A glorious fall and the crunch of falling leaves underfoot give the first forewarning of a time of shorter days and crisp-cool evenings. For many of us, it is our favorite time of year as we look forward to the lighting of fireplaces, snuggling on early evenings in our favorite lounging chairs - or usurping all and sundry on that comfy sofa, scrunching down and getting lost in a good book. Pure heaven. At the library, we have tried to foresee your need to escape to that other world in the pages of books and have stocked up for you on some of your own special interests and some leisure time reading that will be bound to please. May your Fall be stocked with books!
I have discovered THE most delectable book of the Fall – a book with watercolor illustrations so staggeringly beautiful that you will feel that you have come along with the artist as he strolled through the Parisian streets and boulevards, capturing its essence on that heavy sketchbook paper and in washes of color that look like they had been laid down just for you to gaze upon. Paris Sketchbook, illustrated by the wonderful Fabrice Moireau, goes further, with penciled text that further enchants and complements the sketchbook format unobtrusively. Oscar Wilde has said: “When they die, all good Americans go to Paris.” You won’t have to wait, for in this large format sketchbook you will be drawn in already. Don’t miss this chance to escape into a beautiful watercolor world. Lovely beyond belief.
It is not often that I can brag that I have collaborated on a book with a 2003 Pulitzer Prize nominee in journalism, Jim Klobuchar. It has been an exciting “first” for me and just out. Sixty Minutes with God is essentially an imaginary informal interview with God, but one most provocative for those who struggle with faith. (And there turn out to be many of us who do - if truth be told.) Many of the questions came from Park Forest friends who opened their hearts in doing so. The talk ranges from questions about heaven and hell and the power of prayer to those questions asked by grieving and angry believers when tragedy or disaster occurs. Where was God then? You’ll find the book not only small, but one that reads quickly – and hopefully, flows easily. It might entertain. It might befriend. Either way, or even if it doesn’t, it is another look at the relationship between God and two sometimes puzzled earthlings.
Warning: the books that follow are what I call “page-turners,” books that you can’t put down. So don’t pick them up unless you have blocked off an evening that runs into an all-nighter. There is a good reason that Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code has placed near the top of the best sellers for half a year. In this clue-filled novel, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (think Harrison Ford in Harris tweed) finds an elderly curator of the Louvre murdered in the museum. Nearby is a baffling cipher. While working to solve the enigmatic riddle, Langdon discovers it leads to a trail of clues hidden in the works of Da Vinci – clues ingeniously disguised by the painter. Breathtaking escapes, stunning surprises pepper the pages, along with a compelling blend of history, religion, and art. It is riveting - so be prepared!
More writing that keeps the pages turning. This time it is best-selling author J.F. Freedman’s Fallen Idols. It all centered on a fascinating Central American archaeological “dig” gone bad – the team was attacked, artifacts missing, and the famed archaeologist’s wife dead. Her three sons follow the trail to an illicit market for Mayan relics, and then, as they chase down clues, to the realization that their father himself may have had more to do with their mother’s death than they had first thought. In another, Above the Law, Freedman brings his former defense attorney to remote Muir County in northern California in a finely plotted tale of corruption that keeps you reading . . .and reading. The story unfolds in an expert fashion, revealing that in spite of the power of money, no one is above the law.
One more to keep you guessing to the end: The Spinning Man by George Harrar, who has also won the Carson McCullers Prize for Short Fiction. A riveting psychological thriller about a seemingly happily married professor of philosophy who finds himself under suspicion of kidnapping a young girl, with circumstantial evidence steadily piling up against him. The did-he-or-didn’t-he plot keeps you reading until the end. A first-rate thriller.
A very tender love story taking place in England in the early years of World War II, Waterloo Station: A Novel should appeal to all of you who have a memory at all of that dramatic period of history. An adventurous young woman arrives at Oxford in 1938, never expecting her life – and that of the world – will change. Falling in love with her married tutor will swiftly change her own life and its path, tearing the lovers apart in the disorder and chaos that divided the world in the ‘40s. If you love author Emily Greyson’s book as well as I did, do follow up with The Gazebo and The Observatory. All are small, easy-to-handle books that can be read easily in a short and delightful time.
Hopefully, nature lovers comprise a sizable group of the reading audience for I have discovered not one – but two wonderful volumes. Some time ago, alone on a high mountainside in Alaska’s Denali, I came face-to-face with a very large grizzly - who allowed me to see how big he really was by standing on his hind legs - before engaging me in a stand-off that lasted for over an hour of sheer terror. Unknown to me, photos were taken from the top of the mountain of my experience, but the people were too far away to be of help. I find the experience today as vivid as it was then. It is, in fact, frozen in time. Only 10 miles away from me, mountain climber and author David Fletcher, in his own solo attempt to reach the summit of Mt. Hess in Denali, was startled by a grizzly cub and accidentally killed it. He was ruthlessly stalked by the cub’s gigantic mother as he ascended the mountain for days under treacherous conditions. The grizzly was waiting for him on his descent as they played a deadly game in the final confrontation. Hunted: A True Story of Survival is a book that takes you into the perilous heart of the Alaskan interior – as Fletcher unfolds a gripping, suspenseful true tale that, remarkably, he has lived to tell. I have heard nothing like it. It, too, stays with me.
Naturalist and author, David Attenborough, is largely known for his television documentaries – Life on Earth, Life of Birds, and the rest, traveling to the ends of the earth to give viewers their first close look of some of nature’s wonders. The man has a true passion for his vocation, and - in our era of pretty bland TV - has brought us some shining moments to remember. In Life on Air: Memoirs of a Broadcaster, Attenborough takes us from age 24 and an uncertain position in BBC’s fledging TV service and lets us travel with him, experiencing uncounted tales of adventures with animals in the real wilds in the world, as he documents his life with erudition and wit so generous that you find yourself reading out loud to any person in the room who will listen to some of his more amazing encounters with animals. A special man to read about. A special book to enjoy.
For those of us who love to read biographies and memoirs, do not let the very poor title of this one drive you away. Fairy Tales Can Come True: How A Driven Woman Changed Her Destiny doesn’t exactly make you want to read on, but author Rikki Klieman – the tough, hardworking, fast-talking trial attorney and Court TV anchor, has written a solid and honest memoir of her relentless drive to the top. At 35 she was named one of America’s top five female trial attorneys by Time magazine for her work in criminal defense. But she doesn’t mince on details of the cost it took on a personal life. The strength of the book lies in her descriptions of the theatrics involved in trials, and how what you do, where you stand, how you dress, is often a theatrical “performance” that can win or lose a suit. She actually teaches other lawyers the tricks of the trade! It keeps you reading.
So many of my friends are fascinated by the England of the earlier years, particularly those involving the feminine British elite. Look no longer for TThe Viceroy’s Daughters: The Lives of the Curzon Sisters by Anne DeCourcy fits the bill. Lord Curzon, viceroy of India, an avowed antifeminist who valued women if they were ornamental, produced three decorative daughters: Irene, Cimmie, and Baba. And like most of the elite of the time, they were wild. Irene remained unmarried, devoting herself to the pursuit of foxes and men. Baba, married (but who cared?), for she had a talent for adultery with rich and powerful men that could hardly be matched in fictional potboilers. Cimmie, poor thing, had a famous husband who pridefully bedded down her two sisters and their step-mother. Based on unpublished letters and diaries, The Viceroy’s Daughters throws new light on the major personalities of the time, as well as being a wonderfully revealing portrait of British upper-class life in the first half of the twentieth century. It certainly beats out fiction!
So many novels are disappointingly commonplace. Simon Mawer’s The Fall is a painstakingly crafted and moving story of the unchanging nature of the human heart. Actually referring to a literal fall from a mountain top by an experienced climber and a figurative fall from grace, this compelling novel examines the thrills of climbing – and of love – and how the two converge in the lives of two different men. Upon hearing of the death of his friend on the mountain, the other man reminisces about the role he played in his life. It is only after the death that we learn that the parents of both men also had a relationship that affects their sons. Moving between World War II and the present, Mawer examines how the past impacts the future. The characters are well-drawn, the English landscapes wonderful, and the climbing scenes are awesome. It is a book that stays with you.
I think you will glory in the new fall choices in books as well as a great assortment of the latest audio-visual offerings that await you at our library. Don’t waste a moment to come in and check us out!!!
-- Joan Larsen
Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?
-- Henry Ward Beecher
Never judge a book by its movie. -- J.W. Egan
To be a book-collector is to combine the worst characteristics of
a dope fiend with those of a miser.
-- Robertson Davies
The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,
And all the sweet serenity of books.
-- Longfellow