s Triumph Over Diabetes by Zippora Karz ($22.95, Harlequin) in which she tells how, by the age of 20 she had fulfilled her life’s dream. Having left home at the age of 15 to pursue her career, Karz became a rising star with the New York City Ballet. A year later, however, her body began to exhibit symptoms that were originally misdiagnosed as Type-2 diabetes when it was Type-1. This is an inspiring story for any woman facing this disease and it is enhanced as she writes about the behind-the-scenes life of a ballerina, a fantasy for little girls around the world.
Military Matters
I have long believed that history largely consists of the many wars of mankind and this is confirmed in an excellent new book, Little-Known Wars of Great and Lasting Impact: Turning Points in Our History We should Know More About by Alan Axelrod, PhD ($24.99, Fair Winds Press). That may qualify as one of the longest titles of any new book this year! The author has had a long, distinguished career in and out of publishing and a consultant to television documentaries. He takes the reader on a fascinating tour that include what he calls the “first Holocaust”, the battle when Simon bar Kokhba initiated a rebellion against Rome, triggering a response that cost the lives of many Jews living in Israel from 132-135 BC. Other wars cited include the first wars of terror, the Barbary pirates versus the United States, and the Meji Rebellion in Japan. There are many interesting chapters that recount wars that often are not taught in schools and colleges, but which shaped history, ancient and modern.
Zenith Press specializes in books about military affairs and among their latest releases are War Stories of D-Day: Operation Overlord—June 6, 1944 ($28.00) by Michael Green and James D. Brown. That titanic landing on the shores of France was a major turning point in World War Two. It put 150,000 troops in play against the Nazis and this book humanizes the event with first-person stories of those who took part in the invasion, including the paratroopers who dropped behind enemy lines. The book includes those from the U.S. Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force who provided critical support. A little known story of WWII was the role of German Jews and it is told in The Enemy I Knew: German Jews in the Allied Military in World War II ($28.00) by Steven Karras. Though the Nazis rounded up and killed six million Jews, some German and Austrian Jews who had fled the Nazis were inducted into the Allied forces. The stories of 27 of them, including gripping recollections from Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State, are documented. They displayed incredible courage. Courage, too, was displayed by McCoy’s Marines ($17.99) subtitled the “Darkside to Baghdad.” John Koopman tells the story of 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, led by Lt. Col Byran P. McCoy whose radio call sign was “Darkside.” These were the men who pulled down the statue of Saddam Hussein. As a reporter embedded with the unit, Koopman saw and lived it all. A former Marine himself, the author provides an insight-filled story of what it was like to battle into the center of Iraq’s capital and the aftermath.
At the forefront of American concerns is whether to continue the war in Afghanistan, now in its eighth year. For a powerful and disturbing insight, I recommend you read Hunting al Qaeda ($17.99, Zenith Press, softcover). It is the story of a National Guard Special Forces unit, Beast 85, a tight-knit group of ten men, green berets, sent to Afghanistan shortly after 9/11 to capture or kill al Qaeda and the Taliban. It is a story of disillusionment because of the top-heavy, risk-averse command structure of today’s army and how it became the second front for men who actually captured a Taliban leader only to be told to release him! The war has drawn on without victory because “victory” is not attainable when it is a political issue, not a military objective.
Today we speak of Special Operations and think in terms of Green Berets and Navy SEALs, but preceding them were WWII Allied spies and they needed to be trained to operate behind enemy lines. The arts and skills of disrupting an enemy were described in Special Ops, 1939-1945: A Manuel of Covert Warfare and Training ($17.00, Zenith Press) put together by the British Special Operations Executive and American Office of Strategic Services. It is reproduced for today’s reader and the techniques described and illustrated mirror some that have been incorporated by today’s terrorist organizations.
Not all casualties of war occur on the battlefield. Healing Suicidal Veterans: Recognizing, Supporting and Answering Their Pleas for Help by Victor Montgomery II, CMAC, RAS, a former crisis intervention therapist for the National Veterans Suicide Crisis Hotline ($14.95, New Horizon Press, softcover) could save lives, particularly if read by the friends and relatives of returning veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. It is filled with advice on effective strategies for veterans to cope and heal, checklists to identify symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and substance abuse. It provides information about resources for veterans seeking help.
Books for kids and Teens
For the very young who can be read to or those age 7-9, there’s a story first published in 1997 by Jane Yolen, the author of some 300 books for younger readers. The Seeing Stick ($16.95, Running Press) is the story of a Chinese emperor whose only daughter was born blind and who seeks a cure. One day a wise old man with a mysterious Seeing Stick visits the princess. It reveals that one can “see” the world in more ways than just her eyes. This book is particularly special for the illustrations of Daniela Jaglenko Terrazzini that are just dazzling. It is an inspiring story in many ways and likely to remain a treasure in any child’s library.
From Kids Can Press comes How to Build Your Own Country ($18.95), part of a series to teach kids about the world, but I am less thrilled about its intent “to be better global citizens.” That kind of One World outlook puts allegiance to one’s own nation down the list of priorities. That said, however, Valerie Wyatt, the author, and Fred Rix, the illustrator, have come up with a clever way to each what being a nation involves, including setting up a government, holding elections, writing a constitution, and other attributes of nations that function under the rule of law. Hoaxed! Fakes & Mistakes in the World of Science ($16.95) by the editors of Yes Magazine is another good book for younger readers, up to age ten or so. It explores a number of famous hoaxes like the Piltdown Man and provides advice on how to spot a hoax based often on dubious or spurious science. It neglects to include the greatest hoax of the modern era, “global warming”, still be talked about as real despite the fact the Earth has been cooling for a decade.
For the older, pre-teen and teenage set, there are a number of books worth reading. I am Jack by Susanne Gervay ($14.99, Tricycle Press, an imprint of Crown Publishing) deals with the topic of school bullying and how it hurts the victim and the bully and is frightening for witnesses who don’t know what to do. Jack is an eleven-year-old who has to learn what to do. This book should probably be in every school in America. A young adult novel, Saved by the Music ($16.95, West Side Books) is generating a lot of buzz. Selene Castrovilla tells the story of 15-year-old Willow who moves in with her aunt for the summer after her unstable mother kicks her out. Aunt Agatha is trying to turn a dilapidated barge into a classic music performance space. Willow must fend off the advances of a construction worker, but is befriended by an older teen who lives on a sailboat nearby. Together they meet some harrowing challenges together. It’s the kind of story that is impossible to put down once passed the first page. Music is at the core of another West Side Book, a young adult novel, Shattered by Kathi Baron ($16.95). In this story a teen violin prodigy, Cassie, runs away after her moody father destroys her violin, seeking refuge in a homeless shelter. From her shattered family, Cassie finds out why her father acted as he did and how she heals herself by helping others.
The author of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”, Jeff Kinney, sold over 23 million copies with this series and is back with Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days ($13.95, Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams) in which Greg, Rowley, Rodrick, Manny, Mom and Dad, and an entire cast of characters return along with an unexpected addition to the family that not only takes Greg’s attention, but his bed too. Just about everything he does involves some kind of turmoil, particularly anything that occurs outside when Greg would prefer to be in his room, the blinds closed, and playing video games. This is just plain fun!
For the older teen and some adults, there’s The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey ($17.99, Simon and Schuster), a very entertaining story that begins with the journal of Will Henry, orphaned assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, a man whose specialty is the study of monsters. When a grave robber comes calling with a gruesome find, he brings with him their most deadly case yet. This is classic gothic literature and asks the question, when does a man become the very thing he hunts?
Two DVDs offer lots of entertainment for the toddler set. Gigi and the Royal Pink Circus by Sheila Walsh ($14.00, Thomas Nelson, kid’s division) is part of a popular series about Gigi and for those of the Christian faith, this comes with some valuable lessons, namely that it is not easy to be God’s little princess these days, but His message comes with much comfort. Also from the same publisher, part of the Max Lucado’s Hermie and Friends series, The Flo Show Creates a Buzz. It’s About Saying You’re Sorry($14.99) features the voices of Tim Conway and Vicki Lawrence of the Carol Burnett Show fame. It is a rollicking story with a useful theme of forgiveness. Also in the arena of juvenile fiction, there’s School of Fear, an audio book from Hachette Audio ($19.98) by Gitty Daneshvari. For the younger set, it will prove fun to listen to as they follow the adventures of Madeleine Masterson who is deathly afraid of bugs, especially spiders, Theodore Bartholomew who is petrified of dying, Lulu Punchalower who is scared of confined spaces, and Garrison Feldman who is terrified of deep water. They are sent off to the School of Fear to learn how to conquer their fears. Very scary and very funny.
Novels, Novels, Novels
I have become a fan of Don Bruns “stuff” series that chronicles the lives of James and Skip, two loveable, bumbling best friends who are still stuck in dead-end jobs, still living in their ratty apartment in Carol City, Florida, and still dreaming and scheming to hit the big time. In Stuff to Spy For ($25.95, Oceanview Publishing), Skip lands a job to install a state-of-the-art security system for Synco Systems, but it comes with strings. To collect the cash, he will have to pretend to be the boyfriend of Sarah Crumbly, an employee who’s having an affair with Synco’s married president. When he is offered a tidy sum by the boss’ wife for the details of what’s going on at Synco, the friends decide to go into the business of being spies. What they discover is at the heart of this funny, fast-paced thriller. A very different kind of thriller is Crossings by Leonard Chang ($24.95, Black Heron Press), an unflinching look at the lives of Korean immigrants in the San Francisco Bay area. It centers on Sam, a widower who finds himself deeply in debt to a local gangsters and Unha, an illegal immigrant working at a nightclub. Their stories intertwine with other family members, other immigrants, all forming to portray a community trying to make a better life for themselves. One can learn a lot from such fiction, delving into the worlds of other people we might now otherwise know or, to be candid, care about, but in a very real way, they are classic American stories in a nation of immigrants. Korea is the backdrop for a new addition to “A Sergeants Sueno & Bascom Mystery” by Martin Limon. G.I. Bones unites the Military Police sergeants when they travel to Itawwon, Seoul’s red-light district in order to find out who killed a G.I. who had the unusual habit of stalking fortune tellers. Meanwhile, an officer’s daughter has gone missing and the murder of a wine-mongering gang lord remains unsolved. The time is the 1970s and the twists and turns of this novel will keep you turning the pages as fast as you can read them.
Anyone who is old enough to have gone through the Draft in the 1950s until it was discontinued, will find The Furax Connection a trip back to the days of basic training at Fort Leonard Wood ($16.95, Fireside Publications, Lady Lake, FL, softcover). Stephen L. Kanne makes his debut with a terrific novel that is evocative of that era and, at the same time, an old fashioned thriller about a shadowy organization within the military, a network of bribery and extortion emanating from Furax Unlimited. At the heart of the novel is Billy Rosen, a Harvard graduate who has volunteered for the Draft to get a taste of life beyond his privileged surroundings. Identified as a recruit for a secret society within the military affiliated with Furax, the story concludes with the North Korean invasion of the South and we suspect Billy will see action there. Indeed, we expect Kanne’s next novel will continue the thread begun in this very satisfying story.
I am not surprised to see novels arrive that are based on the end-of-the-world theme of December 21, 2012. The Twelve by William Gladstone ($19.95, Vanguard Press) tells the story of Max Doff. Not speaking until age six, his world filled with numbers of colors (Editor’s note: signs associated with autism), at age fifteen he has a near death experience during which he sees twelve names that he cannot remember when he awakes. Eight years later while on location in Peru for a film production company, Max meets Maria Magdelena Ramirez and he suddenly realizes, Maria’s name was one of the twelve he saw in his vision. Anyone drawn to the mysteries of myths while find this novel every entertaining as we follow Max’s life to the date alleged to mark the world’s end.
Among the softcover novels, there’s The Rules of Play Jennie Walker ($20.00, Soho). Actually it is a novella, a short novel that follows the story of a woman in the throes of an extra-marital affair. Told over the course of five days, the narrator seeks to navigate the rules of her affair at the same time she tried to understand the rules of a cricket match between England and India taking place. We’re told that Mick Jagger loved it, but he’s one up on Americans unfamiliar with cricket. Coming in January from Soho Press, there’s Leighton Gage’s Dying Gasp ($24.00) the third in a series starring Chief Inspector Mario Silva. Set in Brazil, the granddaughter of a prominent politician is missing and Silva and his team find her in Manaus, a jungle hellhole on the Amazon where a female doctor is making snuff films. Silva must overcome his own department’s indifference and corrupt local cops to bring some justice to the victims.
A Drunkard’s Path by Clare O’Donahue, ($13.00, Plume) is part of “A Someday Quilts Mystery” series featuring Nell Fitzgerald. As Nell is finishing her first quilt and recovering from a broken engagement, her new boyfriend, Police Chief Jesse Dewalt stands her up, he has a good reason. The body of a young woman has been discovered nearby. Nell’s taste for sleuthing gets the best of her and she enlists the aid of her quilting circle to help patch together the clues. Civil War history, the Reconstruction period, is the backdrop for Jarrettsville by Cornelia Nixon ($15.95, Counterpoint). Based on a true story, it is the account of a love affair and murder in a small Maryland town that is rebuilding. It is the days following President Lincoln’s assassination and the Confederate surrender. The various allegiances are told through the eyes of a dozen different perspectives, but the story is in many ways a timeless one.
If you love a good love story, pick up Giving Up on Ordinary by Isla Dewar ($14.99, St, Martin’s Griffin/Thomas Dunne Books), a beloved and prolific British writer. Meg is a woman at the end of her rope. A single mother of three, she has more bounced checks than reasons to be hopeful. After retiring her dream of making it big in a band, she’s bounced from job to job, and now she’s cleaning houses to make ends meet. When she is asked to work for Gilbert Christy, an educated, wealthy, lonely art historian, her life gets a shot of passion. Complete opposites, they fascinate each other and their affair is as much about curiosity as about love. You will be rooting for Megs from the very first page.
Finally, for some good listening, there are three Hachette Audio novels, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (19.98) in the voice of a murdered girl watching from heaven as friends and family, along with her murderer, try to fathom what happened. David Balacci never disappoints with his police thrillers and True Blue ($44.98, unabridged/$31.98 abridged) is read by actor Ron McLarty. It is a story of a cop seeking redemption. Michael Connelly’s Dragon’s ($39.98 unabridged/$29.98 abridged) is read by actor Len Cariou tells the story of the murder of the owner of a South LA small shop, Fortune Liquors, and Detective Harry Bosch has promised his family he will find the killer. It is a gripping tale.
That’s it for November! Tell your friends about Bookviews and bookmark it to return each month for news of the best in new fiction and non-fiction. You will often find books here that are not getting sufficient attention elsewhere.
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Bookviews August 2009
My Picks of the Month
After some fifty years of reading and reviewing, I am always searching for the book that offers a new look at an interesting topic. Such is the case of Death Becomes Them by Alix Strauss ($14.99. Harper Paperback Original) that will not officially debut until mid-September. It is a contemplation and report on why so many famous folk in the modern era committed suicide. Of particular interest to bibliophiles are the poets and authors such as Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and Ernest Hemingway. Others include musician Curt Cobain, monologist Spalding Gray, and gonzo journalist, Hunter Thompson. There are others, but the common thread seems to be depression, which is to say serious mental illnesses, addictions, and the belief that life was just too unbearable. Ms. Strauss organizes her information quite well and brings the impassionate eye of a true reporter to each of the people in this fascinating book. As to suicide itself, she notes that each year in the United States, more than 32,000 people succeed in killing themselves. That's 86 Americans every day, one death every 16 to 18 minutes. Worldwide, about two thousand people kill themselves every day. She succeeds in going well beyond the numbers into the lives of those who enjoyed great success, but who also experienced great sadness and despair.
Another unique new book is The New York Times Book of New York ($27.95, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers), a look at the last 150 years of the city’s heartbeat, its people, from the notable to the largely unknown. It is composed of 549 stories of its people and events. Edited by James Barron and Mitchel Levitas, two reporters on the metropolitan beat, this book will have special appeal to people who make the city their home or anyone who has grown up there and perhaps moved elsewhere. It is organized into sections that capture various aspects of the Big Apple, whether it be food, sports, neighborhoods, crime, Broadway or City Hall. It is filled with wonderful reading and would make a great gift for any New Yorker.
In these hard times, it is natural to go in search of the kind of advice that can help sort out one’s problems and provide some guidance on how to carry on. Two such books have recently been published and will no doubt provide some help. The Secrets of the Bulletproof Spirit: How to Bounce Back from Life’s Hardest Hits ($28.00, Ballantine Books) by Azim Khamisa and Jillian Quinn examine thirty essential keys to emotional and spiritual resiliency, offering simple strategies and advice that will open one’s mind to new ways of thinking that will help you take control of your life and avoid negative thoughts that will keep you trapped. Life after Loss: A Practical guide to Renewing Your Life After Experiencing Major Loss by Bob Deits ($15.95, Da Capo Press, softcover) is now in its fifth edition and it discusses how to gain control over the grieving processes and begin to lead a fulfilling life after a major loss such as the death of a loved one, divorce, a traumatic injury, job loss, et cetera. It is a practical, user-friendly guide. Coming in November is Starting Over: 25 Rules When You’ve Bottomed Out by Mary Lee Gannon ($14.95, New Horizon Press, softcover) that addresses unemployment. The author, in fact, did lose everything after living a comfortable middle class life as a homemaker when she was divorced, then homeless, without a car, and on welfare. People around the nation are experiencing job loss and the trauma that incurs. This book is filled with insightful strategies and step-by-step methods and clever tips to get your life on track from someone who has been through that experience.
I love really big books, the ones often referred to as “coffee table” because of their size. The Indiana University Press has recently published two such books and, although the titles may initially seem offbeat, the fact remains they are a wonderful piece of history captured in photos with intelligent texts. What they reveal is just how dynamic our manufacturing and transportation sector once was in an age that preceded our superpower status. Steel Giants by Stephen G. McShane and Gary S. Wilk ($39.95) features historical images from the Calumet Regional Archives when a legion of workers descended on the northwest Indiana dunes to forge a world-class steel industry for the nation. Mills constructed by companies such as U.S. Steel and Inland Steel led to prosperous towns, making the Calumet region one of the most heavily population and ethnically diverse areas of the nation. From 1906 into the 1960s, the U.S. enjoyed a golden age of steel production. Iowa’s Railroads by H. Roger Grant and Don L. Hofsommer ($29.95) reflects the essential role of railroading in the success of the nation. At one time, no place in Iowa was more than a few miles from an active line of rail track and that meant Iowa’s great wheat and corn crops, plus its hogs and other livestock could thrive. It also led to urban development connecting Iowa City and Cedar Rapids to other cities nationwide. Filled with 461 black and white photos, this is a wonderful trip back in time when most of America’s goods and people traveled on the nation’s extensive rail systems.
I confess that years of reviewing have made most cookbooks look alike to me. There are always exceptions, however, and The Bear and Fish Family Cookbook
by Yabin Yu and Jialin Tian ($33.95, Jacya, Inc., Yorktown, VA, large format softcover) is certainly one. The popularity of Asian cuisine is well established in America and the authors have put together 130 of their family’s favorite recipes, illustrated by 130 mouth-watering full color photos, to teach readers how to prepare classic Chinese dishes that include appetizers, soup, salads, eggs, poultry, meat, seafood, vegetables, rice and noodles, desserts and pastries. Every page is an invitation to try something delicious. My late Mother who wrote cookbooks and taught haute cuisine would have loved this cookbook and been eager to try its recipes. You can learn more about it when you visit www.bearandfishcookbook.com. From far-off Beijing and Tianjin China, the authors, both of whom have advanced degrees in engineering, demonstrate that it is the love of food that connects the whole human family.
Each year 150,000 students take the SAT exams in hopes of qualifying for college and many of them have had to deal with leaning difficulties. Until now, no study guide to help these students has existed, but Paul Osborne, who has dyslexia himself and has been teaching SAT preparation has remedied that. LD SAT ($24.95, Alpha Books/Penguin, large format softcover) is a study guide filled with preparation and strategies specifically for students with learning disabilities. If you have a family member or know someone who would benefit from such a guide, this book is packed with all kinds of useful information and there’s even a companion website that enables them to take a pre-test as well as several practice tests, getting their scores immediately so they can spot those areas that need extra work.
As you might imagine, I see quite a few books concerning religion. They are mostly about the Christian tradition as is to be expected in a largely Christian nation, but occasionally a book arrives that addresses the spiritual and cultural traditions of Judaism. Such a book is The New Jew: An Unexpected Conversion by Sally Srok Friedes ($19.95, O-Books, softcover). It is an intensely personal story of a Catholic girl from Wisconsin who, upon coming to Manhattan falls madly in love with a handsome, wealthy Jewish lad and is slowly incorporated into “the tribe”, embraced by her mother-in-law and initiated into the traditions of the faith. It is a journey of discovery and ultimately of great solace and joy as the author tells why she chose to become a Jew as the mysteries of the religion fell away as it bedrock philosophy revealed itself to her. I am not sure for whom this book was written except of course the author herself, but it will surely speak to anyone who has thought to themselves that being Jewish would endow their life with a meaning and purpose not found in other spiritual havens. For anyone considering conversion to Judaism, this book will prove useful.
Here’s to Your Health
Have you noticed how some people find threats to health in everything? This is particularly true of those who subscribe to the environmentalist view of the world and if you want to know how everything will kill you, pick up a copy of The Body Toxic: How the Hazardous Chemistry of Everyday Things Threatens Our Health and Well-Being by Nena Baker ($15.00, North Point Press, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, softcover.) By the time you’re through reading this pile of paranoia you will fear flame retardants in furniture, microwave popcorn, anything made of plastic, and the list just goes on and on. I am reminded of Rachel Carson’s famed “Silent Spring” that led to the ban on DDT and the needless deaths of millions from the malaria transmitted by mosquitoes. This book is not really about hazardous chemicals. It’s about an attitude that can make your life a daily horror instead of a daily joy. Health care “reform” is very much in the news these days and over the years I have read any number of books about this subject. Coming next month is A Return to Healing: Radical Health Care Reform and the Future of Medicine by Dr. Len Saputo, MD with Byron Belitsos ($21.95, Origin Press) and the operative word is “radical” because the author advocates “natural healing” as the future of medicine, universal insurance coverage that includes reimbursement for “alternative” medical treatments, and the right to choose one’s treatments without “coercion by government-backed monopolies”, and much more along the same lines. To put it another way, if you want acupuncture as opposed to a more science-based treatment, it’s your right to die from the wrong choice. It’s not that the author doesn’t have good credentials; he’s board certified in internal medicine. There is no question that the present medical system costs too much and doesn’t put enough emphasis on preventative measures. That said, the less government is involved in our medical system the better. Socialized medicine as practiced in other nations is too often a nightmare of delay and rationed treatment that ends up killing people. This book needs a “Proceed with Caution” label on its cover.
All my life I have been fortunate enough to be spared headaches and those I have had went away swiftly with a couple of aspirin. Others have not been so fortunate and for them there’s The Migraine Brain by Dr. Carolyn Bernstein, MD, ($16.00, Free Press) that is now in a softcover edition. Migraines are a complex, neurological disease affecting more than 30 million Americans, most of them women. It is more than just a headache and, as a neurologist on the faculty of the Harvard Medical School, the author is an expert on the topic. For anyone who suffers migraines this is the book to read because it is packed with excellent information about the three types of drugs that are available to treat migraines, wellness plans, steps to take to prevent and reduce migraine, how to create a living space that is migraine free, and much more. Another ailment that afflicts as many as fifteen million women, some five percent of the adult female population, is fibromyalgia. The Fibromyalgia Controversy by Dr. M. Clement Hall, MD, takes an in-depth look at why the medical community is divided over the reality of the condition with one side arguing that patients are masquerading, pretending to have a malady and the other side believing it is very real and that patients are not receiving the support they need. The book ($18.98, Prometheus Books) presents six fictional, though fact-based, case studies of typical patients and describes the varying investigations, diagnosis, and treatments they have undergone. Here again, if you or someone you know has been diagnosed or is suspected to suffer from fibromyalgia, this is a useful, informative book to read.
Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History, and the Wonder of Childbirth by Dr. Mark Sloan, MD ($25.00, Ballantine Books) will prove an enjoyable examination of this miracle of life. As the author who has helped deliver 3,000 babies says, “I was struck by the seemingly simple question asked by her exhausted husband: why is this so hard?” And he didn’t have an answer. Birth is hard and yet, over the centuries, he has occurred everywhere from the caves of early humans to the operating rooms of modern hospitals in the same way. The book discusses how the fetus transforms itself into a fully developed baby, why childbirth can sometimes go wrong and how to save the baby when it does. It is a guided tour to the newborn’s remarkable body.
The Subject is Science
I suspect that science is a mystery for most people who are not directly involved in its various aspects, but it is science, the process by which one arrives at a truth about how everything works, from the human body to the universe, that has given us modern wonders which we take for granted.
There are a number of books that can help anyone understand various aspects of science and Prometheus Books has three excellent new ones available. Weather’s Greatest Mysteries Solved! by Randy Cerveny ($26.98) is a potpourri of questions related to weather such as why the Mayan civilization disappeared or how the ancient Israelis cross the Red Sea as the Bible tells us? This is a tour of questions that climatologists explore and tried to answer. Weather, however, is what is happened now and climate is something that is examined in terms of hundreds and thousands of years. The book is entertaining, but hardly the final word on anything. The Universe—Order Without Design by Carlos I. Calle ($27.98) asks whether the universe was designed to produce life? Physicists have discovered that many seemingly unconnected phenomena which took place millions of years apart, played a crucial role in the development of life on Earth. NASA senior research scientist, Calle, takes a close look at this and in the process makes the complex comprehensible. The essential laws of physics hold true, but the universe remains in many ways a mystery that tantalizes the minds of scientists. Lastly, David F. Prindle has written Stephen Jay Gould and the Politics of Evolution ($26.98). Gould was, until his death in 2002, America’s best known natural scientist. His essays in Natural History magazine were widely read by both scientists and laymen. This is the first book to explore his science and his politics as a consistent whole, noting that his mind worked along both tracks simultaneously. Gould drove a big truck through the popular theory of evolution credited to Charles Darwin. As more research as revealed, he was probably right.
For those interested in evolutionary theories, I will repeat my recommendation of Robert W. Felix’s remarkable book, Magnetic Reversals and Evolutionary Leaps ($15.95, Sugarhouse Publishing, Bellevue, WA, softcover. It is available at www.iceagenow. The author demonstrates, often noting Stephen Gould’s hypothesis, that evolution was not a slow process, but tended to match up with Earth’s magnetic reversals, making many creatures extinct while producing entire new or radically changed species in the process. For the stargazers out there, Christopher Cokinos has written The Fallen Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting Stars ($27.95, Tarcher/Penguin), taking readers on a hunt through time and space as he profiles maverick scientists, mad dreamers, and starry-eyed profiteers who chased meteorites and turned their study into a legitimate science. His own journeys followed the footsteps of these explorers from Greenland to Kansas, Australia to the South Pole. August is a month for the Perseids when shooting stars can best be seen in the Northeast after midnight on the 11th and 12th. Coming in October, the Draconids on October 7 and 8, and the Orionids on the 21st. The dust of meteors is everywhere, having pounded into the Earth for eons. Finally, Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw have written, Why Does E=mc2 (And Why Should We Care?) ($24.00, Da Capo Press). This equation is widely known, but few really understand what it means. The authors take the mystery out of it and dispel common misconceptions about relativity, starting with the notion that it is incomprehensible. The authors provide a definition that anyone can understand and then apply it to some exciting science taking place right now such as in the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva with its ability to recreate conditions immediately following the Big Bang. Read this book and I guarantee that it will make you the smartest person in the room!
People, People, People
One of the great things about reading biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs is that it gives one insights into the lives of people, famous and unknown. As such, the books reveal something about ourselves, about human nature, about resiliency in the face of the difficulties life puts in our path, and, as often as not, about some of the less pleasant truths as well.
The death of Michael Jackson revealed his impact on the lives of his fans, on the music he created and performed, and about his personal demons and failures. As he rose to fame, so did one of the most famous girl groups from the same Motown that launched so many talented folk. The story of The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal is told by Mark Ribowsky ($26.00, Da Capo Press) and it is a classic one of being lifted out of the “projects” of Detroit. The Supremes were four girls who loved to sing and whose talent made them the most successful female singing groups of all time; the first to make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The seeds of their breakup were sown at the very beginning as Diana Ross demanded top billing. The movie, “Dream Girls”, captured the behind-the-scenes turmoil, but the real story as captured in this book is every bit as dramatic and more. Blind ambition and unmitigated deception ultimately split the Supremes and anyone who loves the popular music scene will want to read this book. Another singer is the subject of Bjork, the Icelandic singer-songwriter Bjork Guomundsdottir ($22.95, Indiana University Press, softcover) by Nicola Dibben. This is a book that will primarily appeal to music aficionados interested in her collaborative working relationship with various artists, musicians, and sound engineers, resulting in twelve Grammy Award nominations, two Golden Globe wards, and an Academy Award among others. The author is a senior lecturer and head of graduate studies in the Department of Music at the University of Sheffield.
It’s baseball season and books about the game, its history and its players are showing up as might be expected. Coming in September is Willie’s Boys by John Klima, a look at the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, the last Negro League World Series, and the making of a baseball legend. Back then William Howard Mays, Jr. was just a 16-year-old at the beginning of a career of a baseball superstar at the time the Negro Leagues were in their twilight years. After Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, Willie Mays would debut for the New York Giants. This is a very pleasurable read for anyone who loves the game. It Was Never About the Babe by Jerry M. Gutlon ($24.95, Skyhorse Publishing) tells the story of the Red Sox who were told that their team was cursed because the Sox had sold Babe Ruth to the hated Yankees. As Gutlon tells it, there was much more drama to Red Sox history than any mythical curse. The truth is more shocking than any fable. With the zeal of a lifelong Sox fan and skill of a seasoned journalist, Gutlon reveals that ownership too often chose managers and players not based on their talent, but on whom they drank with. Before and after baseball integrated, personal and institutional racism affected their decision-making and the result were teams that lacked the talent, leadership, chemistry, and luck needed to win championships. This is the real nitty-gritty about a team that has finally shaken the mythical curse and demonstrated what can happen when it shakes free of its past.
Lovers of literature (and that surely includes visitors to this website) will enjoy Public Poet, Private man: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow at 200 by Christoph Irmscher ($24.95, University of Massachusetts Press, softcover). I suspect that Longfellow is among one of the best known American poets by name, yet unknown because generations since his heyday in the 1800s no longer read his work except as perhaps a class assignment. He was a celebrity in his era, one that revered poetry and literature. This book combines both excellent scholarship and a valuable look at the whole man in terms of his family, his friends, and his life in the spotlight. So Long as Men Can Breath: The Untold Story of Shakespeare’s Sonnets by Clinton Heylin ($24.00, Da Capo Press) takes a look at the 154 of what many regard as the world’s greatest love poems and asks what if they had never been published? That very nearly was the case because Shakespeare only circulated them among his friends, never intending to publish them because they would not earn anything. The book is “the untold story of Shakespeare’s sonnets” and like everything else about this genius, it is a very interesting story. The sonnets were published by a printer, George Eld and a certain Thomas Thorpe, a self-described ‘adventurer’ trying to make a name for himself in the London publishing scene. The question arises whether the 1609 edition was published without Shakespeare’s permission? And, of course, the sonnets soon spawned their own controversies as to whether Shakespeare was their real author, to whom were they written, and the more. Rather ironically, Heylin is also the author of The Da Capo Book of Rock and Roll!
Another famous name from that era was Sir Isaac Newton and a lesser known aspect of his life was that, in 1695, he left his Cambridge home of 35 years to take a government position in London as Warden of His Majesty’s Mint, a sinecure with the responsibility for overseeing the gold and silver coinage of the kingdom. Newton and the Counterfeiter by Thomas Levenson reveals how the inventor of calculus, the discoverer of the laws of motion and gravity, devoted all his talents and experience in pursuit of one of the most dangerous men of his day. It is a real page-turner, an account of a bloodthirsty rivalry and an interesting look the revolutionary scientist’s later life.
For a change of pace there’s Up for Renewal: What magazines taught me about love, sex, and starting over by Cathy Alter ($15.00, Atria Books, softcover) in which the author deliberately decided to live according to the advice in magazines such as Elle, Marie Claire, Self, Real Simple, and Cosmopolitan on just about every aspect of life. For twelve months she determined to learn how to make men desire her, how to throw fabulous parties, and be a standout among coworkers. With equal parts of honesty and hilarity she tells of how such dealt with a rotten job, a dear friend with a serious illness, her complex relationship with her mother, and her fears of rejection and loneliness. Did I mention this is a book that women will read, but men will not? Find out if all that advice in the magazines works.
If you like road trip books, you will enjoy The Patron Saint of Used Cars and Second Changes by Mark Millhone ($22.99, Rodale) in which the author tells of a year in which his life was filled with troubles. He’d almost lost a son to birth complications, his father was diagnosed with cancer, and his mother died. His marriage began to come apart. When he logged onto eBayMotors, he discovered the car of his dreams, a 1994 BMW that was virtually mint new. Traveling from New York to Texas , he is joined by his father and the story will cheer you. The 1960s and 70s may have been two of the worst decades for their impact on later ones. Still, they fascinate because of their excesses. Stories Done: Writing on the 1960s and its Discontents by Mikal Gilmore ($16.00, Free Press, softcover) takes a look at the era’s cultural icons, from George Harrison, Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsberg, and Jim Morrison to Jerry Garcia, Bob Dylan, Hunter S. Thompson, and Leonard Cohen. This is a celebration of Rock and Roll in the Woodstock era. Gilmore has written for Rolling Stone since the 1970s so he knows this turf well and the years have given him a perspective on the era.
Kid Stuff: Books for Younger Readers
Starting with the very young and moving up through the age groups, here are a number of books from pre-school, pre-teens, and the older young person not yet out of their teens.
Countdown to Fall by Frank Hawk and beautifully illustrated by Sherry Neidigh ($6.95, Sylvan Dell Publishing) arrives in time to entertain and education those age 4 through 8. It explains the phenomenon we take for granted such as the changing color of the leaves and why different trees have different leaves. It illustrates, too, how various animals are affected by the change in the weather. The illustrations are superb and a great way to get younger folk interested in books. For parents who want to give their kids a head start on learning, a visit to www.SylvanDellPublishing.com is a good place to begin. For an older component, ages 7 to 10, If America Were a Village: A Book about the People of the United States written by David J. Smith and illustrated by Shelagh Armstrong, provides a quick, easy overview of the more than 300 million people living in the U.S. It is chockablock with statistics on all aspects of life in America, but in a way that will prove interesting and probably surprising for younger readers ($18.95, Kids Can Press) and its large format combining wonderful artwork and brief text is perfect for this age group. For those age 6 to 12, there’s another fun way of learning in Famous Figures of Ancient Times ($19.95 @ www.figuresinmotion.com) Printed on strong card stock paper, it presents 20 historical figures, kings, philosophers, religious leaders, scholars, military leaders and one elephant in both pre-colored and color-them-in versions that can be cut out and assembled into moveable action figures. A brief biographical note is provided for each figure in the book. With crayons, colored pencils or paint, scissors, a 1/8 inch punch, and fasteners, easy to follow instructions will ensure hours of fun.
For the older set, teenagers, sometimes referred to as “young adults”, there are any number of novels written expressly for them and, since I love history) an instant favorite of mine is Hannibal’s Elephant Girl by Ariion Kathleen Brindley ($9.95 @ http://www.ariionkathleenbrindley.com). In 218 BCE Hannibal took his army, along with 37 elephants, in an epic journey over the Alps to attack the Romans. This story begins eleven years earlier when one of his elephants pulled a drowning firl from a river near Carthage in North Africa. Thus begins her bond with an elephant named Obolus. The author knows how to spin a tale and there are her other books to be found at her website. Me, Just Different by Stephanie Morrill is a fresh voice for teen girls with her debut novel featuring Skylar Hoyt, a high school senior whose exotic Hawaiian looks have propelled her to the height of the ‘in’ crowd, but she is no longer sure where she fits in. New friends, old friends, and a family crisis ensue as she tries to keep it together and figure out who she really wants to be. Issues of popularity, friendship, sexuality, and more are addressed with grace and style. Spooky stuff always appeals to the imagination of some teens and Tombstone Tea by Joanne Dahme ($16.95, Running Press) is official due off the press next month with a story about a young girl who, trying to be accepted by the ‘in crowd’ accepts a dare to spend a night at a local cemetery. Once there, she meets a handsome boy who works as a caretaker who tells her about Tombstone Tea which is a performance in which actors impersonate the people buried there. Amy discovers they are actually ghosts of the deceased and she possesses the ability to communicate with them. Will she be able to settle an ancient dispute that creates danger and dispute within the cemetery walls?
After some fifty years of reading and reviewing, I am always searching for the book that offers a new look at an interesting topic. Such is the case of Death Becomes Them by Alix Strauss ($14.99. Harper Paperback Original) that will not officially debut until mid-September. It is a contemplation and report on why so many famous folk in the modern era committed suicide. Of particular interest to bibliophiles are the poets and authors such as Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, and Ernest Hemingway. Others include musician Curt Cobain, monologist Spalding Gray, and gonzo journalist, Hunter Thompson. There are others, but the common thread seems to be depression, which is to say serious mental illnesses, addictions, and the belief that life was just too unbearable. Ms. Strauss organizes her information quite well and brings the impassionate eye of a true reporter to each of the people in this fascinating book. As to suicide itself, she notes that each year in the United States, more than 32,000 people succeed in killing themselves. That's 86 Americans every day, one death every 16 to 18 minutes. Worldwide, about two thousand people kill themselves every day. She succeeds in going well beyond the numbers into the lives of those who enjoyed great success, but who also experienced great sadness and despair.
Another unique new book is The New York Times Book of New York ($27.95, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers), a look at the last 150 years of the city’s heartbeat, its people, from the notable to the largely unknown. It is composed of 549 stories of its people and events. Edited by James Barron and Mitchel Levitas, two reporters on the metropolitan beat, this book will have special appeal to people who make the city their home or anyone who has grown up there and perhaps moved elsewhere. It is organized into sections that capture various aspects of the Big Apple, whether it be food, sports, neighborhoods, crime, Broadway or City Hall. It is filled with wonderful reading and would make a great gift for any New Yorker.
In these hard times, it is natural to go in search of the kind of advice that can help sort out one’s problems and provide some guidance on how to carry on. Two such books have recently been published and will no doubt provide some help. The Secrets of the Bulletproof Spirit: How to Bounce Back from Life’s Hardest Hits ($28.00, Ballantine Books) by Azim Khamisa and Jillian Quinn examine thirty essential keys to emotional and spiritual resiliency, offering simple strategies and advice that will open one’s mind to new ways of thinking that will help you take control of your life and avoid negative thoughts that will keep you trapped. Life after Loss: A Practical guide to Renewing Your Life After Experiencing Major Loss by Bob Deits ($15.95, Da Capo Press, softcover) is now in its fifth edition and it discusses how to gain control over the grieving processes and begin to lead a fulfilling life after a major loss such as the death of a loved one, divorce, a traumatic injury, job loss, et cetera. It is a practical, user-friendly guide. Coming in November is Starting Over: 25 Rules When You’ve Bottomed Out by Mary Lee Gannon ($14.95, New Horizon Press, softcover) that addresses unemployment. The author, in fact, did lose everything after living a comfortable middle class life as a homemaker when she was divorced, then homeless, without a car, and on welfare. People around the nation are experiencing job loss and the trauma that incurs. This book is filled with insightful strategies and step-by-step methods and clever tips to get your life on track from someone who has been through that experience.
I love really big books, the ones often referred to as “coffee table” because of their size. The Indiana University Press has recently published two such books and, although the titles may initially seem offbeat, the fact remains they are a wonderful piece of history captured in photos with intelligent texts. What they reveal is just how dynamic our manufacturing and transportation sector once was in an age that preceded our superpower status. Steel Giants by Stephen G. McShane and Gary S. Wilk ($39.95) features historical images from the Calumet Regional Archives when a legion of workers descended on the northwest Indiana dunes to forge a world-class steel industry for the nation. Mills constructed by companies such as U.S. Steel and Inland Steel led to prosperous towns, making the Calumet region one of the most heavily population and ethnically diverse areas of the nation. From 1906 into the 1960s, the U.S. enjoyed a golden age of steel production. Iowa’s Railroads by H. Roger Grant and Don L. Hofsommer ($29.95) reflects the essential role of railroading in the success of the nation. At one time, no place in Iowa was more than a few miles from an active line of rail track and that meant Iowa’s great wheat and corn crops, plus its hogs and other livestock could thrive. It also led to urban development connecting Iowa City and Cedar Rapids to other cities nationwide. Filled with 461 black and white photos, this is a wonderful trip back in time when most of America’s goods and people traveled on the nation’s extensive rail systems.
I confess that years of reviewing have made most cookbooks look alike to me. There are always exceptions, however, and The Bear and Fish Family Cookbook
by Yabin Yu and Jialin Tian ($33.95, Jacya, Inc., Yorktown, VA, large format softcover) is certainly one. The popularity of Asian cuisine is well established in America and the authors have put together 130 of their family’s favorite recipes, illustrated by 130 mouth-watering full color photos, to teach readers how to prepare classic Chinese dishes that include appetizers, soup, salads, eggs, poultry, meat, seafood, vegetables, rice and noodles, desserts and pastries. Every page is an invitation to try something delicious. My late Mother who wrote cookbooks and taught haute cuisine would have loved this cookbook and been eager to try its recipes. You can learn more about it when you visit www.bearandfishcookbook.com. From far-off Beijing and Tianjin China, the authors, both of whom have advanced degrees in engineering, demonstrate that it is the love of food that connects the whole human family.Each year 150,000 students take the SAT exams in hopes of qualifying for college and many of them have had to deal with leaning difficulties. Until now, no study guide to help these students has existed, but Paul Osborne, who has dyslexia himself and has been teaching SAT preparation has remedied that. LD SAT ($24.95, Alpha Books/Penguin, large format softcover) is a study guide filled with preparation and strategies specifically for students with learning disabilities. If you have a family member or know someone who would benefit from such a guide, this book is packed with all kinds of useful information and there’s even a companion website that enables them to take a pre-test as well as several practice tests, getting their scores immediately so they can spot those areas that need extra work.
As you might imagine, I see quite a few books concerning religion. They are mostly about the Christian tradition as is to be expected in a largely Christian nation, but occasionally a book arrives that addresses the spiritual and cultural traditions of Judaism. Such a book is The New Jew: An Unexpected Conversion by Sally Srok Friedes ($19.95, O-Books, softcover). It is an intensely personal story of a Catholic girl from Wisconsin who, upon coming to Manhattan falls madly in love with a handsome, wealthy Jewish lad and is slowly incorporated into “the tribe”, embraced by her mother-in-law and initiated into the traditions of the faith. It is a journey of discovery and ultimately of great solace and joy as the author tells why she chose to become a Jew as the mysteries of the religion fell away as it bedrock philosophy revealed itself to her. I am not sure for whom this book was written except of course the author herself, but it will surely speak to anyone who has thought to themselves that being Jewish would endow their life with a meaning and purpose not found in other spiritual havens. For anyone considering conversion to Judaism, this book will prove useful.
Here’s to Your Health
Have you noticed how some people find threats to health in everything? This is particularly true of those who subscribe to the environmentalist view of the world and if you want to know how everything will kill you, pick up a copy of The Body Toxic: How the Hazardous Chemistry of Everyday Things Threatens Our Health and Well-Being by Nena Baker ($15.00, North Point Press, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, softcover.) By the time you’re through reading this pile of paranoia you will fear flame retardants in furniture, microwave popcorn, anything made of plastic, and the list just goes on and on. I am reminded of Rachel Carson’s famed “Silent Spring” that led to the ban on DDT and the needless deaths of millions from the malaria transmitted by mosquitoes. This book is not really about hazardous chemicals. It’s about an attitude that can make your life a daily horror instead of a daily joy. Health care “reform” is very much in the news these days and over the years I have read any number of books about this subject. Coming next month is A Return to Healing: Radical Health Care Reform and the Future of Medicine by Dr. Len Saputo, MD with Byron Belitsos ($21.95, Origin Press) and the operative word is “radical” because the author advocates “natural healing” as the future of medicine, universal insurance coverage that includes reimbursement for “alternative” medical treatments, and the right to choose one’s treatments without “coercion by government-backed monopolies”, and much more along the same lines. To put it another way, if you want acupuncture as opposed to a more science-based treatment, it’s your right to die from the wrong choice. It’s not that the author doesn’t have good credentials; he’s board certified in internal medicine. There is no question that the present medical system costs too much and doesn’t put enough emphasis on preventative measures. That said, the less government is involved in our medical system the better. Socialized medicine as practiced in other nations is too often a nightmare of delay and rationed treatment that ends up killing people. This book needs a “Proceed with Caution” label on its cover.
All my life I have been fortunate enough to be spared headaches and those I have had went away swiftly with a couple of aspirin. Others have not been so fortunate and for them there’s The Migraine Brain by Dr. Carolyn Bernstein, MD, ($16.00, Free Press) that is now in a softcover edition. Migraines are a complex, neurological disease affecting more than 30 million Americans, most of them women. It is more than just a headache and, as a neurologist on the faculty of the Harvard Medical School, the author is an expert on the topic. For anyone who suffers migraines this is the book to read because it is packed with excellent information about the three types of drugs that are available to treat migraines, wellness plans, steps to take to prevent and reduce migraine, how to create a living space that is migraine free, and much more. Another ailment that afflicts as many as fifteen million women, some five percent of the adult female population, is fibromyalgia. The Fibromyalgia Controversy by Dr. M. Clement Hall, MD, takes an in-depth look at why the medical community is divided over the reality of the condition with one side arguing that patients are masquerading, pretending to have a malady and the other side believing it is very real and that patients are not receiving the support they need. The book ($18.98, Prometheus Books) presents six fictional, though fact-based, case studies of typical patients and describes the varying investigations, diagnosis, and treatments they have undergone. Here again, if you or someone you know has been diagnosed or is suspected to suffer from fibromyalgia, this is a useful, informative book to read.
Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History, and the Wonder of Childbirth by Dr. Mark Sloan, MD ($25.00, Ballantine Books) will prove an enjoyable examination of this miracle of life. As the author who has helped deliver 3,000 babies says, “I was struck by the seemingly simple question asked by her exhausted husband: why is this so hard?” And he didn’t have an answer. Birth is hard and yet, over the centuries, he has occurred everywhere from the caves of early humans to the operating rooms of modern hospitals in the same way. The book discusses how the fetus transforms itself into a fully developed baby, why childbirth can sometimes go wrong and how to save the baby when it does. It is a guided tour to the newborn’s remarkable body.
The Subject is Science
I suspect that science is a mystery for most people who are not directly involved in its various aspects, but it is science, the process by which one arrives at a truth about how everything works, from the human body to the universe, that has given us modern wonders which we take for granted.
There are a number of books that can help anyone understand various aspects of science and Prometheus Books has three excellent new ones available. Weather’s Greatest Mysteries Solved! by Randy Cerveny ($26.98) is a potpourri of questions related to weather such as why the Mayan civilization disappeared or how the ancient Israelis cross the Red Sea as the Bible tells us? This is a tour of questions that climatologists explore and tried to answer. Weather, however, is what is happened now and climate is something that is examined in terms of hundreds and thousands of years. The book is entertaining, but hardly the final word on anything. The Universe—Order Without Design by Carlos I. Calle ($27.98) asks whether the universe was designed to produce life? Physicists have discovered that many seemingly unconnected phenomena which took place millions of years apart, played a crucial role in the development of life on Earth. NASA senior research scientist, Calle, takes a close look at this and in the process makes the complex comprehensible. The essential laws of physics hold true, but the universe remains in many ways a mystery that tantalizes the minds of scientists. Lastly, David F. Prindle has written Stephen Jay Gould and the Politics of Evolution ($26.98). Gould was, until his death in 2002, America’s best known natural scientist. His essays in Natural History magazine were widely read by both scientists and laymen. This is the first book to explore his science and his politics as a consistent whole, noting that his mind worked along both tracks simultaneously. Gould drove a big truck through the popular theory of evolution credited to Charles Darwin. As more research as revealed, he was probably right.
For those interested in evolutionary theories, I will repeat my recommendation of Robert W. Felix’s remarkable book, Magnetic Reversals and Evolutionary Leaps ($15.95, Sugarhouse Publishing, Bellevue, WA, softcover. It is available at www.iceagenow. The author demonstrates, often noting Stephen Gould’s hypothesis, that evolution was not a slow process, but tended to match up with Earth’s magnetic reversals, making many creatures extinct while producing entire new or radically changed species in the process. For the stargazers out there, Christopher Cokinos has written The Fallen Sky: An Intimate History of Shooting Stars ($27.95, Tarcher/Penguin), taking readers on a hunt through time and space as he profiles maverick scientists, mad dreamers, and starry-eyed profiteers who chased meteorites and turned their study into a legitimate science. His own journeys followed the footsteps of these explorers from Greenland to Kansas, Australia to the South Pole. August is a month for the Perseids when shooting stars can best be seen in the Northeast after midnight on the 11th and 12th. Coming in October, the Draconids on October 7 and 8, and the Orionids on the 21st. The dust of meteors is everywhere, having pounded into the Earth for eons. Finally, Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw have written, Why Does E=mc2 (And Why Should We Care?) ($24.00, Da Capo Press). This equation is widely known, but few really understand what it means. The authors take the mystery out of it and dispel common misconceptions about relativity, starting with the notion that it is incomprehensible. The authors provide a definition that anyone can understand and then apply it to some exciting science taking place right now such as in the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva with its ability to recreate conditions immediately following the Big Bang. Read this book and I guarantee that it will make you the smartest person in the room!
People, People, People
One of the great things about reading biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs is that it gives one insights into the lives of people, famous and unknown. As such, the books reveal something about ourselves, about human nature, about resiliency in the face of the difficulties life puts in our path, and, as often as not, about some of the less pleasant truths as well.
The death of Michael Jackson revealed his impact on the lives of his fans, on the music he created and performed, and about his personal demons and failures. As he rose to fame, so did one of the most famous girl groups from the same Motown that launched so many talented folk. The story of The Supremes: A Saga of Motown Dreams, Success, and Betrayal is told by Mark Ribowsky ($26.00, Da Capo Press) and it is a classic one of being lifted out of the “projects” of Detroit. The Supremes were four girls who loved to sing and whose talent made them the most successful female singing groups of all time; the first to make it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The seeds of their breakup were sown at the very beginning as Diana Ross demanded top billing. The movie, “Dream Girls”, captured the behind-the-scenes turmoil, but the real story as captured in this book is every bit as dramatic and more. Blind ambition and unmitigated deception ultimately split the Supremes and anyone who loves the popular music scene will want to read this book. Another singer is the subject of Bjork, the Icelandic singer-songwriter Bjork Guomundsdottir ($22.95, Indiana University Press, softcover) by Nicola Dibben. This is a book that will primarily appeal to music aficionados interested in her collaborative working relationship with various artists, musicians, and sound engineers, resulting in twelve Grammy Award nominations, two Golden Globe wards, and an Academy Award among others. The author is a senior lecturer and head of graduate studies in the Department of Music at the University of Sheffield.
It’s baseball season and books about the game, its history and its players are showing up as might be expected. Coming in September is Willie’s Boys by John Klima, a look at the 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, the last Negro League World Series, and the making of a baseball legend. Back then William Howard Mays, Jr. was just a 16-year-old at the beginning of a career of a baseball superstar at the time the Negro Leagues were in their twilight years. After Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, Willie Mays would debut for the New York Giants. This is a very pleasurable read for anyone who loves the game. It Was Never About the Babe by Jerry M. Gutlon ($24.95, Skyhorse Publishing) tells the story of the Red Sox who were told that their team was cursed because the Sox had sold Babe Ruth to the hated Yankees. As Gutlon tells it, there was much more drama to Red Sox history than any mythical curse. The truth is more shocking than any fable. With the zeal of a lifelong Sox fan and skill of a seasoned journalist, Gutlon reveals that ownership too often chose managers and players not based on their talent, but on whom they drank with. Before and after baseball integrated, personal and institutional racism affected their decision-making and the result were teams that lacked the talent, leadership, chemistry, and luck needed to win championships. This is the real nitty-gritty about a team that has finally shaken the mythical curse and demonstrated what can happen when it shakes free of its past.
Lovers of literature (and that surely includes visitors to this website) will enjoy Public Poet, Private man: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow at 200 by Christoph Irmscher ($24.95, University of Massachusetts Press, softcover). I suspect that Longfellow is among one of the best known American poets by name, yet unknown because generations since his heyday in the 1800s no longer read his work except as perhaps a class assignment. He was a celebrity in his era, one that revered poetry and literature. This book combines both excellent scholarship and a valuable look at the whole man in terms of his family, his friends, and his life in the spotlight. So Long as Men Can Breath: The Untold Story of Shakespeare’s Sonnets by Clinton Heylin ($24.00, Da Capo Press) takes a look at the 154 of what many regard as the world’s greatest love poems and asks what if they had never been published? That very nearly was the case because Shakespeare only circulated them among his friends, never intending to publish them because they would not earn anything. The book is “the untold story of Shakespeare’s sonnets” and like everything else about this genius, it is a very interesting story. The sonnets were published by a printer, George Eld and a certain Thomas Thorpe, a self-described ‘adventurer’ trying to make a name for himself in the London publishing scene. The question arises whether the 1609 edition was published without Shakespeare’s permission? And, of course, the sonnets soon spawned their own controversies as to whether Shakespeare was their real author, to whom were they written, and the more. Rather ironically, Heylin is also the author of The Da Capo Book of Rock and Roll!
Another famous name from that era was Sir Isaac Newton and a lesser known aspect of his life was that, in 1695, he left his Cambridge home of 35 years to take a government position in London as Warden of His Majesty’s Mint, a sinecure with the responsibility for overseeing the gold and silver coinage of the kingdom. Newton and the Counterfeiter by Thomas Levenson reveals how the inventor of calculus, the discoverer of the laws of motion and gravity, devoted all his talents and experience in pursuit of one of the most dangerous men of his day. It is a real page-turner, an account of a bloodthirsty rivalry and an interesting look the revolutionary scientist’s later life.
For a change of pace there’s Up for Renewal: What magazines taught me about love, sex, and starting over by Cathy Alter ($15.00, Atria Books, softcover) in which the author deliberately decided to live according to the advice in magazines such as Elle, Marie Claire, Self, Real Simple, and Cosmopolitan on just about every aspect of life. For twelve months she determined to learn how to make men desire her, how to throw fabulous parties, and be a standout among coworkers. With equal parts of honesty and hilarity she tells of how such dealt with a rotten job, a dear friend with a serious illness, her complex relationship with her mother, and her fears of rejection and loneliness. Did I mention this is a book that women will read, but men will not? Find out if all that advice in the magazines works.
If you like road trip books, you will enjoy The Patron Saint of Used Cars and Second Changes by Mark Millhone ($22.99, Rodale) in which the author tells of a year in which his life was filled with troubles. He’d almost lost a son to birth complications, his father was diagnosed with cancer, and his mother died. His marriage began to come apart. When he logged onto eBayMotors, he discovered the car of his dreams, a 1994 BMW that was virtually mint new. Traveling from New York to Texas , he is joined by his father and the story will cheer you. The 1960s and 70s may have been two of the worst decades for their impact on later ones. Still, they fascinate because of their excesses. Stories Done: Writing on the 1960s and its Discontents by Mikal Gilmore ($16.00, Free Press, softcover) takes a look at the era’s cultural icons, from George Harrison, Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsberg, and Jim Morrison to Jerry Garcia, Bob Dylan, Hunter S. Thompson, and Leonard Cohen. This is a celebration of Rock and Roll in the Woodstock era. Gilmore has written for Rolling Stone since the 1970s so he knows this turf well and the years have given him a perspective on the era.
Kid Stuff: Books for Younger Readers
Starting with the very young and moving up through the age groups, here are a number of books from pre-school, pre-teens, and the older young person not yet out of their teens.
Countdown to Fall by Frank Hawk and beautifully illustrated by Sherry Neidigh ($6.95, Sylvan Dell Publishing) arrives in time to entertain and education those age 4 through 8. It explains the phenomenon we take for granted such as the changing color of the leaves and why different trees have different leaves. It illustrates, too, how various animals are affected by the change in the weather. The illustrations are superb and a great way to get younger folk interested in books. For parents who want to give their kids a head start on learning, a visit to www.SylvanDellPublishing.com is a good place to begin. For an older component, ages 7 to 10, If America Were a Village: A Book about the People of the United States written by David J. Smith and illustrated by Shelagh Armstrong, provides a quick, easy overview of the more than 300 million people living in the U.S. It is chockablock with statistics on all aspects of life in America, but in a way that will prove interesting and probably surprising for younger readers ($18.95, Kids Can Press) and its large format combining wonderful artwork and brief text is perfect for this age group. For those age 6 to 12, there’s another fun way of learning in Famous Figures of Ancient Times ($19.95 @ www.figuresinmotion.com) Printed on strong card stock paper, it presents 20 historical figures, kings, philosophers, religious leaders, scholars, military leaders and one elephant in both pre-colored and color-them-in versions that can be cut out and assembled into moveable action figures. A brief biographical note is provided for each figure in the book. With crayons, colored pencils or paint, scissors, a 1/8 inch punch, and fasteners, easy to follow instructions will ensure hours of fun.
For the older set, teenagers, sometimes referred to as “young adults”, there are any number of novels written expressly for them and, since I love history) an instant favorite of mine is Hannibal’s Elephant Girl by Ariion Kathleen Brindley ($9.95 @ http://www.ariionkathleenbrindley.com). In 218 BCE Hannibal took his army, along with 37 elephants, in an epic journey over the Alps to attack the Romans. This story begins eleven years earlier when one of his elephants pulled a drowning firl from a river near Carthage in North Africa. Thus begins her bond with an elephant named Obolus. The author knows how to spin a tale and there are her other books to be found at her website. Me, Just Different by Stephanie Morrill is a fresh voice for teen girls with her debut novel featuring Skylar Hoyt, a high school senior whose exotic Hawaiian looks have propelled her to the height of the ‘in’ crowd, but she is no longer sure where she fits in. New friends, old friends, and a family crisis ensue as she tries to keep it together and figure out who she really wants to be. Issues of popularity, friendship, sexuality, and more are addressed with grace and style. Spooky stuff always appeals to the imagination of some teens and Tombstone Tea by Joanne Dahme ($16.95, Running Press) is official due off the press next month with a story about a young girl who, trying to be accepted by the ‘in crowd’ accepts a dare to spend a night at a local cemetery. Once there, she meets a handsome boy who works as a caretaker who tells her about Tombstone Tea which is a performance in which actors impersonate the people buried there. Amy discovers they are actually ghosts of the deceased and she possesses the ability to communicate with them. Will she be able to settle an ancient dispute that creates danger and dispute within the cemetery walls?
Special notice is extended to Harriett Ruderman's The Laceyville Monkeys because it was a "featured book" on our previous website. It is a delightful story devoted to encouraging children to express themselves in ways that will not prove embarrassing and inappropriate. Filled with delightful characters and cleverly illustrated, you can learn all about it www.laceyvillemonkeys.com.
Novels, Novels, Novels!
Summer time and the reading is easy
Hyperion is happy it discovered Maryann McFadden. Her debut novel, The Richest Season ($14.99) is now available in softcover and was a big hit among women readers. She’s back with So Happy Together ($23.99) in hardcover, just off the press in July. The two novels have in common women who devoted their lives to others. In the first novel, a lonely corporate wife runs away to Pawleys Island to consider her life and decide what best to do. She is forced to make a decision between a new relationship and her former life. In the new novel McFadden introduces us to Claire Nobel, a woman who gave up her dreams long ago, but is about to recapture the magic of living life for herself. She raised a daughter alone, has cared for her father who has Parkinson’s disease, but now it is her turn after being accepted to a prestigious summer photography program on Cape Cod. Everything is going great, but then her estranged daughter returns home and is pregnant. This is a damaged family in many respect and how Claire copes, dealing with the mother-daughter bond, with secrets imparted by her parents, is the kind of thing her many readers will recognize and will read through to the end to find out how Claire endures.
A bounty of softcover novels will provide hours of reading pleasure. Here are some recommendations from among the stacks of books received in recent weeks.
Benny & Shrimp by Katarina Mazetti has been translated in 19 languages ($14.00, Penguin) as it asks why is it so hard to get a relationship to work between two middle-aged misfits? The answer is found in the story of Shrimp, a young, widowed librarian with a sharp intellect and a home so tiday that her jam jars are in alphabetical order. Benny is a gentle, overworked dairy farmer who fears becoming the villages Old Bachelor. This is an unlikely love story that should not be as complicated as it seems. The Divorce Party by Laura Dave ($14.00, Penguin) is her second novel and her main character, Gwyn Huntington knows how to throw a party at her Victorian home in Montauk at the easternmost tip of Long Island. On the morning of her and her beloved husvand Thomas’ 35th wedding anniversary, she is putting the finishing toughes on the last party they will host there, their divorce party. This novel is full of humor, candor, and a powerful message of how to commit to someone over the course of a lifetime. Summer would not be complete without a Jane Green novel and this one is The Beach House ($15.00, Plume). All three of these novels are clearly intended for women readers and Green has established herself as a leading novelist for this genre. Nan Power is a free-spirited, 65-year-old widow who’s not above skinny-dipping in her neighbor’s pools when they are away. She loves her Nantucket home, but she discovers that the money she thought would last forever is dwindling, she realizes she must make a drastic change to save her home, but renting out rooms. As people move in, they fill the house with noise, laughter and tears. As the house comes alive, Nan finds her family and friends expanding. Every chapter brings a surprise.
The Pajama Girls of Lambert Square by Rosina Lippi ($14.00, Berkley Books, softcover) is by an author with two previous successful and award-winning novels to her credit. She demonstrates why with the story of Julia Darrow who, after her life in Chicago fell apart, moved to small-town South Carolina and opened a shop, Cacoon, specializing in luxury linens. Five years later she’s satisfied with the life she’s made for herself. When John Dodge comes into her life, he is fixing up Scriveners, a small shop on the Square. He takes an interest in her and after that all of Lambert Square is watching the for the fireworks. Far away in Michigan, another story is playing out in Inherit All Things, a novel by J. Ryan Fenzel ($13.95, Ironcroft Publishing, Hartland, MI). In 2006 I had good things to say about Descending from Duty, a novel from this publisher and I can say the same for this story, a kind of treasure hunt steeps in Great Lakes History as it plays out along Michigan’s West Coast, across the inland seas, and amongst a handful of Great Lakes lighthouses. Maritime salvager, Jack Sheridan, embarks on a white-knuckle venture to find a hidden trove of gold coins and each step draws him deeper into conflict with a ruthless man also seeking the treasure. You won’t want to put this one down until you get to the finish.
The Irish war for independence is the background for The Yellow House by Patricia Falvey ($26.99, Center House, a division of Hachette Book Co.) It delves into the passion and politics of North Ireland at the beginning of the 20th century. Eileen O’Neill’s family is torn apart by religious intolerance and secrets from the past. Determined to reclaim her ancestral home and reunite her family, Eileen begins working at the local mill, saving her money and holding to her dream. As war is declared on a local and global scale, she find herself torn between two men, a political activist determined to win Irish independence from Great Britain and another, a wealthy and handsome black sheep of a pacifist family who owns the mill. Her decision will change all their lives. This is a very evocative novel, but particularly so for those of Irish heritage. We finish with a very unique mystery novel, Androgynous Murder House Party by Steven Rigolosi ($14.95, Ransom Note Press, Ridgewood, NJ, softcover), an author with two previous novels to his credit. Library Journal has hailed him as “a completely fresh voice in the mystery genre” and he demonstrates why with a story narrated by Robin Anders, the director of new talent at The Good Foundation in New York City’s bohemian Greenwich Village. A series of unexpected deaths begin to occur among Robin’s circle of six longtime friends and as you follow the androgynous Robin, an independently wealthy snob, around the city, you both begin to piece the truth together, while wondering if Robin is a male intellectual or a female seductress? Are his/her friends, Alex, Chris, Terry, and Lee male or female, straight or gay? Suffice it to say, this is a very different novel!
Every summer provides an opportunity to read for pleasure and enlightenment. Bookmark Bookviews so you can come back in a month and learn about the many great new books debuting in September. Don't forget to tell your friends about Bookviews' new home as a blog!
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