WildmooBooks

Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey

2012-02-09T16:57:00.000-06:00

This year I'm challenging myself to read more broadly--different genres, different formats, authors from more countries, etc. A classic western fit the bill. I chose Riders of the Purple Sage because Zane Grey was my paternal grandfather's favorite writer. My Dad mentioned that to me about twenty years ago when we were browsing in a used bookstore. My grandfather passed away before I was born and I thought that reading a book he loved would give me a little connection to him.

I didn't know anything about this novel before picking it up other than that it was the western that established many of the tropes used in subsequent western novels and movies. I didn't want to know too much about it, but preferred to come to it with as much of a clean slate as possible. Not that I'm going to give away any plot spoilers, but if you also want to open the book with few preconceived notions, stop reading this post now.

One of the biggest surprises about the book for me is that Mormon men are the bad guys, specifically the Mormon elders. As a history buff, I know about the formation of the LDS Church and the popular and legal attitudes toward Mormons over the years. I lived in Nevada and met a lot of Mormon women there and heard their stories of growing up LDS (which really confused me at first because LDS when I was a kid in school stood for Learning Disabled Student). I just didn't expect a popular novel from 1912 to revolve around abusive, power-hungry Mormon men, but it actually makes perfect sense when you stop and think about how the polygamy issue was so hotly contested in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Six Riders of the Purple Sage by Edward Borein

Anyway, back to the book: Mormon elders are the bad guys. Mormon women are long suffering and the spirited ones are eventually "broken." Good men are the ones who treat animals, women, and children with kindness and respect. There are some beautiful scenes, some hokey scenes, and lots of problems that could have been avoided had people spoken up sooner, but, overall, I think it's an entertaining adventure story that explores the abuse of power within religion. However, I don't know if many modern readers would have the patience to read it through unless they're interested in western literature.

Here's the gist of the story: Jane Withersteen is a 28-year-old single Mormon women. She inherited her father's huge cattle spread which, most importantly, contains the water source for the local community. She refuses to marry Elder Tull, even though Bishop Dyer orders her to. Bishop Dyer was Jane's father's good friend and he's like a second father to her. Jane even has the gall to befriend Gentiles (non-Mormon folk) and offers financial and moral support to those in need. And all the Gentiles in town are in need. Only the Mormons prosper. It's a huge thorn in the sides of the Elders that Jane refuses to fall under their yoke. Things escalate.

In the opening scene, Bern Venters, Jane's young Gentile friend and her best rider, is about to be whipped by Elder Thull. In rides Lassiter, the lean, tall rider who wears all black and packs big six irons on each hip. His name alone throws terror into the hearts of Thull and his henchmen. They take off and it turns out Lassiter showed up because he's searching for the grave of Milly Erne, which happens to be on Jane's land.

Lassiter is known as a Mormon killer and Jane sets out to insure he doesn't kill anymore Mormons. He maybe a man-killer, but he's gentle with children and rides a blind horse. The horse was cruelly and intentionally blinded by Mormon men. Later you find out what Mormon men did to Lassiter's sister. Like Venters, Lassister doesn't sleep under a roof, but out in the open sage. The two men quickly be-friend one another. Lassiter is from Texas. He's 38. Venters is from Illinois and probably in his early 20s. They've got Jane's back.

An idea of the landscape in southwest Utah

Venters takes off with his two trusty dogs to track the big herd of Jane's that has recently been rustled away, presumably by local bad guy Oldring and his gang. Turns out the Mormon Elders have enlisted Oldring in their plan to slowly break Jane's will by steadily stripping away her human support and financial resources. Jane doesn't see it at first, but eventually it becomes so blatant that she can no longer deny it. Venters has a big surprise when he finds out the identity of Oldring's famous masked rider. But he doesn't find out everything right away.

Here the story splits off into two story-lines: Venters and the Oldring's masked rider in one and Jane and Lassiter in the other. The stories run parallel and intertwine here and there. It's actually a pretty complicated plot in some ways, more complicated than the Edge western series that I loved & devoured in high school, anyway.

There's killing, stampedes, kidnapping of women and little girls, and some intense horse chases. One of my favorite scenes is the description of a thunderstorm rolling through a canon. The action takes place in southwest Utah in 1871. The number of men carrying guns and their inclination towards violence is attributed to men heading west after the Civil War.

Riders of the Purple Sage was published in 1912. It was Grey's most popular novel and a sequel, The Rainbow Trail, was published in 1915. Six movie versions have been made over the years, in 1918, 1925, 1931, 1941, and 1996. It might be fun to watch them in chronological order--especially to see how the representation of women and Mormons changes over time (if it does).

Title: RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE
Author: Zane Grey
Publisher: Harper, 1912
Free ebook available from Project Gutenberg here.
My Goodreads rating: 4/5
Recommend to: people who want to try a western or those who already love them...although I suspect those who love westerns have already read this one!
Source: library copy

O Pioneers! Book #2 of the Willa Cather Novel Reading Challenge 2012

2012-02-01T07:37:00.004-06:00

Alexandra, from the first edition [source]

THE CHALLENGE
To read all 12 of Willa Cather's novels in chronological order, one each month, throughout 2012. For full details about the challenge click here.

THIS MONTH'S NOVEL

Our second novel of the challenge is O Pioneers! Read it sometime over the next three weeks and we'll start our conversation about it on Monday, February 20th.

About O Pioneers!

Cather started writing elements of the novel in 1911 and finished it in December 1912.
It was published on June 28, 1913 to both critical acclaim and popular success.
The novel is dedicated to the writer Sarah Orne Jewett whom Cather befriended in February 1908. Jewett died in June 1909, but their friendship had a big impact on Cather as a writer. Jewett had told Cather that it is the things "which haunt the mind for years" that are the proper material for serious literature. "Write the truth," she instructed, "and let them take it or leave it."
The title was inspired by Walt Whitman's 1865 poem "Pioneers! O Pioneers!"
The epigraph is taken from Adam Mickiewicz's epic poem "Pan Tadeusz."

Here's a description of the novel from the Vintage Classic Paperback edition:

O Pioneers! (1913) was Willa Cather's first great novel, and to many it remains her unchallenged masterpiece. No other work of fiction so faithfully conveys both the sharp physical realities and the mythic sweep of the transformation of the American frontier-and the transformation of the people who settled it. Cather's heroine is Alexandra Bergson, who arrives on the wind-blasted prairie of Hanover, Nebraska, as a girl and grows up to make it a prosperous farm. But this archetypal success story is darkened by loss, and Alexandra's devotion to the land may come at the cost of love itself.

At once a sophisticated pastoral and a prototype for later feminist novels, O Pioneers! is a work in which triumph is inextricably enmeshed with tragedy, a story of people who do not claim a land so much as they submit to it and, in the process, become greater than they were.

RESOURCES

O Pioneers! is almost always stocked in general bookstores and most libraries have it in their collections.
A free, annotated copy is available to read online via the Cather Archive here.
You can download a free digital edition from Project Gutenberg here.
Support the Willa Cather Foundation and order it online here.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

First edition

Many consider O Pioneers! to beCather's masterpiece. Scholars have shown that it was based on twoshort stories. One was a story titled "Alexandra,"which Cather started writing in 1911 and the other was "The White MulberryTree," which she started in August of 1912. Cather wasinspired to write "The White Mulberry Tree" in the summer of 1912 after a visitto Arizona and New Mexico, and while spending the month of June in her home town of Red Cloud, Nebraska where she watched the wheatharvest for the first time in years. Later, whilewriting "The White Mulberry Tree" Cather was struck withthe idea that this new story belonged with her earlier story "Alexandra." Shedescribed the experience as a "sudden inner explosion andenlightenment." What do you think of these two stories? Do you think they mesh well together? Do they together enhance other themes in the novel?

MARK YOUR CALENDAR
I'll post my thoughts on reading O Pioneers! in a new post by noon on Monday, February 20. At that time the conversation will begin--simply post your thoughts about the novel in the comments section of that post so we can have everyone's thoughts in once place. Please hold off on sharing your thoughts about O Pioneers! until the 20th so everyone has the time to read it.

Happy Reading!

Library: Guilford Free Library, CT

2012-01-27T15:21:00.001-06:00

I visited the Guilford Free Library in early December 2011. It was a weekday afternoon and the librarians were all busy with patrons, so I didn't talk with anyone, but the place has a very friendly and open vibe.

Guilford Free Library
67 Park Street
Guilford, CT 06437
website

Opened: January 23, 1934
Initial holdings: 5,414 volumes
Square feet: 4,500
Current holdings: 120,000 items
Current square feet: 34,000

According to the library website, the town of Guilford has had some form of a library since 1737. Apparently those earlier libraries were mainly religious in nature and weren't free and open to all. In 1926 the Guilford Library Association "began the long process of establishing a free public library, professionally staffed and available to all." The result was the building pictured above, which was completed in 1933. Since then there have been two major structural additions: one completed in 1977 and the most recent in 2008.

The original building is still in use as the Edith B. Nettleton Historical Room. Edith Nettleton was the library's first librarian. She served the library for 44 years until her retirement in 1978. During her retirement she continues to volunteer in the historical room. Click here for an article about the celebration of her 100th birthday in 2008. I came across a notice in her church's bulletin from July 2011 celebrating her 103rd birthday!

The interior of the historical room is what I imagined the inside of a historic New England library 'should' look like--clean lines, colonial furniture, hardwood floors, and white walls. Of course a card catalog is a must.

Notice the fire place. There's another one on the other side of the room behind the librarian's desk in the prior photo.

A view onto the village green.

Looking from the historical room into the periodicals room.

Looking from the periodicals room into the historical room.

I've never seen a newspaper "rack" like this and really like it for it's user friendliness.

Reading area in the periodicals room.

In the teen section. I've seen more libraries putting up signs like this in their kids/teen area.

The teen section actually has a teen feel to it--there are a few booths in the section and lots of games, as well as function desk chairs and tables.

In the "adult" section on the 2nd floor.

Looking toward the reference desk, 2nd floor.

The circulation desk.

I thought this staff recommendations display was brilliant!

Sitting area between the front door and circulation desk. Note the piano.

I hope people take advantage of these piano times!

I love Curious George.

Great endcap design.

I'm not a fan of The Great Gatsby, but I do like cats, so perhaps I'll try The Great Catsby.

"Melissa Jones Kindergarten thanks our veterans."

Computers and book display in the children's' section.

View of how far back the new addition stretches.

A view of the entire library from across the street.

THE ROPE by Nevada Barr

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000-06:00

The Rope is Nevada Barr's 17th Anna Pigeon mystery. It's a prequel that goes back to 1995 when Anna Pigeon was first hired by the National Park Service as a seasonal worker. She's 35 and fresh from New York City, still numb from the shock of her husband Zack's death (he was hit by a cab). Zack was an actor and Anna a stage manager. She loved her husband and loved her job and had to get away from it all.

Anna finds herself working as a seasonal in the Glen Canyon National Recreational Area cleaning up the poop of human visitors and monitoring the fecal level of the water. Anna is pasty, skinny, wears all black, and doesn't know the first thing about living in the great outdoors. She sees life and events through the lens of her experience in the theater, which adds not only fun for the reader, but actual help for Anna.

When we first encounter Anna in The Rope she's trapped at the bottom of a deep hole in the ground; She's completely naked, wounded, and already dangerously dehydrated. I felt guilty laying in the comfort of my bed, sipping coffee while Anna suffered. Is someone trying to kill her or cover up another murder or two? Not to give any spoilers or anything--this is, after all, a prequel to the 16 other books in the series so we know Anna lives and becomes a ranger--Anna ends up getting strong and learning how to survive and thrive in the great outdoors.

There's a strong lesbian element and character in this book (Jenny, Anna's roommate and boss). This was satisfying to me and will be to some other readers because I know I'm not the only one who had hoped, in the early years of the series, that Anna would end up lesbian and/or bisexual. That doesn't happen but it was refreshing to see a relatively "healthy" lesbian character who is central to the storyline in an American mystery novel.

Long-time readers of the series will enjoy this book and I think new readers to the series will fall in love with Anna Pigeon. And if you haven't read an Anna Pigeon mystery before, this would be a perfectly fine one with which to start.

Each book of the series is set in a different national park, which feels like a mini-vacation as you're reading. Well, other than some murders and Anna getting knocked around a bit. Barr thoroughly uses the unique landscape of each National Park in her novels. In some of the novels the landscape even seems like a character itself.

About five or so books ago the Anna Pigeon novels started to turn a bit darker in tone and content as Barr explores how violence against women and children permeates our culture, so note that these are not exactly cozy mysteries, but they're not gratuitously violent or gory.

Title: THE ROPE
Author: Nevada Barr
Publisher: Minotaur, January 2012
ISBN: 978-0-312-61457-7
My Goodreads rating: 5/5
Recommend to: mystery readers who like strong female leads and outdoorsy folks.

THE KEEP Graphic Novel

2012-01-23T09:24:00.000-06:00

The Keep, written by F. Paul Wilson, was a popular horror novel published back in 1981. The graphic novel adaptation was drawn by Matthew Dow Smith and the script was written by F. Paul Wilson himself. It caught my eye while browsing the new books section at my library.

I didn't like this graphic novel. I didn't appreciate the artistic style and I thought the script was bland. Both seem flat, emotionless, and predictable. There is no sense of suspense or tension, which is unfortunate because the premise of the story is tantalizing. It reads more like a work in progress than an adaption of a powerful horror novel that's been in print for over 30 years.

page sample

It's April 1944 and a unit of Wehrmacht soldiers occupy an old "keep," a fort-like structure in the Dinu Pass of Romania in the Transylvanian Alps that's rumored to be over 500 years old. Crosses are imbedded in the walls. Men start dying mysterious deaths. Meanwhile, in Taviera, Portugal, a man wakes up after sensing a shift in the Force. He sets out by land and sea to you-know-where. The Captain in charge of the Wehrmacht unit sends a request for help to HQ. A Major from the SS, notorious from his "success" at Auschwitz, is sent by HQ to secure The Keep. The Captain and the Major have a history together that goes back to the trenches of World War I. One man was brave, one man was a coward. Considering that one man is regular Army and the other SS, you can probably guess which man is presented as the coward. Even the highly-trained SS men begin to die. A message in an ancient language is scrawled on the wall with blood. The caretaker offers up that there's an old man, a Professor in Bucharest, who can translate the message. The Professor is old and sick and Jewish. He is brought to The Keep along with his daughter who is his caretaker. The Professor stalls the soldiers. The man from Portugal arrives. The murderous presence reveals itself to the Professor. The daughter instantly hooks-up with the man from Portugal.

To find out how it all ends, you'll have to read the graphic novel yourself. It's just over 100 pages so it won't take long. You can also read the original novel (403 pages in paperback) or see the 1983 movie (95 minutes) that the author and critics disliked, which I will do in the near future as it's currently available for streaming from Netflix.

Jennifer Egan also wrote a horror novel titled The Keep (2007). I still have an ARC of that novel on my shelves and I know I read it, but don't recall enough to offer my opinion on it. It's odd that her publisher would publish a novel with the same title of a book that's a cult classic. Perhaps they were banking on confusion?

Title: The Keep
Written by: F. Paul Wilson
Art by: Matthew Dow Smith
Publisher: IDW Publishing, October 2011
ISBN-13: 978-1613770504
Genre: graphic novel
Source: library
My Goodreads rating: 1/5
Recommend to: vampire fans and WWII fiction fans
Note: originally published in 5 separate comic books

Alexander's Bridge thoughts & comments

2012-01-16T11:00:00.002-06:00

Cather around 1910 (from the Willa Cather Archive)

The response to the Willa Cather Novel Reading Challenge has been so enthusiastic. There are participants who have never read a Willa Cather novel, some who have read them all before, and lots of folks somewhere in-between. And how fun is it that some of you are reading the novels with a group of friends!

I hope you've all had a chance toread Alexander’s Bridge. How’d you like it?

My thoughts:

This was my second reading of Alexander's Bridge. When I first read this novel I was in my mid-20s and saw Alexander as a tragic hero. Now, in my mid-40s, it speaks to me as a cautionary tale of what can happen when you lead a life of action without reflection. It seems that Alexander has lost touch with who he is and what he wants. I see him as a victim of his inability to be true to himself.

In some ways, Alexander's plight made me think of a recent cartoon makingthe rounds on Facebook: “Inside every middle aged person is ateenager wondering what the hell happened.” I can relate.

Alexander has been a man of action, but he's also been on autopilot. Underneath his hyper-masculine frame and worldly success, his foundation is weak. At one point Professor Wilson even says he thought he saw cracks in Alexander's foundation (and ironically declares him "sound" just before the cracks start growing). At home Alexander follows his wife's interests and at work he's gotten to the point where he consents to using improper materials and accepts the minimum safety standards for his latest and largest bridge project. With Hilda he can pretend he's young and free. He latches on to the loss of his youthful idealism and laments on how he feels trapped by demands. He doesn't dig deeper and reflect on how he can achieve what he desires--feeling free and powerful.

Up until the end, Alexander doesn't make a decision or take decisive action. The last time he and Hilda meet it's implied that he's going to leave his wife. He writes a letter to his wife, but then doesn't send it the next morning. Alexander never squares things with himself. The strain becomes overwhelming and, as they say, something's gotta give.

Had he lived, would he have have taken control of his life? He does say to Philip that anything he does can be made public, which up until now we know isn't true, but would he have eventually spoken his truth? Or would he never have given his wife that letter? And if he did, was the letter another garbled message like the one he'd once sent Hilda? Was leaving his wife necessarily what he really wanted? We'll never know. He died in his prime, his marriage intact, but he took down a whole bunch of people with him.

Here are some questions that I've been pondering:

Alexander says he’s not a man that canlive two lives and even feels like there's a second man grafted on to him. When did this second life begin? Is it after the affair with Hilda? Or is the second man the successful, well-married Alexander grafted onto the younger man with ideals and standards?

Do you think Winifred knows what’sgoing with her husband, particularly on the morning in January when he's agitated and preparing to leave for England?

Is there a connection between themummy in the museum and Mrs. Alexander, or some other character? I was struck by Hilda’s claim that perhaps Mrs.Alexander is afraid of letting the memory of her dead husband out alittle and sharing him with others. It reminded me of how Hilda and Alexander used to talk of bringing the priestess mummy out of the museum on beautiful nights.

Do you agree with Wilson’s statementthat more than anyone Mrs. Alexander did not choose her own destiny? Who has chosen their destiny in this story?

Wilson says early on in the novel thatwhen there’s an early hurt in life, a boy can lose courage. Much later near the end of the novel, Alexander is thinking about a longforgotten sorrow of his childhood. Do you think his weak foundation stems from childhood or did it crack later in life? Could he have done anything to strengthen his foundation?

Although Freud didn’t publish hisideas about the Death Drive until 1920, I was struck by thestatement that Alexander's great mind “may for a long timehave been sick within itself and bend upon its own destruction.” Do you think he craved his own destruction?

I'm looking forward to hearing what you all think of Alexander's Bridge!

However short or long, please leave your comments below (or leave a link to your blog post, Goodreads review, etc.). This is an open forum so feel free to reply to one another.

Library: Westerly, R.I.

2012-01-11T08:08:00.000-06:00

Westerly Public Library
44 Broad Street
Westerly, Rhode Island 02981
Library website

Established: 1892 to commemorate the soldiers and sailors who fought in the Civil War. Land and $25,000 seed money donated by Stephen Wilcox.
Opened: August 15, 1894
Original collection: 5,000 volumes
Current holdings: over 170,000 items
Addition built: 1992
The library originally housed a bowling alley, art gallery, gymnasium, museum, and meeting space for members of the Grand Army of the Republic.

This was a dash-in visit while we were on another mission, so I didn't make it to the second floor, but we couldn't drive by this beautiful library without stopping.

It's one of those libraries that you have to stop and check out.

New addition on the right.

Original front entrance.


New front entrance.

Foyer through the original front door.

This gorgeous staircase stopped me in my tracks.

I couldn't stop looking at it.

Detail of the room to left of the orginal front door. Magazines, newspapers, large print room.

Another view of the room to the left, windows overlook Broad St.

In the new addition.

Facing the back of the library.

Back, right hand side of the new addition, windows look out onto Wilcox Park.

Walk around the building to . . .

Wilcox Park, "A Victorian Strolling Park."

I would have loved to have taken more pictures, especially in the original section of the library, but there were many patrons about and in an effort to respect people's privacy, I try not to take or post pictures where people are identifiable.

The Death Instinct by Jed Rubenfeld

2012-01-10T14:59:00.001-06:00

Riverhead Books
Paperback release: January 3, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-59448-560-2
Source: review copy
My Goodreads rating: 2/5
Recommend to: historical fiction fans

I came close to throwing in the towel multiple times during the first 180 pages of this book. It just wasn't grabbing me. I stuck with it to see what the author would do with the tumultuous post-WWI time period. Flash-backs to the Great War also helped keep me reading as I'm draw to WWI.

The novel begins with the September 16, 1920 bombing on Wall Street that killed 38 people and injured 143 others. Captain James Littlemore of the NYPD investigates the bombing with occasional help from his old friend, Harvard-trained physician Stratham Younger and his love interest, French radiochemist and Curie devotee Colette Rousseau. This is Rubenfeld's second book featuring Littlemore and Younger, the first was The Interpretation of Murder (2006).

Younger and Rousseau met on the fields of WWI where they served as medical personnel. Rousseau's younger brother, Luc, has not uttered a word since his parents were killed in the war. Is his condition physical or psychological? Rousseau is kidnapped, rescued, and now someone seems bend on killing her. She and Younger find themselves traveling back and forth between New York, Germany, France, and Austria to escape assassins, get help for Luc from Freud, and reconnect with Rousseau's German soldier, Hans Gruber. Meanwhile, Littlemore deals with thick-headed FBI agents and then learns how to negotiate his way in and around Washington politicians after he accepts a new job as a special agent in the Treasury Department.

Sigmund Freud and Marie Curie are minor characters in this book and I enjoyed the way Rubenfeld used both of their theories and discoveries as part of the sinew and muscle that holds the story together and moves it forward. I'm not drawn to novels that feature historic personages. In my experience such novels tend to make the characters feel too cute & bumbling or too all-knowing. In The Death Instinct Rubenfeld did neither of these things with Freud or Curie, which I admire. He made them seem like believable characters rather than creating caricatures or using them as plot devices.

This novel packs in a lot of action and issues: there's political intrigue, scientific discoveries, the pros and cons of psychotherapy, cutting edge medical treatments, social unrest, prohibition, abuse of workers, an absent minded capitalist tycoon, classism, sexism, Italian-bashing, antisemitism, rape, white slavery, a gun shoot out, multiple trips across the Atlantic aboard ship, a car and motorcycle chase, and an airplane ride. Although there are many historic tidbits and thriller novel conventions used, none of it came off as overly forced or hokey. There was only one part of a scene that fell flat or seemed completely out of place (when someone talks about the start-up of a literary magazine) and one of the minor female characters seemed cardboard (she actually brought to mind Jessica Rabbit in a suit), but otherwise this is a smooth novel.

Rubenfeld is a skilled writer to pack in as much as he does without the story getting too clunky. While the novel never became a page turner for me, the reading did pick up after those first 180 pages. I'm glad I stuck with it just to see how much he was able to weave into what I thought was a good plot. There are some suspenseful scenes that stick out in my mind. Short ones such as when Rousseau is on top of a building or when she arrives home to find Luc gone, and longer ones such as when Rousseau finally meets up with Hans Gruber and the action that follows, as well as a potential US invasion of Mexico.

The two big things that were lacking for me were well-rounded characters that I cared about and atmosphere. While I enjoyed the characters, I never felt in the thick of it with them. I rarely felt any emotional depth or attachment. As for atmosphere, just adding a little more sensory detail to key scenes could have helped. Hence, the two star rating that I gave it on Goodreads. But this novel is "okay," to use Goodreads's word, and while I wouldn't recommend this novel to a general audience, I do believe historical fiction fans will enjoy it. I never read The Alienist (I tried to and couldn't get into it), but know the cover of that book well, and from the striking cover similarities, it seems like the publisher is trying to draw that audience to The Death Instinct.

I always like to know a bit about authors after I read their book and upon Googleing Rubenfeld I was surprised to find that he's the husband of Amy Chua, his fellow Yale Law professor and the author of The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, the memoir which caused quite a stir when it came out last year.

Here's a video of Rubenfeld talking about the historic bombing at the heart of The Death Instinct. It includes some powerful historic footage.

A bit of a sidebar: The bombing of September 16, 1920 was an actual event where real people were wounded and died, yet the blurb from The New York Times that the publisher chose to put on the top of the front cover calls this book, "A blast to read." I found this offensive. I'm surprised that the publisher would choose such a blurb and that the NYT reviewer couldn't resist writing such a tasteless pun. Does anyone else find this offensive?

Library: New York Public Library, Main Branch

2012-01-07T20:26:00.000-06:00

New York Public Library Main Branch
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Foundation stone laid: November 10, 1902
Dedication ceremony by President Taft: May 23,1911
First day open ( May 24, 1911) saw 30,000-50,000 visitors
Design & construction: Carrère & Hastings
Construction cost: almost nine million dollars

For more information visit the library's website.

Going to The New York Public Library Stephen A. Schwarzman Building felt a bit like visiting a royal palace. I walked in with great expectations and left in even more awe...and I only saw a fraction of its splendors.

The last time I was in Manhattan, the library was closed. However, last month I was there during library hours and had an hour to look around. I spent most of my time in the Celebrating 100 Years exhibit, but also walked around a bit. I also spent some time (and of course money) in their excellent gift shop as well. Next time I hope to have at least a half day to spend soaking up the details and taking one of the free docent lead tours.

Here's some information about the Celebrating 100 Years exhibit:

Gottesman Exhibition Hall | On View through March 4, 2012
One hundred years ago, The New York Public Library opened its landmark building, now known as the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, dedicated to preserving its varied collections and making them accessible to the public. Over time, the Library has radically expanded its holdings, but its founding goals are as central today as they were in 1911. Library curators past and present have been guided by the philosophy that all knowledge is worth preserving.

Curated by guest curator Thomas Mellins, Celebrating 100 Years gathers more than 250 thought-provoking items from NYPL’s vast collections, a fascinating demonstration of how the Library has encouraged millions of individuals to gain access to a universe of information for more than a century. The first Gutenberg Bible acquired in the Americas is included, as are dance cards, dime novels, and John Coltrane’s handwritten score of "Lover Man." Organized into four thematic sections — Observation, Contemplation, Society, and Creativity — this major exhibition highlights the collections’ scope and their value as symbols of our collective memory. Indeed, Celebrating 100 Years also documents changes in the way information has been recorded and shared over time, beginning with samples from the Library’s collection of Sumerian cuneiform tablets (ca. 2300 BCE) and culminating in selections from the Library’s 740,000-item Digital Gallery.

It looks like they've extended the exhibit because the brochure that I have lists it as running from May 14 to December 31, 2011. So, if you're going to be in Manhattan sometime between now and March 4, 2012, I highly recommend checking it out. The library also posted some videos on YouTube comparing items included in the exhibit such as this one, which looks at a 1552 edition of Dante's Inferno, Virginia Woolf's walking stick, and Malcom X's briefcase.

Below are some pictures from my visit--

Patience and Fortitude are the names of the lions that flank the library's entrance.

Lego versions of Patience and Fortitude.

Nathan Sawaya created the Lego lions.

The library was decorated for the holidays.

Some images from Celebrating 100 Years--

Typewriters always catch my eye.

e.e. cumming's (1894-1962) typewriter

S.J. Perelman's (1904-1979) typewriter

Terry Southern's (1924-1995) typewriter

Possibly the neatest thing I saw on display--

Charlotte Bronte's (1816-1855) travel writing desk

another view of Bronte's travel writing desk

And moving further back in time--

Cuneiform tablets. These are tiny tablets--between the size of a matchbook and a small flip cellphone I'd say.

Beautiful wood ceiling in the exhibit hall

Some snap shots during my wandering--

Not a historical display, but a rare, working artifact.

If you've been to the New York Public Library or if it's your regular library, what do you most love about it?

Alexander's Bridge: Book #1 of the Willa Cather Novel Reading Challenge 2012

2012-01-01T14:23:00.001-06:00

Illustration from McClure's

Welcome to the first month of The Willa Cather Novel Reading Challenge 2012!

THE CHALLENGE
The challenge is to read all 12 of Willa Cather's novels in chronological order, one each month, throughout 2012. For full details about the challenge and to express your interest in participating, click here.

THIS MONTH'S NOVEL

Our first novel in the challenge is Alexander's Bridge. Read it sometime over the next three weeks and we'll start our conversation about it on Monday, January 16th.

About Alexander's Bridge:

It was published in 1912 when Cather was 37.
It's a short novel or novella, clocking in at 27,256 words (for the sake of comparison, the "average" novel is 70,000 to 150,000 words).
Cather started working on the story in May 1910 and finished it in the summer of 1911. From February to April 1912 it was serialized in McClure's magazine under the title "Alexander's Masquerade." It was published in book form by Houghton Mifflin in April 1912 and sold for $1.

Here's a brief description from the Virago Modern Classics edition:

Bartley Alexander, an engineer famous for the audacious structure of his North American bridges, is at the height of his reputation. He has a distinguished and beautiful wife and an enviable Boston home. Then, on a trip to London, he has a chance encounter with an Irish actress he once loved. When their affair re-ignites, Alexander finds himself caught in a tug of emotions—between his feelings for wife, who has supported his career with understanding and strength, and Hilda, whose impulsiveness and generosity restore to him the passion and energy of his youth. Coinciding with this personal dilemma are ominous signs of strain in his professional life. In this, her first novel, originally published in 1912, Willa Cather skillfully explores the struggle between opposing sides of the self, a facility that was to become a hallmark of her craft.

RESOURCES
Alexander's Bridge is often not stocked at bookstores. However, your local bookseller should be able to quickly get a copy for you or check out your local library.
OR--

If you read digital books on an eReader or your phone, you can download a free digital edition from Project Gutenberg here (they have epub, kindle, mobi, etc. formats).
If you want to read an online edition that includes informative hyper-linked footnotes, visit The Cather Archive for the Willa Cather Scholarly Edition of the novel here. Even if you don't read this online edition, a visit to this outstanding resource will be well-worth your time.
There are hard copies of the book available via abe.com and other online sources, including the Willa Cather Foundation in Red Cloud, NE.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Have you ever heard of Alexander's Bridge? Based on what I've seen on blogs and from talking with actual flesh-and-blood folks, it seems that most people familiar with Cather have read My Antonia and/or O Pioneers! Fewer have read Death Comes for the Archbishop, but the title might ring a bell. Most people, however, have not even heard of Alexander's Bridge.

Why is this? Is it because My Antonia and O Pioneers! are "better" novels than Alexander's Bridge? Or do My Antonia and O Pioneers! better exemplify themes that teachers have wanted to get across to their students in recent decades and so it's more often introduced in the classroom? Alexander's Bridge, if taught, seems to be used as an example of the engineer as American hero.

Cather herself struggled with the place of Alexander's Bridge among her other novels. She's not unique in this desire. Nathaniel Hawthorne completely disowned his first novel. You've heard of The Scarlett Letter (1850) and The House of the Seven Gables (1851), but have you heard of Fanshawe? That was Hawthorne's first novel, which he self-published anonymously in 1828. It didn't make the splash that Hawthorne had hoped. He burned the unsold copies and never looked back. [If you're interested, Fanshawe is available here from Project Gutenberg.]

Although Cather didn't completely disown her first novel, she made statements about it in later years that distanced it from her later novels. Tom Quirk explores these statements and concludes that they can be "attributed to nothing more significant than Cather's presentation of a revised but attractive artistic identity, something any shrewd professional writer is apt to do." Indeed, I just came across a different sort of authorial distancing around Demian (1919), Hermann Hesse's fifth novel. Hesse published Demian under a pseudonym because Hesse felt his real name was "too strongly associated with a kind of fiction that he had outgrown. He did not want expectations based upon his previous novels to interfere with readers' experience of his new novel" (Hal Hager in the HaperPerennial Modern Classics edition). Such interference seems to be what Cather may have been trying to avoid.

Cather, the story goes, found her voice as a novelist in her second effort, O Pioneers! It'll be interesting to see what we all think about Alexander's Bridge and how it does or doesn't fit in with Cather's subsequent novels as we read her works throughout the year.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

I'll post my thoughts on reading Alexander's Bridge in a new post by noon on Monday, January 16. At that time the conversation will begin--simply post your thoughts about the novel in the comments section of that post so we can have everyone's thoughts in once place. Please hold off on sharing your thoughts about the novel until the16th so everyone has the time to read the novel.

Happy Reading!

Australian Women Writers 2012 Reading and Reviewing Challenge

2011-12-31T01:52:00.000-06:00

The last 2012 reading challenge that I'm signing up for is the Australian Women Writers 2012 Reading and Reviewing Challenge.

Earlier this year I read about the controversy surrounding the lack of women writers considered for major literary awards in Australia and it peaked my interest in exploring Australian women writers.

It also made me realize that I haven't read much from Down Under. Claire McNab is the only Australian writer I can think of that I've read. Unfortunately, the two mysteries that I read by her were set in the US. I have cousins in Australia and thought it would be a great way to learn a bit about their country.

I'm signing up at the Dabbler (read more than one genre) and Stella levels (read 3 and review at least 2 books) and plan to read books in the crime/mystery and literary categories.

For details about the challenge, click here.

WWI Reading Challenge Hosted by War Through the Generations

2011-12-31T01:36:00.001-06:00

A few years ago a friend and I had our own WWI study group. It began out of our mutual love of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front. We both had relatives who served in WWI which added a personal dimension to our reading. My maternal grandfather served in the German Army in WWI and my friend's relative served in the British Army. Unfortuately, we don't know much about my grandfather's service in WWI other than that he was wounded. The picture below was taken while he was recovering in the hospital. He's wearing his uniform field cap and a hospital gown.

My Opa

What convinced me to take this WWI challenge was reading Hermann Hesse's Demian earlier this week. There's something about this time period and the decades just before and after that fascinate me. I think it's due to the combination of knowing so little about my family's history from this period and that so much was going on in the world. Change seemed to be so shockingly rapid and unforgiving. What's odd to me now is that twenty years ago I thought this time period was a real yawner.

I'm signing up for this challenge at the Wade level: Read 4-10 books in any genre with WWI as a primary or secondary theme.

For more information about this challenge, click here.

Gift Book Round-up

2011-12-27T11:51:00.000-06:00

I always enjoy it when other bloggers share the books they gave as holiday presents, so here's a list of the books that I gave for Christmas this year, in no particular order. With the exception of one link (the Marvel comic), all go to Goodreads so that you can easily add a book to your 'to read list' (if you don't use Goodreads, check it out--it's a free service for book lovers to discover books, share opinions, and keep track of what you read and/or want to read). None of the text below is my commentary--I cut & pasted the book descriptions from Goodreads. All books were purchased by hand with love in brick-and-mortar bookstores. :-)

Goodnight iPad by Ann Droyd

Modern life is abuzz. There are huge LCD WiFi HD TVs and Facebook requests and thumbs tapping texts and new viral clips of cats doing flips. Wouldn't it be nice to say goodnight to all that? Like the rest of us who cannot resist just a few more scrolls and clicks, you may find yourself ready for bed while still clinging to your electronics long after dark. This book, which is made of paper, is a reminder for the child in all of us to power down at the end of the day. This hilarious parody not only pokes loving fun at the bygone quiet of the original classic, but also at our modern plugged-in lives. It will make you laugh, and it will also help you put yourself and your machines to sleep. Don't worry, though. Your gadgets will be waiting for you, fully charged, in the morning.

******

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
The day Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London marks a memorable occasion. For Rory, it's the start of a new life at a London boarding school. But for many, this will be remembered as the day a series of brutal murders broke out across the city, gruesome crimes mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper events of more than a century ago.

Soon "Rippermania" takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him. Even her roommate, who was walking with her at the time, didn't notice the mysterious man. So why can only Rory see him? And more urgently, why has Rory become his next target? In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.

******

Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James

A rare meeting of literary genius: P. D. James, long among the most admired mystery writers of our time, draws the characters of Jane Austen’s beloved novel Pride and Prejudice into a tale of murder and emotional mayhem.

It is 1803, six years since Elizabeth and Darcy embarked on their life together at Pemberley, Darcy’s magnificent estate. Their peaceful, orderly world seems almost unassailable. Elizabeth has found her footing as the chatelaine of the great house. They have two fine sons, Fitzwilliam and Charles. Elizabeth’s sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live nearby; her father visits often; there is optimistic talk about the prospects of marriage for Darcy’s sister Georgiana. And preparations are under way for their much-anticipated annual autumn ball.

Then, on the eve of the ball, the patrician idyll is shattered. A coach careens up the drive carrying Lydia, Elizabeth’s disgraced sister, who with her husband, the very dubious Wickham, has been banned from Pemberley. She stumbles out of the carriage, hysterical, shrieking that Wickham has been murdered. With shocking suddenness, Pemberley is plunged into a frightening mystery.

Inspired by a lifelong passion for Austen, P. D. James masterfully re-creates the world of Pride and Prejudice, electrifying it with the excitement and suspense of a brilliantly crafted crime story, as only she can write it.

******

The Snowman by Jo Nesbo
Internationally acclaimed crime writer Jo Nesbø’s antihero police investigator, Harry Hole, is back: in a bone-chilling thriller that will take Hole to the brink of insanity.

Oslo in November. The first snow of the season has fallen. A boy named Jonas wakes in the night to find his mother gone. Out his window, in the cold moonlight, he sees the snowman that inexplicably appeared in the yard earlier in the day. Around its neck is his mother’s pink scarf.

Hole suspects a link between a menacing letter he’s received and the disappearance of Jonas’s mother—and of perhaps a dozen other women, all of whom went missing on the day of a first snowfall. As his investigation deepens, something else emerges: he is becoming a pawn in an increasingly terrifying game whose rules are devised—and constantly revised—by the killer.

Fiercely suspenseful, its characters brilliantly realized, its atmosphere permeated with evil, The Snowman is the electrifying work of one of the best crime writers of our time.

******

Lord John & The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon

In this highly-anticipated new novel, Diana Gabaldon brings back one of her most compelling characters: the unforgettable Lord John Grey - soldier, gentleman, and no mean hand with a blade. Set in the heart of the eighteenth century, Lord John's world is one of mystery and menace. Diana Gabaldon brilliantly weaves together the strands of Lord John's secret and public lives.
London, 1760. For Jamie Fraser, paroled prisoner-of-war in the remote Lake District, life could be worse: He’s not cutting sugar cane in the West Indies, and he’s close enough to the son he cannot claim as his own. But Jamie Fraser’s quiet existence is coming apart at the seams, interrupted first by dreams of his lost wife, then by the appearance of Tobias Quinn, an erstwhile comrade from the Rising.

Like many of the Jacobites who aren’t dead or in prison, Quinn still lives and breathes for the Cause. His latest plan involves an ancient relic that will rally the Irish. Jamie is having none of it—he’s sworn off politics, fighting, and war. Until Lord John Grey shows up with a summons that will take him away from everything he loves—again.

Lord John Grey—aristocrat, soldier, and occasional spy—finds himself in possession of a packet of explosive documents that exposes a damning case of corruption against a British officer. But they also hint at a more insidious danger. Time is of the essence as the investigation leads to Ireland, with a baffling message left in “Erse,” the tongue favored by Scottish Highlanders. Lord John, who oversaw Jacobite prisoners when he was governor of Ardsmiur prison, thinks Jamie may be able to translate—but will he agree to do it?

Soon Lord John and Jamie are unwilling companions on the road to Ireland, a country whose dark castles hold dreadful secrets, and whose bogs hide the bones of the dead. A captivating return to the world Diana Gabaldon created in her Outlander and Lord John series, The Scottish Prisoner is another masterpiece of epic history, wicked deceit, and scores that can only be settled in blood.

******

Inside Seal Team Six by Don Mann

The Inside Story of America's Ultimate Warriors When Osama bin Laden was assassinated, the entire world was fascinated by the men who had completed the seemingly impossible mission that had dogged the U.S. government for over a decade. SEAL Team 6 became synonymous with heroism, duty, and justice. Only a handful of the elite men who make up the SEALs, the US Navy's best and bravest, survive the legendary and grueling selection process that leads to becoming a member of Team 6, a group so classified it technically does not even exist. There are no better warriors on Earth.

Don Mann knows what it takes to be a brother in this ultra-selective fraternity. As a member of Seal Team Six for over eight years and a SEAL for over seventeen years, he worked in countless covert operations, operating from land, sea, and air, and facing shootings, decapitations, and stabbings. He was captured by the enemy and lived to tell the tale, and he participated in highly classified missions all over the globe, including Somalia, Panama, El Salvador, Colombia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. As a coordinator for several civilian SEAL training programs, and as a former Training Officer of SEAL Team Six, he was directly responsible for shaping the bodies and minds of SEALs who carried out the assassination of Osama bin Laden.

But to become a SEAL, Mann had to overcome his own troubled childhood and push his body to its breaking point--and beyond. INSIDE SEAL TEAM 6 is a high octane narrative of physical and mental toughness, giving unprecedented insight to the inner workings of the training and secret missions of the world's most respected and feared combat unit.

******

Shine by Lauren Myracle

When her best guy friend falls victim to a vicious hate crime, sixteen-year-old Cat sets out to discover who in her small town did it. Richly atmospheric, this daring mystery mines the secrets of a tightly knit Southern community and examines the strength of will it takes to go against everyone you know in the name of justice.

Against a backdrop of poverty, clannishness, drugs, and intolerance, Myracle has crafted a harrowing coming-of-age tale couched in a deeply intelligent mystery. Smart, fearless, and compassionate, this is an unforgettable work from a beloved author.

******

Packing for Mars by Mary Roach
Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can’t walk for a year? have sex? smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour? To answer these questions, space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and startlingly bizarre space simulations. As Mary Roach discovers, it’s possible to preview space without ever leaving Earth. From the space shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA’s new space capsule (cadaver filling in for astronaut), Roach takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth.

******

Just My Type: A Book about Fonts by Simon Garfield

A hugely entertaining and revealing guide to the history of type that asks, What does your favorite font say about you?
Fonts surround us every day, on street signs and buildings, on movie posters and books, and on just about every product we buy. But where do fonts come from, and why do we need so many? Who is responsible for the staid practicality of Times New Roman, the cool anonymity of Arial, or the irritating levity of Comic Sans (and the movement to ban it)?
Typefaces are now 560 years old, but we barely knew their names until about twenty years ago when the pull-down font menus on our first computers made us all the gods of type. Beginning in the early days of Gutenberg and ending with the most adventurous digital fonts, Simon Garfield explores the rich history and subtle powers of type. He goes on to investigate a range of modern mysteries, including how Helvetica took over the world, what inspires the seeming ubiquitous use of Trajan on bad movie posters, and exactly why the all-type cover of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus was so effective. It also examines why the "T" in the Beatles logo is longer than the other letters and how Gotham helped Barack Obama into the White House. A must-have book for the design conscious, Just My Type's cheeky irreverence will also charm everyone who loved Eats, Shoots & Leaves and Schott's Original Miscellany.

******

Inheritance #4 by Christopher Paolini
Not so very long ago, Eragon—Shadeslayer, Dragon Rider—was nothing more than a poor farm boy, and his dragon, Saphira, only a blue stone in the forest. Now the fate of an entire civilization rests on their shoulders.

Long months of training and battle have brought victories and hope, but they have also brought heartbreaking loss. And still, the real battle lies ahead: they must confront Galbatorix. When they do, they will have to be strong enough to defeat him. And if they cannot, no one can. There will be no second chances.

The Rider and his dragon have come further than anyone dared to hope. But can they topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaësia? And if so, at what cost?

This is the much-anticipated, astonishing conclusion to the worldwide bestselling Inheritance cycle.

******

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

******

I also picked up a few copies of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey from Marvel Comics. Click here for a preview of #1.

Seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland craves the romantic life of a storybook heroine. When a chance to visit Bath beckons, she is sure she will find the hero of her dreams. But the inexperienced Catherine soon falls prey to a conniving sister and brother. Will her common sense eventually rescue her or will Catherine's bad choices prevent her from ever attracting a good man? Critically acclaimed Author Nancy Butler & Eisner Award Winner Janet Lee bring you another beloved Jane Austin classic!

As for the books I received . . .

Rin Tin Tin by Susan Orlean

He believed the dog was immortal.

So begins Susan Orlean’s sweeping, powerfully moving story of Rin Tin Tin’s journey from orphaned puppy to movie star and international icon. From the moment in 1918 when Corporal Lee Duncan discovers Rin Tin Tin on a World War I battlefield, he recognizes something in the pup that he needs to share with the world. Rin Tin Tin’s improbable introduction to Hollywood leads to the dog’s first blockbuster film and over time, the many radio programs, movies, and television shows that follow. The canine hero’s legacy is cemented by Duncan and a small group of others who devote their lives to keeping him and his descendants alive.

At its heart, Rin Tin Tin is a poignant exploration of the enduring bond between humans and animals. But it is also a richly textured history of twentieth-century entertainment and entrepreneurship and the changing role of dogs in the American family and society. Almost ten years in the making, Susan Orlean’s first original book since The Orchid Thief is a tour de force of history, human interest, and masterful storytelling—the ultimate must-read for anyone who loves great dogs or great yarns.

A Song of Fire and Ice, first 4 by George R.R. Martin

George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series has become, in many ways, the gold standard for modern epic fantasy. Martin—dubbed the "American Tolkien" by Time magazine—has created a world that is as rich and vital as any piece of historical fiction, set in an age of knights and chivalry and filled with a plethora of fascinating, multidimensional characters that you love, hate to love, or love to hate as they struggle for control of a divided kingdom. It is this very vitality that has led it to be adapted as the HBO miniseries “Game of Thrones.”

This bundle includes the following novels:
A GAME OF THRONES
A CLASH OF KINGS
A STORM OF SWORDS
A FEAST FOR CROWS

The Professor's Assassin by Matthew Pearl

2011-12-22T17:23:00.002-06:00

This recently released short story is a prequel to Pearl's forthcoming novel The Technologists (Feb 21, 2012). Pearl is known for writing engaging historical mysteries featuring prominent 19th century literary figures (Longfellow, Poe, Dickens). I've been a fan since 2003 when The Dante Club came out.

"The Professor's Assassin" is based on events that occurred at the University of Virginia in 1840, twenty-one years after Thomas Jefferson founded it. Tensions are heating up over slavery and some students are rioting, demanding the right to carry arms into the classroom. John Davis, a professor, is shot one evening after the riots had quieted for the day. He later dies from his wound. Davis knew the identity of his assailant, but refused to name him.

William Barton Rogers is a young science professor at UVA who refuses to let Davis's murderer go unpunished, not out of revenge but to bring the murderer to justice for the sake of society. A young slave who was committed to Davis suddenly goes missing, as does the lead suspect. With the aid of a sophomore student and some of the student leaders of the riots, Rogers sets out to solve the mystery.

I enjoyed the story, but it didn't really take off for me until the half-way point. I wanted more historical flavor. Perhaps it's because I'm used to reading novels that have more time to set the stage. This is the first digital short story that I've downloaded and it was completely worth the 99 cents that I paid for it.

If the name William Barton Rogers rings a bell, it's because he's the guy who founded the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1861. The Technologists revolves around the first graduating class of MIT.

The Professor's Assassin
Matthew Pearl
Random House, digital release December 2011
ISBN: 9780345530141
Source: bought it

HUNTED by Cheryl Rainfield

2011-12-20T22:37:00.000-06:00

If you like The Hunger Games or The Book Thief, you'll probably love Hunted, too.

Hunted is about a fifteen-year-old girl named Caitlyn who is in a tough situation and trying to do the right thing. Caitlyn is a Para, a person who has paranormal talents living in a country where such inborn talents are illegal. Paras are supposed to register with the government. Once registered, Paras live under government surveillance and can be ripped away from their family at any moment and used as Para-slaves. Paras who are enslaved are controlled by torture and used to capture other Paras. Unregistered Paras, on the other hand, live under the constant threat of being found out and turned in by the Normals in their communities or by Troopers and their Para-slaves.

Caitlyn and her mom have been on the run for about seven years. Her dad was a strong Para who was murdered by a mob of Normals while promoting peace and compassion between the two groups. Her brother, Daniel, disappeared the same day their father was murdered. The town they're now hiding in has the highest Para capture rate in the country, but there are also a lot of Para supporters. On Caitlyn's first day at her new high school she plans on not sticking out, but you know what they say about the best laid plans. Caitlyn finds herself keeping vital information from her mother and as the danger that Caitlyn finds herself in builds she realizes that there's more than just her own life or even her mother's life at stake.

The library and the librarian are central supports. At one point Caitlyn realizes that "Reading strengthens your mind, makes you less susceptible to Paras. To any influence." Do you remember that scene in Star Wars, "These aren't the droids you're looking for"? Well, I hope I'm not giving anything away when I say that one of my favorite lines from Hunted is, "There is no one here. No one but the librarian."

Hunted has an original plot, strong characters, steady pacing, and a consistent narrative voice. This is a strong girl novel that will appeal to both young adult and adult readers, as well as more mature tweens. There are a couple scenes with kissing, but nothing risque. And although there is a budding romance (or two) it in no way overwhelms the story or steals the show. The main theme is about the struggle to be who you are in spite of societal oppression. In Hunted the primary fight for equality is between the Paras and the Normals, but Rainfield is also concerned with sexism, homophobia, and racism.

I've been following Cheryl Rainfield on Twitter since reading Scars, her first novel. I jumped at the chance to receive a review copy of Hunted. There are no signs of a sophomore slump in Hunted. It's a very different book from Scars, which is refreshing since sometimes authors find a formula that works for them and they don't stretch much beyond that. Another refreshing thing about Hunted is that it doesn't scream sequel next year! Although I can imagine seeing Caitlyn in a sequel, Hunted is a solid, self-contained story that kept me reading past my bedtime.

Check out Cheryl Rainfield's website for info about a chance to win a signed copy of Hunted. You can also download a free short story tie-in and watch the book trailer.

HUNTED
Cheryl Rainfield
WestSide Books, Dec 15, 2011
ISBN: 978-1934813621
270 pages
(Note: I read a PDF copy supplied by the author)

Bookish Ardour Off The Shelf Reading Challenge

2011-12-18T14:48:00.000-06:00

As a result of utilizing my employee discount as a Borders employee for over eleven years and buying books at library sales and other bookstores, my office is overflowing with books, the large majority of which I have yet to read. When I saw the Off The Shelf! reading challenge listed on A Novel Challenge, I perked up and knew that if I took on only one challenge this year (other than my own Willa Cather Novel Reading Challenge) it would be this one.

I'm signing up at that "Making A Dint – Choose 30 books to read" level.

My Goodreads goal for 2011 was to read 50 books and it looks like I'll just make it in under the wire. My Goodreads goal for 2012 will be 50, so signing up for Off The Shelf at the Making a Dint level means that the majority of the books I read in 2012 will be ones I already own now in 2011. This makes me feel warm & fuzzy because although it usually makes me happy to look at the books on my shelves, it's sometimes a little sad to see the unread books that I purchased with such enthusiasm just sitting there, patiently waiting, wondering if I'll ever get around to reading them.

Check out the Off The Shelf! details at Bookish Ardour hosted by Bonnie at http://bookishardour.com/off-the-shelf/ and if you have a few unread books laying about, sign up!

A Visit to William Gillette's Castle in Connecticut

2011-12-13T15:15:00.001-06:00

Gillette

Visiting William Gillette's home was not part of the plan during our recent trip to Connecticut. We usually hang out on the coast and stayed in Guilford this time, but on the way back to the Hartford airport we took a round-about route via Essex and East Haddam to see some of the more inland towns along the Connecticut River.

We did want to see The Goodspeed Opera House, which is glorious. It's in East Haddam right on the river. I can't wait to go back and see a production there. Next to books, I love musical theatre.

The Goodspeed Opera House built in 1876

Side view

Luckily, when we saw signs for Gillette Castle in East Haddam we had the time to spare to investigate. We had both heard of the castle before and even saw pictures of it, but silly us...we didn't know the house was designed and built by actor and writer William Gillette. We heard the name Gillette and thought "razor blades."

William Gillette (1853-1937) is best remembered today for bringing Sherlock Holmes to life on stage. It was Gillette who introduced the deerstalker hat, the bent pipe, and that most famous Sherlockian phrase: "Elementary my dear fellow," which later became "Elementary, my dear Watson" in talking films.

I'm chalking up this unexpected literary field trip as an instance of biblio-synchronicity since it was just a few months ago that I first read and enjoyed some Sherlock Holmes stories. Gillette was a writer in various genres and he published one mystery novel, The Astounding Crime on Torrington Road (1927), which I'll have to add to my used bookstore hunting list. Check out the Wikipedia page on Gillette for an overview of his life and works and then Wyatt James's piece on The Astounding Crime. The home is now maintained by the State of Connecticut and you can visit their site here.


The visitors center loops a movie about Gillette and showcases theatre posters and Sherlockian artifacts such as this magnifying glass and deerstalker.


Gillette: another cat loving writer.


Approaching the castle. It's just a short stroll from the visitors center.

Front entrance.

Back of the castle. The sun room has a little pond in it where Gillette kept frogs. The dining room is just off the sun room.

The patio--I can imagine reading away a hot summer's day here.

View of the Connecticut River from the back of the castle/patio.


A deck on the side opposite of the patio. Faces the woods. Notice the fire escape ladder.

Back to the side with the patio. The very top room on the left is Gillette's tower room, which he used for "meditation and seclusion." It is no longer open to the public. The room to the right on the second level is the library.

Door latch detail. Gillette designed the entire castle, including its 47 hand-crafted wooden doors, of which no two are alike. They still work beautifully and reminded me of something out of The Hobbit or Harry Potter.

Can you see the door here? You're really not supposed to notice it. It's in a recessed nook in the front entry staircase. It's a "secret passage-way" door from Gillette's study to the front entrance of the castle so he was able to quickly greet guests.

The great room. I couldn't get a good shot of this room which was stunning when you first walk-in. There are built-in couches on the wall across from the fire place and it is open to the second floor. The four bedrooms of the house look out onto the great room, giving the place a very cozy feel.

The sun room. The pond is in the far corner.

The dining room.

The kitchen. The kitchen has been cut in half to make room for a state regulation staircase at the back of the castle.

This blog post provides everything, even the kitchen sink.

This is a bed/lounge in a room between the dining room, great room, and Gillette's office. Heating pipes run underneath this bed, no doubt a yummy place to read on a winter's day. Gillette's bar is located in this room. From the second floor he could look into a mirror to watch the reflection of his guests as they tried to figure out his intricate lock to the bar. One guest was Albert Einstein and he didn't figure it out.

Gillette's office.

Close-up of the door behind Gillette's desk. It's the doorway that leads to the entrance of the castle.

Gillette's desk. Notice the chair is on a track. He liked nautical designs. This picture is a bit dark, but can you make out the bookcases on the right? The state added the removable bar across the middle of each shelf to deter theft, but it looks like an intentional nautical touch. One book that jumped out at me from these shelves is on my 2012 reading list, Edna Ferber's So Big.

Close up of his desk top.

At the end of the hallway on the second floor. See that do-hicky hanging from the ceiling? Read below.

Amazing, right?

Do-hicky close-up.

Gillette's bedroom. Cozy and functional.

See the wooden handle? Gillette liked to read in bed and that's a switch he invented so he wouldn't have to get out of bed to turn off the light. The walls throughout the castle are decorated with handwoven raffia coverings, which you can see clearly here.

Gillette's bathroom.

Nautical themed stained glass from Gillette's houseboat, The Aunt Polly.

On the second floor standing outside of Gillette's bedroom looking toward the guest bedroom. The light fixture on the ceiling is a Tiffany.

Close-up of the Tiffany light fixture. It's the only rough-cut lamp that Tiffany designed.

Light switches with a nautical flair.

The plaque next to this display reads: "These pictures were painted by Pamela Colman Smith. Her association with William Gillette was probably in the theater for in her early teens she traveled with Ellen Terry and Sir Henry Irving, taking bit parts in their plays and helping to design costumes and scenery. She is most famous for the mystical Tarot cards, which she and Arthur Edward Waite developed. They have become the most authoritative deck in existence." I was excited to see some original paintings by the women who worked on the Waite deck, but do you know what else made me excited? There's a Bram Stoker connection here! Stoker was Irving's manager for years. I wonder if Gillette and Stoker ever met?

Gillette's library.

The view from the library.

Gillette Castle is stunning due to the immaculate craftsmanship and loving yet functional details designed by William Gillette. The castle itself isn't necessarily huge (as far as castles go) and nothing within is ostentatious. Gillette didn't refer to it as a castle, it was his retirement home. It's a functional, comfortable space designed by a man who knew what he liked and had the money to bring his vision to life using quality materials and excellent craftsmen. I was inspired. If you're anywhere near the area I highly recommend a visit.

Take the Willa Cather Novel Reading Challenge 2012!

2011-12-08T22:47:00.001-06:00

Willa Cather's birthday was just a couple days ago (12/7) and since then I've been thinking about her life and her novels. Cather published 12 novels, 11 of which I've read. Shortly after I became a Cather fan some years ago, I decided not to read all of her novels immediately, but to ration them out so that I'd occasionally have a "new" Cather novel to enjoy. The only one I haven't read is Shadows on the Rock. I've decided that 2012 will be the year to read it.

To celebrate the reading of this novel, I'm going to re-read all of Cather's novels in 2012 and would like to invite you to read along with me.

The Challenge:

Read one Willa Cather novel each month in order of publication from January through December 2012.

The Reading List:

January: Alexander's Bridge (1912)
February: O Pioneers! (1913)
March: The Song of the Lark (1915)
April: My Ántonia (1918)
May: One of Ours (1922)
June: A Lost Lady (1923)
July: The Professor's House (1925)
August: My Mortal Enemy (1926)
September: Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927)
October: Shadows on the Rock (1931)
November: Lucy Gayheart (1935)
December: Sapphira and the Slave Girl (1940)

Guidelines for this Challenge:

1. Read all 12 of Willa Cather's novels in order of their publication, one per month, from January 2012 through December 2012.

2. Sign-up/express your interest in participating in the comments section below. If you find this challenge after January feel free to jump in.

3. If you have a blog please post the badge/image on your site with a link back to this post for others to find.

How this will work:

1. I'll write a post on the first day of each month reminding everyone what book is up for the month and will provide a little background or interesting information about the novel.

2. I'll post my thoughts about the book on the third Monday of each month.

3. Share your thoughts each month about the novel--however brief or detailed--in the comments section of my post on the novel.

4. If you have a blog, provide the link to the post that you write for your blog in the comments section for others to find. OR, if you don't have a blog but post reviews on Goodreads, LibraryThing, or elsewhere, provide the link to your review in the comments section.

The Un-Rule for this challenge:

I'd love for more people to discover Willa Cather's novels and their diversity. I hope you'll join me in reading all 12 novels, but if you don't have the time to commit to all 12, please feel free to join in for a few of the novels or even just one. My only request is that you read the novel in 2012 and not refer only to a past reading experience.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Cool Cather Links:

The Willa Cather Foundation -- the mothership for Cather enthusiasts, an amazing resource.

The Willa Cather Archive -- another fantastic resource, free digital texts of most of her novels, Cather scholarship, and much more.

Cather on Wikipedia -- a quick intro/refresher on Cather.

Cather at Project Gutenberg -- ebook downloads of several Cather novels.

Hope to see you in January!

Red Mist by Patricia Cornwell

2011-12-05T15:03:00.001-06:00

Release date: 12/6/2011

Red Mist is another strong entry in theScarpetta Series. In some ways I liked it more than last year’s Port Mortuarybecause the action is more consistent throughout. In Port Mortuarythere was a lot of Scarpetta sitting around thinking and beingparanoid. In Red Mist Scarpetta is on the move in Savannah, Georgia. She's not on her own turf, doesn't have the trappings of her power base, and isn't in charge. She's also gone to Georgia against the advice of her FBI profiler husband, Benton, and others. So there’smuch more action. However, Scarpetta being who she is, there's still a lot of paranoia. From the get-go nothing is going right for Scarpetta. The car she rented wasn't available and she finds herself driving a smelly old van to the Georgia Prison for Women where she's to meet with one of the inmates.

The issue of manipulation is setup early in this novel. When we first see the warden she's re-shelving a book about manipulation, Kathleen, the prisoner Scarpetta visists, isa compulsive manipulator,and Jamie Berger’s manipulation of other people’s egos for her own purposes is duly noted. In contrast, Scarpetta is blunt and honest, but themanipulation, both subtle and blatant, converges to put her pre-disposition to paranoia into overdrive.

Red Mist starts on June 30th and endson July 4^th. Scarpetta is going tovisit Kathleen, themother of Dawn Kincaid. Dawn is the woman who tried to kill Scarpetta in Port Mortuary. Kathleen is the woman who sexually abused Cornwell's long-time employee Jack Fielding when he was underage. Dawn Kincaid, we learned in Port Mortuary, is actually the child of Kathleenand Jack.

Scarpetta's meeting with the warden is weird, the meeting with Kathleen is weird, and then Scarpetta unexpectedly meets withJamie Berger. Berger, Cornwell fans know, is a high powered New York City DA and Scarpetta's niece Lucy’s former lover. Marino is in thepicture, of course, and eventually Benton and Lucy join the fray as well.

People start dying. A major character among them. An old case is re-opened and Scarpetta finds herself embroiled in a mess created by several other women. There's some good "old fashioned" forensic investigative work in this novel. The final scene at the house I thought was a little too quick and neat, but otherwise this was a satisfying read.

As usual Cornwell slips in some helpfulmedical/health advice. Did you know that menthol in throat lozengesactually causes temporary loss of vocal cord functioning? You’re better offfinding some slippery elm throat lozenges which are all natural andhave no menthol.

Photo by Mark Coggins printed in silver on both end papers.

I know a few people who were fans of Cornwell's earlier novels that stopped reading the series. They've asked me if I think the series has gone down hill. I do think that Cornwell went through a bit of a slump of some kind, but the last three books seem to be getting the series back on track. For some readers I've wondered if they just got tired of Scarpetta because she's a strong, but deeply flawed character and Cornwell seems to be trying to explore those flaws. Or did Cornwell's move away from first person narration distance early readers? (Note: She is back to first person narration.) I stopped reading the series for a few years but then went back to it because I enjoy the characters even if I don't always like what Cornwell does with them. I took a break from the series because I got dismayed by the cruelty, inhumanity, and terror Cornwell was exploring through the perspective of the serial killers and their victims. Now, however, she's back to focusing on Scarpetta's perspective and I much prefer that. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for Scarpetta and her crew.

Cornwell revamped her website to coincide with the release of Red Mist. Check it out here.

Red Mist

Patricia Cornwell

Putnam, December 6, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-399-15802-5
498 pages
Source: requested review copy

The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian

2011-11-24T16:28:00.001-06:00

If you're afraid to fly and/or have a flight coming up, I don't recommend reading this book anytime around your trip.

The Night Strangers is the story of Chip Linton, an airline pilot from Pennsylvania who flies regional trips. During take-off his plane flies into a flock of geese that take out his engines. He attempts to land his plane in Lake Champlain and things are looking fairly good until a wave from the wake of a boat hits one of the wings causing the plane to jack-knife through the water, killing 39 of the 70 passengers on board. He's cleared of any wrong doing or lapses in judgement at the subsequent trial, but he is now known as the un-Sully Sullenberger, the pilot who did not successfully land his plane in a body of water and get all passengers out safely.

Chip's wife Emily decides to move the family away so that Chip can recover from his traumatic experience and PTSD symptoms in peace and quite. They find an old Victorian on a hill in a remote corner of the White Mountains in New Hampshire. They're embraced by an overly friendly group of herbalists who take great interest in their ten year old twin girls, Hallie and Garnet. Chip focuses on fixing up the house and discovers a door in the basement that has been sealed shut with 39 bolts. What's behind the door? Why 39 bolts?

Chip becomes obsessed with the door. He hears voices, he sees things . . . or is it his PTSD? The herbalists in town become obsessed with the twins. Emily becomes more and more concerned about Chip. Overall, The Night Strangers is a good haunted house, ghost, and witch story until the end. Bohjalian does a great job of slowly building and then unfolding this story and even if some of the characters are a little flat, I still enjoyed the reading. The ending was just so disappointing--it's a cheesy, Hollywood-like ending that seems like a cop-out after all the care he took to create the build-up.

Readers who enjoy literary fiction and some suspense might enjoy this novel, but I'm not so sure that it would be a good fit for those who regularly read horror. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I've seen this novel on several best of 2011 lists and it would probably have made it on mine if it weren't for the ending.

Bohjalian shared the research that he did on plane crashes and how to survive them at the first Books on the Nightstand retreat which you can listen to here. I couldn't help but think about this talk from May and the details from his novel during my recent regional flight from Chicago to Hartford. I'm not afraid to fly, but some of the information from his talk and images from the novel sure stuck with me. I certainly took more notice of the exists and will keep my fingers crossed that the geese keep away from my plane for many flights to come.

The Night Strangers
Chris Bohjalian
Crown, October 2011
ISBN-13: 978-0-307-39499-6
400 pages
Source: library copy

The Passage by Justin Cronin

2011-11-22T11:10:00.001-06:00

Trade paperback cover (US)

This book is one big delicious tease. If you're looking for a long book to curl up with this fall/winter, this baby weighs in at 775 pages and just might do the trick if you're looking for an epic novel of struggle and survival.

Yes, there are vampire-like 'humans,' but they are viscous and violent, not studs in the mood for love.

The book is broken into 11 sections, 74 chapters, and a postscript. The first two sections tell the story of Agent Wolgast, a little girl named Amy, and a top secret military experiment that is showing signs of strain. Together these two sections make up the first 246 pages of the book and could stand as a novel by themselves.

I really enjoyed the characters in these early sections and was at first disappointed to find that new characters took over the third section. I eventually got into the new characters as well, but I didn't become as emotionally attached to any of them as I had to Wolgast and Amy. I've been thinking about my reaction and can see how the various and ever-changing circumstances of the characters impacted me emotionally as a reader.

In these first two sections, Wolgast and Amy are in their own world for the most part. Although they are vulnerable, they are, in some ways safer. It's physically safer for them and emotionally safer for the reader. It's their normalcy in isolation, their existence in a world that we understand, and a known sense of suspense (Will the vampires get them or not?) that helps the reader bond with them.

Hardcover (US)

With each subsequent section, more characters are introduced, the geographic terrain covered expands, and the action speeds up. With more and more characters being further away from places of safety and taking the reader into a more foreign existence, there are more chances for people to die. It makes it harder to become emotionally attached to others in this world. And so perhaps the reading experience of not feeling as emotionally attached to later characters actually mimics what it's like to live in such a world. Does that make sense? Or am I making an excuse for later characters that aren't, perhaps, as well-written?

There's eventually a lot of back-and-forth between various groups of characters in different locations. In a less engaging or less well-written novel such back-and-forth can annoy me and seem like disorganization or sloppy writing. I've talked with a few people who've read the novel and at least one thought it broke down and turned into a mess at the half-way point. But I found myself happily turning the page into each new section and wondering if I'd find old characters or new characters or some ginormous new twist in the plot. I think some readers might miss the safety of a straightforward narrative and so perhaps it boils down to personal taste and/or what one is in the mood for at the time.

UK cover

This book is part of a proposed trilogy and I had that in mind while I read; I wondered which characters, places, or ideas will be pick up in subsequent books. There are tantalizing clues dropped and statements made about someone or something that made me want to know more NOW. Characters may say things, but Cronin also uses newspaper clippings, signs, journal entries, and proceedings from conferences about North American that take place in the future to provide information and to wet the reader's appetite for more.

I think of this book as more along the lines of Stephen King's The Stand rather than as a vampire novel per se. Granted, I read The Stand over twenty-five years ago, but I remember the feeling that it gave me and it's that feeling that came to mind while reading The Passage. I appreciate the way in which Cronin incorporated Bram Stoker's Dracula in a meaningful way, beyond the obligatory nod.

Book two in this trilogy, The Twelve, is coming out sometime in 2012. Oh, and of course there's a movie in the works. That's rumored to come out in 2013.

The Passage
Justin Cronin
NY: Ballantine Books, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-345-50497-5
Source: bought it

The Book Barn, Niantic, CT

2011-11-15T14:21:00.001-06:00

Coastal Connecticut is on my mind these days as we're getting ready for another trip. Not sure yet what bookstores I'll be able to visit, but I have a handy list made up and a new GPS unit, so I'm ready to roll.

During our last trip I was thrilled to visit the Book Barn in Niantic. This is probably the most unique bookstore, in terms of layout, that I've ever had the pleasure of browsing. We didn't have as much time to browse as I would have liked (really, is there ever enough time for books?) and this is one of those shops that requires either a very long visit, or frequent shorter visits. If time isn't a factor, long frequent visits would be ideal.

The Book Barn is more than just a barn, it's a collection of buildings, sheds, telephone booths, and even an outhouse, all of which are filled with books. It's all wonderfully landscaped and there's seating scattered about. And if that's not enough for you, there's two other locations in town.

At the main location the various structures on the property are home to different subject matter. Cats wander around the property and some liked to be petted whereas others had their own agenda which didn't include me. The folks who worked there were friendly but not overly chatty (which is perfect when one is faced with a time constraint).

With only one hour at my disposal and over 350,000 books to explore, I figured I could rush around to each building and run through it, or I could target a few sections and browse. History and literary fiction were on my mind that night. I spent most of my time in the military history section, which is in the main building. It is by far the best military history section that I've ever come across in a general used bookstore.

Let me tell you about one of the books that I bought on that visit:
MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE NAVY by Allan R. Bosworth
New York: W.W. Norton & Co, Inc., 1969

I'd never heard of Mr. Bosworth (1901-1986) who served 38 years in the Navy, but I was immediately captivated by his relaxed, conversational prose style. Apparently he'd written about twenty books in his day: half non-fiction on various topics and the other half fiction in the western genre.

In My Love Affair with the Navy, Bosworth sets out to answer the question, Just what is the United States Navy? His attempt is not technical, he says, like weighty tomes that cover ships, submarines, and jets. The Navy "is and always has been people" (15) and this book is loaded with all sorts of funny and heroic stories from people who have served.

Early in the book Boswell explains how Naval service begins with a recruiter and shares this story:

Not long ago, a Navy chief and a Marine Corps sergeant were invited to address a high school senior class. The globe-and-anchor man spoke first, and turned out to be quite an orator. He made a very dramatic talk about the traditions and honors of the Marines, and ended on a high note by thumping the table and saying, "Remember this! The Marine Corps builds men!"

The Navy CPO rose, and studied his audience for a full minute without opening his mouth. Finally, in a perfectly flat tone, he said: "If you aren't already a man, the Navy doesn't want you." Then he sat down.

This spiked the Marine Corps' guns--a thing that has seldom happened--and the Navy got all the lads who were eligible and could pass the physical examination (36-37).

Sixth printing, 1983 edition

I'm a globe-and-anchor woman, but got a kick out of this story nonetheless. It's a taste of Bosworth's style for you. It reminds me of Major H.G. Duncan's series of Marine Corps Sea-Stories [Green Side Out, Brown Side Out, Run in Circles, Scream and Shout] that I purchased through mail order, inhaled, and then passed around to the Marines in my unit in the mid 80s.

Another reason I bought the book is because within its pages I found a letter, a Dear Abby column, and an ad for exorcisms. The letter is addressed to George from a man named John Bauernschmidt who had, from the contents of the letter, served with Boswell from 1950-53 and sent this copy of My Love Affair to George. I love finding clippings, notes, and photos in used books, but this was the first time I found an actual letter. I appreciate bookstores that don't clear out such bookworm detritus. I'm doing a bit of research on the letter, so perhaps more on that in the future.

Back to the Book Barn: We arrived at twilight and many of my pictures didn't turn out that great, but let me leave you with some so you get a bit of a taste for the place--

The entrance.

Information.

The white tent had mass market mystery & thrillers. I believe the red building in the back housed literary fiction.

Guard or greeter, depending on your perspective.

This kitty wanted some petting.

New arrivals, mystery & thrillers.

Of course I checked out their Willa Cather offerings.

Care to guess what subject is shelved in the outhouse?

Nope, not politics . . . but travel!

This kitty just wasn't that into me.

Subject appropriate decor in the military history secion.

Napoleon Bonaparte keeps an eye on things.

Alas, my time was up and I did not make it into this section.

If you have a favorite bookstore on the coast of CT, I'd love to hear about it!

Visit the Book Barn:
The Book Barn
41 West Main St.
Niantic, CT

Free Dana Stabenow eBooks

2011-11-11T14:45:00.001-06:00

Alaskan writer Dana Stabenow is one of my favorite mystery writers. I don't know if it was the first snow shower of the season that we had here in the Chicago area the other day or what, but I've been thinking it was high time I got back on track with reading her Kate Schugak series. Then, while catching up with my email earlier this week, I saw an announcement from Stabenow that her first books, The Star Svendotter Trilogy, are now in ebook format. I followed the link to Stabenow's website and noticed that the first Star Svendotter book, Second Star, is available as a free download. This series is science fiction and although I don't read much science fiction, I downloaded it and will give it a shot sometime this fall/winter.

The first books in both of Stabenow's mystery series are also available as free eBook downloads and it's this news that I most wanted to share with you all. Here's the link to the books: http://www.stabenow.com/e-books#star1.


Original cover art

Stabenow's first mystery series and the books for which she is perhaps best known, are the Kate Shugak Mysteries. Book #1 in this series is A Cold Day for Murder which won the 1993 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original. If you'd like an overview, watch this fun 3:56 minute video of Stabenow giving an overview of the series up through book #16, Whisper to the Blood. The next book in the series, #19 Restless in the Grave, is coming out in February 2012. Kate, the title character, is an Aleut who lives in the interior of Alaska within a fictitious national park. She's a self-sufficient tough cookie who used to work as an investigator for the Anchorage D.A.What I enjoy about this series is the glimpse it gives of life in Alaska and some of the political, racial, and environmental issues residents struggle with.

The second mystery series is The Liam Campbell Mysteries. Liam is an Alaskan State Trooper and the action for this series is set in Southwest Alaska in Bristol Bay. Liam's love interest is a woman bush pilot and there's lots of interesting flying info in these books. It's been a long time since I read this series and I think I may have just read the first two.

I don't remember who first recommended Stabenow to me or if I stumbled upon her myself, but I do remember that I started reading her shortly after I discovered Nevada Barr and was looking for something similar. Outdoorsy mysteries is how I classify both Barr and Stabenow, as well as another Alaska-based writer, Sue Henry. Stabenow was born & raised in Alaska on a fish tender (hence, the amazing on-board scenes in some of her novels). She still makes her home in Alaska and from reading her newsletter for a few years and now more recently following her on Facebook, she seems to come down to the lower 48 fairly regularly on book tour and for conferences. I had the pleasure of meeting her once about a half dozen years ago at Centuries and Sleuths bookstore in Forest Park, IL. She's also active on Twitter.

If you haven't read her yet, now's your chance to snag three freebies. If you don't read eBooks or have already blown your 2011 budget for new books, check with your local library. I've noticed mass market copies of her books in many libraries.

Fever of the Bone by Val McDermid

2011-11-08T14:30:00.000-06:00


UK Cover

Fever of the Bone is the 6th entry in Val McDermid's Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series. It's the first one of the series that I'm reading. Usually I make myself start at the beginning of a series, but this time around I just jumped in with no regrets. It'll actually be enjoyable to read the earlier books in the series to see where everyone started.

There are many wonderful characters in the novel. Some I presumed were series characters and others not, so as characters came on stage, I didn’t always know who the regulars were. This made things interesting, because knowing it was part of a series forced me to pay a bit more attention to everyone.

I picked up Fever in the Bone at Borders during the liquidation sale. I’d been planning on reading more Val McDermind and Fever first came to my attention after it won a 2010 Lambda Literary Award for best lesbian mystery. But don't let that scare you off, dear reader. Val McDermid is mainstream all the way. It's just that, apparently, fictional lesbian characters are more mainstream in the UK than the US.

Fever in the Bone is a serial killer novel, one of those that opens with the discovery of a body. Another body is found with similar patterns and the race is on to catch the killer before he/she strikes again. McDermid doesn’t go into graphic detail and the actual killings all happen off stage, but be warned that genital mutilation is involved. Just those two words, when combined, seem graphic enough without needing anymore detail to seem too graphic for some. I know it freaks me out.

In the beginning Chief Inspector Patterson and his 'bagman' Alvin Ambrose are at the scene of a body dump—a fourteen year old girl’s body is found. She’d just been reported missing, too. At the same time, Chief Inspector Carol Jordan has been saddled with a new boss who wants to cut costs and one of the first expenses he slashes is the profiling expertise of Tony Hill, Jordan’s landlord/friend/potential-lover-in-denial, and professional colleague. The new boss also wants to end Jordan’s team’s work on cold cases, which he thinks takes away from serving the public in the here and now. Soon, Jordan’s team is investigating the murder of a fourteen year old boy. And then the murder of a second boy. Tony Hill was called in as a profiler by Patterson and even though he’s officially out of the loop with Jordan’s team, he makes connections between the killings.

That’s the main plot. There’s also a subplot that features a cold case that one of Jordan’s underlings is spearheading and then a second subplot that revolves around Tony Hill’s father. Hill never knew his father, but the man died wealthy and left his estate to his son. I suppose you could say there’s a third subplot which is the emotional/sexual tension between Hill and Jordan.

McDermid does a smooth job of weaving all these plots together. I became attached to not only Hill and Jordan, but to members of Jordan’s team (Paula, Kevin, Stacey, and Sam) as well as to Alvin Ambrose. And Patterson, too, because you gotta love a boss that "doesn't transfer the pressure from above for results to his team" (28).

Another good thing about this book is the language. McDermid is from Scottland and lives in Northern England, so you get lots of fabulous words and sayings that are English, but still foreign to US readers. They add flavor that would be lost in translation if translation were necessary.

Here’s a taste:

On the knocker
You berk
I know nowt
pillocks
tipple
spazoid
slag
poxy
Sussed him
agrass
boffins
nonces
and there are lots of lads, lasses, mates, and blokes. And twats.

I especially enjoyed how the characters who are lesbian are presented as just normal people trying to live their lives. McDermid doesn't coddle the audience and makes no veiled argument that "lesbians are people, too." They just are. I once listened to a book podcast (sadly, I don't remember the source or I'd provide the link, but it was possibly The Guardian Books Podcast) where it was mentioned that the UK is more accepting than the US of gay & lesbian writers and characters. Off the top of my head, the gay or lesbian characters that I’ve recently stumbled upon in mainstream novels have all been by non-US writers. I’m thinking of Louise Penny (Canada), Emma Donoghue (Canada by way of Ireland), and Sarah Waters (England). Patricia Cornwell is the only mainstream US writer that I know of who regularly includes gay and lesbian characters. What do you think?

Here's a list of the Tony Hill novels in chronological order:

The Mermaids Singing (1995)
The Wire in the Blood (1997)
The Last Temptation (2002)
The Torment of Others (2004)
Beneath the Bleeding (2007)
Fever of the Bone (2009)

US cover

The Retribution (2011)

Overall, this was an absolutely fulfilling mystery. I liked that it revolved around a social networking site, the fictitious RigMarole, and the detectives use good old “coppering” (questioning, looking, thinking) skills along with high tech computer techniques, psychological profiling, and DNA/medical forensics. The characters don't suffer at the hands of the plot, and the plot is familiar yet has enough twists to make things feel fresh.

Fever of the Bone

Val McDermid
Harper, 2009
ISBN 978-0-06-198648-2
Format: Quality paperback
Pages: 500
Source: bought it at Borders :'(

At the End of the Road by Grant Jerkins

2011-11-01T13:48:00.000-05:00

Fabulous suspense, coming of age novel with a creepy, dark core.

At the End of the Road is Grant Jerkins's second novel and there is nothing of the sophomore slump about it. Set in rural Georgia on the cusp of the coming suburban sprawl that's ready to explode out of Atlanta, At the End of the Road is the story of ten year old Kyle and how radically his life changes one day in 1976 after he causes a car accident and then doesn't help or get help for the injured driver. When Kyle returns to the scene of the accident, there's no trace of the driver or the car, which had rolled on its side.

A series of events unfold and Kyle's secrets build and turn into lies. He eventually starts to believe his lies, to some extent, and then they start to take a physical and deeply emotional toll on him and on his little sister Grace. At one point I started to wonder if Kyle wasn't right in the head, but then I recalled what it's like to be a ten year old with a big problem, one that you've never had before and know adults would freak out about and then who knows what will happen to you. You'd be beyond in trouble. And it is 1976. I'm not sure how well this novel would work set in 2011, in an America that is much more sophisticated about crime, technology, and communication. It would be doable, but it would certainly be a different novel.

Kyle lives on Eden Road. You can read this novel as just a good, well-written suspense story, or as an origin story for a life of drugs and alcohol addiction, or even, yes, as a retelling on the story of the Garden of Eden.

I was ten years old in 1976 and even though I grew up in an urban environment, I could relate to Kyle in many ways. I remember the popularity of Wonder Woman, shopping at Zayre, and the dangers of playing with matches and Drano. His childhood is pretty standard: siblings who either ignore him or become his best buddy, parents who aren't really paying attention to their kids because they're wrapped up in their own pain or routine, the casual violence of children running free, neighborhood bullies, and mean neighbors who construct believable social facades for the adults around them.

Except that in Kyle's neighborhood there's someone who is beyond mean.

I really enjoyed Grant Jerkins first novel, A Very SimpleCrime, which came out last year [see review here]. I was still a bookseller back then and regularly hand-sold copies of that book to mystery readers who were looking for something new. Most of them came back asking if I knew when Jenkins' next book would be out. Alas, the bookstore where I worked is no-more, but I hope those customers find At the End of the Road at their "new" bookstore or library because it's a really good read. It's been a long time since I gave a book a 5-star rating on Goodreads, but this one earned it for its smooth writing and understated storytelling.

If you're looking for something different, something that reads like a combination of Mark Twain, Stephen King, and a dash of Patricia Cornwell, At the End of the Road might be up your alley.

At the End of the Road
Grant Jerkins
Berkley Prime Crime
ISBN: 978-0-425-24334-3
Genre: Suspense, mystery
Source: review copy

Cemetery Girl by David Bell

2011-10-24T10:44:00.000-05:00

This is one of those books that I almost stopped reading once ortwice, but then something surprising would happen and I'd find myselfreading later than planned, negotiating with myself that after I readjust one more chapter then I'd do xy and z.

With it being October, I was hoping Cemetery Girl would be a creepy book, learning more towards horror, but it is a psychological suspense novel, mainly about Tom, the father ofa twelve year old girl named Caitlin who goes missing for four years. No clues, no ransom note, no nothing. Caitlin's Mom, Abby,is trying to move on and has turned all her energies toward herchurch, including her sexual energy, it seems, as Tom believes she's having anaffair with Pastor Chris.

At first you think Abby is a real schmuckand that the husband, Tom, is the good guy, trying to keep the candleof hope lit for his daughter's return. But then his likeability isthrown into doubt early on for dumping the family dog at the pound. And thenyou learn he did it as a last ditch effort to save his marriage.Still, not forgivable (not for me, anyway), but perhaps understandable for some. Then you learn thatit was that nasty Pastor Chris who put the idea of getting rid of thedog into Abby's head as a way to 'help' Tom move on and that just made me think of Pat Robertson recentlytelling a caller to divorce his wife with Alzheimer's and move on,but that's a whole 'nother story. Let's just say the situation left me wondering whether or not to go on reading a 389 page book with characters that I didn't particularly like from the beginning. One of the things that kept me reading was the character of Tom and how my feelings about him weren't easy to pin down.

If you plan on reading Cemetery Girl and don't like spoilers, you might want to stop reading now.

It dawned on me fairly early that perhaps Tom isn't exactly areliable narrator. He is, after all, an English professor writing abook about Hawthorne. Eventually you start to question just abouteverything going on in the novel, especially everyone's motives, as well as their IQs and their emotional intelligence. It got to the point where I thought a good alternate title for the book would be Parents Behaving Badly. Or just Bad Dad.

If I had to sum up Tom in one sentence, I'd say he's a narcissist loner with angermanagement issues probably suffering from PTSD stemming from childhood abuse at the hands of an alcoholic step-father and a mother who just can't handle the truth. First he's obsessed with believing against allodds that Caitlin is still alive and will come home. All he wants isfor her to come home. Its okay that this part of the novel is all about him and his feelings. But then when Caitlin does come home he becomes obsessedwith learning not so much about what happened to her, but about whyshe stayed with the man who abducted her. In other words, why she chose her abductor over him.

At a time when his daughter most needs his attention, it's still all about him. This is when you really start to think something's wrong with the guy. Is should be all about his daughter now. Maybe he never really was a good father. The prologue sorta makes you wonder about that. And other things happen. Such as the fact that he makes and then promptly breaks a promise to Caitlin on her first day back, yells at her, slaps her, and grabs her arm so tightly that he doesn't care if he bruises her just days after her return. He feels bad about spitting into another man's face, but justifies hitting his daughter as an attempt to help her. He's also judgemental of just about everyone else. It is always about him and is feelings. In facthe pesters Caitlin with this whiny rant:

"What made you stay?” I asked. “Why, after allthat, did you stay? People saw you with him in public places. Youcould have screamed and cried. You could have run away. Why did youstay with him? Why did you do that . . . ?” I resisted for a longmoment. I tried to swallow it back, but finally I couldn't hold itin. “Why did you do that to me, Caitlin? Why?” (355).

I have no idea if David Bell set out to write a bad dad novel. Tom wants to have a family, but it seems like he wants to have it without having to work at it. He sits and laments about Caitlin's hygiene, table manners, and cursing and says, "All the things we could have helped, the disciplinary battles we could have fought, were lost. What was left?" (350). What? She's only sixteen and has just been through four years of sexual assault and mind control and Daddy Dearest is ready to throw in the towel after just a few days?

In the Epilogue Tom says to his brother, "In the end, my instincts as a father are stronger than anything else" (387). Some readers may feel like that's a nice wrap up. It might make them feel warm and fuzzy about Tom and fatherhood. But it creeped me out. Tom made many rash and irrational decisions, put his daughter in harms way, was abusive towards her on more than one occassion, and lied to everyone in his life. Is he carrying on his family of origin's legacy of abuse and silence? Wraping himself up in the protective cloak of 'parental instinct' that outsiders don't dare question? That's what it seems like to me.

David Bell does a great job holding it all together. I didn't likeany of the characters in this novel, yet I kept reading, wonderingwhat was going to happen next, even when some of the characters, asseen through Tom's eyes, do some pretty unrealistic thingsand make seriously poor choices. Issues of trust abound in this novel, as do those of power, control, parenting skills, and family ties. I am impressed with Bell's skill at weaving only Tom's perspective throughout this tale.

Cemetery Girl
David Bell
New American Library
978-0-451-23467-4
Source: review copy

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

2011-10-18T23:09:00.000-05:00

Sometime back in the 70s when I was a kid and wanted to try reading a mystery, some well-meaning adult told me to read Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie. I couldn't get into either back then (they both seemed snooty and stuffy). Other than reading Edgar Allan Poe for classes, I didn't give mysteries a try again until I was in my early 30s and saw a review of Nevada Barr's The Track of the Cat in an outdoors magazine. Barr opened the door to mysteries for me and I've been a mystery reader since then.

When the publisher asked if I'd like to review The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes I thought it was time to give the world's most famous detective another go. I am so glad I did. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed all of the stories in this edition. Earlier this week I heard Nathaniel Philbrick in a radio interview talking about Melville first reading Shakespeare at midlife. Philbrick said that some literature is best read after we've had more life experience. I'm in that boat when it comes to Sherlock.

The stories in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes are:

Silver Blaze
The Yellow Face
The Stockbroker's Clerk
The Gloria Scott
The Musgrave Ritual
The Reigate Squires
The Crooked Man
The Resident Patient
The Greek Interpreter
The Naval Treaty
The Final Solution

If you're like me and haven't read Sherlock Holmes yet, these seemed like fine stories to start out with. Each story is only about 20 pages long, so they're perfect for a lunch break or a little bed-time reading. For me there wasn't a dud in the bunch. Each tale presents a very different cast of characters and situations. Overall the stories were interesting both for the mystery involved and for representation of class and race in late 19th century England. Holmes only annoyed me once (at the beginning of "The Crooked Man" where he offers a bunch of unsolicited observations. Yes, I know it sets the reader up for his brilliant observations later, but it seems rather heavy handed) and I found myself wanting to know more about Watson's life (particularly his time in Afghanistan).

My favorite story of this collection is perhaps "The Naval Treaty." In this tale Watson receives a letter from an old school chum who has been down with brain fever for nine weeks after a top secret naval treaty that he was copying is stolen. The friend asks if Watson could bring Holmes around to help solve the mystery, since the authorities couldn't get to the bottom of it. I enjoyed the lessons in the art of detection that Holmes teaches in this story: That crimes of opportunity can be harder to solve then those that are well planned, and too much evidence can get in the way: what is vital is overlaid and hidden by what is irrelevant. And what Holmes said back then is seemingly still true today: "The authorities are excellent at amassing facts, though they do not always use them to advantage" (216).

Do you have a favorite Sherlock Holmes story? Which one and what appeals to you about it?

This new edition of The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes is labeled as inspiration for the new Sherlock Holmes movie, The Game of Shadows, which opens Dec 16th. You can watch the trailer here. I enjoyed the first movie, although it was a bit over-blown at times for my tastes. This second film seems to have taken some of its plot from "The Final Solution", the last story in Memoirs. This is the story where Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tried to get rid of Sherlock in an effort to be done with the fictional character that seemed to be taking over his life. Graham Moore's novel, The Sherlockian made much of this. Now that I've read some Sherlock Holmes and especially "The Final Solution," I just might go back and re-visit The Sherlockian (see my review here). In "The Final Solution" Sherlock takes on Professor Moriarty, the evil mastermind who just might be his equal. The final show-down is at Reichenbach Falls. Perhaps you've heard of it?

I now have plans to read all the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels and have already downloaded The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Cheerio mates!

The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle
Penguin Group USA
ISBN: 978014312015
Source: review copy, digital edition

Illinois Railway Museum Used Bookstore

2011-10-16T09:40:00.000-05:00

1920s Electric Pullman

I've gotten used to the fact that my mother, who is from Germany and has lived in the States for over 40 years, always manages to run into other Germans. Wherever she is. Seriously. One time we were in a ghost town in the middle of the desert in California near the Nevada border and ran into Germans who were driving around the western US.

For me it's not Germans that I'm always running into, but books. Usually used books. They seem to show up in the most unexpected places. Take, for example, my recent outing to the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM) in Union, IL. The IRM is the largest railway museum in the country and you'd expect them to have a bookstore, or at least a museum gift shop that has some books. Well, they have both a museum gift shop and a bookstore. What I didn't expect them to have is a USED BOOKSTORE.

The used bookstore at the IRM is not near the "official" museum bookstore or gift shop. Those are located next to the depot where you can board and ride the historic train that they're running that day. We took a ride on a 1920s era electric Pullman, pictured above, that ran between Chicago and Milwaukee. The used bookstore is deeper into the museum grounds and set a bit back from the main thoroughfare. It's in a box car that's attached to the Union Pacific engine pictured below (on the far right).

Used bookstore is attached to the Union Pacific engine.

I walked into the bookstore shortly before closing time, so didn't have a lot of time to look around. I've no special knowledge of trains, but I do like them. I grew up two blocks from the Cicero, IL train yard, so whistles, the rumble of diesel engines, and the banging of steel couplings were the background soundtrack to my childhood. My dad was an engineer for the Chicago Railway Company where he designed box car doors and other train components. I'm pretty proud of the fact that he held some patents for various box-car component designs. I now live in a neighborhood that's hemmed in by much-used train tracks to the west and to the south. Getting "stuck" at crossings by commuter and freight trains is a daily occurrence. My record is watching five trains rumble by in one day.

Below are some pictures of the used bookstore. I spoke with Joe, one of the volunteers, a super nice guy who refrained from being photographed. He'd love for more people to know about their operation and offerings (both the museum and the used bookstore).

The used bookstore entrance.

Inside the used bookstore--browsing heaven for the train enthusiast.

I bought a copy of Paul Theroux's The Old Patagonian Express.

An excellent cause. The used bookstore has everything from personal narratives & novels to technical manuals & company histories and more about trains from around the world.

Joe explained that many train related magazines are now coming out in digital editions, so they have had to give away and/or recycle hundreds of pounds of magazines. I grabbed some copies of Rail & Wire (the IRM's magazine), Slim Gauge News (from 1973), and Timber Transfer (Friends of the East Broad Top Railroad in PA).

If you live in the area and are looking for a volunteer opportunity . . . .

Rare books are locked up, but many of the books on their shelves might be priced at only $35 whereas online they'll go for $125. Joe said they're more concerned with finding good homes for the books they have than competitive pricing. If you're looking for a specific book for your train-related book collection, just write to the used bookstore at the main museum address (Illinois Railway Museum, 7000 Olsen Road, Union, IL 60180). It might take them a while to get back to you, but Joe said they do reply to all inquiries. They do not, however, order books for people.

Closed for the day.

If you live in the area, I highly recommend a visit to the IRM. They have a huge selection of trains that's astounding to behold--from old steam engines, to the Nebraska Zephyr, to desiel engines. We spent about five hours there and only saw a fraction of their trains. Several of their trains have been used in period movies such as Babe Ruth and A League of Their Own.

They also have some historic buses and I bought a post card of the bus that I used to take from Cicero to the Ford City Mall. What a find!

Visit the IRM website at http://www.irm.org/

If you're looking for a haunted house, check out their TERROR ON THE RAILROAD every Friday and Saturday night in October through the 29th.

Today is National Coming Out Day!

2011-10-11T14:19:00.000-05:00

Since 1988 National Coming Out Day has been celebrated on October 11th in the USA and on October 12th in the UK. It's a day to celebrate coming out of the darkness of the literal or metaphorical closet, and to raise awareness of the LGBT community and Civil Rights.

I thought it would be a good day to share my top five favorite LGBT novels and to encourage those of you who may have never read an LGBT book to pick one up.

The Well of Loneliness (1928) by Radcyliffe Hall. The title says it all. This is story of a lesbian/transsexual women's struggle to live openly and true to herself. I read this book in graduate school for a concentration in lesbian literature that I developed. It's a painful book to read, but it really gives you a glimpse into the attitudes of the time and the pain experienced by those who were different from what was then being defined as "normal." I know there's a ways to go for full LGBT equality, but this is one of those books that lets you see how far we've come. Wikipedia has an extensive entry about Hall, the book, the time period, the obscenity trials surrounding the book in the UK and US, and the book's lasting impact. Best read with a friend. Memorable line: "Give us also the right to our existence!"

Sudden Death (1984) by Rita Mae Brown. Before Rita Mae Brown wrote about animals solving mysteries, she wrote about lesbians living life. This was the first LGBT book that I ever read so it holds a special place in my heart even if I don't remember much about it other than that it is set in the world of professional tennis and is supposedly loosely based on Brown's relationship with Martina Navratilova. It is the first place I came across the quote (which is attributed to Ben Franklin), "Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results." Prior to reading it in an actual book, I thought my dad made it up.

Patience and Sarah (1971; originally self-published in 1969 under the title A Place for Us) by Isabel Miller (pen name of Alma Routsong). I read this book around the time I read The Well of Loneliness. If you have any desire to read Hall's novel, read it first and then read Patience and Sarah. Its a historical novel about two women set in early 1800s America. It's a beautiful love story, loosely based on the life of two real women, written with much humor and warmth. Practically every lesbian I've met has read this book and has a fond spot for it. It won the American Library Association Gay Book Award in 1971.

Tipping the Velvet (1998) by Sarah Waters. I love, love, love this book. I love the 19th century and this novel brought the seedy side of Victorian England to life. From the picturesque sea side village of Whitstable to the back alleys and stages of London, this is the story of young Nan and how she loses herself to passion and self-punishment, and eventually finds love and a sense of self. Not for the faint of heart. The BBC adaptation provides a nice visual for the story, but read the book first. "Have ever tasted a Whitstable oyster?"

Scars (2010) by Cheryl Rainfield. This is a bold, truth-filled Young Adult novel about a teenage girl struggling with sexual abuse and self-harm. Another book that's not easy to read, but its an important story for its acknowledgement of the reality of abuse and self-harm and the hope it can provide for those currently living with it and for those well-along the path of healing.

For more LGBT books, check out the Publishing Triangle's list of the 100 Best Gay & Lesbian Novels or visit The Lambda Literary Foundation.

What's your favorite LGBT book or is there one you've been thinking about reading?

The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan

2011-10-05T17:01:00.000-05:00

It’s October! Are you thinking aboutHalloween yet? Gearing up for a little monster book mash? For somereaders October is the month when they realize they haven’t read ahorror novel in a while. For others it’s the month when theyintentionally add horror novels to their reading schedule.Or perhaps you regularly read horror and need a break from all thevampires and zombies in your life? Whatever your relationship withhorror novels, if you're in the mood for one, I recommend GlenDuncan’s The Last Werewolf.

I first heard about this novel monthsago when Ann Kingman of Books on the Nightstand podcast stronglyrecommended it as a great addition to the tradition of literaryhorror novels. It's been on my TBR list since then, but I finallytook action and got on the library waiting list after my friend Noah, a former Borders coworkers, decided to start a book group andthis is his first pick.

The Last Werewolf tells the tale of Jake Marlowe, a guy who happens to be the last living werewolf. Werewolves have been hunted to the brink ofextinction by WOCOP: World Organisation for the Control of Occult Phenomena.

In 1842 at the age of 34, Marlowe was accidentally bitten by a werewolf while masturbating alongside a stream inSnowdonia. At the opening of the novel, which is set in contemporary times, Marlowe is 200 years old. The lifespanof a werewolf is 400 years, so Marlowe is basically a middle aged guy who’sa bit tired of it all—the monthly transformation, keeping his edgeagainst WOCOP, and killing time. Being a modern day werewolf is tiring: inorder to survive, Marlowe’s kills are carefully planned: victims are chosen with care and get-away plans are establishedwell in advance. Marlowe has done some work for the good of humanity, fighting against evil regimes around the world, but now he's experiencing the shock fatigue and exhaustion that's infected western civilization. Or perhaps he's simply transferring his exhaustion and lack of purpose--his existential angst--onto western society. Harley, Marlowe's requisite human side-kick, refers to Marlowe's funk as an "absurd suicidal melodrama" (43).

Now that he's the last of his kind, Marlowe is ready to roll over and letGrainer, the star werewolf hunter, kill him. Forty years ago, Marlowekilled and ate Grainer's father and Grainer wants a spectacular fightat the end, not an easy slaughter, and so he does something thatwould provoke most people to action (and Marlowe very clearly considers himself human), but it fails to get Marlowe’s fur up.Then Marlowe discovers that the vampires are interested in keeping him alive. Yes,there are vampires in this novel.

While vampires and werewolves are notfriends, they usually leave one another alone. Vampires have somerather constipated philosophies about why vampires arebetter than werewolves and so it’s a bit odd that vampires now wantto ensure Marlowe’s survival.

Add to all of this a sudden, all-consuming reason for Marlowe to want to live and the life-or-deathchase is on. There are some nice surprises along the way.

Werewolves live solitary livescontrolled by the cycles of the moon. Eating people, killing, andfucking are their main activities. In between they drink a lot ofalcohol (only good quality stuff, mind you) and chain smoke (it can’tharm them due to their hyped up healing abilities). And Marlowe is a gentleman: he uses a condom with prostitutes. I'm no prude, but at times I got alittle tired of the sex, drinking, and smoking, but that's Marlowe's world. Need I add that thisis not a book for kids? If there's ever a faithful movie adaptation, it will be at least R rated.

The Last Werewolf lacks the scary, creepy, I'm-afraid-to-be-alone-are-the-doors-and-windows-locked elements that I most enjoy in horror novels. In fact, at times it reads more like athriller, like a serial killer or crime family novel. I also found myself getting annoyed with the narrator around page 42, but shortly after that the book really picked up and I stayed engaged until the end. The last 40 pages were also somewhat hard to take--it started sounding like a TV crime show--but there were some interesting developments at the end. Overall, I enjoyed the book, perhaps not enough to rave about it for a general audience, but enough to recommend it to those who enjoy horror novels.

According to this interview with Glen Duncan, the sequel is already written (and presumably due out in 2012) and there's a third scheduled for 2013. I wasn't surprised to hear that since he left a few strings hanging (the ancient book, something sticking in Marlowe's mind about Madeline in the hotel room, and what's revealed at the end).

If you like your monsters to beliterate guys who wax philosophic over good scotch, Marlowe’s yourman.

If you like your werewolves to be fleshripping beasts that fornicate like dogs in heat, Marlowe’s yourman.

If you like a world where love (yes, love) and stories still matter, Duncan's latest novel is your book.

The Last Werewolf

Glen Duncan

NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-307-59508-9

293 pages

Summer Storm by Kristina Dunker

2011-09-23T17:19:00.001-05:00

AmazonCrossing Cove

Summer Storm

(Sommergewitter)

by Kristina Dunker

Translated from German by Margot Bettauer Dembo

Edition I read: AmazonCrossing, 2011 (ISBN:9781611090307)

Oringinally published byDeutscher Taschen buch Verlag GmbH & Co. KG, 2004

This book came to me through The German Book Office (GBO) New York, Inc. Check out their Facebook page where they have a monthly book give-a-way.

This Summer Storm is a young adult novel, not to be confused with the German movie entitled Summer Storm, which was also released in 2004. The movie is about a teenage boy's coming out experience during a rowing competition where the teams are away from home and camped at a lake. I saw it a couple years ago and highly recommend it.

The unrelated movie

Summer Storm, the book, is about a teenage girl, Annie, and what happens the night her cousin, Gina, disappears.

Annie is sixteen and lives in an industrial area near Münster, Germany. Gina and her father have been living in Berlin and are planning to move in with Annie's family. Gina's father works as a journalist and is often out of the country. Gina's mother died when she was young (4, I think) and she's spent a lot of time alone and at boarding schools. Annie's mother and Gina's father are siblings and apparently Annie's mother has offered her home to her brother for years. Father and daughter aren't getting along very well, and so the brother finally accepts his sister's offer.

Gina and her father arrive at Annie's home on a very hot Friday afternoon. When Annie gets home from school, which has been let out early due to the extreme heatwave the area has been experiencing, Gina sets off with Annie and her three friends for the local watering hole. Silver Lake is actually an old quarry where swimming is technically not allowed. The adults seem to have some hesitation about Gina going to the lake, but teenage persistence wins out.

Annie's best-friends are Steffi, Jonas, and Roger. They liken themselves to a four leaf clover and have been friends since they were toddlers. Gina doesn't seem to fit-in all that well. She's an attractive girl, but on the quiet side. They arrive at the lake and if you're imagining a picturesque mountain lake in Bavaria with cows grazing on the hillside, forget about it. Silver Lake is treeless, strewn with garbage, and filled with Peeping Toms who hang out with girlie magazines and binoculars, lusting after the young.

There's a thunderstorm brewing that adds an even larger environmental threat, and the tension between the teens gets heavier as they talk about the dangers of Silver Lake and how a woman once drowned there. Gina asks questions about the drowning and does not go swimming. Eventually the group relaxes into the afternoon. The boys go their separate ways to collect firewood, Steffi reads her book, and Annie lies in the sun listening to a CD. Gina says she needs to go off into the bushes and no one notices that she doesn't return until about 45 minutes later when the storm that's been building in the background arrives earlier than anticipated. The group can't find Gina. Parents are called, then the police. As the afternoon turns into evening, the strings of friendship binding the four leaf clover are strained to the point of breaking. Teenagers and parents look suspiciously at one another and eventually the majority turn their collective finger to point at one of their own.

Secrets between the friends and within Annie's family leak out under the pressure of Gina's disappearance and everyone is left changed by the crisis. Some, it is implied, are changed for the better. Annie obviously gains self-esteem and a greater sense of self throughout the ordeal.

To avoid a spoiler, let me just say that Dunker uses a prologue to set up the reader in an interesting way. When I got to the epilogue I found myself flipping back to the prologue to check out some things. In one you have a girl using unhealthy coping mechanisms to deal with her pain and in the other you see a girl considering healthier coping mechanisms to deal with her feelings. In between is the story of teens making their way through the often painful transition from childhood to adulthood. The major issues explored include sex, abusive behavior, trust, loyalty, communication, and the pitfalls of making assumptions.

Overall, I enjoyed Summer Storm and if I owned a bookstore I'd stock it. I sometimes have a hard time getting into young adult novels because they can be so 'anxsty,' particularly around issues of sexuality and gender roles. But that's the nature of being a teen. It took me about 20 pages to relax into this book, but after that I was sucked in. If there's a teen in your life who wants a "realistic" novel, this one might appeal to her or him. At only 139 pages long, there's not a lot of character development, but the shortness might be appealing to a teen who wants to read something, but doesn't want to commit to a huge tome. There's also no gratuitous sex or violence, although one girl does tell her friend about kind of almost doing it one time with a boy she loves.

The translation seemed pretty smooth. There was one odd moment when hair gel is referred to as "setting lotion," and I don't think most American teens use the word disco anymore, but other than that the writing moved along without any awkwardness.

If you're interested in learning more about Kristina Dunker, her website in only available in German at this time, but Amazon has an interview with her in English that you can read here.

This is the second AmazonCrossing novel that I've read this summer and I have to say I appreciate them making recent German books available in English.

War & Restrepo by Sebastian Junger

2011-09-17T16:32:00.002-05:00

WAR
Sebastian Junger
Hachette Book Group, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-55624-8

I've been puzzled by this book since I read it in February. Shortly after finishing the book, I attended an engaging lecture by Sebastian Junger at Elmhurst College (February 20, 2011). I thought his talk was much more organized and intentional than either his book, War, or his movie, Restrepo (with co-creator Tim Hetherington). Recently I listened again to a talk Junger gave at the Pritzker Military Library in Chicago that you can listen to here.

War is Junger's account of what an Army combat platoon went through on a 15 month deployment to Afghanistan. He was embedded with them five different times over those 15 months. Restrepo is Junger's and Tim Hetherington's award-winning documentary of the platoon consisting of footage that they both shot over the months they were there. Sometimes Junger and Hetherington where in Afghanistan together and other times individually. Hetherington was killed earlier this year while covering the civil war in Libya. Sebastian wrote a tribute to his friend and colleague that you can read here.

First: the book War

The pre-publication hype about this book was substantial. I'd come across ads for it in Publisher's Weekly and on book-related websites and blogs. It was touted as being unlike any other book about war and would give readers the experience of what its like to be in combat. I think it had a negative impact on my reading of the book.

The book left me scratching my head wondering why Junger presented his observations the way he did. From my perspective as someone who has read a fair amount of military literature, I just didn't get what was so special or different about this book. Junger describes the adrenaline, fear, boredom, loneliness and grab-ass behavior within the brotherhood of these soldiers and how they're lost without their unit when they find themselves back home, but that's nothing new in the literature of war. What is powerful about the book was Junger's description of how a certain type of young man thrives on the adrenaline of war and his advocacy that society has to find a way to work with them, to channel that energy in a healthy way when they come home from fighting our wars. Perhaps Karl Marlantes's new book, What It Is Like To Go To War, may prove to be a fitting companion book to War.

I'd read Junger's first book, A Perfect Storm, years ago and was swept in by Junger's ability to tell a story, to make characters come alive, to make me feel the power and violence of the ocean and the danger of the job of being a commercial fisherman.

War did not grip me or engage me like that. Junger was reporting what he saw in the Korengal Valley, but he didn't shape his reporting into a coherent narrative. He relates what the men told him they felt or tries to piece their feelings together from observing them. As a result, at times it seemed rather stereotypical and general, a bit vague even. Junger isn't reporting what its like to be in combat, he's reporting what its like to watch others engage in combat. He's reporting what its like to be along for the ride and I do not mean that to sound flippant or disrespectful. He's a journalist in a combat zone. Yes, he's getting shot at, but he's not a solider who is fighting. And although he claims friendship with some of the men, he's still an outsider, a civilian who can come and go as he pleases. Maybe that's the disconnect I felt. He also regularly inserts his own experience which may have added to some of the disconnect.

There was also a vagueness to the chronology so I wasn't sure when things were happening which took away from any sense of growth between the men or Junger's relationship with them or even how a particular man changed over the 15 month deployment.

Part of me wishes he would've either focused more on the men and the importance of their mission OR focused more on his own experience. Trying to do both seemed to water the book down, to keep it in the realm of the general rather than going deep. I didn't get a sense of who most of the men were when they'd pop up in various chapters and there's no sense of his connection with the men (other than his direct statements claiming friendship).

Second: the movie Restrepo

After having confused feelings about the book, I looked forward to seeing the movie Restrepo. I was hoping it would fill in the gaps and weaknesses that I thought the book had. But I don't think Restrepo is meant to be a companion to Junger's book. The best thing about the movie for me was seeing the landscape of the Korengal Valley. I didn't think Afghanistan was so green or snowy. Almost all of the pictures that I've seen of American military in Afghanistan are gray and rocky with steep, pointy mountains in the background. It was pretty stunning to actually see just how steep those mountains are as the men hike up and down them on patrol and just how large the landscape is. I also liked the footage of civilian dwellings. The movie clarified the importance of the creation of outpost Restrepo and how its presence impacted the war effort.

However, the movie excludes some pretty important facts (such as how the platoon beats each incoming member, including its new lieutenant, which I found to be completely incomprehensible) and it does not set up some of the scenes so viewers know what's going on. For example, the L-shaped ambush scene that was well explained in the book.

Third: the lecture at Elmhurst College

Junger started his talk by telling the audience about himself, where he comes from, what he did as a young man, how he got into journalism. When covering wars he's always been with the local civilian population, be they non-combatants or militia. He'd covered Afghanistan in the 1990s. After the US invaded Afghanistan it was clear that the US military would be in country for years to come and Junger decided he'd like to see what it was like inside a professional fighting force and became an embedded journalist. He tried to simply report what he saw and tried to understand the experience of the men he was with.

Junger's talk was entertaining and informative and several audience members asked insightful questions that lead to powerful replies from Junger. Three stick in my mind.

1. The first was a veteran who said he'd read the book, saw the movie, listened to Junger's talk and couldn't decide if he was pro- or anti-war. Everyone laughed, including Junger. His reply was the he was simply trying to report what he saw. He leaves it up to the reader/viewer to form their own opinions. It would have been really lame for Junger to leave it at that. He added that his background was liberal, he's seen many wars around the globe, and he's not pro- or anti-war, but is for doing whatever will end up causing the least human suffering. Or whatever looks like it might help. As he said, when a government is killing its people, others can't just sit there and watch it happen.

2. The second question came from a high school junior who said he is starting to get recruitment emails from colleges, one being West Point. He's seriously considering applying to West Point and asked Junger if he thought he could make a difference in the world as a lietenant in the US Army. There were lots of gasps and wows whispered throughout the audience after the well-spoken young man asked that question. Junger seemed a bit bowled over by it. His answer was yes. In a nutshell, he said you will make a difference in the world whatever you decide to do. And toward the end of his reply he made it clear that that difference could be positive or negative depending on how aware one is.

3. The third question from an audience member that sticks in my mind was more of an accusation, the implication being that Junger had glorified the bombing of civilians and the stealing of their food (the cow incident) and would he consider going back and living with a civilian family with bombs being dropped on him. Junger handled the question very well although at least one person sitting near me rolled his eyes and a few others shifted in their seats uncomfortably. I imagine Junger probably has at least one angry person at every event. He answered this question by talking about how all his prior war reporting had been from the civilian or militia perspective, how he lived with civilians in northern Afghanistan in the 1990s and how terrifying it was to be bombed. He repeated that he isn't pro-war or anti-war, but he is pro- doing whatever can be done to prevent the least amount of human suffering. If the US withdrew its military presence now, the civilian population would be stuck between a government they don't trust and the Taliban. Sometimes the presence of a professional military force, particularly one as effective as the United States, can keep the number of deaths lower or prevent them all together while the civilian population has a chance to get it's government in order.

In response to a question about books to read, Junger recommended reading books by people who have actually been in combat because, he claims, they respect combat too much to glorify it and they respect combat too much to demonize it. I was struck by this statement and find myself using it to think about the military books I read or movies I watch. I certainly see a lot more glorification, even in books or movies that claim to be neutral or anti-war. Perhaps its just the way I interpret things. What do you think about Junger's statement?

Event recap: Louise Penny at The Book Stall

2011-09-10T16:57:00.000-05:00

The Book Stall in Winnetka, IL

Louise Penny is my new author-crush.What a pleasure to meet her when I'm in the middle of reading her back-list! I've finished four of the now seven books in her Chief Inspector Gamache series. Some refer to the books as the Three Pines series.

The Book Stall in Winnetka, IL hosted Louise Penny on Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 7pm. People where filling up seats shortly after 6pm and by the time Louise started talking it was a standing room only crowd. My friend Ruth and I drove up to Winnetka, which is a northern suburb of Chicago, from our stomping grounds in the western suburbs of Chicago. It was about 35-40 miles away and we left before rush-hour traffic was in full-swing. Our friend Linda was supposed to join us, but was unable to, and Louise personalized the copy we purchased for Linda appropriately. A fourth friend, Missy in Iowa, drove with a group of her friends to see Louise in Omaha, Nebraska the night before and told us we were in for a good time.

I'm mentioning these friends because it was Ruth who first read Penny and word spread from her to Missy, to Linda, to me. Now I'm telling everyone about Louise Penny. This word of mouth is what authors and publishers strive for. Its the magic that can eventually grow best-selling authors.

How did Ruth come to read Louise Penny? Once upon a time we four friends all worked in the same bookstore. One day when Ruth was helping a customer or shelving or something, the title STILL LIFE caught her eye. That is the title of Penny's first novel. Ruth likes to read books about art and artists, and so Still Life stood out for her. She bought the book and the rest is herstory.

So, anyway, Ruth and I had a great time on Thursday evening. First of all, The Book Stall is a wonderful bookshop. The people who work there were friendly and helpful. As Ruth said, just stepping into the place made you feel good, relaxed and at ease. Ruth and I browsed for a bit, put our books on hold, and then grabbed a bite to eat. When we got back to the store we purchased our books (I also picked up a copy of Karl Marlante's What It Is Like to Go to War, which I've been anxiously awaiting), grabbed some coffee from the Caribou next door (some genius broke the wall between the coffee shop and book shop. If I lived closer I'd be a squatter), and then took our seats. We chatted with some of the other Penny fans sitting around us. It seems most people stumble onto Penny's books or they are forced upon them by well-meaning friends and relatives.

Penny in action. Photo by John Thomas Bychowski

I have no idea if the event started on time; suddenly Louise Penny was there and after a brief introduction started talking. She's one of those writers that I could listen to for hours. She's genuine and funny and doesn't shy away from pain. She talked about how absolutely amazing it is to have her first showing on the New York Times best-seller printed list (i.e, in the top 15. A Trick of the Light landed at #4 on the hardcover fiction list). She also talked about her path to becoming a writer, from the time she was eight until now, and how she's trying to help other new writers get published by starting a Canadian award for unpublished manuscripts, which was part of her break-through into print. She'd been on the short list for the Crime Writers Association Debut Dagger Award. She didn't win that award. She came in second place, but it did open a few doors and she landed an agent. She was prepared. Hard work and a little bit of luck. There are no over-night successes, at least not ones that last for more than 15-minutes.

Penny answered about a dozen questions from the audience before it was time to move on to the book signing portion of the event. It seemed like everyone there got their books signed. Penny took her time with each fan, but the line moved along nicely. Really, I don't think anyone would have minded if the line had moved slower. We all chatted and enjoyed the company. It turns out that the author escort and person who took our picture below is a former Borders employee (as are Ruth, Missy, Linda, and myself. Well, technically I still work at Borders but the closing date for my store is next week and it really hasn't felt like Borders/a bookstore for weeks now). Another funny Borders connection is that John Thomas Bychowski, who took the picture above, is the cousin of a guy that I used to work with at Borders. I only found that out through messaging John on Facebook later that night after he posted pictures of the event. It is a small world.

Me, Louise, and Ruth!

A Trick of the Light is book seven in the series and Penny has recently finished the manuscript for book eight. She has book nine in her head and is thinking about book ten. So, Penny fans, rest assured that there is more Gamache and Three Pines to come!

Check out Louise Penny on Facebook--she's posting while on book tour.

Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay

2011-09-09T23:42:00.000-05:00

Sarah's Key
Tatiana De Rosnay
St. Martin's, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-312-37084-8
Source: bought it, passed it on

I finally read this book because so many customers at work told me their book group read it and had a great discussion about it. Sarah's Key is one of those books where you learn some tremendously important history. It is the story of a young Jewish girl and an American journalist living in Paris.

I was engrossed in the first half of the book but started losing interest in the second half. In the first half Sarah and Julia's stories are told in alternating chapters. Sarah's story takes place mainly in 1942. She is a young Jewish girl, born in France to Polish parents who apparently fled their homeland for the safety of France. Julia's story is contemporary. She's an American journalist who has lived in Paris for 25 years and is married to a French man, yet she's always felt like an outsider in his family.

The first chapter starts with Sarah's story. Sarah and her parents are taken by French police on the night of The Vélodrome d’hiver Round-up, July 16 and 17, 1942. Sarah hides her younger brother in a secret cabinet, thinking that she'll be able to come home soon to let him out. She does everything she can to get back to him.

Known as the Vél’ d’Hiv' it was the largest single round-up of Jews on French soil. Some 13,000 people were taken and held for several days without food or water in what was once an indoor bike track before transportation to concentration camps. The children included in this roundup were taken to Auschwitz where they were immediately sent to the gas chambers, as Julia says, "By the French government, on French buses, on French trains" (116). The Nazis did not ask that children be included in the round-up, but for reasons not discussed in the novel the French police had included them.

Julia is assigned to write a story about the Vél’ d’Hiv' and eventually discovers that her husband's grandmother's apartment which they're rehabbing before they move in to, was the home of Sarah and her family.

Sarah's story makes for riveting reading. Julia's story was initially interesting, but shortly after the half-way point Sarah's Key becomes fully Julia's narrative and I started losing interest in the book. My momentum slowed down and I realized it was because I didn't really like Julia.

While liking a character isn't a prerequisite for me, character development is or at least some valid reason for a lack of character development. Julia is passive in all her relationships and she seems to be coasting through life. I thought perhaps she'd grow and change through her experience, that Sarah's story would wake her up, but it doesn't. She's a doormat to her handsome, charming, and sophisticated Parisian husband who is going through a mid-life crisis and has had a lover on the side for years. Although Julia decides against having the abortion that her husband wants her to have, she doesn't tell him herself, but leaves it to the doctor to tell him. Julia never tells her husband the truth about how she feels about his sarcasm or the baby, nor does she share with him what she's doing with her life (or with their older daughter's life, for that matter). Julia calls him a coward, but I think she's the coward. She's passive-aggressive and lost and the plot starts to feel very contrived as she chases down Sarah's son.

The final scene in the cafe between Sarah's son William and Julia actually made my skin crawl. Below is the interaction between William and Julia. Let me set it up a bit: Julia had tracked Sarah's life from Paris to the camp to America. Julia found out Sarah bore a son in American who is now living in Italy. William is his name and he had no idea about his mother's history. Julia tells him the whole story and he's stunned; eventually he retraces his mother's journey and meets people who knew her as a young girl. Can you imagine finding out that your mother lived a completely different life than the one she told you about? That she was Jewish and lived through the Holocaust and had an adoptive family that you never knew about?

In this scene William and Julia are in a cafe in New York City. William speaks first:

"But it was difficult, hard to go through. And I wished you'd been there with me. I should never have done all that alone, I should have said yes when you asked to come along."

"Maybe I should have insisted," I said.

"I should have listened to you. It was too much to bear alone. And then, when I finally went back to the rue de Saintonge, and when those unknown people opened your door, I felt you'd let me down."

He lowered his eyes. I set my coffee cup back in its saucer, resentment sweeping through me. How could he, I thought, after all I'd done for him, after all the time, the effort, the pain, the emptiness?

He must have deciphered something in my face because he quickly put his hand on my sleeve.
"I'm sorry I said that," he murmured.

"I never let you down, William."

My voice sounded stiff.

"I know that, Julia. I'm sorry."

His was deep, vibrant.

I relaxed. Managed a smile. We sipped in silence.

This interaction reads to me like Julia is turning into one of those narcissistic, stern, straight-backed, grand French women that she described her ex-husband's grandmother of being. Distant, remote, shut off. After all the compassion she seemed to have for Sarah's story, all the anguish she went through regarding her own marriage, and her husband's family's apartment, she doesn't catch the irony of William showing up at her apartment in need and finding a stranger at the door just like his mother found a stranger at her door 60 years ago? For William, Julia was a strong connection, indeed his first connection to his mother's true story. Apparently Julia did not get the irony or make the connection. Instead Julia thinks about herself, all she's done for him, and then scolds him so he murmurs an apology like a child. This is not a great start to a new romance. She's just trained him how to respond to her irrational, narcissistic feelings. He apologizes and she manages a smile that I imagine as a bit condescending. Its as if she goes from being the abused to being the abuser. I realize that happens in real life, but in this book Julia's behavior was tiring.

However...

Movie poster (2010)

The strength of this book lies in Sarah's story and the initial part of Julia's story. What most readers seem to appreciate about this book is the history that it teaches about the French government's collaboration with the Nazis and the decades of silence surrounding the transportation of 76,000 Jewish people from France during WWII. As one of the characters says, a man who had dedicated his life to identifying those murdered by the Nazis, "The truth is harder than ignorance" (124). He tells Julia not to judge her French husband's family too harshly because although there was "a considerable amount of Parisian indifference" to the plight of Jewish neighbors, people also "feared for their lives" under Nazi occupation (126). Throughout the narrative it is made clear that many, if not most, contemporary French citizens are ignorant about what happened or are still indifferent to what happened. During her research, Julia sees historical commemorative plaques throughout the county that blame only "Hitlerism" or the Nazis for what happened, with no mention that it was the French government and police who did the Nazis' dirty work (pages 143, 145).

It was a complicated time and simply pointing fingers isn't helpful. Sarah's Key doesn't set out to condemn the French, but to explore what happened through the character of Sarah and also showing how the past still impacts the present through Julia's story. Although I was annoyed by the character of Julia, I do recommend this novel to those who are interested in Holocaust studies and French history.

I'm looking forward to seeing how Julia's character is portrayed in the movie. If anyone has read the book and seen the movie, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

2011-09-03T01:08:00.001-05:00

Cather's birth house . . . which I didn't see.

On my summer vacation I went to see another house that Willa Cather lived in.

Regular readers of WildmooBooks know that Red Cloud, Nebraska is Mecca for Cather fans. It's where Cather lived from the time she was nine until she left for college as a teenager. Friends and loved ones have heard, ad nauseum, about my visits to Red Cloud and the Cather family home there.

Cather is typically associated with Nebraska, but she was actually born in Virginia (and never lived in Nebraska after college, but that's grist for another post). Oddly enough, even though I've driven through Virginia dozens and dozens of times and even lived next door in North Carolina, I'd never thought of visiting Cather's Virginia homes. Until this summer.

There are two Willa Cather homes to see in Gore, VA. The first is her birth home, the home of her grandparents where she lived until she was about a year old. The second home is Willow Shade, where she lived from the age of one to nine when her family moved to Nebraska.

After spending a glorious week on the Outer Banks of North Carolina we headed to Gore, VA, known as Back Creek Valley when Cather lived there.

We left the Outer Banks in the morning at a humane hour and drove first to Staunton, VA to have lunch with an old friend. After that we headed north on I-81 where I became unreasonably excited upon seeing signs for Winchester and Romney, towns that are mentioned in Cather's novel, Sapphira and The Slave Girl (1940), which I had just finished re-reading because it seemed the right thing to do in preparation for visiting Gore. Sapphira was the last novel that Cather published and the only one set in the Virginia of her childhood.

At Winchester we took Hwy 50 West toward Gore. The first sign that we were in Cather territory was spotting a gas station and convenience store called Cather's Market. We stopped for gas and I tried to chat with the woman behind the counter, but she wasn't a big talker. She was, to be fair, trying to work. Yes, years ago someone with the Cather name did own the market, but I'm told it is now owned by someone else.

When I said we were looking for Cather's birth home and Willow Shade, she said to just keep going west on 50 and we'd see a bunch of signs. Perhaps she phoned ahead when we left and had someone to take the signs down, because we only saw one sign. I spotted Willow Shade which is shaded from the road by not just by a willow, but by a whole bunch of trees. The house is smack-dab next to the highway and situated a bit lower than the road, so if you're driving the speed limit and never saw a picture of the house, you'd probably miss it.


This is Willow Shade, the house Cather lived in from ages 1-9 and described by her in Sapphira and The Slave Girl. The home is privately owned and we didn't want to bother anyone, so this was as close as we got. Taken from the side-road at the driveway.

The historic marker for the house, which is not really near the house, but a ways west of the house. In fact, if you're standing next to the sign there are two houses that you can see through the trees before you'd spot Willow Shade. However, I think the sign placement is more about safety--its situated on a clearing where you can pull over and park.

This historic marker for Willow Shade is B17. Historical marker B18 is for Cather's birth home, but we were unable to find that marker. Wish I had a smart phone. We drove up and down 50 several times and around the town of Gore, but never saw the marker. The guy working at the general store in Gore didn't know about the birth house (but he did know about Willow Shade). I had seen pictures of Willow Shade many times over the years in books about Cather, so I knew what to look for, but I didn't recall seeing pictures of the birth home so I didn't know what to look for. I think it might have been one of two houses on the north side of 50, west of Willow Shade, but I'm not sure.

I found a disturbing post by LL Golem on her Whole Wheat Rising blog about how Cather's birth home is slowly being eaten away by termites and has fallen into disrepair. Even though the home has been on the National Register of Historic Places since November 16, 1978, the current owner is under no obligation to maintain the house. And there's a comment on LL's post from Ann Romines, a prominent Cather scholar, who says, "In recent years, local government, local scholars, Cather family members, and other concerned persons have made efforts to buy and restore the house, to no avail." How can this be? Cather's reputation has grown in recent decades, so it seems doubly odd that the home of one of America's most respected literary figures is being left to rot.

If you plan on going to check out Cather's VA homes, it will help to know what the houses look like.

There isn't any Cather fanfare in Gore at this time. However, across the street from Willow Shade, there is a new housing development in the works. The street is called Willa Cather Lane and lots are going for just under $100,000.

Did you have any literary adventures this summer?

Kissing the Witch by Emma Donoghue

2011-08-26T17:39:00.001-05:00

Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins
Emma Donoghue
Joanna Cotler Books/HarperCollins, 1997
ISBN: 0-06-440772-1
Source: Library (inter-library loan from Grande Prairie Public Library)

Kissing the Witch is the third book that I've read by Donoghue in the last 12 months. In January I read Slammerkin and last September I read Room. I loved all three.

I read Kissing the Witch for a book group. I'd known about the book from checking out Donoghue's oeuvre, but fairy tales aren't my cup of tea so I hadn't been tempted to read it. Even as a kid I didn't get into them all that much. As an adult one of my aunts bought me a book of fairy tales re-told with a feminist edge. They were funny, at the time, but unmemorable.

Emma Donoghue's tales, on the other hand, will stick with me for a while. She doesn't just re-tell or re-package these fairy tales and characters, she completely re-visions them. She shows the back-story to how some of the classic characters got to be where they are and how they are (evil stepmother, reclusive witch, Rapunzel, etc) and has produced an empowering, yet not overwhelming group of 13 interconnected tales that are entertaining and at times funny, but also serious and instructive. And they're so beautifully & tightly written that I've already re-read some of them for the sheer enjoyment of seeing how Donoghue casts her spell as a writer. I'm putting this one on my wish list.

One of my favorites is "The Tale of The Voice." Its a cautionary tale of being careful about what you ask for, the dangers of obsession, and the consequences of not valuing oneself. The beauty of this tale is that the woman who throws herself over for a man she's after is not a young, inexperienced girl, but a grown women who'd "already ripped out my first gray hair" (185). She gets the man she thinks she's in love with, but like so many women in real life, she looses her voice.

The Grande Prairie Library shelves Kissing the Witch in the young adult section, but this is a book for women and men of all ages. I highly recommend it to those who enjoy fairy tales and fantasy, short stories, and uplifting but not simplistic tales. Its a quick, highly satisfying read.

The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch

2011-08-19T17:04:00.001-05:00

Title: The Hangman's Daughter

(Die Henkerstochter)

Author: Oliver Potzsch

Translated from German by: Lee Chadeayne

Edition I read: AmazonCrossing, 2010 (ISBN 978-1-935597-06-6)

Source: bought it

Now also available from Mariner Books.

I noticed ads for this book on various book related websitesrecently and added it to my TBR list. A Mariner Books edition was just releasedon August 2, 2011, hence the ads, but several weeks ago I stumbled across a 2010 Amazon Crossingedition at a local used bookstore, The Frugal Muse. I'm interested in reading German mysteriesand contemporary fiction that have been translated into English and with thehype that this book was receiving I jumped on it.

The story is primarily about Jakob Kuisl, an executioner in 17thcentury Germany (Schongau, Bavaria), who must torture and possibly execute MarthaStechlin, the local midwife, for witchcraft unless he can prove her innocence. Many of the local burghers thinkshe murdered a child. She delivered the children of many of these people, butthe year is 1659 and most people are quick to yell witch or devil whenanything happens out of the ordinary. While Martha's in prison, more childrendie, the local warehouse is burned, and the construction site of the new home forlepers is sabotaged. The mob wants the witch to burn and the town leaders wanta quick resolution for financial reasons. It's an age when a common belief is that "torture will lead us to the truth" (168). Let's hope that believe doesn't make more of a return than it already has in recent years.

German cover

Jakob's daughter, Magdalena, for whom the novel is named,isn't a major character in the story in terms of time spent on the page, but she does play an important role here and there. However, I think it was misleading to title this book The Hangman's Daughter, but apparently having the word "girl" (or something close to it) in thetitle of a book is hot these days due to the popularity of the Millennium Trilogy. In case you're wondering, it does carry the same title in German (Die Henkerstochter). Magdalena isin love with the local physician's son, Simon Fronwieser, who is an apprenticephysician to his father, but he's more temperamentally and intellectuallycompatible with Jakob than with his own father. As a hangman's daughter and aphysician's son, their love is verboten, but Simon becomes Jakob's side-kick.

And then there's the devil, the creepy bad guy, and his lackeys as well as a group of plucky orphans of which only two are left, two tough little girls.

It sounded like a good book to me, but I'm sorry to say that it just didn't grip me like the ads suggested it would. I can't tell if this is due to the translation of the book or the story itself. There are three primary issues I had with the book: pacing, atmosphere, and character.

The pacing of the novel is not fast, but that doesn't matter much to me if the story is good. However, this book dragged in parts. The edition that I read is 431 pages long. I hate it when reviewers say a hundred or so pages could have been cut from a book (really, which 100 pages, smarty pants?), but I had that feeling with this book, particularly toward the end, during the last 130 pages or so.

Also, I expect historical mysteries to be a bit more atmospheric. The Hangman's Daughter mentions the narrow streets filled with mud and the slop from chamber pots, but I never got the sense of people actually living and breathing in these streets. There were stereotypical scenes of someone falling in muck, getting his nice leather boots dirty, but not what it would be like to live in the town day after day. The cultural expectations that bind people to their roles and out of which there is virtually no hope of escaping is presented more as fact than as feeling. Even Magdalena and Simon's forbidden love isn't presented in an emotional way. Again, there are the stereotypical scenes where the reader is told that people are talking about their scandalous love and the girl's father even finds them in the barn, complete with hay in Magdalena's hair.

And this leads me to the issue of the characters. In the beginning there were glimmers of well-rounded characters to come, complex characters (young Jakob watched his father botch an execution and vowed never to become an executioner...then 35 years later there he is, after serving as a solider in the Thirty Years' War he became an executioner after all, but not for the reasons you'd think). Magdalena is presented as a young woman with some spark, someone who knows her herbs, but then she fades away only to pop up again to move the plot along. And that's how the characters ended up feeling to me--like plot devices.

So who would want to read this novel after reading my criticism? Let me point out that I DID finish this novel, which says a lot, since it seems like this year I've stopped reading more novels than in all the years of my life combined. So, I liked it enough to keep reading, there seemed to be so much potential, and I wanted to see where Potzsch would take things. Much of what I said above could, perhaps, be attributed to the translation. I'd love to hear from other readers about this book, especially if you read it in German.

Book Two!

There is a sequel. Die Henkerstochter und der schwarze Mönch, The Hangman's Daughter and the Black Monk, but it's only available in German at this time.

Oliver Potzsch is a direct descendent of the Kuisl dynasty of executioners from Bavaria, so he has a unique perspective on things. I think Potzsch has great talent and I look forward to reading his next book. I'd recommend The Hangman's Daughter to avid mystery readers, particularly those who enjoy historical mysteries, but its probably not going to float your boat if you don't regularly read mysteries or historical fiction. Also take not that there is some gross, violent content, but nothing that is prolonged.

Overall, this story is fresh and the characters have great potential to become more fleshed out in future novels, but the, ahem, execution just wasn't there for me.

Library: Hines VA Hospital, IL

2011-08-15T06:00:00.005-05:00

Edward Hines, Jr. Veterans Hospital
Medical Library
5000 South 5th Avenue
Hines, IL 60141

While making my way through the sprawling buildings and halls ofEdward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital on Friday, I discovered that they have a library. I had about five hours to kill between appointments and figuredI’d find a place to hang out and read…who knew it would be in an actuallibrary? Home is close enough, but why drive back and forth when I can sit somewhere and read just as easily as at home?

The library isn't included in current maps of the hospital complex and that may be because its not a general use public library; it is medical library mainly used by doctors, employees, and the occasional veteran. One of the librarians I talked with said that they're in the process of considering a new location for the library or perhaps a remodel. I heard someone else telling two visitors that an area of the library may be the location of a new lounge that will serve Starbucks coffee. There's a coffee shop in the main hospital that already serves Starbucks. The VA is on the ball: no more reliance on nasty coffee vending machines.

Hines VA hospital first opened in 1921. They are currently in the midst of another beautification and modernization project. I haven't been inside Hines for decades and things have definitely changed for the better. The new women's clinic which opened there last year is rather swank. I am assuming that the upcoming library move or remodel is part of the larger Hines upgrade.


View from the entrance.

The library currently resides in the north end of building 1, the longest building on the Hines campus. Overall, the library has a late 1960s, early 1970s vibe toit. The librarian told me that they occasionally have to glue down the faux wood grain laminate.


Library map.

View of the study area.

Reference desk and computers for patron use (internet connected).

The library houses primarily medical journals and books as well as a couple dozen or so militaryreference books. What caught my eye are the shelves of give-away mass marketpaperback books: lots of mysteries, some military action, with a few classicsmixed in. I picked two: Bury MyHeart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown and The Summer Before The Dark by Doris Lessing. If you should find yourself at the Hines library and want to take a book, check with the librarian: people have often walked off with books they thought were free that weren't.

It’s funny how bookspop up when you need them. I’ve long thought about reading Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Before leaving the house on Friday morning I scrolled through The Independent’s list of The Ten Best History Books and Bury My Heart was on that list. I thought to myself that Ireally should get around to reading it and then, just a couple hours later, I stumble across a free copy. If the Gods and Goddesses wanted to send me a clearer message that itwas time for me to read this book, I can’t imagine what it would be. (Note tothe Gods and Goddess: that is not a challenge!)

Anyway, as I sat in the library and did some reading and paperwork, the steady hum of the industrial strength air conditioners helpedto drown out the people whispering (one in English and onein Polish) on their cell phones, which are not supposed to be used in the library, and the voicesfrom the conference room where some folks in a meeting decided it was okayfor all of us to hear what they were discussing. Still, this is one of the quieter smalllibraries that I’ve been in recently. I can't recall when the last time was that I heard a librarian actually make the "Shh!" sound.

There’s no wifi at the Hines library, which may make it the bestlibrary in the area for me and others with short attention spans do some serious writing when using a laptop. I’m still trying to break myself of thedelusion that I can “quickly just check my email.”

There are educational displays throughout the library that focus on health or military history. I'll leave you with a series of pictures of a display that I particularly enjoyed about women's military service throughout American history. You should be able to click on the image to see a larger, readable version.

Back in the Saddle

2011-08-10T20:26:00.003-05:00

It's obvious that I haven't posted for several weeks. Starting a new work schedule threw me a bit off-kilter and then Borders announcing its liquidation knocked the wind out of my sails. As a long-time Borders employee (11 years), I certainly knew the company was in financial trouble. We were all hoping a knight in shining armor would rescue us, but, alas, it was not to be. I may write more about my Borders experience in the future, but for now I just wanted to drop you all a note to say that as of this week I'll be back to my regular, at least once-a-week posting schedule.

In the mean time, if you're on Facebook check out the new I Love Reading page which was created as an antidote to I Hate Reading (which is an aggregate "page").

Iron House by John Hart

2011-07-18T14:03:00.003-05:00

Iron House
by John Hart
St. Martin's Press
Published: July 12, 2011
ISBN Hardcover: 978-0-312-38034-2 ($25.99)
ISBN eBook: 978-1-4299-9031-8 ($12.99)
432 pages
I read an Advance Readers' Edition received from the publisher.

Iron House sucked me in fast and it was hard to put down. I was in the mood for a good page-turner and this book left me satisfied.

Michael is a trained killer with a heart who has fallen in love and wants out of the mob business after his girlfriend, Elena, tells him she's pregnant. As a teenager Michael had been taken in by a mob boss who'd heard about the tough orphan who controlled his own little piece of the streets of New York City after fleeing from a brutal orphanage in North Carolina. The mob boss becomes the father he never had, a father who loves Michael more than he does his biological son. The mob boss released Michael from the business, but the two guys left in charge of the business don't agree with the old man's decision. The old man dies and everything hits the fan. Elena's life is on the line and then so is Julian's life. Julian is Michael's younger brother, the brother he hasn't seen since the night he ran away from the orphanage with a bloody knife in his hand.

Michael finds himself running from the only family he knew in order to protect the new family he wants only to get tangled up in the lies and secrets of the old family he didn't know he had. There's a wealthy senator and his beautiful wife, brutal boys, sadistic men, and lots of dead bodies in this story, but ultimately its about love and family and how love and family mean different things at different times to different people. There are several scenes with graphic violence involving torture but they are not gratuitous within the context of the story and convey the seriousness of the situation and show why some psychic wounds run so deep.

***Spoiler alert start*** Don't read the next paragraph if you plan on reading this novel.
There is one hole in the novel and although it doesn't weaken the story that much, it is rather obvious, and so I feel obligated to mention it. For the first 148 pages, Michael is pretty much obsessed with keeping Elena glued to his side and safe from Jimmy (the man who trained him to be a killer) and Stevan (his brother, the boss's biological son) who are out to kill her for revenge. But after Elena and Michael have a disagreement, he doesn't go after her when she leaves, saying she needs time away. He doesn't worry about her safety for another 146 pages, he just pines for her and hope she calls. I can understand why Hart wrote it this way because during this time a whole lot of other plot details unfold that advance the story, but it is a pronounced lapse in the characterization of Michael. I don't see any other way around this problem, other than having Michael chase after her, but then the other details would not have unfolded. Or, he could have re-written the novel using a more omniscient point of view, but then the reader wouldn't be as attached to Michael and his predicament.
***alert over***

Iron House is the first novel I've read by John Hart. His first three books were NYT bestsellers and he's won two Edgar Awards. I decided to give Iron House a try because my friend Lynette loved his previous books and its that personal recommendation that I value most.

If you're looking for a new thriller this summer, Iron House is a good one. It's an action story and a bit of a love story, a thriller that's about the deep wounds that only one's family of origin can inflict, and the potential healing power of love.

The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart

2011-07-11T13:13:00.000-05:00

First edition cover

The Circular Staircase

Mary Roberts Rinehart
Bobbs-Merrill, September 1908

ebook via Project Gutenberg

While browsing around Project Gutenberg, I came upon books by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876-1958). Her name sounded vaguely familiar. Does it to you, too? Upon Googeling her name and seeing her accomplishments, I figured I had to have read about her in the past either through studying women writers or mystery writers.

Here are a few facts about Rinehart:

She was considered the American Agatha Christie
She created the Had-I-But-Know school of mystery writing
She's credited with creating the phrase "The butler did it"
She created a costumed super criminal called The Bat which became Bob Kane's inspiration for Batman

You can read more about Rinehart here at Wikipedia or check out Mike Grost's more detailed assessment of her writing here.

The Circular Staircase is a good story and a good mystery. I thought I had it figured it out a few times but then I didn't. Even when I did, it didn't play out exactly like I'd thought it would.

When reading "old" novels, I'm sometimes more interested in the historical tidbits and cultural artifacts which are mentioned. In this book my favorite was Wrinkle Eliminators:

1905 ad for Wrinkle Eradicators. Image source click here.

I can often over-look stilted language or simplistic plots in older novels. In the case of The Circular Staircase I feel like I got the best of everything. The novel was published in 1908 and I thought the main character's voice --Rachel Innes, through whose perspective we get the story--was fresh and consistent through out. Rachel Innes, or Aunt Ray as her niece and nephew call her, is a filthy rich society lady who rents a house outside of the city for six months while her home is being remodeled. Strange things have been going on at the house she rents and rumor are starting. Reading this so soon after The Haunting of Hill House, I was, like Eleanor, susceptible to suggestion. Some of the servants fear the place is haunted.

The house belongs to a Mr. Armstrong, owner of a local back who has left for California with his wife, step-daughter, and his doctor. Strange noises are heard in the house at night, a figure is seen standing outside in the dark, and scrape marks are found on the stairs. Armstrong's son is then shot dead in the house, the blast awakens the entire household and the mystery is off in high gear. Why didn't Armstrong use a key? Who was in the house that would want him dead? The niece and nephew start acting weird, the Armstrong bank fails, and the niece's fiancé is implicated. The strange noises continue. More strange figures are seen around the house. Servants come and go.

Rinehart

I didn't read any criticism before reading the novel and I'm glad I didn't. Some reviews make Rinehart's books sound simplistic and dated, but, like I said, that wasn't my experience. Yes, there are some attitudes and references that may repel contemporary readers. Most glaring is referring to African Americans as "darkys." But keeping the time period in mind, the main black character, Thomas the butler, was a slave in his younger years. The Civil War had ended just about 40 years before this novel was written. I have no idea what Rinehart's personal racial views were, but she seems to use racial attitudes to complicate the plot. Thomas is found with nearly $100 in his wallet (which was a lot of dough in 1908). Mr Jamieson, the detective, says, "Almost two month's wages--and yet those darkies seldom have a penny. Well--what Thomas knew will be buried with him" (83). I did not get the impression that Jamieson is racist. Is he just using the current lingo and stating a socio-economic assumption of the time period? Or is Rinehart using readers' racial attitudes (if they're racist) to throw them off from solving the murder?

If you like classic mysteries, check it out. There are several sites from which you may download a free digital edition. I got mine from Project Gutenberg here.

Library: Iowa City 2fer: Carnegie & New

2011-07-05T06:00:00.013-05:00

On a recent literary themed day-trip to Iowa City with some friends, a must-see on my list was the old Carnegie Library. The new public library is right across the street. Below are some pictures of both.

First, the old...

Carnegie Library

212 South Linn Street

Iowa City, IA

Dedicated: October 27, 1904

Cost: $35,000

Current use: apartments

We thought it was very cool that the Carnegie Library building is now used as apartments . . . until we got closer. No offense to those who live there, but the building has that aura of neglect that often infects older dwellings in college towns. I've lived in my fair share of those, but never one so cool as an old library.

The tiny people in front from left to right are me, Missy, and Ruth.

Can you see the fake owl circled above? The landlord or someone is trying to keep the pigeons away . . . but judging from the amount of pigeon poop directly below, unless the owl was a very recent addition, it is not working. My aunt once tried a fake owl on her apartment balcony and it didn't work for her either.

Sign in one of the apartment windows. Apparently pigeon poop around the front entrance isn't the only problem tenants face.

Neat gate . . . probably Poe-creepy at night.

Now the new...

Iowa City Public Library
123 South Linn Street
Iowa City, IA

Diagonally across the street from the old Carnegie library.
Originally opened: 1981
Designed by: Engberg Anderson Design Partnership of Milwaukee, WI
Built by: Knutson Construction
Renovated & expanded in 2004
Square feet: 81,276

2010 statistics:

Library card holders: 67,036
Visits: 746,556
Circulation: 1,513,052
Books: 175,589
Non-print items: 36,062
Print & electronic references: 6,789
Periodicals & newspapers: 527

The new Iowa City Public Library. Picture taken from the steps of the Carnegie building.


The new library is in the Ped Mall, the heart of downtown Iowa City. Library in the background. Pictured are my road trippin' book buddies: Missy, Cayt, and Ruth.

Inside view near circulation.

The Book End: the library's used bookstore. I purchased a copy of Tea Obreht's The Tiger's Wife here for $5. Hardcover. A steal. My friend Cayt was reading it and highly recommended it. The librarian looked at it forlornly when she was ringing me up as she didn't know they had a copy. This was before the book won the Orange Prize, back when Emma Donoghue's Room was the top contender for the award.

A model of the Carnegie Library on display in the reference section.

Take note: cameras in the restrooms.

What kid wouldn't want to run through this colorful entrance into the land of books? Or, if they prefer, the stairs to the right lead to a slide that little ones may use to enter their section of the library.

Playhouse made of books in the kids section. I want one.

The new library is open and airy throughout. This is the main foyer.

Plaque in the main foyer

My next post will feature some of the non-library literary sites that we visited in Iowa City.

The Boo by Pat Conroy

2011-06-24T23:53:00.000-05:00

The Boo

Pat Conroy

New York: Open Road, 2010

eBook edition

ISBN: 9781453206409

My life as a PatConroy fan is complete, or at least up to date. I can now say I've read everything that the man has published. I've know about The Boo for some time, but I've never found a copy in a bookstore or library. I stumbled upon the book ebook on Kobo.com and decided to go for it. It's the first book Conroy published. He self-published it and the proceeds went into a gift fund for Citadel graduates killed in Vietnam.

The Boo, written in 1969, ten years before The Lords of Discipline, is a tribute to Lt. Colonel Thomas Nugent Courvoisie of The Citadel. The Boo is a nickname given to Courvoisie by a cadet. The Boo served The Citadel as Assistant Commandant of Cadets from 1961 to 1968 and later in a less glamorous position as the Supply and Property Officer. Courvoisie's demotion from his prominent position to working in supply was the impetus for Conroy's writing the tribute.

1st edition cover

Courvoisie entered The Citadel as a cadet in 1934 and was honorably discharged after three years. He returned in 1950 as a veteran student and graduated with the class of 1952. After his retirement from the Army in 1961, Courvoisie was appointed to the post of Assistant Commandant of Cadets. He became a favorite among the cadets, a man not to be trifled with but who had a knack for understanding the needs of young men enduring the rigors of military school. The cadets feared and loved him, but when newer leadership arrived at the school they wanted him gone. He was too popular, too well-loved, and threatened the less creative thinkers in "leadership" positions.

Conroy wrote The Boo to right a wrong, as he says, to try to get Courvoisie's job back, to show The Citadel the egregious nature of its mistake in demoting The Boo. In an introduction that he wrote for the second edition of the book, Conroy says that The Boo is The Lords of Discipline in embryo and that it "represents the best instincts of the boy I once was" (13). There's no doubt about that. You hear a young man with a profound sense of justice trying to understand abusive situations that defy reason.

The Citadel, founded in 1842, is also known as The Military College of South Carolina. Conroy writes in his preface that,

"The Citadel was very comfortable with the nineteenth century but has had some trouble adjusting to the twentieth. . . . The Citadel prides itself on being one of the last protectorates of right-wing conservatism in the country. Its proudest moment occurred when two cadets from the school fired a cannon at the Star of the West, a Union ship trying to relieve the Northern garrison in Fort Sumter. This was the opening shot of the War Between the States and The Citadel's transcendent moment of historical definition. The Citadel was occupied by Union troops after the War and was not allowed to reopen until 1882. It is still one of the last places in America where a Brooklyn boy can learn to become a southerner and where a southerner can learn to become a Confederate" (13).

Conroy and The Boo in 2000

Its writing things like the above and The Boo and The Lords of Discipline that has not endeared Conroy to The Citadel. Indeed, The Boo was banned at the college and Conroy's name was mud for decades, but the rift was mended in recent years. I read The Lords of Discipline while in high school 25+ years ago and saw the movie, too, and although I understood the repulsion toward the school and its traditions, I also felt the attraction. Conroy is a master at conveying the love-hate relationship, be it between a father and a son or an institution and an individual.

Some descriptions of The Boo make it sound like a novel or a bit of non-fiction narrative about one boy with an abusive father caught up in the drama of The Citadel who finds a tough mentor in Courvoisie, but it is not. The book is a collection of anecdotes and reports about cadet life along with some pleas for fathers to drop their anger and violence toward their sons and instead to give those sons the love they crave from their fathers. There's some Great Santini embryo cells in here, too.

Apparently there were thoughts of Conroy rewriting the book for the paperback edition--jazz it up, smooth it out--but he decided not to. He says, "I owe the boy who wrote this book the kindness of not condescending to the best he could do at that time. And it would take too long, and there are other things I want to write about now" (16). I like that about Conroy, that he respects who he was and is living in the present.

The Boo will be of interest to hardcore Conroy fans or those with an interest in the military in general or The Citadel in particular.

Historic Desecration or Necessary Infrastructure Update?

2011-06-23T14:51:00.001-05:00

As regular readers of WildmooBooks know, Willa Cather is my favorite author. I'm a card-carrying-member of the Willa Cather Foundation* and I have a Google alert set up for her name so that I can keep up-to-date on Cather news as it happens.

A news story arrived in my in-box today that the Nebraska Department of Roads wants to pave-over the historic red brick roads of Red Cloud with concrete.

There are some smooth, groved "dips" in these brick roads (I was just there in March), but I've seen deeper dips or even hazardous, lumpy historic roads that are much, much worse. We've all probably seen deeper dips in roads that are much, much newer (albeit, usually with much, much heavier traffic). I understand that responsible state planners have to try to stay in-front of the curve when it comes to infrastructure maintenance, but in this case I wonder whether the scale should tip toward historic preservation rather than infrastructure enhancement. And perhaps it makes me sound cynical, but I also can't help but wonder who will benefit economically from the project.

Historic, literary tourism is one of the main attractions of Red Cloud, so to take away such an integral part of the historic ambiance would seem to have a potentially negative impact on the economic vitality of the town.

Looks beautiful to me

Below is the text of the news article and you can click here to watch the video.

"Historic red brick roads in Red Cloud could be paved over"
By Rachel Lake
From the Willa Cather Foundation to historic downtown, visiting Red Cloud is like stepping back in time.

But could infrastructure improvements threaten the historical ambiance?

At a Red Cloud council meeting last week, Nebraska Department of Roads proposed a plan that would replace downtown's brick roads with concrete. A plan many merchants and residents call a bad idea.

You can pass through Red Cloud in the blink of an eye, but if you decide to stop and take a look around, you'll notice historic downtown with its streetlamps, awning and red brick streets.

It's part of the heritage of Red Cloud.

Editor and Manager of The Red Cloud Chief Harriett Zade couldn't agree more.

"I can't imagine Red Cloud without the brick streets," she said. This is something I grew up with and this is part of our history."

But, Nebraska Department of Roads can.

Built in 1917, Webster Street used to support horse and buggy. Almost 100 years later, it now supports large semis and farm equipment as part of Highway 281.

"It's kind of sad there's no alternative way so the big trucks don't have to go through because I know that does take a toll on the road," said resident Candy Bell.

The NDOR wants to replace the bricks with concrete.

"I think they should leave them alone, it's historical," said Kim Shannon, Red Cloud resident. "It goes with our buildings and truly how long do these highways last. These have been here for 80 years you go down the highways they deteriorate after six or seven years.

Zade adds, "You can go to the city and see cement streets and I think in a rural area it's really unique to come to a small town and see the original brick streets that were in the past."

But some wonder how much longer these streets will last.

The Department of Roads plan would be implemented in 2017.

City council stresses nothing is set in stone. But, committee has been formed to come up with an alternative to the plan.

###

Call me a romantic, but when my tires hit brick roads, I get all tingly inside. It's almost like a magical transformation back into time.

*They don't really give you a membership card, but if you're a fan of Willa Cather, I encourage you to become a member and support the cause.

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The Boo by Pat Conroy

Historic Desecration or Necessary Infrastructure Update?

"Historic red brick roads in Red Cloud could be paved over"

By Rachel Lake