Happy New Year Staff Picks

For the next few weeks we will posting reviews personal staff favorites from 2014.  
Happy New Year from the staff of the Port Townsend Library.

THE BOOK OF STRANGE NEW THINGS. By Michel Faber. Faber is a master of the weird; in his defiantly unclassifiable novel, a pastor from Earth is picked to satisfy an alien planet’s mysterious yen for religious instruction.

 

THE SPARROW by Maria Doria Russell

A Jesuit space mission makes contact with two species and civilizations co-existing in a complex eco-system.  Explores what happens when even the best intentioned intervention unalterably changes lives and cultures.

 

These two books speak to a part of me as a reader that I normally don’t recognize.  I’m not a science fiction fan nor am I drawn to the religious.  Yet, I found each of these to be captivating.  They share some similarities—first contact with alien cultures, spiritual underpinnings within and across species.  But the Faber novel is as much about relationship, marriage, communication as it is about space.  And the Russell book explores character and faith within and without cultural norms.

 

 

MY STRUGGLE. Book 3: Boyhood. By Karl Ove Knausgaard. Translated by Don Bartlett. ­(Archipelago, $27.) The third installment of Knausgaard’s Proustian six-volume autobiographical novel.

 

This book represents another departure from my usual reading habits.  I haven’t read this volume yet, but raced through volumes one and two of this series.  How, you might ask can an author who is only now 46 years old write about the minutiae of his life, spread it out over six volumes and end up with something anyone would want to read?  I don’t know how he did it, and can’t exactly say why the result is so engrossing.  But, he did and it is and I look forward to the continuing saga.

Skein of the Crime. By Maggie Sefton.

The Berkeley Publishing Group. 2010

Reviewed by Ruth Holbrook
 

When Kelly Flynn's new friend is found dead on the golf course at Fort Conner, Colorado, Kelly goes all out to quickly prove it is not an accidental drug overdose. She abandons the knitting of hats and mittens at the House of Lambspun and begins to unravel the murder mystery. Looking into the parties on the university campus she finds a web of lies and answers. I also enjoyed two books by Janet Evanovitch who populates her books with eccentric characters and unusual situations. One was Smokin' Seventeen in which Stephanie Plum's life gets confusing when her mother tries to play matchmaker among two current interests and an old high school football star. Bodies turn up with tags saying “For Stephanie” on them and Jimmy Alpha's brother is out to kill her. The other is Wicked Appetite in which chef Lizzy Tucker thought she was an ordinary person but finds out she is wrong when Diesel shows up. In a race against time they battle criminal mastermind Gerewulf Grimoire through historic Salem as they seek the relic Gluttony Stone.  

Driving Home

Driving Home: An American Journey
by Jonathan Raban

Pantheon Publishing; 2011

Reviewed by Michele Olsen

I really enjoyed Raban's Driving Home, a collection of essays by an Englishman who is transplanted to Seattle. As a relative newcomer myself, I appreciated his insightfulness and wit about all things cultural and historical. Stops along the way include a bar in Missoula, a Tea Party convention in Nashville hosted by Sarah Palin, the Mississippi in full flood, a trip to Hawaii with his daughter, a steelhead river in the Cascades, and Seattle's hidden corners. Raban explores public and personal spaces, poetry and politics, geography and catastrophe, art and economy, and the shifts in various arenas that define our society. I also enjoyed The Lower River, by Paul Theroux. This is a story about a disillusioned American who returns to Africa after a 40 year absence. He soon realizes that the Africa he remembered is not the Africa of today. In the memoir category, try Prime Time by Jane Fonda. This long-famous actress, now in her 70's, reflects on her life--now in the "Third Act", as she calls it. Pretty basic stuff, but her story is quite interesting.

The Bluebird Effect

The Bluebird Effect, by Julie Zickefoose

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing, 2012

Reviewed by Lori Lisowski

This book is a feast for the eyes and the heart. The Bluebird Effect is beautiful enough to be on your coffeetable, but don't let it collect dust. The stories about birds we see everyday will warm  your heart and give you a realistic view of what it is like to be a wildlife rehabilitator. The sketches and watercolors are a treat. I'm curious to know how author Zickefoose was able to raise a family and keep her husband amist all the chaos, feeding and poop! I also enjoyed (for the most part) John Grisham's Calico Joe, a  novel about baseball that offered lots of nostalgia. There was a time when I was an avid baseball fan and card collector--the narrator is 11 in 1973; I was 10. I remember all the players Grisham mentions. As drawn as I was to the storyline, I felt the book lacked depth and character motivation. I had little empathy for the present-day characters, since their actions seemed somewhat hollow. I read the book in one day--not much "meat" here. Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen grabbed my attention, since I enjoy Quindlen's columns about writing. Sadly, I found this book relatively boring. I think you need to be a wife and mother to really appreciate this book.

Art of Fielding

The Art of Fielding
by Chad Harbach

Little,Brown and Company 2011
reviewed by patron Anne Metcalfe

A novel set in a small Wisconsin college town the book tells the story of the college baseball team and the events and lives of a group of interconnected and well defined, and engaging characters. You don't have to like baseball to enjoy this book.

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett will have you thinking of jungle travel and living. A book that probes relationships and ethical questions it will keep you turning the pages with interesting characters and plot surprises.

A Spoonful of Poison by M.C. Beaton is about a man-crazy, over-weight, smoking English detective living in a small village. It is amusing and entertaining. This is a fun mystery series set in the Cotswolds of rural England.

Maisie Dobbs

Maisie Dobbs  by Jacqueline Winspear

 

Soho Press 2003

Reviewed by Linnea Patrick

 

Maisie Dobbs is the first book in a series of seven books. The story begins with the adventures of a young London woman who was a nurse in World War I. When she returns she is at a loss and turns to an old mentor who encourages her to become a private investigator. The series provides a good look at life in England in the years between the two world wars. The characters are interesting and well developed.

 

Commencement by J.Courtney Sullivan is good "beach reading." The novel is about four girls who meet as dorm mates at Smith College. The book takes them to graduation and into the next decade of their lives in the 70's and 80's.

 

French Lessons by Ellen Sussman is a quartet of love stories featuring a single day in the lives of three French language tutors in Paris and their adult students.

Lost on Planet China

Lost on Planet China: One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most Mystifying Nation

By J. Maarten Troost

Broadway; Reprint edition 2009

Reviewed by Amy Christiansen

This book is a hilarious account of a travel writer's experiences when traveling in China in 2006. He describes his journey with accounts of meeting people and trying to understand a culture with which he is clearly not familiar. He found a nation which is spread between traditional culture at one end and unrestrained capitalism at the other end, sandwiching Maoism in between. He travels from megalopolises such as Beijing and Shanghai to rural villages and markets, and from environments such as Yunnan Province's rainforests to Xinjiang's deserts. The book covers the beauty and the warts to be found in this complex, evolving nation. The author also provides travel tips regarding food, haggling in a Chinese market, what to see, and the different rules of manners in China. This book is both educational and entertaining.

I Feel Bad About My Neck

I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being A Woman
By Nora Ephron
Knopf  2006

Reviewed by Julie Abowitt


This is a group of essays by a very witty, urbane, woman.  The stories are her take on getting older and living in New York. It took me back to the years I lived in New York.Ephron chronicles her life as an obsessed cook, passionate city dweller, and hapless parent. She recounts her anything-but-glamorous days as a White House intern during the JFK years (“I am probably the only young woman who ever worked in the Kennedy White House that the President did not make a pass at”) and shares how she fell in and out of love with Bill Clinton—from a distance, of course. But mostly she speaks frankly and uproariously about life as a woman of a certain age.
The Amber Spyglass, by Philip Pullman,is pure fantasy and fun.  It is well written and provides very inventive ways for  the young heroine to battle forces of evil.  I loved the species that used seed pods as wheels on their feet.

Lois Allan's book, Contemporary Printmaking in the North West, highlights the work of local artists.  As a printmaker myself, I appreciated this  beautiful prints.

Hellhound on His Trail

Hellhound on His Trail: The Electrifying Account of the Largest Manhunt in American History, by Hampton Sides; Anchor, 2011

Reviewed by Kathie Meyer

The title does not lie. Hellhound on His Trail is electrifying. This meticulously researched book puts you right there in the couple of months leading up to, the exact moment of, and the months after Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 1968 assassination in Memphis. The American people have never known the complete story of James Earl Ray until now. Author Hampton Sides also addresses the likelihood of the conspiracy theory. Once started, this incredible book, which is on several "best book" lists for 2011, is hard to put down.

If you like food (who doesn't?), then the authorized biography Alice Waters and Chez Panisse by Thomas McNamee will be of interest. Here's the story of how the fresh, local food movement got its start in Berkeley, Calif. in 1971 and spread throughout America. Alice Waters and her cast of characters make for a very "dish-y" read. Most restaurant owners would have given up a long time ago; the fact that Chez Panisse is still going strong is amazing. If you'd rather grow and cook your own food instead of eat out, then try Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces by Gayla Trail. Trail has a lot of ideas for the urban, apartment gardener, and the book is loaded with beautiful photographs. A few recipes are included.

The Jewel of St. Petersburg

The Jewel of St. Petersburg, by Kate Furnivall; Berkely Trade, 2010

Reviewed by Skye Raynor

Set in 1910 Russia, The Jewel of St. Petersburg highlights the struggles of the poor, the tsars, and the Bolsheviks. Rich in history, this book follows a love triangle among Valentina, Jens, and a rich Russian army captain. With the tsar and the duma at each other's throats, and the Bolsheviks drawing their battle lines, the elegance and opulence of tsarist rule are in their last days. This book is a prequel to Furnivall's debut novel, The Russian Concubine. Library Journal called it "gripping, elegant, and fierce."


The Hotel Rivieria, by Elizabeth Adler, is set in the south of France with the co-owner of the hotel, Lola Laforet, at its center. Her husband goes missing, and other people show up insisting they have claim to the hotel. With interesting characters, this is a fun vacation read. In Guy Pearce Jones's book Two Survived: The Timeless WWII Epic of Seventy Days at Sea in an Open Boat, the unforgettable true story of a ship torpedoed by the Nazis and the seven men who get away in a small lifeboat with very few supplies is told.