Princeton Library Lounge

Have you ever found yourself at a social gathering and suddenly you're in the midst of a conversation about, let's say, Homer? Maybe it's Lolita, or War and Peace, or...well, you can fill in the blank on your own. There are books that we feel we should have read; there are books that we feel an obligation for having some knowledge of; and, then, there are the books that we enjoy so very much, which may not necessarily be worthy of deep discussion and consideration beyond the pages we so quickly devoured... especially when you're trying to impress someone with your sparkling wit and your obvious intellectual superiority.

Fear not, authors are picking up on our insecurities. Pierre Bayard, a Paris University literature professor, has written a survivor’s guide for literature students, “How to Talk About Books You Haven’t Read?” Check out the New York Times article, Read It? No, but You Can Skim a Few Pages and Fake It ; and, if you'd like some more tips, The Boston Globe columnist, Alex Beam, wrote a piece in October, 2006 called The Delicate Art of How Not to Read a Book.
You may want to read the latter article first - it's shorter.

Following their foray into selling books and CDs, Starbucks has decided to wade even deeper into what used to be considered the domain of record companies. According to a press release issued by the company, the coffee gurus have joined forces with Concord Music Group to form a new record label, Hear Music. Could a partnership with a book publisher be far behind?

Wondering what books the staff recommends? We've got a rotating display located at the Welcome Desk. Stop by and check it out. One of the recent picks on display happens to be called Staff Pick, an incredibly funny book featuring cartoons and musings (some very Princeton-centric) by local author/artist Jay McPhillips.

>It's that time of year, again - September 29 - October 6, 2007 marks the week that we recognize books that have been banned or challenged in different parts of the country throughout the years. There are authors whose work has been frequently targeted - Judy Blume, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Carolyn Mackler; and then there are the picture books for children that seem to draw ire and consternation from those who feel they know better. Take, for example, the recent situation in Maine in which a woman checked out copies of It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health by Robie H. Harris, and has written a letter to the library's director saying that she will not return them as she finds the content so offensive. Whatever your feelings are, they are yours and you have a right to them, but do any of us have the right to censor access to books? It's all about freedom, folks.

Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd, a New Jersey romantic who dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the fuku - the ancient curse that has haunted Oscar's family for generations, dooming them to prison, torture, tragic accidents, and, above all, ill-starred love. Oscar, still dreaming of his first kiss, is only its most recent victim - until the fateful summer that he decides to be its last. Check it out.

"How had the pair of elderly Jewish lesbians survived the Nazis?" Janet Malcolm asks at the beginning of this extraordinary work of literary biography and investigative journalism. The pair, of course, is Gertrude Stein, the modernist master "whose charm was as conspicuous as her fatness," and "thin, plain, tense, sour" Alice B. Toklas, the "worker bee" who ministered to Stein's needs throughout their forty-year expatriate "marriage." As Malcolm pursues the truth of the couple's charmed life in a village in Vichy France, her subject becomes the larger question of biographical truth. Check it out.

Seventeen years ago, Sepha Stephanos fled the Ethiopian revolution after witnessing soldiers beat his father to the point of certain death. Now he finds himself running a grocery store in a poor African-American neighborhood in Washington, D.C., where his daytime customers are schoolchildren and his nighttime customers are prostitutes and alcoholics. His only companions are two fellow African immigrants, a Congolese waiter and a Kenyan engineer, who share his feelings of frustration with and bitter nostalgia for their home continent. But Sepha's neighborhood begins to change. Hope comes in the form of new neighbors - Judith and Naomi, a white woman and her biracial daughter - who restore the grand, dilapidated house next door. They become his friends and remind him for the first time in years of what having a family is like. But their arrival signals something more profound for the neighborhood's long time residents, and when its newfound calm is disturbed by a series of racial incidents, Sepha may lose everything all over again. Check it out.

The holidays will soon be upon us (gulp!) and as we all know the best gifts are the ones you make yourself. The library has a large selection of craft books including many on knitting, sewing, or crocheting cute plush animals and other creatures. Most of the projects in these books are fairly easy and would be much-appreciated by the young (or not so young) person in your life. Check one out today!

Softies : simple instructions for 25 plush pals / by Therese Laskey ; foreword by Leah Kramer ; photographs by Laurie Frankel ; Illustrations by Kristen Ray.
Sock and glove : creating charming softy friends from cast-off socks and gloves / by Miyako Kanamori.
Toys to sew / Claire Garland.
Stupid sock creatures : making quirky, lovable figures from cast-off socks / John Murphy.
Mr. Funky's super crochet wonderful / Narumi Ogawa.
Toys to knit / Tracy Chapman.
The cute book / Aranzi Aronzo.
(Submitted by A. Levie, Collection Development Librarian)

On December 7, 2007, the movie version of Ian McEwan's award-winning novel Atonement will open here in the United States (it is already playing to good reviews in the UK). This leaves plenty of time to read (or re-read) the novel before seeing the film. Originally published in 2001, Atonement won the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Los Angeles Times Prize for Fiction, and was a short-list finalist for the Booker Prize.

The story opens on a hot summer's day in the English countryside. It is 1935 and England is on the brink of war. At the Tallis family country estate, 13-year old Briony anxiously awaits the arrival of her older brother Leon, for whom she has written a silly romantic play. She witnesses an encounter between her sister Cecila and Robbie Turner, the son of their charwoman, that she does not understand, but which changes her. Before the night is over, the play has been cancelled, a horrible crime has been taken place, and Briony will make an accusation that will change all three lives forever. The second part of the book moves ahead five years, England is in the early stages of WWII, Robbie is in the British Army, and Briony seeks atonement first through a career in nursing and then through writing.

Will the movie live up to the book? Will you see the movie before reading the book? Leave a comment and let us know!

(submitted by Cynthia Lambert, Library Intern)

Looking for a gift idea? Check out this year's list of 100 notable books published by the New York Times.

Enjoy this primer from very own mistress of mystery, Reference Librarian Gayle Stratton.

I will read just about anything, but my all time favorite reads are mysteries, historical mysteries to be specific, particularly those with a setting of medieval Britain. Anything and everything seems possible or plausible when it takes place in another place and time.

I started reading the Brother Cadfael books by Ellis Peters, which were turned into a television series, available on DVD here at the library. After reading the 20 or more of those (A Morbid Taste for Bones, One Corpse Too Many), I needed to find other authors and a friend recommended P. C. Doherty, writing as C. L. Grace. He has created a strong female character with an uncommon occupation in Kathryn Swinbrooke, a physician in Canterbury (The Merchant of Death, A Feast of Poisons).

Margaret Frazer has given us another strong woman in the Sister Frevisse series whose titles are all "someone's" tale (The Novice's Tale, The Servant's Tale, etc.) and recently has begun a new medieval theatrical series (A Play of Lords, A Play of Dux Moraud).

Another physician is Matthew Bartholomew, who along with University Provost Brother Michael, a Benedictine Monk, solves murders in Cambridge. Titles in this series by Susanna Gregory include A Bone of Contention and A Plague on Both Your Houses.

Medieval Oxford is the setting for the Falconer series (Falconer's Crusade) by Ian Morson. Falconer is a Regent Master at University of Oxford.

And then there are the fighting men...In her first book, The Apothecary Rose, Candace Robb introduces Owen Archer, former soldier, now in York working for the Lord Chancellor of England and the Archbishop of York.

Michael Jecks has a long running series featuring Sir Baldwin Furnshill, a former Templar, and Simon Puttock, a bailiff in Exeter. The first of the series is The Last Templar.

Prolific author, P.C. Doherty, writing as himself, writes stand alone mysteries (Death of a King) as well as other medieval series such as those featuring Hugh Corbett, a clerk to Edward I (Demon Archer, Corpse Candle) and stories based on the Canterbury Tales such as The Hangman's Tale: the Carpenter's Tale of Mystery and Murder as He Goes on a Pilgrimage from London to Canterbury and A Tournament of Murders, the Franklin's Tale of Mystery...

So this winter, prop your feet up by the fire and enjoy a little murder and mayhem in merry ole' medieval England.

New year, new mindset, new resolutions, right? Or, do you, like many of us, seem to pick the same resolutions e v e r y year? Exercise more! Eat better! Organize your finances! Right. Me, too.

So, there I was, thinking that we (the collective everyone, of course) are in the same place in terms of thinking about doing things that are good for us, to improve ourselves, when on a certain cable network there appeared before me the cholesterol fairy. I thought that I must be imagining it, but my family witnessed it, too. She was showing viewers how to make fried macaroni and cheese (wrapped in bacon)! Still not believing, I asked my brother, "Did she say fried macaroni and cheese?" Affirmative. Hmm...It made me pause. What if fried mac and cheese were in my vernacular? What if black and white cookies were not a thing of (my) past? What if I were to eat butter with abandon???

I know. I shouldn't. But, if you'd like to, maybe you should check out some of these titles for the new year:
The book of vice : very naughty things (and how to do them) / Peter Sagal.
Paula Deen celebrates! : best dishes and best wishes for the best times of your life / Paula Deen, with Martha Nesbit.
Dolce italiano : desserts from the Babbo kitchen / by Gina DePalma ; foreword by Mario Batali ; photographs by Gentl & Hyers/Edge.

Doris Lessing, award winning South African novelist, has given us a haunting tale of desperation, disintegration and hope in her early book THE GRASS IS SINGING. In it, we see Mary Taylor, a reasonably intelligent young woman, pulling herself up from life in a dysfunctional family on a station, to a life in the city. She flourishes with a good job, comfortable apartment, many friends, fun filled outings, and nice clothes.

As the years go by, she senses that she needs a permanent relationship. With very little thought about the matter, she settles on a man in from the country, marries him quickly and leaves her former life behind her. Only after she has settled in to his dismal farm does she realize that he does not have the skills necessary for the work he has chosen on the land.

Mary has two choices. She can find her niche in this lonely existence and use her native intelligence to contribute to the farm and build her relationship or she can withdraw into destructive passive aggression. Mary chooses the latter and so in the process contributes to the destruction of her husband, the farm and eventually herself. Lessing demonstrates this unraveling using all aspects of farm life in South Africa during the first half of the 20 th century.

One is tempted to see this story as an allegory about colonialism and its disintegration in Africa. The Turners as representatives of the white power system portray its two faces. Dick Turner is the sensitive but weak boss whose paternalistic ways with his native workers only intensifies their smoldering hatred. Mary Turner is the harsh unsympathetic and lazy "madam" who pushes her last houseboy over the brink. Moses, the houseboy, represents Africa. He is filled to the brim with the need for human dignity and he thinks he can only achieve it with drastic action. Lessing's book provides us with a vivid dissection of the human spirit and an immoral society.

If this tale seems depressing an antidote may be in order. Try the following:
Lovel, Mary S. Bess of Hardwick: empire builder BS5613
Allgor, Catherine A Perfect Union: Dolly Madison and the creation of the American Nation. BM 1823
Brownrigg, Sylvia Ten Women who Shook the world: stories F Bro
Leonard, Elmore When the women come out to dance: stories MF Leo

(Submitted by Mary Lou Hartman, Reference Librarian)

Has your job/your commute/your life got you down? Why not take a brief break from reality and check out something amusing from the library? We have lots of funny books and audiobooks waiting for you….here’s a brief list of some of our more recent acquisitions. Ask us and we will gladly help you find many more titles.

Our Dumb Century The Onion Presents 100 Years of Headlines from America's Finest News Source.

Mere anarchy by Woody Allen.

Hocus Potus : a novel by Malcolm Macpherson.

Animals of the ocean : in particular the giant squid / [designed by Mark Wasserman and Irene Ng].

Tales of graceful aging from the planet denial / Nicole Hollander.

Dave Barry's money secrets : like, why is there a giant eyeball on the dollar?

Into hot air : mounting Mount Everest / Christ Elliott ; illustrations by Amy Elliott Anderson.

Notting hell by Rachel Johnson.

Retaliation [sound recording] by Dane Cook.

David Sedaris live at Carnegie Hall [sound recording].

Submitted by A. Levie, Collection Development Librarian.

The latest offering from James McBride, featured author of our 2006 Princeton Reads event, is in the library, Song Yet Sung. Catch up with McBride and join us for this year's Princeton Reads, featuring Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.

At this time of year, it is nearly impossible to avoid the constant references to happy couples, romance, flowers and chocolates. There is so much sweetness in the air, it can cause cavities. By the time Valentine’s Day arrives, I usually find myself longing for something much different.

That said, I adore romance and love, especially at this time of year. So what to read? These classic tales of love are a perfect fit—romantic, filled with love, but definitely not happily ever after.

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene (F Gre) – the story of an American writer and the bored wife of a British civil servant who fall in love during World War II.
Sophie’s Choice by William Styron (F Sty) – the story of the beautiful Sophie, a holocaust survivor, and her lover who share a Brooklyn boarding house with a young writer.
Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (F Ish) – a story of blind devotion and repressed love between a butler and housemaid.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (F Tol) – a tragic tale of love and adultery in late nineteenth-century Russia.

If you are looking for love and romance without the sugar, these classic tales are sure to hit the spot.

Submitted by Cynthia M. Lambert.

I tried to read a few of Martin Amis’s novels but always found them ugly and unappealing. Imagine my surprise, to use a cliché, when I picked up a copy of The War Against Cliché and discovered that Amis’s non-fiction writing is full of charm, humor, and brilliance.

The War Against Cliché is a collection of essays and reviews that Amis published between 1971 and 2000. Amis is amazingly insightful when writing about a book he loves, hilariously damning when reviewing a dog, and extraordinarily intelligent when discussing anything at all.

Read just one of Amis's essays or reviews, and you’ll understand why the book is titled, The War Against Cliché: it’s because Amis's remarkably precise and original writing reflects his refusal to settle for ready-made thought and expression.

Here are a few of the books that Amis praises in The War Against Cliché:

Fireflies by Shiva Naipaul
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Riding the Rap by Elmore Leonard
The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow
The Counterlife by Philip Roth
Underworld by Don DeLillo

Submitted by DK.

I’m a historical fiction junkie, but I’ve done readers advisory service long enough to know that not everyone is.

However, I can’t help myself. I am going to use this venue to promote two authors that even those who don’t like historical fiction will like.

The first is Geraldine Brooks. Her first novel, Year of Wonders, relates the experience of a 17th century English village during the plague. Sound gruesome? It’s not. It’s wonderful. Then go on to March, the heartbreaking story of Mr. March, absent father of Little Women and his experiences in the Civil War, which won a Pulitzer Prize. Now try her newest, People of the Book, a fictional recreation of the history of the Sarajevo Haggadah, a small, rare, very old illuminated Hebrew manuscript. Ms Brooks writes beautifully and each of these novels has been critically acclaimed.

The second is Robert Harris. After writing a revisionist history in which the Nazi’s won the war (Fatherland), and a fascinating account of the breaking of the Nazi Enigma code (Enigma), he turns his attentions to ancient Rome. Pompeii tells the story of an architect sent to check on a problem with the Aqua Augusta aqueduct and realizes that something mysterious is terribly wrong. Imperium, actually a fascinating political novel, traces the rise of Cicero during the Roman republic. Even though we know ahead of time that Cicero will end up losing his head, and that nothing will prevent Mt. Vesuvius from erupting, we are kept turning the pages until the very end.

Now, if I’ve whetted your appetite for historical fiction, check out Booklist’s Historical Fiction Top 10 to see some other recently published works of the genre.

Submitted by Jane Brown.

When Vladimir Nabokov died in 1977, he left behind the unfinished manuscript of a novel that was to be titled, The Original of Laura. Horrified by the thought that the incomplete and imperfect novel might one day be published, he instructed his heirs to burn the manuscript. His wife couldn’t bring herself to do it, however, and his son recently announced that he will, in fact, have the book published. (See the related New York Times article.)

The eventual appearance of The Original of Laura will no doubt reawaken interest in the other books that Nabokov wrote during his long and fascinating literary career. If you're unfamiliar with Nabokov's work but would like to discover why so many readers and great writers revere him, then you might want to jump right in and read his two most celebrated novels, Lolita and Pale Fire, both of which appear on the Modern Library's list of the 100 Best Novels.

If you're put off by the disturbing themes of Lolita or daunted by the baffling complexity of Pale Fire, however, rest assured that there's an easier way into Nabokov's fictional world. Listed below are three fabulous books that will provide a less challenging, but still very fulfilling, introduction to Nabokov's work.

1. Laughter in the Dark - A wicked yet hilarious novella about a wealthy art critic whose life falls apart when he abandons his wife and daughter at the urging of his beautiful, heartless mistress. It's written in a spare and lively style and almost seems like a fairy tale at times.

2. Speak, Memory - Nabokov's elegant and highly stylized memoir, which traces his life, and the development of his art, from his idyllic and tremendously privileged childhood in pre-revolutionary Russia through his two decades of impoverished European exile. Nabokov's lack of self-pity, his ability to remain happy despite enormous personal loss, and of course his masterful writing, are inspiring.

3. Pnin - A tender yet unsentimental portrait of a hapless Russian émigré, Timofey Pnin, who teaches at a provincial college in the Northeastern United States. Elderly, isolated, unloved, and lacking the respect of his peers, Pnin nevertheless transcends the tragicomic mess of his existence and emerges as a dignified, noble, and even mildly heroic character.

Submitted by DK.

I love to knit. And like most knitters, I have a huge stash of yarn and shelves full of patterns. But I don’t always have a lot of time to actually knit anything complex. So sweaters, afghans, and other big projects will have to be put off for another day. What should I knit in the meantime? The library has a number of books with quick projects. I could knit socks from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch or Vogue Knitting: the Ultimate Sock Book or Cool Socks, Warm Feet by Lucy Neatby. I could do a project from Nicky Epstein’s Knitted Flowers, or Toys to Knit by Tracy Chapman, or even Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. Maybe One-Skein Knitting: 30 Quick Projects to Knit and Crochet by Leigh Radford. I could Knit Mittens! by Robin Hansen. Even these seemed like too much knitting. Then I happened to see an ad for knitted doughnuts in Bon Appetit magazine. Yes, knitted doughnuts. They were for sale and quite expensive, considering the amount of yarn they use. So I did a little Googling and found out that knitted food is all the rage. I found a pattern for the knitted doughnuts . This site was a gold mine. From here, I found free patterns for knitted olives , a felted apple , a lobster, though there is quite a bit of knitting to it and my absolute favorite, felted fortune cookies. I can make a piece of cherry pie or a baby eggplant or even an entire tea party.
Take a look and happy knitting.

Submitted by G. Stratton.

If the gloom and doom news about global warming, high gas prices, food shortages and the decline of civilization is getting you down, check out this new title in our collection: Earth the Sequel: the race to reinvent energy and stop global warming by Fred Krupp and Miriam Horn. You will have reason to hope. This is an uncomplicated look at all the projects which are currently underway to reshape the way that the world creates and uses energy. Krupp, who is the president of the Environmental Defense Fund, is uniquely qualified to discuss these projects ranging from the new science which is evolving, the tiny seed companies working furiously to make these new processes workable and to the creative ways in which venture capital is raised. The book is documented in case the reader wishes to pursue the subject at greater depth.

Submitted by Mary Louise Hartman.

As you might imagine, we take a lot of requests for books. Ever wonder what your neighbors are pining for? If one more person asks for Daniel Silva's Moscow Rules...well, we'll just have to add your name to the growing list. Below is a list of some of the most popular items in our collection, based on demand.

Say you're one of them / Uwem Akpan.

City of thieves : a novel / David Benioff.

Dear American Airlines / Jonathan Miles.

Are you there vodka? It's me Chelsea / by Chelsea Handler.

The monster of Florence / Douglas Preston, with Mario Spezi.

The suspicions of Mr. Whicher : a shocking murder and the undoing of a great Victorian detective / Kate Summerscale.

Nixonland : America's second Civil War and the divisive legacy of Richard Nixon, 1965-1972 / by Rick Perlstein.

Dark side : the inside story of how the war on terror turned into a war on American ideals / Jane Mayer.

The last lecture / Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow.

(Special thanks to Andre Levie, collection development librarian.)

For as long as I can remember, Olympic athletes have been like rock stars to me. I am in awe of their accomplishments—the focus, dedication and skill are truly remarkable. Here at Princeton Public Library, several Olympic rowers regularly use our facility, so I am even more over-the-top excited that ever before. Despite the politics, the pollution, and the ethical questions surrounding the games—I have Olympic Fever!

During the last Olympics, I participated in the 'Knitting Olympics'. This was a 'competition' promoted by the Yarn Harlot, in which you cast-on a knitting project during the opening ceremonies and complete it by the closing event. I chose an ambitious sweater with an intricate cable pattern. I did well until around day 14, when I noticed a mistake about 50 rows back—that was it, my agony of defeat. I was crushed—I could not meet Olympic standards while sitting on my couch. I vowed I would return.

Two years later (yes, I can compete in both the Winter and Summer games...I mean come on, my Olympic glory is all my own!), I am ready to push myself even further. Yes, after hours of training, planning, and strategy sessions, I am about to embark on my first Triathlon!

Ok, I will admit it—I am a librarian, not an athlete. Therefore, my Triathlon will have no running, no swimming and minimal biking.

Here is my plan—starting August 8, I pledge:
1. Knit the Drifting Pleats scarf from "Knitting new scarves : 27 distinctly modern designs" by Lynne Barr (New Non-Fiction, Non-F 746.432 Bar);
2. Read 'Team of Rivals', by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Book Group Collection, Non-F 973.709 Goo).
3. Walk and/or Bike for 45 Minutes each day.

The scarf is a reasonable size project so that even with mistakes, I should be able to complete it. It uses techniques that are new to me and very challenging to give it that extra 'Olympic' feel.

'Team of Rivals' is a chunky non-fiction work that I have long wanted to read, but didn't feel I had the time. At 754 pages not including notes, I will need to read around 50 pages a day—challenging, but certainly possible. I have been wanting to increase my non-fiction reading and this is a good way to give myself a kick-start.

By far, the hardest part will be the physical exercise—I hate it, but hey this is the Olympics. I felt I should push myself physically (and lifting the big non-fiction book just did not seem enough). So if around August 22/23 you see a crazed woman wandering the streets of Princeton, yarn trailing behind her, nose stuck in a big book—fear not, it is just a case of Olympic Fever!

Submitted by Cynthia Lambert, Reference and Adult Services.

My mother used to wake up in the morning with dinner for that night all planned and partially prepared by the time we went to school. By 5:30, the main dish and a variety of side dishes (served family style), bread, drinks, etc., all appeared effortlessly on the table, ready to be consumed by us. This feat, that I now know is worthy of an Olympic gold medal, is something I can very rarely pull off. But what is a busy parent to do, especially now that school and fall sports are starting! And with the current emphasis on fresh, local, from scratch, preservative free, heavy on the veggies, light on the meat meals, dinner preparation has become even more of a challenge. Luckily, publishers, television cooks, and cookbook authors have discovered our dilemma and are here to take away the pain. Take a look at these titles, available at the library:

Everyday Food: Great Food Fast from the Kitchens of Martha Stewart Living 641.5 Eve
Rachel Ray 30 Minute Meals 641.555 Ray
Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade 20 Minute Meals; Quick, Convenient, Mouthwatering Recipes That Taste Like They Were Made From Scratch 641.555 Lee
Desperation Dinners; Home-Cooked Meals for Frantic Families in 20 Minutes Flat by Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross 641.555 Mil
Fast Food My Way by Jacques Pepin 641.555 Pep
The Working Parents Cook Book by Jeff and Jodie Morgan 641.555 Mor
Rocco’s 5 Minute Flavor; Fabulous Meals with 5 Ingredients in 5 Minutes by Rocco DiSpirito 641.555 Dis
Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast: Weeknight 641.555 Bar (other titles in the series include Small Plates, Desserts, Vegetarian, Slow Cooker)

But if you find yourself in the kitchen at 5 o'clock, no recipe in hand but ingredients on the counter, check out these websites where you can search for recipes by ingredient or category:

http://www.marthastewart.com/everyday
http://www.rachaelray.com/food.php
http://www.epicurious.com/
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/index.cfm
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/

Bon appetit!

Submitted by Gayle Stratton.

No Graves as Yet is the first of Anne Perry’s new mystery series set in England before and during World War ! which includes five entries in all (Shoulder the Sky, Angels in the Gloom, At Some Disputed Barricade, We Shall Not Sleep in that order). Her previous two very popular series took place in Victorian London.

The story centers around the Reavley family in and around Cambridge on the eve of World War I. The description of the beauty of Cambridge and the lives of the young men who study there, many of whom will not survive the war, is bittersweet in the extreme and is an absorbing backdrop to the plot of the mystery. John and Alys Reavley are killed in a car accident on the same day that a Serbian dissident assassinates Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. He is carrying an alarming document to his son Matthew who is in the secret service. It is soon discovered that their deaths are not an accident and intrigue begins to mount.

In stark contrast to this is A Test of Wills by Charles Todd. This is the first of the Inspector Ian Rutledge series of mysteries that take place in England just after the war. The massive destruction and death wrought by the war, which few ever believed could be possible, is now a reality. Virtually everyone has been affected or damaged by it in some way, including Inspector Rutledge, a veteran who regularly has to fight his own demon to maintain his sanity.

A famous and popular colonel is murdered in a small country village, and the main suspect is an equally famous and popular war hero, decorated by the King himself. The main witness is a shell shocked veteran who has descended into alcoholism and madness, an object of shame and disgust.

The portrayal of a community recovering from a terrible war, now having to face a crime to which there seems to be no easy or comfortable solution is excellent. Inspector Rutledge is an extremely sympathetic well drawn character, and the mystery story itself is fascinating. As a police procedural series goes, this is one of the best. (NOTE: Charles Todd is a pseudonym for a mother and son writing team who live in the United States. I find this amazing. I never would have guessed—they seem quite genuinely English to me).

Submitted by Jane Brown.

For those who like period dramas, there is the recently released movie, The Duchess, starring Keira Knightley, to see in the theaters. For those readers who like to read biographies of interesting and influential women, this movie is based on the book, Georgina, Duchess of Devonshire by Amanda Foreman. Her sister, Harriet, is featured in the more recent biography, Privilege and Scandal: The Remarkable Life of Harriet Spencer, Sister of Georgiana by Janet Gleeson. Much of the publicity for the movie seems to focus on parallels between the Duchess and her more recent relative, Princess Diana (most recent book, The Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown), since both are members of the Spencer family.

Winston Churchill was also a Spencer, his parents being Jennie (Jerome) Churchill and Lord Randolph Spencer Churchill, second son of the 7th Duke of Marlborough. Jennie led quite an eventful and colorful life as told in American Jennie:The Remarkable Life of Lady Randolph Churchill by Anne Sebba and The Titled Americans:Three American Sisters and the British Aristocratic World Into Which They Married by Elisabeth Kehoe.

Another prominent, wealthy, famous or infamous, British family, is the Mitfords (who also have Winston Churchill in their family tree), six sisters and one brother. The Sisters:The Saga of the Mitford Family by Mary S. Lovell tells the story of Nancy, Pam, Diana, Unity, Jessica, and Deborah. Brother Tom is a lesser player in the family. The sisters were prolific writers of correspondence, particularly to each other, some of which is collected in The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters edited by Charlotte Mosley. Nancy became a writer (A Talent to Annoy: Essays; Articles and Reviews, 1929-1968, edited by Charlotte Mosley). Diana married British Fascist leader Oswald Mosley (Diana Mosley, Mitford Beauty, British Fascist, Hitler’s Angel by Anne DeCourcy). Unity was enamored with the Nazis and a friend of Adolph Hitler and came to a tragic end. Jessica also became a writer (The American Way of Death Revisited). Pamela seems to have led the quietest life of all. However, it is Deborah, the youngest, who brings this blogpost full circle. You see, Deborah, (whose biography is Counting My Chickens…and Other Home Thoughts) through her marriage to Lord Andrew Cavendish, was, until recently, the Duchess of Devonshire. And just an extra little tidbit of trivia – Chatsworth House, home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, was the house used for Mr. Darcy’s home, Pemberley, in Pride and Prejudice, also starring Keira Knightley.

Submitted by Gayle Stratton.

He is writing a new novel, Corduroy Mansions, that is being serialized in the Daily Telegraph (an English newspaper), every weekday for the next 20 weeks and only available online (September 15-February 13). You can read it online, listen to it, have chapters sent to you as an email, or download it to iTunes.

Click here to read it or find out more about it.

*Illustration by Iain McIntosh from the Daily Telegraph website.

Submitted by Gayle Stratton.

Librarians like lists. We like finding them, creating them, and using them to make lives easier - yours and ours. Some of us actually enjoy making lists of books we think you might like, but we do have a sense of humor. Check out this article we came across in the London Times. Richard Wilson, an average bloke, has developed a list of ten books you should not waste your time on. You may be surprised at some of his selections.

We came across this blog post about a display created at an indie bookstore in San Francisco and love the idea. Martha Pettit, a staff member at The Booksmith created a list featuring music and literary pairings.
Check out the list:

MY AWESOME LITERARY MIX CD
by Martha Pettit, The Booksmith, San Francisco

1.”Killing an Arab” –The Cure (The Stranger by Albert Camus)
2. “Tear in Your Hand”-Tori Amos (Sandman series by Neil Gaiman)
3.”Wuthering Heights”-Kate Bush (Wuthering Heights by Emile Bronte)
4.“Ghost of Tom Joad”-Bruce Springsteen (Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck)
5.”Paranoid Android”-Radiohead (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams)
6.”Mr.Tambourine Man”-Bob Dylan (Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson)*
7.”Satellite of Love”-Lou Reed (Ghostwritten by David Mitchell)*
8.”The River”-P.J. Harvey (The River by Flannery O’Connor)
9.”Myla Goldberg”-The Decemberists (Bee Season by Myla Goldberg)
10.”Ground Beneath Her Feet”-U2 (Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie)
11.”Norwegian Wood”-The Beatles (Norwegian Wood by Hakuri Murakami)*
12.”Disorder”-Joy Division (Crash by J.G. Ballard)
13.”Girlfriend in a Coma”-The Smiths (Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland)*
14.”La Pastie de la Bourgeoisie”-Belle & Sebastian (Catcher in the Rye by J.G. Salinger)
15.”Holland 1945”-Neutral Milk Hotel (Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank)
16.”Alice”-Tom Waits (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll)
17.”Little Green”-Joni Mitchell (Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? by Lorrie Moore)*
18.”My Vien Ilin”-Ted Leo & the Pharmacists (The Odyssey by Homer)

If you're like me, good food plays an essential role in the enjoyment of life. That's why some of my favorite books are food memoirs. There is nothing quite as satisfying to me as an interwoven tale of personal discovery and the art of good eating. MFK Fischer, Ruth Reichl and Jeffrey Steingarten are all giants within the genre and highly recommended if you haven't read them already. However, here are a few new faces to discover and descriptive narratives to savor:
Fair shares for all: a memoir of family and food / John Haney.
Wrestling with gravy : a life, with food / Jonathan Reynolds.
Trail of crumbs : hunger, love, and the search for home / Kim Sunée.
Broccoli and other tales of food and love / Lara Vapnyar.

Submitted by Ji Hae Ju.

How many photos of perfectly cooked turkeys with assorted trimmings will it take to jade my anticipation of this wonderful food-filled holiday? A whole