Spin Sisters

SPIN SISTERS: HOW THE WOMEN OF THE MEDIA SELL UNHAPPINESS–AND LIBERALISM–TO THE WOMEN OF AMERICA: Myrna Blyth: St. Martin’s Press: NonFiction: 342 pages

Just like most women in America, I stand in the check out line waiting to purchase my groceries and take a look at the magazines lined up neatly beside me. They promise to tell me how I can lose extra pounds, rid myself of wrinkles, reduce my risk of cancer and osteoporosis, and lower my stress level through a combination of yoga, deep breathing, Pilates, and feng shui decorating. My problems all solved, and for only the cost of a magazine or two. Spin Sisters by Myrna Blyth, editor-in-chief of Ladies’ Home Journal for over 20 years, is a journey behind the scenes of these headlines and the many other messages sent to American Women by the media.

Blyth’s book is filled with statistics and illustrations on how messages to women have evolved over the past 50 years. She dissects these messages and the motivations that drive their prevalence. Selling fear and dissatisfaction is a lucrative business, Blyth reports. Unhappy people are eagerly looking for easy fixes for whatever may ail them, and producers and editors work hard to convince consumers of their dissatisfaction with life, whether or not it is actually justified.

If you are looking for a window into the world of modern American media, here is a great primer. The stories and examples presented are entertaining and enlightening. Blyth’s voice, while at times cynical and critical toward female media moguls, remains candid as she honestly admits she also presented these misguiding messages through her career in order to improve readership. Spin Sisters illuminates issues and trends which, while not groundbreaking or necessarily shocking, can give us a more realistic and informed vantage point when facing the bombardment of propaganda aimed at us daily.

CZ

Some Like It Haute

SOME LIKE IT HAUTE: Julie K. L. Dam: Warner Books: Fiction: 293 pages

Alexandra, fashion correspondent for the British Weekly, thought her first day in Paris covering Fashion Week was going badly when she discovered her favorite shoes had been stolen. That was just the beginning. While trying to find her seat at the Chanel Show, a head-on collision with a model on the catwalk lands Alexandra on the front pages of all the fashion news. Humiliated too much to even leave her hotel room, Alexandra is sure she can never return to another show. Her luck changes when someone else, a handsome American, makes an even bigger scene at another event. Now Alexandra is yesterday’s news. To make the day even better, her publicist friend has the latest scoop on an up-and-coming fashion designer set to change the fashion world--and she has agreed to give Alexandra the first interview. What starts off as a miserable week looks like it might end up happily ever after, after all.

KK

The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers

THE SIMPLE FAITH OF MR. ROGERS: Amy Hollingsworth: Integrity Publishers: Nonfiction: 175 pages.

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?

This song strikes a familiar chord for children and adults across America. Mister Rogers welcomed us into his life and neighborhood making us feel safe and special, one episode at a time. Mister Rogers taught us about life and respect. He taught us that it was okay to express our feelings and he taught us to be proud of ourselves!

Although Fred Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister, on the whole he did not use a pulpit to preach. Instead he reached out to the children of America using puppets like: Daniel Striped Tiger, Lady Elaine, King Friday, and Henrietta Pussycat.

In this book Amy Hollingsworth, a long time friend of Mister Rogers, gives us a personal look at America’s favorite Neighbor. Through her correspondence with Mister Rogers, she shows us the legacy that he has left behind. Mister Rogers taught by example the need to slow down and take time for silence. He taught that we are all neighbors and that we need to treat each other with respect, we need to look for the good in those around us, and we need to apply the golden rule in our lives. Fred Rogers “preached” his beliefs through his actions and his legacy encourages each of us to do the same!

AMM

She Got Up Off the Couch

SHE GOT UP OFF THE COUCH: Haven Kimmel: Free Press: Adult Non-fiction: 304 pages

In this delightful sequel to A Girl Named Zippy, Kimmel continues her reminiscences of childhood in tiny Mooreland, Indiana. Kimmel introduced readers to a memorable cast of characters in her first book, including her mother, Delonda, who spent years reading away on the couch until she weighed 268 pounds. In this second memoir, Delonda gets up off the couch, graduates from college, and secures a teaching job. In chapters like “I Knew Glen Before He Was a Superstar,” “A Short List of Records My Father Threatened to Break Over My Head If I Played Them One More Time,” and “A Short List of Records That Vanished From My Collection,” Kimmel spins quirky tales of friends, neighbors, and her mother’s newly found independence.

MBC

Shadow Divers

SHADOW DIVERS: THE TRUE ADVENTURE OF TWO AMERICANS WHO RISKED EVERYTHING TO SOLVE ONE OF THE LAST MYSTERIES OF WORLD WAR II: Robert Kurson: Random House: nonfiction: 375 pages

Perilous danger, history, adventure, mystery, death and human weakness combine in this historical narrative about the discovery and exploration of a mysterious wreck off the coast of New Jersey in 1991. At a depth of 230 feet the wreck was just beyond safe diving depths, creating a competitive challenge and ultimately a death trap for wreck divers. Divers could spend just fifteen minutes at that depth, fighting narcosis every second and needing one hour to decompress. The stamina the divers required for those minutes on the bottom is matched by tenacious determination over the next seven years to discover the identity of the wrecked submarine and learn about the men who died when it went down. John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, at first competitive enemies, are drawn into a bond of brotherhood as exploring the wreckage claims lives, friendships and marriages.

But this gripping book doesn’t just take you to the bottom of the sea. The perils and technical difficulties of deep sea diving are only a part of what makes this book so good. Fascinating details about life aboard German U-boats during World War II and the courage of the crews are an important part of the story. History buffs will also enjoy the accounts of sleuthing through dusty military archives and contacting international World War II experts only to discover they were all wrong. Ultimately you meet brothers, sisters, and sons of the German crew of the wrecked submarine.

If you enjoyed The Perfect Storm (Sebastian Junger, 1997), Into Thin Air (Jon Krakauer, 1997) or The Endurance : Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition (Caroline Alexander, 1998), or like to watch the new History Detectives show on PBS, you can plan on enjoying this book as well. The Last Dive : A Father and Son’s Fatal Descent Into the Ocean Depths by Bernie Chowdhury, though not as well written, gives further details about two of the divers who perished while exploring the U-boat wreck in October of 1992.

SH

Saturday

SATURDAY: Ian McEwan: Doubleday: fiction: 289 pages

Almost 150 years ago, Charles Dickens penned the line, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” In our era, another of Britain’s great writers, Ian McEwan, depicts much the same sentiment through the ruminations of a modern Londoner, Henry Perowne, as we follow him through a single day.

In the “best of times” category, Henry is an accomplished neurosurgeon, who lives in a palatial London townhouse with a successful attorney wife whom he still adores after a quarter century of marriage. Their two children are thriving in artistic lives of their own; one as a blues musician, the other as a published poet. In addition, as Henry muses on this particular Saturday morning, the teapot has reached the “peak of refinement.”

In the “worst of times” category, Henry’s day begins with a plane crash (observed at a distance from his bedroom window) that taints the rest of his day with a post 9/11 sense of foreboding and anxiety. This sense is accentuated by the millions of protesters gathered in London that day to protest the impending Iraq war, a war that Henry uncomfortably approves of. The protest indirectly causes a minor traffic accident with a mentally unstable street thug that keeps Henry looking over his shoulder as he completes his errands around the city. A late afternoon visit to his senile mother reminds Henry of his own mortality and his frustrating ability to repair the brain but not the mind.

The best and worst of times converge later that evening, when Henry wrapped in the glow of a genial family reunion, relaxes into an aura of warm contentment. And then… the worst walks right through his front door.

This well written story moves along on a stream of thoughtful contemplations that reflect the complex and contradicting themes of the age we live in: war and peace, justice and forgiveness, religion and modern medicine, and still manages an optimistic note. For as Henry recognizes that fateful morning about his amazing teapot, “The world should take note: not everything is getting worse.”

LG

The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands

THE PROPER CARE AND FEEDING OF HUSBANDS: Dr. Laura C. Schlessinger: Harper Collins: Nonfiction: 180 pages

Although the title of this book is enough to send some women running in the opposite direction, this is a must-read for all women in a relationship. Dr. Laura does not advise women to slave away at cooking, cleaning, and catering to his every whim; rather, she discusses the emotional needs of men.

The one point that most struck me is that a common expectation of some women is that men talk, react, and behave just as a girlfriend would.
Dr. Laura explains that today’s society has a unisex mentality, meaning that the belief is that men and women are so equal that they operate in the same way. She emphasizes throughout the book the simple fact that men and women are different, and points out how to embrace and work with those differences.

With the use of many enlightening examples throughout the book of
on-air conversations with men and mostly women, she is able to illustrate her main points. This is an eye-opening book with one really good and simple message: treat others as you would like to be treated.

EE

A Private Family Matter

A PRIVATE FAMILY MATTER: Victor Rivas Rivers: Atria Books: 2005: Biography, 364 pages.

This book reminded me of David Pelzer’s A Child Called It. It is a biography of the middle son of a Cuban family that immigrated to America in the 1950’s. The father in this tale was not just abusive but pathologically so; the horrors he committed were many, among them kicking his 8 1/2 month pregnant wife repeatedly in the stomach. His abuse nearly destroyed the entire family and reading about the horrors that he committed was painful. But, this book does have a very uplifting message. Victor details his struggle to gain his self-esteem and rise above the inner voice that continued to tell him he was worthless long after he was out of his father’s clutches. This is a very positive story that shows that it is possible to escape the cycle of abuse and rise above the terrible psychological scars that it leaves.

After leaving his father’s custody at the age of 15, Victor went on to play college football. From college he went on to Hollywood where he continues to have a successful career as an actor. He also volunteers his time as the national spokesperson for the National Network to End Domestic Violence.

DEF

Outwitting History

OUTWITTING HISTORY: THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF A MAN WHO RESCUED A MILLION YIDDISH BOOKS: Aaron Lansky: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill: Nonfiction: 316 pages

The recent commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz has reminded us of the deaths of millions of people in the Holocaust. Few realize that the Holocaust also sounded the death knell for a culture and a language. Millions of Yiddish speaking people were executed or dislocated from their homelands. As a result, the following generation learned to speak the native languages of a multitude of adopted countries and Yiddish ceased to be spoken. In the 1970’s, just as Aaron Lansky began to be interested in Yiddish, he discovered that personal collections and entire libraries of Yiddish books were being taken to landfills. He began an urgent personal quest to save Yiddish books from destruction, and along with that, to rescue a lost culture.

Mr. Lansky is president and founder of the National Yiddish Book Center. His adventures in salvaging more than 1.5 million books are interesting and moving. This wonderful book is not just for bibliophiles, it’s a book for lovers of history and literature as well. While reading about midnight dumpster dives, we also learn about Yiddish history, Yiddish writers and intellectuals, meet elderly Jewish immigrants who saved priceless volumes in their own personal collections, and travel to communities of Eastern Europe to restore Yiddish volumes destroyed under Communist domination. The National Yiddish Book Center has translated many Yiddish works into English, reprinted important Yiddish books, and with the help of Steven Spielberg, has digitized their entire collection and made it available online. Mr. Lansky’s chutzpah (Yiddish for daring or nerve) can be experienced and celebrated through this book and by visiting www.yiddishbookcenter.org.

SH

Obsidian

OBSIDIAN: David J. Hawkes: Council Press: Fiction: 103 pages

Obsidian, a captivating tale of parallel lives, is the story of heartache and love, war and peace, richly woven between the past and the present. This is story of an Indian boy, a white man and an unforgettable journey through time.

I really enjoyed this simple tale about life. It is amazing to me how similar Bill and The Arrow Maker were, even though they lived decades apart. The text goes back and forth between the two men’s lives, but flows beautifully. This quick read will leave you feeling thankful for the beauty of nature and your family relationships!

AMM

Never Let Me Go

NEVER LET ME GO: Kazuo Ishiguro: Knopf: Fiction: 288 pages

This is a novel that slowly unfolds its secrets. Kathy and her two school friends, Ruth and Tommy, grew up at Hailsham, an idyllic, isolated school where the children are encouraged to create art and feel special. But there is a darker side to Hailsham. One that Kathy and the other school children sense, but feel they are unable able to discuss even with each other.
Now 31, Kathy re-develops lost friendships with classmates Ruth and Tommy. They begin to examine what clues they had as children that they were different from everyone outside. Like the Hailsham students, the reader is initially protected from the full truth, but ultimately we learn that Hailsham children are clones, raised to donate organs for “real” people.
Although Ishiguro’s novel can be viewed as a cautionary tale of science and the medical field outdistancing ethics, it is also a sensitive and emotional tale of the bonds of friendship, loyalty and the “human” capacity for forgiveness.

AJ

A Mystery of Errors

A MYSTERY OF ERRORS: Simon Hawke: Tor: Mystery: 240 pages

“There was nothing quite so invigorating to the senses, Smythe decided, as ending a long and dusty day by being robbed.” So begins the story of Symington “Tuck” Smythe. On the road to London to find work in the theater, Tuck is robbed so many times that the last highwayman flips him a coin so that Tuck can have dinner and a room in a nearby inn. The inn is full and Tuck must share a room with a stranger, who also hopes to find work with a company of players. Tuck and the stranger, William Shakespeare, finish their journey together, share a room, and find work (as ostlers) with the same acting company, the Queen’s Men. Besides learning to navigate the cutthroat world of Elizabethan theater, Will and Tuck put themselves at risk when they try to help a young woman whose father is pushing her into a marriage against her will. What becomes a confusion of identities almost results in Will’s murder as the two amateur detectives stumble in and out of danger.

This amusing novel will appeal most to Shakespeare buffs and fans of historical mysteries.
Although the story starts off a little slow as Hawke sets up his 16th century setting, the pace soon picks up as the action and intrigue of the plot develop. Hawke’s efforts to incorporate bits of Shakespeare lore into the story, even using the other characters to feed Shakespeare future lines, add a fun element. A Mystery of Errors is just the beginning of the adventures of Shakespeare and Smythe which continue in three additional books.

DW

My Kind of Place: Travel Stories from a Woman Who's Been Everywhere

MY KIND OF PLACE: TRAVEL STORIES FROM A WOMAN WHO’S BEEN EVERYWHERE: Susan Orlean: Random House: Nonfiction: 285 pages

This is not your normal travel book. Not many of us would pick Sunshine Market in Jackson Heights, Queens, or Portland Meadows Mobile Home Park on the fringes of Portland, Oregon as a travel destination but Susan Orlean does and that is what makes this book entertaining reading. Reminiscent of Charles Kuralt with a little more spice, Orlean’s witty writing drew me into places, people and experiences that I never even thought to wonder about before.

Whether Orlean is marveling at boxes of “Soft Touch Duck Degreaser” while attending the World Taxidermy Championships in Springfield, Illinois, or enjoying a Congolese ballad at Afric’ Music in Paris, the short self-contained chapters make this a great book for those of us who only have time to read (or travel) in 4 minute snatches.

MB

The Mermaid Chair

THE MERMAID CHAIR: Sue Monk Kidd: Viking Press: Fiction: 332 pages

A book about rebirth of the spirit, The Mermaid Chair follows Jessie Sullivan as she searches for her own identity in the face of passion, betrayal, grief and forgiveness. Jessie has a caring husband and a wonderful daughter who recently left for college. With an empty nest, Jessie begins to feel discontented and confined. She also lives with a secret guilt over her father’s death nearly 35 years before in a tragic boating accident off Egret Island.

On the anniversary of her father’s death, Jessie receives an urgent call from her mother’s longtime friend. She asks Jessie to return to Egret Island to help her estranged mother recover from a desperate act of self-mutilation. Jessie’s mother, haunted by the death of her husband, has become a zealous Catholic in the years following his death. She is obsessed with the Benedictine monastery next door, where she cooks and cleans for the monks. Jessie is uncomfortable with her mother’s fanaticism, but sees helping her mother as a chance to get away from her stagnant life. Returning to the island, Jessie becomes powerfully attracted to one of the Benedictine monks belonging to the monastery famous for its beautifully carved mermaid chair.

Though Kidd’s second novel is a very different story from her first book, The Secret life of Bees, it has some similar thematic elements and captures the essence of the South just as beautifully. The vibrant scenery and compelling story add to this captivating novel, but the emotional complexity of the characters is what truly makes this a must read.

AJ

The Meq

THE MEQ: Steve Cash: Del Rey: Sci-Fi: 404 pages

Zianno (Z) has a fairly normal childhood until his twelfth birthday. His parents are killed in a tragic accident and the only thing he knows is that he must keep his father’s baseball and he must find Sailor and Umla-Meq. This sends Z on a long and frustrating search. Along the way he befriends various humans and also meets several children like himself. They are the Meq, who remain 12 years old until they meet their soul mate and choose to cross over into mortality together.

This unique group of humans and Meq must unite to fight the evil Fleur-du-Mal. The years pass as many of the great events of the early 20th century unfold such as the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair and the Influenza epidemic of 1918.

This book has a little something for everyone: history, fantasy, good vs. evil, mystery and romance. I was very caught up in the characters and the story and kept thinking about it long after I’d finished. Be warned though, this is the first book in a planned trilogy.

AL

Memories Are Made of This: Dean Martin Through His Daughter's Eyes

MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS: DEAN MARTIN THROUGH HIS DAUGHTER’S EYES: Deana Martin: Harmony Books: Biography: 297 pages

Deana Martin delivers a fair account of her famous father known to the world for his songs, films, television and Vegas shows. When asked if he was a good father she replied, “No, he wasn’t a good father, but he was a good man.” And that is what the book shares. Martin was an emotionally absent father and husband, but a great man who entertained the world and even his family at the dinner table.

Not only Dean Martin fans will enjoy reading this biography. Fans of old Hollywood will also find many interesting tidbits. The Martins’ lives were filled with famous friends like Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis, Marilyn Monroe, and Judy Garland. Many enjoyable family photos illustrate the book.

KK

March

MARCH: Geraldine Brooks: Viking: fiction: 280 pages.

What lingers with me still, after reading Geraldine Brooks’ latest novel March, are the smells. No, not the paper and ink scent of a new book, but the acrid smoke of a Civil War battlefield, the stench of a Union hospital, and the aroma of a sultry Southern night. Ms. Brooks writes with such detail and realism that the scenes enliven the senses and sweep the reader into another time and place.

Named for Captain March, the absent father in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, this book chronicles his year-long journey from self-assured, idealistic chaplain to shattered, bewildered army veteran. Following Alcott’s lead, who patterned the girls of the March family after her own sisters, Brooks used Louisa’s real-life father, Bronson Alcott, as a model for her leading character. Part One of the narrative begins at the disastrous Battle of Ball’s Bluff with March struggling to write a letter home. For though he promised to write something everyday, he reflects, “I never promised I would write the truth.” Through a series of flashbacks, we learn of March’s youthful days as a Yankee peddler in the antebellum South, a guilt-plagued romance with an elegant house slave named Grace, and his brief yet passionate courtship with Marmee. In Part Two, the narrative moves to a Union hospital in Washington D.C. and switches to Marmee’s voice. Summoned to his bedside by an urgent telegram, (an event familiar to Little Women readers) Marmee cares for her almost unrecognizable husband and tries to untangle the truth behind his delirious rantings. Though I sometimes became impatient with Mr. Marchs’ moral flagellation and naïve idealism, Marmee’s character is a revelation. A woman of great courage and passion, she is zealous in her fight against slavery and far more complicated than Alcott’s domesticated depiction.

An excellent historic fiction writer, Brooks avoids 21st century sensibilities and meticulously recreates Civil War era thinking, characters, and morality. Even the writing style reflects an earlier, more formal age reminiscent of Alcott’s own work. This book is a must read for Little Women fans and historic fiction buffs will delight in the book’s portrayal of a complicated episode in America’s history. Be forewarned however, even though generations of children have enjoyed Little Women, this book is for older readers.

LG

Little Earthquakes

LITTLE EARTHQUAKES: A NOVEL: Jennifer Weiner: Atria: Fiction: 417 pages

Jennifer Weiner’s newest novel is a story of love, heartbreak, redemption and friendship as four women make the bumpy transition into new motherhood.

Kelly is the bubbly, young overachiever; Becky is an easy going chef with a loving husband but the worst possible mother-in-law; Ayinde is the sophisticated wife of a basketball superstar, who feels compelled to raise her son by the dictates of a book; and Lia is the once famous Hollywood star trying to make sense of her life after an overwhelming loss.

As a new mother of a 16 month old, I found myself laughing and crying along with these amazing characters as they described their thoughts, feelings and struggles. I could relate to the sleep deprivation, the spit-up stained clothes, the frustration over strained relationships and the overwhelming love felt by a mother for her child.

Although new mothers will find comfort in realizing they are not alone, this book is a good read for anyone interested in well-developed characters dealing with real life issues through friendship and laughter.

AL

Lipstick Jihad

LIPSTICK JIHAD: A MEMOIR OF GROWING UP IRANIAN IN AMERICA AND AMERICAN IN IRAN: Azadeh Moaveni: Public Affairs: Biography: 246 pages

We’re so used to seeing the word jihad in the same sentence with terrorist that this title seems to be an oxymoron. But imagine millions of Iranian women simultaneously appearing on the streets of Tehran wearing lipstick. This is a struggle in the classic sense of the word jihad. What would the religious police and the mullahs do? Arrest every woman in Iran? Moavani takes us inside Iran before 9/11 where “Iran’s young generation – the generation born just before the revolution…is transforming Iran from below. From the religious student activist to the ecstasy-trippers, from the bloggers to the bed-hopping college students, they will decide Iran’s future.” (page xi)

Moaveni is a member of the young generation of Iranians, but born in the US to Iranian parents, part of the Iranian “diaspora” that occurred because of the revolution in 1979. She went to Iran as a journalist reporting for Time magazine. In her quest to report the news she also encounters the many ways Iranians use their ingenuity to circumvent the system. Women’s yoga and exercise groups meet in back rooms, teenagers use martyr’s holidays to throng the streets and meet members of the opposite sex, bright covered robes replace the somber, formless black that was mandatory women’s dress after the revolution.

This memoir is impassioned and personal. At once nostalgic and pragmatic, the author seeks to find herself in the two worlds that are her heritage. She is one of a number of authors, fluent in English and conversant in Farsi, whose experiences illuminate the struggles of immigrants to the Unites States as they open the curtain on a hidden world. This book is beautifully written. Just as well written, and perhaps more poetic, is the book Journey from the Land of No by Roya Hakakian which chronicles the changes in a Jewish family’s life during the years of the Iranian revolution. These books deserve recognition for their excellent writing and intimate views of women’s lives in Iran along with the very popular Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi.

SH

The Kite Runner

THE KITE RUNNER: Khaled Hosseini: Riverhead Books: fiction: 324 pages
Khaled Hosseini’s debut novel follows the heartbreaking tale of two Afghani boys whose friendship is torn apart by a tragedy. Growing up in Kabul in the 1970s, Amir and Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant, are inseparable. On the day of the annual kite flying contest, Amir betrays Hassan and, ashamed of his actions, eventually forces Hassan and his father to leave their home. As an adult living in America, Amir is haunted by his disloyalty to Hassan and returns to Afghanistan to rescue Hassan’s son from the Taliban.

In beautifully written language, Hosseini explores betrayal, redemption, friendship and the price attached to each. Well constructed characters and a thoughtful narrative make this a powerful and emotional reading experience. Those interested in Afghanistan and recent political events there will find this a particularly interesting read, but the moving story will appeal to readers of all types.

MBC

An Invitation to Poetry

AN INVITATION TO POETRY: Robert Pinsky, ed.: W.W. Norton: Nonfiction:308 pages.

In the third poetry collection to come out of the Favorite Poem Project, poems are presented with introductions by Americans from across the country. Popular poets Frost, Shakespeare, and Dickinson are found with less well-known authors like Sone no Yoshitada.

On the accompanying DVD, poems are read and discussed by contributors to the book. Stanley Kunitz, the then 97-year-old poet, talks about his experience with Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poem, “God’s Grandeur.” In the next video segment, a 62-year-old bookkeeper praises Kunitz’s poem, “Hornworm: Autumn Lamentation.”

There are many noteworthy poems in the collection, but the most enjoyable parts of the book are the personal comments that introduce the poems. A sixteen-year-old student from California relates Langston Hughes’ “Minstrel Man” to her escape from genocide in Cambodia, and a 58-year-old man in D.C. explains how a Yusef Komunyakaa poem helps him understand his emotions as a Vietnam veteran. Each entry illustrates the way in which poetry expresses universal human emotions and invites readers to a further examination of poetry.

MBC

Inside Job

INSIDE JOB: Connie Willis: Subterranean: Fiction: 99 pages.

Rob, a professional debunker, and his partner Kildy, a former Hollywood star, set out to expose a medium who claims to channel an ancient spirit named Isus. The psychic’s performances are interrupted, though, by what appears to be the spirit of H.L. Mencken, the skeptical journalist who covered the Scopes Monkey Trial. While not as satisfying as Willis’s longer fiction, this novella is a thoroughly readable story about the nature of truth, interwoven with history, romance, social commentary, and literary allusions in typical Willis fashion.

MBC

Ice: The Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance

ICE: THE NATURE, THE HISTORY, AND THE USES OF AN ASTONISHING SUBSTANCE: Mariana Gosnell: Knopf: nonfiction: 555 pages

I like to read nonfiction. I like being surprised by amazing facts about ordinary events or things. Surprise or amazement can be found on almost every page of Ice: the Nature, the History, and the Uses of an Astonishing Substance. Did you know that “An Arctic iceberg can be the size of a cottage or a city block? An Antarctic iceberg can be the size of an American state(!)” or “a beam of ice hanging in a cold room with a weight on one end [will] stretch like taffy in slow motion…” Did you know that the fact that water can exist on our planet as a solid, liquid or vapor is crucial to earth’s climate?

This book has adventures on ice, too; Shackleton’s icy encounters in Antarctica; John Ross, whose ship was trapped in Arctic ice for three years, and more. Would you like to know how animals like seals, whales and penguins survive in icy conditions? And what about frozen insects – can they survive?

This book is not written for scientists. It is written for the insatiably curious person. Read a page, a chapter, or the whole book and you are bound to learn something. This is one of a number of fascinating books about everyday substances that have come out in the last few years. I also thoroughly enjoyed Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky, The Power of Gold: the History of an Obsession by Peter L. Bernstein, Napolean’s Buttons: How Seventeen Molecules Changed History by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson. And I could name many more, all of which I found by browsing the New Nonfiction display at the Provo City Library.

SH

The Historian

THE HISTORIAN: Elizabeth Kostova: New York: Little, Brown and Co.: 2005: Fiction: 642 pages

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova is a novel that has attracted a lot of publicity from readers and publishers alike. At a whopping 642 pages, it’s not a quick read, but it’s definitely well-worth the effort. Having visited or lived in most of the places included in the novel and having studied extensively about the history of those places, I feel the book provides unique insight into a fascinating cultural icon.

Most of the publicity stems from the fact that the book’s central figure is the vampire, Dracula. However, he’s not the white-faced, black-caped creature of horror films; he’s just as dangerous, but he’s also a cultured and intelligent bibliophile and historian.

Most of the plot centers around the search for the actual historical roots and figure of Dracula. So, it’s not full of blood and gore, as might be expected. It’s a suspenseful and interesting tale of countries and cultures, libraries and librarians, and historical documents and research as the story shifts seamlessly through the decades of the 1930s, 1950s, and 1970s. If readers take the time to digest the story, they will be rewarded by the carefully thought-out and polished writing and the memorable characters that will continue to haunt their thoughts long after the book is finished.

RP

Hershey: Milton S. Hershey's Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams

HERSHEY: MILTON S. HERSHEY'S EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF WEALTH, EMPIRE, AND UTOPIAN DREAMS : Michael D’Antonio: Simon & Schuster: Biography: 305 pages

I am not a chocolate lover, or even a chocolate liker, but I was so fascinated by this book that I ALMOST wanted to try a Hershey Kiss so that I could be part of the Hershey legacy. Pulitzer Prize winning author, Michael D’Antonio, gives us wonderful insight on Milton S. Hershey, the child, the industrialist, the boss, the husband, the philanthropist, the dreamer, the social engineer and the man. Hershey’s story is one of triumphing over the odds, but the book contains even more. It gives an interesting history of the chocolate industry, how American chocolate came to be, and of the intense competition among the candy makers of the time. We learn what it took to make Hershey’s company survive. When other industrial giants and their companies were under suspicion by the public and media, how did he escape the bad press? Why were his dreams, including his vision of an utopian society in Hershey Pennsylvania actually becoming a reality, unlike the other entrepreneurs of the day? I found it extremely informative the way D’Antonio intertwines historical events, political climate and everyday life of that era into the book. It gave me a new perspective on just how unique Milton Hershey actually was.

MB

The Forest Lover

THE FOREST LOVER: Susan Vreeland: Viking Books: fiction: 304 pages

In her fourth novel (What Love Sees, Girl in Hyacinth Blue, and The Passion of Artemisia), Susan Vreeland again draws literary inspiration from the world of visual art. In this historic novel, she brings to life the world and work of Canadian artist Emily Carr. Born at the end of the Victorian era in Victoria, British Columbia; Carr broke with society’s and art’s conventions to pioneer modern art in North America. Her passion for native culture led her to travel extensively through the rugged Northern Canadian wilderness to preserve on canvas what remained of the vanishing tribal art and way of life.

Vreeland’s vivid writing captures the passion, turmoil, and complexity of Carr’s life as a “woman artist” (a term which Carr detested). Beginning when Carr is thirty, the story follows her from Victoria to Paris and back again on a quest to find the artistic fulfillment she yearns for. On the way she befriends Sophie, a native basket weaver; Fanny, a free-spirited artist from New Zealand; and Claude, a French-Canadian fur trader who wraps her in love and mink. Though the writing sometimes slows with philosophical discussions of color and technique, the story and Carr’s intense devotion carry the reader into the fascinating and contrasting worlds of modern art and ancient custom.

LG

Family Blessings

FAMILY BLESSINGS: Fern Michaels: Atria Books: Fiction: 226 pages

When an unexpected tornado rips through Larkspur, Pennsylvania Loretta Cisco’s life is changed forever. The home that she has resided in for over 50 years is suddenly gone! This was the home where she raised her children and grandchildren, the home where she began her candy business and the home where so many memories had been made.

To add to the confusion, Cisco’s triplet grandchildren are each having a crisis of their own. Hannah, Sara, and Sam have been married for ten months, but already the honeymoon is over. Hannah and Sara both married doctors who seem to never be home. When they come home late night after night, the girls begin to believe that their husbands are having affairs. Sam’s wife Sonia suddenly leaves home for no apparent reason.

As the town of Larkspur pulls together to rebuild the homes that were damaged, the Cisco family pulls together to solve their respective problems. The Cisco’s learn a lot about trust, forgiveness and communication in this novel. Although the storyline is a bit far-fetched, this quick read has a warm holiday feel.

AMM

Empire and Odyssey: The Brynners In Far East Russia and Beyond

EMPIRE AND ODYSSEY: THE BRYNNERS IN FAR EAST RUSSIA AND BEYOND: Rock Brynner: Steerforth Press: Nonfiction: 331 pages

More than half of this biography of Yul Brynner is dedicated to the complex historical background in which the Brynner family, gifted entrepreneurs, founded a shipping empire in Vladivostok with branches throughout the Far East. Yul Brynner’s Swiss grandfather spoke English, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian. His father, Boris, attended the Mining Institute of St. Petersburg in the last days of Czar Nicholas and his wife Alexandra. Somehow Boris survived the five turbulent years of struggle for control of Russia, managing to preserve the family shipping company and negotiating the continued operation of the family’s mines with the earliest leaders of the Soviet Union.

Yul’s early years were spent in Vladivostok but events in Russia eventually forced his family to become part of the Russian diaspora. He spent the balance of his youth in Chinese controlled Harbin and then Paris. In Paris, Yul was an acrobat, circus clown, trapeze artist, and gypsy guitarist before immigrating to New York. His acting and musical talents were encouraged by his mother and stepmother, both of whom were actresses and singers trained in Russia.

Biography just doesn’t get any better than this – history ceases to be dry events when you get a fresh view through the lives of extraordinary people. The author is Yul Brynner’s son, Rock Brynner, who has a doctorate in history. He is well qualified to write a work with historical depth. His pride in his ancestors and his affection for his father are evident in this well-written book.

New works of nonfiction can be found in the New Nonfiction display on the first floor of the Provo Library when they are checked in. You can also call the library to have a hold placed on this title for you.

SH

Double Shot

DOUBLE SHOT: Diane Mott Davidson: William Morrow: Mystery: 310 pages

The latest in the Goldie Bear culinary mysteries has Goldie sleuthing in a very personal case. Goldie’s ex-husband Dr. John Richard Korman, “The Jerk,” has been murdered and she is the number one suspect. Knowing that she is not the only person Korman has mistreated, Goldie and her friend Marla take the investigation into their own hands. All the while she has her catering events to worry about.

Fans of the series will be pleased with the energized storyline that Davidson has created that will bring new life to the series in the books to follow. Reading this book makes you glad that food and murder go hand in hand. The mouthwatering recipes prepared by the characters are provided in the back of the book.

KK

Devil's Corner

DEVIL’S CORNER: Lisa Scottoline: HarperCollins: fiction: 393 pages

Vicki Allegreti pushes the limits investigating the murder of her partner, an ATF agent killed during a routine procedure. Formerly in the DAs office and now an Assistant US Attorney, Allegreti is young and petite, yet tough and determined. When she begins investigating on her own her superiors tell her to let the police handle the investigation—it’s not her job. She persists even after being placed on suspension.

From its first line this novel caught my attention and took me for a ride through the dangerous world of drug-trafficking, murder, and conspiracy in Philadelphia. The novel is suffused with a bit of grittiness and detail that comes from Scottoline having sat through a major drug trail in Philadelphia. This story has good pacing, a few twists and turns, a portion of humor, and some genuine warmth. A particularly good read.

SML