The Bookshelf

The Women’s National Book Association has deemed October as National Reading Group Month. According to WNBA president Joan Gelfland, “In the last five years, the book club population has increased 25 percent, rising from 4.6 million to 5.2 million adults.”

Along with sponsoring author events around the country, nine books considered Great Group Reads are being spotlighted: Appassionata by Eva Hoffman, The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist, The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë by Syrie James, The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey, Perfection: A Memoir of Betrayal and Renewal by Julie Metz, While I’m Falling by Laura Moriarty, Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson, Cost by Roxana Robinson and Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie. All are intelligent, thought-provoking books that are perfect for discussion or anyone who is a fan of smart fiction (and, in the case of Perfection, nonfiction).

Interested in starting your own group? Check out our Discussion Tips, Reviews and Resources page, which includes a list of books available for bulk loan to local groups. For information on Library book discussion groups, contact us online or at 847.673.7774.

Every year, the Macarthur Foundation presents a series an award to a number of people who are making a huge difference in their field. Whether in science, art, community work, literature, or another field, this $500,000 “genius grant” is meant to represent a firm belief in the recipient’s contributions to our culture, and a strong encouragement to continue their great work.

The 2009 Macarthur Fellows were just announced this morning. Among them are creators whose work can be found in the library:

Edwidge Danticat; memoirist and chronicler of the Hatian immigrant experience. Her most recent work is Brother, I’m Dying.

Rackstraw Downes; landscape painter whose work often illustrates the intersection of man-made structures in a natural landscape. He has written and edited a number of works on contemporary art, one of which is in our collection.

Deborah Eisenberg; short story writer who creates intimate portraits of contemporary American life.

James Longley; filmmaker and director  of the Oscar-nominated documentary Iraq in Fragments.

Heather McHugh; poet known for her deftly constructed works focusing on intricate wordplay and the joys of language.

Elyn Saks; attorney and mental health rights advocate. Author of The Center Cannot Hold, a personal chronicle of her own struggle with schizophrenia.

The other Fellows include environmentalists, papermakers, and ornithologists, among other fields.

If you had the opportunity, who would you give a “genius grant” to? Let us know in the comments!

Think your job is tough? You can get an idea of what other people go through from these unvarnished accounts of life on the job. Once you read these books, you might look at your own career in a whole new light.

Answering 911: Life in the Hot Seat by Caroline Burau

Bad Cop: New York’s Least Likely Police Officer Tells All by Paul Bacon

Confessions of a Tax Collector: One Man’s Tour of Duty inside the I.R.S. by Richard Yancey

Happy Hour Is for Amateurs: A Lost Decade in the World’s Worst Profession by the Philadelphia Lawyer

Other People’s Dirt: A Housecleaner’s Curious Adventures by Louise Rafkin

Plane Insanity: A Flight Attendant’s Tales of Sex, Rage, and Queasiness at 30,000 Feet by Elliott Hester

Quiet, Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian by Scott Douglas

Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip–Confessions of a Cynical Waiter by The Waiter [i.e., Steve Dublanica]

By now I’m sure many of you have heard about Twitter. Thanks to extensive media coverage and an endorsement from Oprah, its popularity has surged in unimaginable levels. In April the microblogging site received more visitors than both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

So why are we talking about Twitter on a reading blog? It turns out that many of your favorite authors are tweeting regularly. If you’re a Tweeter (you can follow us @skokielibrary), you can keep tabs on your favorite authors, see what authors they’re talking too, and get some unique insights into their lives. A few examples:

• Fantasy author Neil Gaiman recently won the Newbery Medal for his youth novel The Graveyard Book. He’s also written a number of books for adults, including future classic American Gods. Follow Neil @neilhimself.
• In addition to the popular Princess Diaries series for youth, Meg Cabot is also famous for contemporary chick lit, including the Queen of Babble series. Follow her @megcabot.
• Harlan Coben is known for his pulse-pounding mystery novels, and his novel Tell No One was just adapted into a thrilling French film. He’s tweeting @harlancoben.

You can find the full list of 100 literary Tweeters courtesy of tech blog Mashable. Who are your favorite author Tweeters? Is there anyone you’d like to see on Twitter? Let us know in the comments.

Shelf Awareness, an e-newsletter for booksellers and librarians, has a regular author interview called Book Brahmin (kinda like the questionnaire on Inside the Actors Studio, but less snooty). One of my favorite questions is “Book You’ve Faked Reading.” Author Susan Wiggs copped to lying about reading Proust’s Swann’s Way in French, while librarian Vicki Myron (writer of Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World) admitted that she faked reading Shakespeare.

One recent survey in Britain found that two out of three people lied about reading (Orwell’s 1984 was fibbed about most often). The book I faked reading was Nausea by John-Paul Sartre. I was taking a 20th-century European Lit class in college and trying to impress the graduate assistant (it didn’t work). So what are the books you’ve faked reading?

For those who liked the popular movie Slumdog Millionaire, a recommendation would be an older movie, Salaam Bombay, a Hindi movie released in 1988.    A young boy named Chaipu runs away from a travelling circus and hops a train to Bombay where he must learn to survive on the streets.  The street world depicted is the real mccoy for not one scene was shot in a studio. Chaipu is a sensitive boy who forges relationships with a young drug dealer, a prostititute and her daughter, and a young girl who has been brutally thrust into a life of prostitution.  The street children themselves provided the source of inspiration for the screenplay.  The directer interviewed them and talked with them about their lives on the streets of Bombay.  Those enlisted for the movie attended workshops where they had to learn how to act in front of a camera.  The end result is an effecting film with unforgettable characters, and wonderful visuals in a story with no easy answers.    

 Two book recommendations  with similar themes include The City of Joy by Dominque LaPierre and Song of Kahunsha by Anana Bhai. City of Joy, which takes place in Calcutta has many well-developed characters and gives you a vivid picture of the slums of Calcutta and the people who inhabit them.  Along with the grim aspects of daily existence we witness the in credible resilence and courage of the inhabitants.  The Song of Kahunsha by Anana Bhai takes place in the slums of Bombay (Mumbai) and focuses on the life of a 10 -year- old orphan named Chamdi. Born and raised in Bombay himself, the author presents a grim picture of the prevailing poverty in India and the plight as well as the resilence of the children who are forced to live on the streets.

If you need a break from India’s slums but still want to stay in the country, you might try the breathtakingly beautiful romantic epic, Jodhaa Akbar a story which takes place in the 16th century. The great Mughal emperor, Akbar, marries the beautiful Hindu Rajput princess, Jodhaa, as part of a political and religious alliance but the two eventually fall in love.  The brilliiant jewel-like colors evident in costumes and settings are remininiscent of those used in many Indian miniature paintings and truly present a feast for the eyes. A.R. Rahman’s beautiful musical score is a wonderful accompaniment to the movie.

Recently Library staff was asked to list five favorite books that they read during the year 2008. Here is the Annual Picks page. Next there was the challenge to write about what we selected. So here it goes.

I decided to list relatively recent books. There are so many wonderful books that I listened to (or read) during the year, that it is truly difficult to highlight only five. A little bit about my taste – I like & enjoy fluffy, light, fun books. Long gone are my days of reading serious, critically acclaimed fiction or nonfiction for pleasure. It’s a good thing that there are several staff members who listed those types of books. The reputation of the intellectual Skokie Public Library worker and selective reading tendencies stays in tact.

A few honorable mentions and I can’t give good reasons why these did not make my top selections.

The Lost Duke of Wyndham by Julia Quinn, audiobook

If you like Jane Austen, give this one a try. The romance is sweet and amusing.

Mr. Cavendish, I Presume by Julia Quinn, audiobook

This is the sequel and companion to The Lost Duke of Wyndham. It tells another side of the love story, so to speak.

Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva, audiobook

Gabriel Allon is one of my favorite fictional characters. He’s a part-time art restorer and part-time Israeli secret service agent/assassin – how wonderfully complex.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, audiobook

It’s love among the young vampires, werewolves and teenage humans. Twilight started the craze! Check out the entire series (#2 New Moon, #3 Eclipse, #4 Breaking Dawn; New Moon audiobook, Eclipse audiobook, Breaking Dawn audiobook).

Here are the titles that I submitted:

The Eye of Jade by Diane Wei Liang, audiobook

This book was so interesting – the mystery element, the place, the setting, the antique aspect, the contemporary historical background, etc. I was quickly engaged and rooted for the main character throughout the entire book. I hope more books by Liang are translated into English. I am eager to know what else is in store for the intrepid PI, Mei Wang.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer, audiobook

Wow. I really got involved, as I was listening to this over the summer. I wrote on my Facebook/Visual Bookshelf page, “It probably will be in my year end top ten.” Many months later, I still thought that it was a great “read.” I liked the premise, the characters’ dilemmas, the long dialogues, and the ending.

The Laughter of Dead Kings by Elizabeth Peters, audiobook

In a way, this is a comfort book for Elizabeth Peters’ fans. It’s nice to have Vicky Bliss back after such a long absence. Also, the Peabody/Emerson connection to John Tregarth (as suspected) is finally confirmed. And Schmidt … he is an endearing character. He really has his day!

The Chaos King (and the first installment: The Wall and the Wing) by Laura Ruby, eAudiobook

I have very happy memories listening to these books – laughing out loud and thinking that they were so clever. Yeah the books are written for kids, but there are lots of funny pop culture references that hit the mark. I hope the author re-visits this amusing world where strange creatures lurk in the subway and all punk rockers are named either Sid or Nancy.

(BTW, if you want to listen to these on CD, both audiobooks are available via Interlibrary Loan.)

The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig, audiobook

I’m a sucker for a well-written, comedic, historical, suspenseful romance. Plus I’ve been intrigued by the scarlet pimpernel story since I was a little kid. This is a bit of a no-brainer for me in regards to picking it as a favorite; the Pink Carnation series has me hooked.

I am delighted to take this opportunity to share the thinking behind my staff picks. For starters, I offer these two today:

Picture Letters from the Commander-in-Chief is the translated collection of illustrated letters from General Tadamichi Kurabayashi to his wife and young children back in Japan before and during the second world war. This collection of letters inspired Clint Eastwood’s film, Letters from Iwo Jima, the Japanese-perspective counterpart to his other Battle of Iwo Jima film, Flags of Our Fathers. One needn’t be either a war-hawk or a peace-nik to appreciate the sincere humanity expressed in Kurabayashi’s letters to his family, before and during the war. One needs only be human.

For as long as I can remember, I have been suspicious of the multi-syllabic poetry of ingredient lists. What exactly is “modified” about modified food starch? (What, for that matter, is food starch?) Would we feed our dogs something called “partially-defatted beef fatty tissue?” Long before trans fats made headlines, I was wondering what hydrogenation of vegetable oils was meant to achieve, and why some ingredients in my TRESemmé shampoo (e.g., hydrolyzed wheat starch, sodium cocoyl isethionate) were just as chemical-sounding as the ingredients in a can of Healthy Choice soup (modified rice starch, disodium inosinate). Michael Pollan’s concise, constructive and empowering In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto (compared with Pollan’s deconstructive and massive but immensely enlightening Omnivore’s Dilemma) made me appreciate simple things like locally-baked bread with only four ingredients and five total syllables: whole wheat flour, yeast, salt, and water. Less than a year after reading In Defense of Food, I’m eating fresh, local, unprocessed, homegrown, and simple foods whenever possible, and I’ve never felt healthier. Maybe 2009 will be the year to cook my own shampoo. But I’ll need a new recipe, as I have no cocamidopropyl betaine in the pantry. Oh my…

The annual NCAA tournament is a perfect storm of two of my greatest loves – college basketball and chart-making. Actually, to be perfectly honest I don’t even need the basketball part. Give me a good bracket to fill out and I’m a happy camper.

What does this have to do with reading? For the past four years, literary blog The Morning News has dared to ask the question: can you create a NCAA-style tournament, but for books? The answer is a resounding yes. Every year, sixteen titles engage in head-to-head combat. Celebrity judges from all over the literary world weigh the merits of each. The winner receives The Rooster, an award (named for David Sedaris’ brother) that also functions as a real live rooster.  To date, no winner of The Rooster has accepted the award.

As befits a bracket-style tournament, the Tournament of Books begins in March. But the intrepid staff has released the list of contenders early, so you can prepare accordingly. You can view the full list (with links to the catalog) after the jump.

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