Summer 2010
It's that time of year again when many of us have more time to read and are looking for great books to download to our ereaders, paperbacks to read on the beach or on a trip, or that hardcover that we've just been waiting to curl up with.
Thanks to all who have contributed great reading suggestions for the last list before summer. Since the list is long, I'm just going to say, Happy Reading!
Shusterman, Neal. Unwind. [F Shusterman]
The setting: the United States, in a future not so distant from now. After a the violent Second Civil War, pro-life and pro-choice sides have reached a compromise. From 0-13, life is sacred. From 13-18, however, parents may retroactively abort or "unwind" undesirable minors. And why not transform societal dross into the good and useful, especially because medical science can use 100% of their bodies for organ transplants? Connor is a rebellious teen whose parents have decided, once and for all, to erase his existence. Risa, a ward of the state and once promising piano prodigy, has fallen short in her musical studies, and due to budget cuts, has been slated for termination. And Lev's devoutly religious family has groomed their youngest son his entire life as a human sacrifice for God and the greater good. Together, the three fight for survival in Neal Shusterman's dark, Swiftian dystopia. A fast-paced, discussion-provoking read, sure to engage even reluctant readers.
-Lara Cowell
Mortenson, Greg. Three Cups of Tea [371.8 M84] and Stones Into Schools [371.8 M84s].
In these two non-fiction accounts, Greg Mortensen, head of the Central Asia Institute, documents how a failed mountaineering expedition serendipitously led to his life-changing grassroots mission to educate the impoverished girls of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and in doing so, promoting peace and stability in the region. Although the pace of both books occasionally bogs down in blow-by-blow details and you'll undoubtedly find yourself reaching for a map to track the peripatetic wanderings of Mortensen and his energetic staff, the narratives are full of wonderful cross-cultural moments, at turns poignant, dramatic, and humorous. Most importantly, Mortensen's work kindles the hope that idealistic individuals can indeed change the world for the better and go where governments and armies fail to tread, one relationship at a time.
-Lara Cowell
Hoffman, Alice. Incantation. [F Hoffman]
Alice Hoffman weaves an elegant, poetic tale of love, betrayal, and secret identity, set during the Spanish Inquisition. Sixteen year old Estrella deMadrigal believes the bond between herself and best friend, Catalina, can never be severed--that is, until she kisses Andres, Catalina's betrothed, and falls in love. Their covert romance ignites a series of harrowing events which unearth the shadowy history of Estrella's family. A novella--only 166 pages long--this is a captivating story, one well-suited for teens: a simple and quick read, yet alluring: rich in passion, emotional intensity, and authorial craft.
-Lara Cowell
Adrian, Chris. The Children's Hospital. [ordered]
I loved this book so much that I almost don't want to tell anyone about it. When, as is bound to happen, someone reads it based on my rave and thinks it's so-so or worse, I probably won't be able to speak to that person again. This is one of those books that just becomes personal, like you think it was written for you. It is basically a modern re-telling of the Noah's Arc story, except that it is a Children's Hospital floating in a post-apocalyptic sea in the modern era rather than the wooden ship of Biblical times. A medical student named Gemma copes with the horrific scenes in the floating hospital, and then eventually learns she is guided and challenged by various avenging angels connected to her family's tragic history. She gains special powers, loses them, and attempts to guide the hospital to some kind of redemptive safety. The book is audacious, funny, sad, and one of the best I have read in a long time.
-Tim Dyke
Smiley, Jane. A Thousand Acres. [F Smiley].
This book from the early nineties is a modern reinterpretation of the King Lear story. A father divides his ranch up and divvies out portions to two of his daughters while alienating the third. It's clever and self-aware in a way that kind of annoyed me, but the story kept me reading.
-Tim Dyke
McCann, Colum. Let the Great World Spin. [ordered]
If you are old enough, or if you watched the movie Man On Wire, you might know that a cagey and diminutive French man danced across a wire between the two World Trade Center towers in the early 1970's. This fictional tale imagines the lives of a handful of New Yorkers, all affected in some way or another by that phenomenal event. The story itself is a kind of high wire act; the reader sees the pieces that work to keep the various stories together, and at any time it seems like those pieces will fall to the ground, but they never do. The whole effect of reading this novel is that you feel connection to a specific time, a specific place, and to a specific set of likable characters.
-Tim Dyke
Hayhurst, Dirk. The Bullpen Gospels. [ordered].
This non-fiction memoir tells the story of a young man from Ohio who struggles as a minor league, mid-relief pitcher in his quest to make the Majors. The story is absolutely hilarious as he describes all the crazy things that happen in the clubhouse, but there is real depth here; the narrator/protagonist has a lot to say about surviving an abusive family, following one's dream, and about all that happens -- good and bad -- when one gets what one wishes for.
-Tim Dyke
Doxiadis, Apostolos and Christos Papadimitriou. Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth. [ordered]
This is a comic book (graphic novel, if you prefer) about Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein. It is not "Logical Philosophy for Dummies;" it is a superhero comic book story, but the superheroes are logical philosophers. The drawing is incredible, and I came to understand things about set theory that I never even knew I didn't know. I would give this to any friend who likes art, math, literature, or philosophy.
-Tim Dyke
Munoz, Manuel. Zigzagger.
This is a book of elegantly written short stories by a man who grew up in a migrant farm worker community in the Central Valley of California. Most of the stories have to do with farm workers and their families, and all of them have some connection to themes of gay male identity. One story that sticks out in my memory is about a middle aged father who shamefully calls his twenty-something son to ask for money. The son lives in San Francisco with an older, non-Mexican male lover; the father doesn't approve of this relationship, but he needs money to go visit his father (the son's grandfather) who is dying in the Mexican town the father fled twenty years ago. The stories are about the complicated connections between family when issues of culture and identity intervene.
-Tim Dyke
Tower, Wells. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned. [ordered].
When I heard David Sedaris speak this past winter at the Blaisdell Concert Hall, he recommended this book as a good read. The stories here are funny, somewhat morose, and over-the-top crazy. The title story involves a bunch of neurotic Vikings. My favorite story in the collection might be the one about the hippies and the sea cucumber. It's a close call, though; I also liked the one about the chess playing Alzheimer's patient and the Washington Square con artist.
-Tim Dyke
Udall, Brady. The Lonely Polygamist. [ordered]
This is the story of Golden Richards (not the former Dallas Cowboy), a humble man with four wives and twenty three children. Yes, the story sounds like the TV show Big Love, and the author swears he began his novel before the television show ever aired. It doesn't really matter to me which came first. Each is its own thing. This book goes deep into the lives of the children, the wives, and title character himself including flashbacks, internal monologues, and descriptions of unpredictable yet believable family drama. The book reminded me of a cross between The Corrections and Under The Banner of Heaven with a little bit of John Updike sprinkled in.
-Tim Dyke
Niequist, Shauna. Cold Tangerines; Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life.
This is a collection of short memoirs that are heartwarming, funny and well written. They are as refreshing as a cold tangerine on a hot day. They are definitely written from a Christian perspective, but not at all preachy. It is proof that good writing doesn't have to be sad or tragic to be worth reading.
-Diane Sweeney
Korelitz, Jean. Admission. [F Korelitz]
A former Princeton admissions officer tells all about the admissions process. This should be required reading of any college counselor. It is also enjoyable and informative for anyone who teaches college bound kids. Perhaps not appropriate for some students/adults who may be offended by the author's rather descriptive love life.
-Diane Sweeney
Queller, Jessica. Pretty is What Changes. [616.99 Qu3]
A memoir of a women who finds out at a very young age that she has a BRCA mutation (which raises one's probability of breast and ovarian cancer to almost certainty). It paints a picture of how too much information can be troubling and perhaps not always helpful.
-Diane Sweeney
Selfors, Suzanne. Saving Juliet. [F Selfors]
Seventeen-year-old Mimi feels trapped in a life which is not of her choosing. She comes from a long line of Shakespearean actors, and is expected to continue in the family tradition, although she wants to be a doctor. Through the strange power of magic ashes, she is transported back to the Verona of Romeo & Juliet. For Shakespeare fans, this clever fantasy is a real pageturner.
-David Del Rocco
Lili'uokalani. Hawai'i's Story, by Hawai'i's Queen. [HC B L62L2]
Originally published in 1898, the year of annexation, this is a fascinating insight into the life of the last reigning monarch of the kingdom of Hawai'i.
-David Del Rocco
Levitt, Steven and Stephen Dubner. Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitiutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance. [330 L57s]
Entertaining and provocative, this book makes you think about human behavior and economics in different ways.
-Susan Clark
Pink, Daniel. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. [115.15 P65]
Pink examines age old theories and beliefs about motivation and dismisses the old operating system he calls Motivation 2.0 consisting of control, rewards and punishments in favor of an innovative approach- Motivation 3.0.. Assumptions about human behavior and managerial styles are debunked in the business, educational and home settings while emphasis on an updated operating system, using the elements of autonomy, mastery and purpose are encouraged.. According to the author, Motivation 3.0 closes the gap between what science knows and businesses do, by creating workplaces and schools, filled with highly motivated, creative and engaged people.
-Eileen McCool
Mantel, Hilary. Wolf Hall. [F Mantel]
The machinations behind the Anne Boleyn-Henry VIII marriage. Well written, researched and very plausible.
-Ed Moore
Lehane, Dennis. The Given Day. [ordered]
Race relations and the Boston Police strike (1918-1919) are the focus of the novel - along with Babe Ruth (still with the Red Sox). The prologue, "Babe Ruth in Ohio" is absolutely fabulous - you'll love the denouement!
-Ed Moore
Thompson, Harry. This Thing of Darkness. (maybe not available in this country)
Long listed for the Booker Prize, this novel tells the story of Robert Fitzroy, the captain of the Beagle and its voyage with its passenger, Charles Darwin. Mostly about Fitzroy. Superbly researched and written.
(Harry died from cancer just after the announcement of the Booker List. Sad, his dad is a good friend of ours)
-Ed Moore
Merry, Robert. A Country of Vast Designs. [ordered]
The story of James K. Polk's presidency, focused almost entirely on the Mexican War and all of the political and military machinations surrounding it. If you want to get a fuller understanding of Polk, the man, the politician and his presidency, do as I did and read Walter Borneman's Polk first.
-Ed Moore
Meacham, Jon. American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. [B J13me]
Super biography of Andrew Jackson. Meacham also wrote Franklin and Winston which I read a few years back and loved.
-Ed Moore
Leon, Donna. A Question of Belief. [ordered]
Brunetti is back. Lovers of Leon's Brunetti mysteries set in Venice (and if you aren't a lover of them, you lose big time!) will again enjoy the food and the place as Leon captures the gestalt of Venice: the city, the people, the politics and particularly food. Just recently released is a cookbook - coffee table like, but with Leon's stories and great pictures and recipes.
-Ed Moore
George, Elizabeth. This Body of Death.
Thomas Lynley (Lord Asherton) returns to the Met. The usual plot and character twists and turns which characterize George's mysteries and with wild twists in Lynley's personal life. Much of the novel is set in Hampshire with the wild ponies and thatchers (not, however, Margaret!).
-Ed Moore
Cleeves, Anne. Raven Black, White Nights, Red Bones. [ordered]
Cleeves has written a number of mysteries set in Yorkshire. Now she turns her attention to the Shetland Islands, creating a new serial character (there is one more book to come) Jimmy Perez. Delia and I were stoked to discover this series as we spent five days in the Shetlands last summer. A good sense of the place, the people and the culture.
-Ed Moore
McEwan, Ian. Solar. [ordered]
Nobel Prize winner for science at the end of a mediocre career(he wins the prize while young) comes upon (term chosen wisely) a new and revolutionary idea. Stay tuned!
-Ed Moore
Russo, Richard. That Old Cape Magic. [ordered]
He is the author of such GREAT works as Straight Man, Nobody's Fool, Bridge of Sighs, Empire Falls (others that I haven't read). Complicated marital, familial and extra-marital relationships.
-Ed Moore
Kidder, Tracy. Mountains Beyond Mountains. [610.9 K53]
Primarily the story of Dr. Paul Farmer and his work in Haiti to curb TB. Unlike other of Kidder's books, he is in this one as he traveled with Farmer.
-Ed Moore
Greene, Graham. The Comedians. [ordered]
Not one of Greene's best (so say I who am a Greene fan. Read The Power and the Glory, Brighton Rock, The End of the Affair, The Heart of the Matter, or The Quiet American if you want
Greene's best serious stuff). But this is a nice pairing with Kidder's book. The Comedians is set in Haiti during the Papa Doc Duvalier days.
-Ed Moore