Jane Austen redux

The talk around the Circulation Desk this morning was of the WGBH’s new version of Emma. Two people liked it and two did not. I didn’t even finish watching the whole episode. I am in the middle of listening to Emma on tape read by Prunella Scales who plays Miss Bates in the Kate Beckinsdale version. It is so funny that the television show paled in comparison. The show just didn’t give the combination of poking fun at and really caring for the characters that Austen does so well. What do others think?

We also were talking about reading a Jane Austen book together with one of the books based on her books. Any one think of a good pairing?

Best Books of 2009

I am just putting the finishing touches on the Best Books of 2009 list. I’m publishing it with the NextReads e-newsletter program so it has pictures and blurbs as well as clickable links to the catalog. What books have been your favorites of the past year? I haven’t read all that many on the list, but I really liked The Help and The Girl who Played with Fire but I also found Dog On It by Spencer Quinn and the Louise Penny mysteries were the ones I talked to people about.

Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

The Anthologist by Nicholson Baker

Complete stories of J.G. Ballard by J.G. Ballard

Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt

Await your reply by Dan Chaon

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Spooner by Pete Dexter

Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow

Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Tinkers by Paul Harding

Believers by Zoe Heller

Blame by Michelle Huneven

Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem

Vagrants by Yiyun Li

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

Love in Infant Monkeys by Lydia Millett

Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin

Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro

Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk

Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips

Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower

Love and Summer by William Trevor

This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Short History of Women by Kate Walbert

Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter

McCarthy Era in Fiction and Nonfiction

By happenstance earlier this fall, I happened to read two books that touched on the effects of the McCarthy hearings. Both books made me want to read more about this time. Walter Cronkite’s A Reporter’s Life talks a little bit about the effects of the “witch hunts” on some of his colleagues. Sara Paretsky’s mystery Blacklist uses the hearings as the secret behind some murders in the suburbs of Chicago. Both books are very interesting.

I have heard good things about the movie about Edgar R. Murrow, Good Night,  and Good Luck, but I haven’t seen it yet.

Here are some other books that will might interest readers about McCarthy, the Communist party in America and the fifties in general.

Blacklisted by history : the untold story of Senator Joe McCarthy and his fight against America’s enemies  by M. Stanton  Evans

Reds : McCarthyism in twentieth-century America by Ted  Morgan

The Redhunter : a novel based on the life and times of Senator Joe McCarthy  by William F. Buckley

American inquisition: the era of McCarthyism by  Ellen Schrecker

The red flag : a history of communism by David Priestland

Shooting star : the brief arc of Joe McCarthy  by Tom Wicker

McCarthy and the fear of communism in American history by Karen Zeinert.

The life and times of Joe McCarthy by Thomas Reeves

The McCarthy hearings by Philip Brooks

The red and the blacklist : the intimate memoir of a Hollywood expatriate by Norma Barzman

Words at war : World War II era radio drama and the postwar broadcasting industry blacklist by Howard Blue

Refugees from Hollywood : a journal of the blacklist years  by Jean Rouverol

Hollywood exile, or, How I learned to love the blacklist by Bernard Gordon

Tender comrades : a backstory of the Hollywood blacklist  by Patrick McGilligan

Inside out : a memoir of the blacklist by Walter Bernstein

Fellow travelers by Thomas Mallon

Sisters in Crime Talk

The Sisters in Crime authors, Mary-Ann Tirone Smith, Cindy Davis and Hank Phillippi Ryan, were wonderful! Their talks inspired the teens at the afternoon high school panel and the adults at the evening presentation. I recorded the evening talk and you can listen to it (as soon as I get it to work right.) Just get past the rustling papers at the beginning. I don’t have the software to edit my recordings yet. Jan at the library took some wonderful pictures to go along with the two I took at the evening program.

Two anecdotes stick out in my mind. Tirone Smith, in response to a question about how she gets her ideas, said that sometimes she starts with a picture in her head. One time she thought of an image of a young girl peeking out from behind a beach chair. In her head, Tirone Smith pulled back a little from the image and saw a sort-of bum sitting in the chair. A little further back, and it turned out that the chair was on a beach and it had to be Miami Beach. Thinking a little more and she “recognized” the bum as a member of the infamous Chicago Black Sox. From there the story, Port of Missing Men, developed.

The second anecdote came from Hank Phillippi Ryan. She has always been interested in mysteries and writing fiction, but couldn’t figure out a good plot. Then one day as she was clearing her email box of spam she accidentally opened one about refinancing. To her surprise the contents of the email read more like a passage from Shakespeare. She wondered if it was some kind of code. This became the plot of her first novel, Agatha award winner, Prime Time.

The authors also shared their suggestions for beginning writers.
1) Write every day.
2) Take a course or join a writing group.
3) Read some of the wonderful books out there about writing such as Stephen King’s On Writing and Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel by Hallie Ephron (on order.)

Grand Summer for Reading

Some summers I am very disappointed in my “free reads”, those books I read without intending them for book discussions. This year almost everything I’ve read has been great.

Two of the books I listened were audiobooks which is good because I would probably have “cheated” and looked at the ending if they were print books.

The Book of Murder by Guillermo Martinez is told essentially from 3 people’s points of view. A secretary to two authors becomes certain that the deaths of her fiance, parents and brother have be caused somehow by a famous author who blames her for his daughter’s death. But how could he have killed these people so that it looks accidental? The 2nd author is asked to investigate. Throughout the whole book one is not sure whether the deaths were murder or coincidence.

The 13th Tale by Diane Setterfield is our afternoon book discussion book for September. While it started slowly, it soon becomes riveting as we hear the “story” of a pair of twins, their seriously dysfunctional family and a mysterious fire. But, is the story the truth or is it just the old woman’s fictional memories? The book pays homage to Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights with noises in the night and ghosts and governesses.

Three that I’d read are Run by Ann Patchett (of Bel Canto fame), The Girl who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson and That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo. Russo is one of my favorite writers and this fairly short book provides the wonderful ironic yet sweet look at family dynamics that he is so good at. Patchett’s book will be our December evening discussion book. Her story takes place in Cambridge, MA, and focuses on an unfortunate car accident that brings together two families who share a past.

Steig Larsson authored three books before his death. They follow the story of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist through their meeting in the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, their separation in Played with Fire and who knows what in the 3rd book to be published. The characters are fascinating — especially Lisbeth, who is a hacker extraordinaire! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time I read the first two books.

Summer Reading 2009

There are so many good books that come out in time for summer reading that my holds list becomes overwhelming. Especially since I don’t “have” to read the book discussion books.

When I look at my favorite authors, more than half of the top ten are fantasy novels.  (And some may argue that Jane Austen and Patrick O’brian are writing fantasy that is just set in the real world. ) One of my new favorites, Brandon Sanderson, has just come out with a new standalone, Warbreaker, which has a medieval feel to it with an unusual magic. Some people in the world can absorb other people’s life spark which gives them to ability to see colors, manipulate objects and, with enough power, to manipulate people. There are, of course, many people who are trying to grab power for themselves. Two princesses, from a country that refuses to use the life spark’s power, are thrown into the power struggle. Sanderson has a large cast — all of whom are shades of gray — and I found myself caring about several of them as they had to face their changing views of right, wrong and themselves.

Another really good read is Kate Morton’s Forgotten Garden, which is a family epic told out of chronological order. We first meet Nell, a four-year-old girl who is hiding on a ship bound for Australia in 1913, left there by someone she knows as The Authoress.  We soon are introduced to Nell’s granddaughter (present day) and The Authoress Eliza (late 1800s to 1900s) as well as some secondary characters. As we bounce through time Morton reveals more of what really happened in 1913, providing some red herrings, love and even a reference to Frances Hodgson Burnett’s inspiration for The Secret Garden. Throughout the story — one of my favorite parts — are the fairy tales the Authoress writes.

Celebrate Audio Book month with a Golden Voice.

AudioFile Magazine and website has a Hall of Fame of audiobook narrators that they call the Golden Voices.

“AudioFile editors celebrate the Golden Voices of audiobooks. This Hall of Fame showcases top narrators for their exceptional audiobook work. We celebrate these actors for their commitment to the craft of audiobook narration and for their achievements in spoken-word recordings.”

Here is a linkable list of the Golden Voice award winners so you can find your own favorites.  Also check out Audiofile’s search tool to find readers by accents and genres.

• Alyssa Bresnahan
• Scott Brick
• Barbara Caruso
• David Case
• Jim Dale
• Grover Gardner
• George Guidall
• Edward Herrmann
• Dick Hill
• Derek Jacobi
• Martin Jarvis
• Simon Jones
• Garrison Keillor
• John Lee
• Miriam Margolyes
• Wanda McCaddon
• John McDonough
• Frank Muller
• Davina Porter
• Simon Prebble
• Christian Rodska
• Barbara Rosenblat
• Jay O. Sanders
• Lynne Thigpen
• Simon Vance

Two more mysteries I loved

I will probably recommend The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at our June Book Pot Luck. Stieg Larsson’s Swedish mystery was very hard to put down. The title character, Lisbeth Salander, is a damaged young woman with a photographic memory, incredible hacker skills and warped moral values. She first researches a journalist for her part-time boss and later works for and becomes involved with the journalist, Mikael Blomkvist. Most of the book is about Mikael’s search for a girl who disappeared forty years previously. In the process he unearths serial killers and industrial corruption.

The 2nd book I finished this weekend — I love Patriot’s Day! — is Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin. This is the 3rd in the series featuring Dr. Adelia Aguilar, the medieval mistress of the art of death. While the actual mystery is fairly easy to figure out, the historical background is fascinating. King Henry II is trying to bring peace to the British Isles and justice by introducing a jury system. King Arthur and Glastonbury Abbey are at the heart of the mystery this time round. If you like historical mysteries and haven’t tried this series, you are in for a treat when you do.

The Soloist wrap-up

We had a very successful Books Open Doors town-wide read this year. The books were checked out over 165 times! The programs were well received — thank you to Prof. Gary Hylander and music teacher Kim Holster. Both the trial series and the Mozart/child prodigies talk have sent people scurrying to the shelves to find out more information. See below for links to recommended books about Mozart, intelligences, and prodigies.

For those of you who missed the showing from Inspired by Bach, you can check out the whole series from the library. It truly is inspired!

We are taking suggestions for next year’s Books Open Doors. What books might you like to read that would stimulate discussion and suggest different programs? Bring your ideas to the reference desk or leave a comment here.

Suggested Mozart Books

Clarke, Bruce Cooper.  The Mozart Starter Exploring the Universe of Mozart’s Music

Eisen, Cliff and Stanley, Sadie. The New Grove Mozart.

Glover, Jane. Mozart’s Women.

Gutman, Robert W. Mozart a Cultural Biography.

Melograni, Piero. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart a Biography

Spaethling, Robert. Mozart’s Letters, Mozart’s Life.

Books on Multiple Intelligences and Creativity

Armstrong, Thomas. 7 Kinds of Smart.

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Creativity Flow and Psychology of Discovery and Invention.

Gardner, Howard. Extraordinary Minds

Gardner, Howard. Frames of Mind

Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence.

Great new mystery series

Did you read Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe series? Stout created a great sidekick in Archie Goodwin, the legs and muscle for the brainy but eccentric Nero Wolfe. Because Archie narrated the stories we would know what he knew, but Wolfe was the one who could make sense of all the clues.  Well, there’s a new sidekick in town that takes Archie’s limitations and makes a leap forward: Chet, a nearly trained police dog (if only that rabbit hadn’t showed up, ) the narrator of Spencer Quinn’s Dog On It.

Chet is partner with Bernie Little, a divorced father who works as a private eye. Chet rides “shotgun” as they explore Arizona looking for a missing teenage girl. Chet is easily distracted — a ball, a cat, a roadrunner, the wind, a donut, people scratching his head — and so misses some of the dialogue which adds to the mystery.

I am almost done listening to it, and I laugh out loud at Chet’s enthusiastic response to so many things. The action is non-stop, partly because Chet — I’m not sure what kind of dog he is — loves his life with Bernie. If you like dogs, if you like mysteries with humor and heart, catch this book!