50 Great Cookbooks at Thomas Ford Complete

It took all year! With a review of Jacques Pepin Celebrates, the staff of the Thomas Ford Memorial Library has posted reviews of 50 of the library's most interesting and useful cookbooks. These reviews may be found on the library's Thommy Ford Reads blog and their book jackets may be seen as a group on our 50 Great Cookbooks Pinterest board.

50 is a lot of reviews. We chose the number after seeing what National Public Radio was doing with some of its continuing reports, such as 50 Great Voices, which profiled incredible singers. Like NPR, we called upon staff from various departments of our organization to select and review candidates. Since we have many good cooks on the staff, it seemed a project tailor-made for us. We did not have a committee to vote on the books nor did we make anyone write a specified number of reviews. Still, we got the reviews written and in the process highlighted a great variety of titles from both our adult and children's collections.

Two of our objectives were to 1) draw more people to our review blog by diversifying the content and 2) increase the use of the cookbook collection. Whether we succeeded here is not really yet known. Visitors to the blog are up 48 percent in 2012 over 2011, but it is only the second year of the blog; that increase might have happened anyway. The second most read post ever on our blog is our review of Dining with the Washingtons: Historic Recipes, Entertaining, and Hospitality from Mount Vernon at 247 views. Only two other cookbook reviews have cracked the top 25 all time posts so far. Stats on our cookbook circulation have not yet been tallied.

There are other benefits of the project. We have tested some new methods of marketing, introduced some of the staff to review writing, and all learned more about what to expect from a cookbook. From the books I reviewed, I have some new recipes, improved my vocabulary, and learned about numerous helpful kitchen gadgets. Having cookbooks on the reference desk through much of the year, helped us initiate readers' advisory conversations with some clients.

I think it is now time for a party.

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursala K. Le Guin

Over thirty years have passed since I last read A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursala K. Le Guin. My memory of the classic fantasy tale was only slight before I downloaded the audiobook performed very dramatically by speculative fiction author Harlan Ellison. I remembered that there were dragons and wizards living on islands. Nothing more. So I returned to a place that I hardly knew and verified that my long ago enthusiasm was well founded.

Le Guin was masterful in her writing of this story which is often found in library collections for youth and teens. The story is fast-paced and full of action and is not the least bit preachy, though it does have a clearly thought out set of ethical rules to offer. Violation of the rules by Sparrowhawk, a student at the School for Wizards on Roke Island, unleashes a powerful shadow that threatens his future and the balance of powers in the archipeligo. Running from the evil is impossible. He must face the peril.

Once the beginning of a trilogy, A Wizard of Earthsea is now the initial book of a cycle including five novels and numerous short stories. They are widely available in libraries. I will be borrowing more.

Le Guin, Ursala K. A Wizard of Earthsea. Fantastic Audio, 2001. 5 compact discs. ISBN 1574535587.

Monty Python's Flying Circus: Complete and Annotated: All the Bits.

PRALINE: It's not pining, it's passed on. This parrot is no more. It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to meet it's maker. This is a late parrot. It's a stiff. Bereft of life, it rests in peace. If you hadn't nailed it to the perch, it would be pushing up the daisies. It's rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. This is an ex-parrot! 

This is one of the most famous of all Python rants. Found in episode 8, many fans have it memorized. If you don't and would like help getting it right, Monty Python's Flying Circus: Complete and Annotated is the book for you. At 880 colorful illustrated pages, it is a brick of a book in weight and in its great utility to Python fans. There is no excuse for misunderstanding a silly accent now. This book tells you exactly what the Pythons said and when they said it.

What's also fun is that the annotations clue readers in on the back-stories of some pieces. "The Dead Parrot Sketch" came from the pens of John Cleese and Graham Chapman after hearing about Michael Palin's auto mechanic, who would never admit anything was wrong with his car. In Cleese and Chapman's first draft, the verbose Cleese was to return a toaster. Luckily for us, the Pythons had the idea of using the Norwegian Blue.

Python fans should set aside a nice long winter's night (or several) for looking up their favorite episodes.

XIMINEZ: Nobody expects the Spanish Inquistion.

Monty Python's Flying Circus: Complete and Annotated: All the Bits. Black Dog and Leventhal, 2012. 880p. ISBN 9781579129132.

Zooborns: The Next Generation by Andrew Bleiman and Chris Eastland

The authors of the blog ZooBorns have recently released their fifth book, ZooBorns: The Next Generation. As before, the small volume features baby animals from zoos around the planet and is packed with fascinating species facts and some the cutest photos you'll ever see. And as before, sales help support the mission of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Conservation Endowment Fund.

Every time I look at one of the ZooBorns books, I discover an animal that I did not know. In this installment, I found the Somali wild ass which have sketchy narrow stripes on its legs. Very chic. Like the stripes in chocolate ripple ice cream. Two photos from Zoo Basel in Switzerland show a lively foal named Habaka. See an image from the ZooBorn article below.

I especially like the photos of a little cheetah named Kasi at Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay, Florida. An only baby whose mother was unable to care for him, Kasi was paired with a Labrador retriever puppy named Mtani. Anyone who enjoys cute animals will love the photo of the two together.

With several dozen profiles in this volume, there is bound to be a baby that appeals to near every reader. This book would be a great Christmas gift.

Bleiman, Andrew and Chris Eastland. Zooborns: The Next Generation. Simon & Schuster, 2012. 148p. ISBN 9781451661613.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo

How are Americans, mostly protected by a safety net of government and private programs to provide economic aid should they suffer misfortune, able to comprehend Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo? The conditions in the Annawadi slum outside the international airport in Mumbai, India are appalling. The people crowded into pieced-together shacks around industrial waste and sewage, without running water, are so poor. It is a setting unlike what we see in the U.S.

Boo has been living in India off and on with her Indian-husband for ten years. In Behind the Beautiful Forevers, she recounts slightly over three years in the lives of the sons and daughters of Muslim day laborers, garbage pickers, teachers, and housewives mired in a slum. The central character in the huge cast is Abdul, an industrious scavenger with a strict moral conscience, who is falsely accused of contributing to the suicide of an irritating neighbor. Though there really is no evidence and most of the community vouches for innocence of Abdul, the corrupt local police see an opportunity for extortion. Abdul, his father, and his sister are beaten and imprisoned to await a distant trial.

The author states that not all of India is like the Annawadi slum, but it is also not unique. Boo describes corruption at many levels of India's government affecting the slum. Elected officials help constituents just before elections (and only then), and the police are always shaking down anyone with a spare rupee. Particularly appalling are the schools that only exist on inspection days, reaping government grants and international aid for their crooked directors.

Some readers may give up quickly on Behind the Beautiful Forevers with its many characters and seemingly hopeless situation. If they stick out the introductory chapters, they will find a universal drama tied closer to the U.S. economy than one might think. A promising book for discussion groups.

Boo, Katherine. Behind the Beautiful Forevers. Random House, 2012. 256p. ISBN 9781400067558.

Mozart at the Gateway to His Fortune: Serving the Emperor, 1788-1791 by Christoph Wolff

Author Christoph Wolff, a professor at Harvard and known for his studies of Bach and Mozart, thinks that many scholars view Mozart's final four years incorrectly. They write as though Mozart were thoughtfully wrapping up his career as performer, conductor, and composer. They present evidence drawn both from the composer's works and his life. His music had reached a pinnacle and daily living was becoming unbearable. Death was predestined and unavoidable. Not so, says Wolff in Mozart at the Gateway to His Fortune: Serving the Emperor, 1788-1791.

Wolff looks first at Mozart's life, which was admittedly always chaotic and a bit nomadic. The composer's finances were a mess as he always lived beyond his means. Mozart was not worried, for he could usually make more money. The economic crash brought about by the Holy Roman Empire's war against the Ottoman Empire, however, closed theaters and reduced royal support for the arts. Mozart adjusted some to the times, writing Cosi Fan Tutte for only six singers as an economic measure. Still, he believed he was bound to be fabulously wealthy in time and was proved right, for royalties from his music made his wife and sons rich. Why sacrifice style and comfort when he could easily pay in the future? Wolff says Mozart was not despairing.

Wolff also examines Mozart's later symphonies, operas, sacred music, and unfinished works to see if he could find any signs that the composer was contemplating the end. He found no such signs and argues that Mozart had numerous unwritten works already composed in his head. The composer had plans for what would have been more glorious music.

Mozart at the Gateway to His Fortune is a short but not a quick read. Wolff uses some musical terms that casual readers will not recognize, and the book may seem a bit dry at times. Skimming over some of the technical paragraphs, I was able to get the gist. Wolff's introductions and summations, however, were compelling, and I enjoyed the effort. The book is a challenge worth taking for classical music fans.

Wolff, Christoph. Mozart at the Gateway to His Fortune: Serving the Emperor, 1788-1791. Norton, 2012. 244p. ISBN 9780393050707.

Million Dollar Quartet, Chicago Cast

"It was one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready and go, cat, go..."

It was a Tuesday afternoon in 1956 at Sun Records Studio in Memphis, just an old garage remodeled, and Carl Perkins was scheduled to record a few songs, but he was late. His brother Jay plucked the upright bass, and Fluke Holland sat behind the drums. Owner Sam Phillips stood outside the control booth talking to new session pianist Jerry Lee Lewis, when in walked Elvis Presley and his latest girl, visiting his old haunt. Perkins soon appeared, followed by Johnny Cash. Three chart-topping recording stars and one promising new talent were assembled, and Phillips had plenty of recording tape. It would be a recording session to remember.

More than fifty years later, the only assembly of four legendary performers inspired a musical The Million Dollar Quartet, which is currently playing in Chicago. We saw the musical in the compact Apollo Theater. There is not a bad seat in the house. We were in the fourth row - very close and practically part of the production. We could see and hear everything, especially 21songs delivered with great energy by four actors/musicians channeling the pioneers of rock and roll. 

The looks and the sounds were pretty convincing. I was most impressed by Lance Lipinsky playing the role of Jerry Lee Lewis. How could someone learn Lewis's crazy acrobatic moves and still play piano? I was also impressed by the ringing electric guitar of Shaun Whitley as Carl Perkins, which seemed to highlight in many of the songs. We knew most of those songs very well, "Blue Suede Shoes" to "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On."

Between the songs, Tim Decker as Sam Phillips narrates/directs a story about the discovery of four singers and the rise and fall of Sun Records. Some liberties are taken with Perkins brother Clayton dropped from the story, the name of Elvis's girlfriend changed, and time compacted into one dramatic day/night, but the general spirit is in line with Good Rockin' Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock and Roll by Colin Escott, one of the authors of the script for the musical.

Of course, many baby boomers will love this show, but there were gen-Xers in the crowd as well. It was an electrifying show that has sparked my interest in doing some research on the characters. What more could I ask?

"See you later, alligator."

Mama Leone by Miljenko Jergovic

Displacement of people by conflict is a thread running through Mama Leone, a collection of stories written in the 1990s by Miljenko Jergovic, newly translated from Croatian by David Williams. The conflicts vary but they almost always result in what characters hope to be a temporary change of address. Some of them move to other cities in the states of the former Yugoslavia as they break apart. Others even flee to Spain, Israel, Canada, and the United States.

In the case of twenty-one related stories grouped under the title "When I Was Born a Dog Started Barking in the Hall of the Maternity Ward," a family separates and neither the mother or father feels capable of raising their son. He spends most of his time with his maternal grandparents in Sarajevo with annual trips to summer homes. He is also sent to live with uncles and aunts on some occasions. When his mother joins whatever household he is in, she seems as much a child as he does. He is a precocious child who claims to remember everything, including his birth, a great gift for a narrating character. Like the grandmother, most readers will find him a source of troubling amusement.

The remaining unrelated stories are grouped under the title "That Day a Childhood Story Ended."  In most of these short pieces, characters are uprooted by the Balkan Wars. As rival forces attack new cities, family move in with relatives in other regions and draft age men hide or immigrate. Survival in new places often requires taking unfair advantage of others. Some even pledge love for the sake of refuge and a stake in a new place.

I enjoyed how Jerovic told these unfamiliar (to me) stories, balancing hope with despair, sympathy with revulsion, while giving me a peak into a culture different from my own. Mama Leone belongs in libraries with a demand for foreign or literary fiction.

Jergovic, Miljenko. Mama Leone. Archipelago Books, 1999, 2012. 351p. ISBN 9781935744320.

Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis by Timothy Egan

You have probably seen the photographs - The Snake Priest, Chief Joseph, Vanishing Race - Navaho, and Geronimo. Edward Curtis took thousands of such photographs using his heavy cameras with glass plates that he carried to tribal reservations across the United States and Canada in the years between 1900 and 1929. He was a man with a very impractical, very expensive dream. He wanted to photograph every tribe to document a way of life that he admired. The goal was to publish 20 high quality volumes that would that he would sell by subscription to libraries, museums, and wealthy individuals. The dream cost him his marriage and his fortune. Timothy Egan tells the story in Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis.

At the time Curtis began his quest, the Indian Wars were over, and many American actually thought "the best Indian is a dead Indian." Native Americans had no rights. They were not even citizens. Getting people interested in his project was an almost impossible task. The early volumes did, however, win praise from important newspapers and magazines. He was for a time the most famous photographer in the country, which introduced him to powerful men, including President Theodore Roosevelt and financier J. P. Morgan.

Like photographer Mathew Brady and painter George Catlin before him, Edward Curtis died a poor and mostly forgotten man after a career dedicated to visually documenting American life. Like Brady, he was the country's most sought photographer for a time, and like Catlin, he spent his years among Native Americans. According to Egan, the nation owes a great debt to the three for the body of their work which now informs us what our forefathers disregarded.

In Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, Egan takes us back to a time when travel and communications were difficult. Among his stories are two in which the national press reported incorrectly that Curtis had died, once at sea and once in Alaska. Mark Twain died only one premature death in the press. When Curtis really died, few noticed.

Readers interested in true adventure, the history of photography, and the story of Native Americans will enjoy Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher.

Egan, Timothy. Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. 370p. ISBN 9780618969029.

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy

There was a huge dose of tragedy in the life of Lucy Grealy, enough to destroy a person without a strong will to survive. At age nine she was diagnosed to have Ewing's sarcoma on her jaw. After surgery and five years of cancer treatments, she spent fifteen years submitting to surgeries to reconstruct her face. With the hope that she would some day be beautiful like other girls, she agreed to thirty surgeries, each to be a step toward her goal. She recounted her story in Autobiography of a Face.

Grealy wrote vividly of her ordeal. After reading her book, I am certain that I never want chemotherapy or to have my skin or bones used to build new tissues in another part of my body. What Grealy endured is almost unimaginable to anyone who has lived a relatively healthy life, but she was not alone in suffering. She warmly describes other cancer patients that she met during her numerous hospital stays. Her story may be extreme in tenure but representative in its insults to patients. As a child, she was often not told what to expect from her surgeries and cancer treaments.

Ironically, Grealy insistented that the medical part of her life was the easier part of having cancer and subsequent deformity. What distressed her more was the way she was treated by peers, their parents, and even teachers. Pity, revulsion, avoidance, and malicious teasing were daily encounters for her. She came to welcome long stays in hospitals where she felt a great sense of tolerance and belonging.

"… a splendid debut" is how one advance reviewer described this book from the Iowa Writer's Workshop graduate. Sadly, Grealy had only one more book before she died at 39. Autobiography of a Face, however, survives for teens and adults interested in the impact of physical image on girls and women.

Grealy, Lucy. Autobiography of a Face. Houghton Mifflin, 1994. 223p. ISBN 0385657806.

Visiting Tom: A Man, A Highway, and the Road to Roughneck Grace by Michael Perry

Michael Perry is to Tom Hartwig, his octogerian neighbor, as we are to Michael Perry, the author and our guide to life in rural Wisconsin.

Perry observes Hartwig's life as readers observe Perry's life.

What Perry gains from his friendship is like what we gain from reading Visiting Tom. What the author deduces about Tom may not always be what Tom thinks or feels. Likewise, every reader will interpret the Perry's book in his or her own way.

Mostly Mike enjoys hanging out with Tom. I know I enjoy my time with the author and his observations.

Like Tom, Mike is a storyteller who enjoys the telling.

While Visiting Tom is partly about Hartwig and partly about Perry and his family, the reading is also partly about us. How do we live our lives?

Enough said, except that I have to try to spot a certain farm next time I drive the Interstate near Eau Claire.

Perry, Michael. Visiting Tom: A Man, A Highway, and the Road to Roughneck Grace. Harper, 2012. 310p. ISBN 9780061894442.

The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Impostor by Mark Seal

I knew that our St. Luke's book discussion of The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Impostor by Mark Seal would be good. The protagonist is a disturbingly fascinating character despite (or perhaps because) his being so unknowable. That left us plenty of room to speculate on just what drove him to constantly reinvent himself. What pleasure did he gain from his deceptions? Did he choose to do what he did or was he always out of control?

Reading Seal's book also leads one to question the safeguards of our financial networks. In his persona of Christopher Crowe, the shape-shifter was able to get high level positions in investment firms with absolutely no qualifications. He was able just to charm his way into jobs by offering managers what they wanted to see. He eventually lost one job because the boss saw that he never actually did anything profitable, but no one ever did a check for his degrees or certifications. How many other impostors are out there moving big money around?

As Clark Rockefeller, the former Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter from Germany played his greatest roll. He not only convinced many people that he was a member the fabulously wealthy family, gaining entry to exclusive clubs and high society, he was able to keep his identity secret from his wife, a powerful investment manager, for fifteen years. Why did she give her husband complete control of their finances? How could she have never discover inconsistencies in his story? Also, why did no genuine Rockefeller ever raise a voice of warning? The impostor seemed to be out in the open in their stomping grounds.

We thought the author did a generally good job with The Man in the Rockefeller Suit, but all wanted to know more about Clark Roosevelt's collection of modern art, which he used numerous times to convince people that he was a Rockefeller. Where did it come from? Where did it go? Is there another unknown crime?

Seal's book may be just the first about Gerhartsreiter for the story is continuing. As Christopher Chichester XIII, the protagonist will be on trial for murder in California this winter. Will he be convicted? Stay tuned.

Seal, Mark. The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Spectacular Fall of a Serial Impostor. Viking, 2011. 323p. ISBN 9780670022748.

Earth Flight: Breathtaking Photographs from a Bird's-eye View of the World by John Downer

The beauty of birds inspires many nature photographers, spawning lots of gorgeous books, making bird study as popular indoors as out. The latest big bird book Bonnie brought home is Earth Flight: Breathtaking Photographs from a Bird's-eye View of the World by John Downer, a director and producer for BBC Earth. He spent five years producing a series called Earth Flight, which used birds imprinted on nature photographers to get spectacular videos of birds over landscapes. Earth Flight (the book) is collection of photos taken during the project.

How was this done? Downer and his crew acquired clutches of eggs from cooperative species, such as cranes and geese, and managed to have a nature photographer present at each hatching. The photographer would than be a primary caregiver raising the birds. As the birds matured, they accepted their surrogate parent flying beside them in an ultralite aircraft. The result is a body of eye-popping images from all the continents except Antarctica.

For birds not susceptible to imprinting, the BBC team created robotic birds to fly along with wild birds. According to Downer, these non-manned flying machines opened up great opportunities for the filmmakers, but also drew the unwanted attention of many wary security forces in Middle Eastern countries. The producers also mounted miniature cameras on some birds, including bald eagles in the Grand Canyon, capturing great over the shoulder pictures.

Though it is easy just to look at the pictures, read the notes in the back of the book. After the natural history pieces, there are some incredible production stories.

Downer, John. Earth Flight: Breathtaking Photographs from a Bird's-eye View of the World. Firefly Books, 2012. 239p. ISBN 9781770850392.

A Prairie Home Companion in Chicago

The News from Lake Wobegone was reported from the shore of Lake Michigan on November 10 as A Prairie Home Companion broadcast from the stage of Chicago's Auditorium Theatre. Bonnie and I joined our friends Nancy and Glenn in the beautiful old building which, according to host Garrison Keillor, was designed by architect Louis Sullivan to have perfect acoustics. I know we heard the performers very well, except when many people were laughing or applauding, which was fairly often.

I was the sole newbie having never attended A Prairie Home Companion before. I had seen some televised broadcasts before, but it was fascinating to watch the preparations for each segment coming together as previous songs and skits ended. It reminded me of being at the Grand Ole Opry, which I would also like to see again.

I thought the music was the strongest portion of this show, as the Guy's All-Star Shoe Band supplemented with Chicago musicians was tremendous. The most brilliant piece was a jazz-rendition of music from Mozart's Don Giovanni. I also was greatly impressed by the rich voice of baritone Nathan Gunn.

The skits certainly had their funny moments and I loved how The Lives of the Cowboys was set in Western Springs, right where I work. I suppose they grazed their cattle on the Village Green. I will have to keep an eye out for gunslingers in the middle of the downtown streets and see if I can find the Last Chance Saloon so I can charge my cellphone while trying a little rotgut whiskey.

As I started to say, the skits earned a few laughs, but they lasted too long and didn't have very satisfying endings that night. PHC has done better. I wish they had shortened them and gotten in the promised spot for Bertha's Kitty Boutique. I'd like Keillor to bring back Raw Bits, Fearmonger Shop, or Cafe Boeuf skits.

The funniest song came before the broadcast began, but it was probably not deemed proper for the airwaves. The most surprising guest was Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, who was seeking Guy Noir's help to suppress a video of the governor putting ketchup on a Chicago hot dog. Quinn did a good job with his lines, as did Wait Wait … Don't Tell Me host Peter Sagal, who let us know that real Chicagoans do not eat deep dish pizza. A Prairie Home Companion was a wonderful early evening entertainment, which I would do again. Maybe we can visit St. Paul.

Petra van Nuis at Friday at the Ford

I've said it before. Being host of the Friday at the Ford concerts at the Thomas Ford Memorial Library is one of the unexpected pleasures of my job. In the process of hiring acts for the five-times-a-year music series, I meet a lot of nice people. I also get to hear a lot of great music. Such was the case on November 2, when we featured jazz singer Petra van Nuis (pronounced Paytra van Nouse - which rhymes with mouse) with guitar accompaniment by Andy Brown. Petra, as she is called by most of her publicity, specializes in the American songbook and Brazilian bossa nova, genres that really pleased our crowd of 60 at the library.

Petra began with Cole Porter's "Is It an Earthquake" followed by "Dreamer" by Antonio Carlos Jobin. I recognized these but few others in the first half of the concert. Then she sang "I Won't Dance" by Jerome Kern and "Mediation, " another song by Jobin, starting a series of familiar-to-me standards. I especially liked how she finished the evening, letting the audience recommend songs for a medley that she and Brown pulled off splendidly. With her smooth voice, she both calmed and captivated. 

The singer met some of her listeners before the show and discovered the first other Petra she had ever met, other than her Dutch grandmother. After the show, Petra answered questions and signed cd's.

Petra obviously knows and loves her songs and the era from which they came, and she connects warmly with the audience, who enjoyed her many tempos and moods. After the last notes of "You Make Me Feel So Young" ended, many went home with a little more bounce in their steps.

Here's a sample of Petra's music - Old Black Magic

Farther Away by Jonathan Franzen

I have not read the novels of Jonathan Franzen and probably won't, but I have tried his essays. I enjoyed the mostly autobiographical collection The Discomfort Zone: A Personal History a couple of years ago. Now I have just listened to Farther Away as a downloadable audiobook. Franzen sets the tone by reading the first two essays "Pain Won't Kill You" and "Farther Away," and actor Scott Shepherd continues with nineteen more. All have a certain storytelling hook that will appeal to listeners of National Public Radio. Franzen discusses his writing, recounts life with family and friends, reports on birding issues, and profiles his favorite authors.

The name that comes up continually throughout is the novelist David Foster Wallace. Franzen says in an essay about his always-fragile friend that Wallace was trying to mature and wean himself off antidepresants before the final depression that led to his suicide. Readers will sense Franzen's feelings of loss and resolve to honor his colleauge.

I especially appreciate Franzen's reporting on the welfare of birds. He has traveled around the world to see endangered species and meet with both people who poach and protect the birds. He tries to be understanding of all viewpoints but regrets being so polite to hosts as to eat songbirds in Cyprus.

Several essays at the end of the book profile novelists and their books. I found myself placing requests for even more books. Thanks, Mr. Franzen.

Franzen, Jonathan. Farther Away. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012. 321p. ISBN 9780374153571.

Macmillan Audio, 2012. 7 discs (8.5 hrs). ISBN 9781427221483.

The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl's Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster by Tim Crothers

I am so impressionable. I have just read a book about the world of chess and am now thinking that I should start playing again. Maybe there is an ap I could get for my computer or smartphone. I know there are instructional books in our library. Of course, the hero of the book that I have just read had none of these advantages. In fact, she barely had clothes and food. The promise of a daily meal was one of the reasons that she took up chess.

The book is The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl's Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster by sports writer Tim Crothers. The hero is Phiona Mutesi, a street girl from Kampala, Uganda, who at age 14 represented her country at the 2010 Chess Olympiad in Siberia. It is such an unlikely story as there were several times when her mother and siblings literally had no home other than under a tree. With her mother working at the local street market, the kids often had to fend for themselves. One day Phiona followed her brother to a center for poor children where Robert Katende started a chess program with the idea that the discipline of the game would teach boys skills to rise above the slum. Phiona asked to play, too.

What sets The Queen of Katwe aside from feel-good third world achievement books is that the author tells the story but does not suggest for a moment that Phiona has escaped her origins. Several times she has returned from winning chess tournaments in other countries and had to beg for food the next day. Uganda has no safety net.

What can we do about a world that puts girls and women in such peril? This book will break your heart. It might also strengthen your resolve.

Crothers, Tim. The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl's Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster. Scribner, 2012. 232p. ISBN 9781451657814.

Eaglebone Whistle, Fretless 152

If you ever feel lonesome
You're down in San Antone
Beg, steal or borrow two nickles or a dime
And call me on the phone
We'll meet at Alamo Mission
We can say our prayers
The Holy Ghost and Virgin Mother
Will lead us as we kneel there … 

So begins "Midnight Moonlight," a lively bluegrass tune written by Peter Rowan, which is the first track on the 1981 album Eaglebone Whistle by a quintet of the same name. I heard Eaglebone Whistle in Austin, Texas with friends in a pub sometime in the late 1970s. I was not a pub person, but someone said that there was a great bluegrass band that we had to hear. She was right. The band was great - three men and two women playing a mixture of bluegrass, folk, blues, and western swing.

When I moved to Chicago a few years later, I discover Rose Records under the elevated tracks on Wabash Avenue. I entered to find three stories of vinyl records from all over the world. It was heaven. If only I hadn't been scraping by at the time (full time reference librarian job with annual salary of  about $12,000), I could have bought hundreds of albums that I really wanted. The main floor had prime space for hot selling popular records, but most of the space was devoted to displays of classical music. The next floor up was all classical as well. On the third floor was jazz, blues, country, international, spoken word, and folk. I found Eaglebone Whistle in a display of albums recommended by the hosts of WFMT's The Midnight Special. I bought it immediately.

There are no weak pieces on Eaglebone Whistle (Fretless 152). Both sides have four vocal pieces and two instrumentals. In addition to your expected guitars, fiddles, banjos, and basses, Greg Raskin played hammered dulcimer and John Hagen played cello. The male and female voices blended sweetly. Whenever I have made time to listen to albums on the turntable, Eaglebone Whistle has been one of my first-in-line choices.

Sadly, though the album looks fine, it now plays as though it is warped. Happily, back in the 1990s, my friend Glenn burned a CD for me using his special turntable. This is especially fortuitous as the collective memory of Eaglebone Whistle seems to have almost disappeared. There is little to find on the Internet. I found that eBay had a disc for sale and that radio KTRU played "Until This Feeling's Gone" back in November 2009 and twice since. Member Jane Gillman has a website with a bio and music for sale, but no Eaglebone Whistle CDs. WorldCat shows 8 libraries owning the album. Nothing at Amazon, iTunes, Pandora, or YouTube.

As I drove in the car Wednesday morning, I wondered if I was the only person on earth currently listening to Eaglebone Whistle. I hope not.

Minette's Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat by Susanna Reich

"Like any self-respecting French cat, Minette wouldn't dream of eating food out of a can."

Luckily for Minette, she had Julia Child to cook for her. Even so, Child had to practice and improve her cooking to satisfy the discriminating taste buds of Minette. Lessons with Chef Bugnard at Le Cordon Bleu were essential. After months of study and testing, Child finally cooked a dish that was perfect for le poussiequette. "Ooh-la-la! Magnifique!"

With lovely illustrations by Amy Bates, Susanna Reich tells the story of a French cat wanting only the best and an American woman wanting to be a French chef in Minette's Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat. Of course, most children will not realize that Child was a famous author and television celebrity, but I imagine a few will be delighted years from now when they make the link. In the meantime, young readers can enjoy a sweet story about a demanding cat served by a faithful human.

Reich, Susanna. Minette's Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat. Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2012. ISBN 9781419701771.

The Shakespeare Guide to Italy: Retracing the Bard's Unknown Travels by the late Richard Paul Roe

William Shakespeare is one the people about whom I keep reading. Ironically, not much is known about the playwright, who is often called the Bard. His whereabouts for some years are unknown. Perhaps that is exactly why he is so fascinating. He's a mystery. The latest title that I read is The Shakespeare Guide to Italy: Retracing the Bard's Unknown Travels by the late Richard Paul Roe.

In the past, many literary scholars have ridiculed the Shakespeare plays set in Italy for their many geographical inaccuracies. The standard line was that Shakespeare never went to Italy and that he just looked at some books and talked to some travelers to learn some place names and brief descriptions and then he creatively elaborated. Roe suspected that the scholars themselves did not know much, so he set out to stand where the playwright stood, supposing that he did go to Italy.

What Roe discovered was the descriptions were very exact in detail far beyond any of the sources the playwright could have used. He also located many of the "lost" sites simply by looking around and talking to local historians. His conclusion was that the playwright had to have traveled in Italy.

What Roe would not say is whether the playwright was William Shakespeare. The author said he was unqualified to speculate whether Shakespeare fronted for some well-traveled writer. Through most of the book, Roe just refers to "the playwright."

Regardless of who wrote the plays, Roe provided not only evidence of real places matching those in the plays, but he also commented on 16th century Italian commercial, social, religious, legal, and military affairs. I enjoyed reading about discrimination against the Jewish community in Venice, safe travel on the canal system across the peninsula, and the troubled politics of the Holy Roman Empire.

Roe's book does become slow going when there is a lot of visual detail to verify, but that detail will become important to you when you take his book to Italy to see for yourself. I also found chapters about plays I know well were easier to read than others. I was particularly interested in the Much Ado About Nothing chapter which revealed a lot of political backstory. A great book for Bard fanatics.

Roe, Richard Paul. The Shakespeare Guide to Italy: Retracing the Bard's Unknown Travels. Harper Perennial, 2011. 309p. ISBN 9780062074263.

Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson

Often, the best way to present historic events that involve many is to focus on a few of the people involved, turn them into reporters. Deborah Hopkinson did this with her offering for the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking. In Titanic: Voices from the Disaster, she weaves eyewitness accounts and recollections throughout her text. Most are from survivors, though she does also work in a few letters and telegraphic messages from those who died. Together they tell a story that is horrific and heroic.

It is only as I write this review that I realize the work was intended for folks younger than me. I listened to the audiobook edition which I did notice was unabridged. What I did not notice on the back of the case was the banner "Recommended for Listeners Ages 8 to 12." I am sure I would have known if I had held the paper book, laid out for juvenile readers with illustrations. I never noticed listening. There is no talking down to or simplifying for younger readers. I enjoyed the account thoroughly.

Perhaps the fact that the audiobook was only five hours should have said "juvenile" to me. So many of the audiobooks for adults are much longer. But five hours is a good length for listening in a couple of days and moving on to somethinge else. I think I know other adults who would agree.

Hopkinson, Deborah. Titanic: Voices from the Disaster. Scholastic Press, 2012. 289p. ISBN 9780545116749.

4 compact discs. Listening Library, 2012. ISBN 9780449015056.

The Shooting Salvationist: J. Frank Norris and the Murder Trial That Captivated America by David R. Stokes

I learned about this book in Sarah Statz Cords article "Prior Misconduct: Historical True Crime Collection Development" in the September 2012 issue of Library Journal. 

There are two central characters in The Shooting Salvationist: J. Frank Norris and the Murder Trial That Captivated America by David R. Stokes. Of course, one is identified in the title, the Baptist minister J. Frank Norris, who was once thought to be the heir to the title of "leading fundamentalist in America" after the death of William Jennings Bryan in 1925. The other is the city of Fort Worth, Texas, a former cowtown that was becoming a first class metropolis when Norris led the First Baptist Church, the largest congregation in the nation at the time.

Initially, Ft. Worth was the more interesting of the characters. I enjoyed learning about the city's transformation and aspirations. I have been there and am impressed with its parks, zoo, museums, and central city. The author recounts how the city developed during the first three decades of the twentieth century in setting the scene for a crime that pitted Norris against the Ft.Worth establishment.

Norris felt quite confident in his many campaigns to shape Ft. Worth. He had not only a devoted congregation in the city but also reached conservative Christians in many states through his weekly newspaper, radio station, and high-profile evangelical crusades to cities across the country. He showed no fear in taking on strong enemies, but he risked losing everything when he fatally shot an unarmed opponent who had come to his church office to argue about Norris's threats to the mayor.

In the last part of the book, the author dramatically recounts the media circus and trial following the killing. Would Norris be sent to the electric chair? I won't tell.

Stokes, David R. The Shooting Salvationist: J. Frank Norris and the Murder Trial That Captivated America. Steerforth Press, 2011. 350p. ISBN 9781586421861.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

I knew the people in our book club would have plenty to say about Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. It is a much longer book than we normally read, but it was democratically chosen, and I think almost everyone finished the book. Of course, you would not have had to read the book at all to join in the conversation. Everyone was familiar with Jobs and Apple. We even had Apple devices in the room.

One of the discussion points was whether Isaacson's book was really a biography of Jobs or a history of Apple with a heavy emphasis on Jobs. A few wished that there had been much less about the technology and more about Jobs and his relationships. Others thought that Apple was the most important part of Jobs and the mix was right. One of the younger members who remembers her parents getting an Apple II remarked that the book was a history of her times. Not being one of the youngest, I could say that it is a sort of history of technology concurrent to my professional times. From my position as a librarian, I saw the introductions of many of the computers and devices mentioned.

I was fascinated by Silicon Valley culture undercurrent in the book. All of the key players at Apple, Microsoft, Google, Hewlett Packard, Sun Microsystems, Adobe, etc. all seemed to know each other and even dined out with spouses. (When dining with Jobs, you had to make allowances for his radical diet.) At the same time, they were fiercely competing with each other to win acclaim and sales for their products. The need for industry standards and software that bridged platforms required a certain civility that the competitors kept at most times. Civility still allows for much foul language.

Job's Pixar years seem to be a sort of sweet side story. They make me more inclined to like Jobs who is a very difficult person to like through much of the book. We all agreed that he was a poor parent and wonder how his children will develop as adults. No one wanted him as a boss.

At 571 pages of text, Steve Jobs is a book that requires some committment from a book club, but the effort may be rewarded.

Isaacson, Walter. Steve Jobs. Simon & Schuster, 2011. 630p. ISBN 9781451648539.

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer

Should you be traveling and wish to encourage conversation with your fellow travelers, carry and read from Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster by Jon Krakauer. I was reading it as I flew from West Texas back to Chicago a few weeks ago. Several people just nodded toward the book and said "Great book." The longest encounter I had was with a man who appeared to be one of the Southwest Airlines pilots. Seeing me reading near a gate in Midland International Airport, he asked me how I was liking the book and recommended that I also read Under the Banner of Heaven. As he walked away, I observed his being blond, tan, and athletic, just the kind of guy who could be a climber.

By this time, fifteen years after publication, I imagine a lot of people have already read Into Thin Air. I know librarians have been recommending it for years. I know that I have handed it to scores of readers. Yet I had not read it. The whole idea of enduring hardship and altitude sickness to put one's life at risk just to test one's determination seemed rather self-indulgent and irresponsible. It still does. But the book is exciting. Krakauer is a good storyteller.

Though you know the outcome at the beginning, he is able to introduce characters and reveal critical moments at a pace that never lets the reader lose interest. With his vivid descriptions, I feel I know what it is like at the top of Everest, and I am certain that I am not going there. I think I'll stay under 8000 feet,  thank you, except for a few airplane flights.

I was reading Into Thin Air to see if it fit in an article that I am writing about memoirs to keep for decades in library collections. I decided it is not enough about Krakauer to be a memoir, but it is definitely a book to keep.

Krakauer, Jon. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster. Villard, 1997. 297p. ISBN 0679457526.

A Wedding in Haiti: The Story of a Friendship by Julia Alvarez

Cruel dictators, violent gangs, disasterous earthquakes, poverty, and disease are the prevailing topics in most discussions of Haiti. Novelist Julia Alvarez has witnessed all of this from her coffee farm in the neighboring Dominican Republic, but she has seen reason for hope in the Haitian people. She recounts two driving trips in a pickup truck into Haiti with her warm-hearted husband and some of her Haitian workers in A Wedding in Haiti: The Story of a Friendship.

Central to the story is Piti, a Haitian that Alvarez has seen grow from a boy into a man. When he was just a boy, she made the casual remark that someday she would attend his wedding. In August 2009, Piti called her on short notice to remind her of her pledge. She cancelled all her appointments and flew from her Vermont home back to the island of Hispanola to take a trip across the border. The first trip is a mostly entertaining look at rural Haiti. The second taken after the 2010 earthquake that destroyed much of Port-Au-Prince is a short report of the state of the Haitian people in and away from the epicenter of the capital city.

Throughout both, Alvarez saw resilience amid the despair and devotion to family. Readers who enjoy peeks into other cultures will like this quick-reading book.

Alvarez, Julia. A Wedding in Haiti: The Story of a Friendship. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2012. 287p. ISBN 9781616201302.

Just Kids by Patti Smith

I was initially not inclined to read Just Kids by artist, poet, and rock star Patti Smith. However, I read good reviews and having not read the book was beginning to seem like a gap in my personal reading journal. Having started the book to get a taste of the writing and plot, I was quickly enamored. Smith's memoir of her romance/friendship with and devotion to the artist Robert Mapplethorpe is remarkably charming for a book about sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

Smith starts with the story of her arrival in New York. With only a few dollars, she slept in a park or, when able, hid all night in a back room of the book store where she got her first job. Then she met Robert Mapplethorpe with whom she then lived during her evolution as artist and poet. It was Mapplethorpe who later urged her to sing. After a few years they moved into the Chelsea Hotel, where artists could sometimes pay with art, and they met many artists, writers, and musicians, names readers will recognize, like Andy Warhol and Janis Joplin. Just Kids works well as a history of the 1960s and 1970s New York art community.

Just Kids is not a good choice for sensitive readers, as the behavior of Smith, Mapplethorpe, and their friends was meant to be provocative. Nevertheless, many readers will enjoy a classic story of starving artists finding recognition, respect, and love.

Smith, Patti. Just Kids. Ecco, 2010. 278p. ISBN 9780066211312.

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination: A Memoir by Elizabeth McCracken

"… you need everyone you know after a disaster, because there is not one right response. It's what paralyzes people around the grief-stricken, of course, the idea that there are right things to say and wrong things and its better to say nothing than something clumsy."

As the mother of a still-born child, Elizabeth McCracken knows about awkwardness surrounding the grieving, and in her An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination: A Memoir, she identifies silence as the worst response to a friend's or stranger's tragedy.

The grieving need words of solace, acknowledgement, hugs and tears. She knows now why some cultures hire professional mourners. Silence condemns. Sympathy unrestrained eases pain.

Though a well-read adult (she is a novelist) who knows the world is full of hardship, McCracken was ill-prepared for her own tragedy. (Few of us are.) She did not know how to handle the innocent questions from acquaintances, such as grocers or neighbors, "How's the baby?" She could not lie or run away. The reminders of tragedy were as plentiful as the children and pregnant women seen every time she left her house.

In An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination, McCracken tells her story skillfully,  gradually revealing the problems she faced, saving the most important scenes for the end. Unusual details, such as being in France at the time of her delivery and the difficulty of getting her British husband into the U.S., add to the appeal of her tale. Few readers will be untouched. We will all be better off for considering what McCracken says.

McCracken, Elizabeth. An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination: A Memoir. Little, Brown and Company, 2008. 184p. ISBN 9780316027670.

The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and the 82 Days That Inspired America by Thurston Clarke

I remember the 1968 presidential campaign of Robert Kennedy. I was only fourteen and quite naive, very sure that we were on the verge of a much better world. We were going to end poverty, discrimination, and war. It seems quite hard to imagine that dream now, but Thurston Clarke in The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and the 82 Days That Inspired America confirms that I was not the only person who felt so optomistic. Many people, especially young people and minorities, believed Bobby Kennedy could lead the country to joyous and just prosperity.

Of course, many people hated Kennedy, too. Labor unions disliked that as attorney general he had brought criminal charges against many of their Mafia-influenced leaders. Southern Democrats disliked his support of civil rights legislation. Even college students were not united in support; he had told them that he wanted to end the Vietnam War quickly, which they like, but he also proposed the end of student deferments in the meantime, which they did not.

In The Last Campaign, Clarke chronicles the three months of Kennedy's run for president, which also happened to be the last months of his life. Using media accounts and interviews, the author takes readers onto the buses, planes, and whistle stop trains and into campaign headquarters to hear the conversations between Kennedy and his campaign staff. In doing so, he paints a mostly positive picture of the younger brother of an assassinated president. But not all was well. Kennedy was very intense and sometimes sarcastic character. He was very sure someone would try to kill him but believed he would be cowardly to avoid the crowds.

Reading The Last Campaign is a trip back into an era when few states had binding primaries, nothing was certain before presidential conventions, and candidates were just starting to design their campaigns for maximum media attention. It will interest readers of history and politics.

Clarke, Thurston. The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and the 82 Days That Inspired America. Henry Holt, 2008. 321p. ISBN 9780805077926.

Imperfect: An Improbable Life by Jim Abbott and Tim Brown

Former major league pitcher Jim Abbott has inspired many fans just by being on the field. The odds against a player with only one hand making it through all of the levels of baseball to the top are incalculable. How could he both catch and throw? Through sheer willpower, he found a way to be able to rise from Little League to pro ball. He tells his story in Imperfect: An Improbable Life. 

Being a role model for physically challenged children and adults, however, was never Abbott's intent, but he decided it was his responcibility. The difficulty was that he grew weary of pity very early in his life. His plan was to refer to his missing hand as little as possible. Of course, his missing hand was what journalists noticed first and predictably asked about. He had to outlast the notariety and prove he was an effective pitcher to ever get a story that did not label him as the player with one hand. He also knew in his heart that he had to respond to every child who sent him a letter, sign as many autographs as possible, and meet families who made special trips hoping to meet him. He was a nice guy. Too nice according to his agent and sports psychologist.

Like Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy by Jane Leavy, Abbott's book alternates the story of a pitcher's best game with the story of his regrettably short career. Readers come to admire both men. Imperfect will be most liked by sports fans and people with physical challenges of their own.

Abbott, Jim and Tim Brown. Imperfect: An Improbable Life. Ballantine Books, 2012. 283p. ISBN 9780345523259.

I'm taking this week off. I hope to have more book and movie reviews sometime next week. See you later, alligator.

The Booklover's Guide to the Midwest: A Literary Tour by Greg Holden

While in Prairie Lights Bookstore in Iowa City over Labor Day Weekend, Bonnie and I found The Booklover's Guide to the Midwest: A Literary Tour by Greg Holden, just our kind of book. While we do not take as many long weekend trips as we would like, we still enjoy dreaming of them. Holden's 2010 book was already on the sale table, so we bought it.

Definitions of the Midwest differ. When Joyce Saricks asked me, "What's it say about Kansas?", I had to tell her that the state was not included. Holden holds the Midwest to be Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota, all of which he has toured extensively. In his book, he suggests tours that run along major roads or rivers, but the town entries are not always in a logical order. Readers have to plot their own routes on maps that they will have to buy separately.

I found while reading that I needed to make two lists - places to go and books to read. While I have already stood outside houses of Sinclair Lewis and F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are many places I still want to visit, including the Carl Sandburg birthplace in Galesburg, Illinois, and the Robert Ridgewood Memorial Arboretum and Bird Sanctuary in Olney, Illinois. In Iowa, I'd like to visit the Mark Twain Center in the Keokuk Public Library in Keokuk and the Japanese Garden on the grounds of the Muscatine Art Center in, of course, Muscatine.

Many of the authors and books highlighted by Holden are unfamiliar to me, especially many from the 19th and early 20th centuries. I think I might especially like to read Iowa Interiors by Ruth Suckow from this group. I was also reminded that I have never gotten around to You Know Me Al by Ring Lardner. Holden also recommends the novels of Jane Hamilton from Rochester, Minnesota.

Time to get out the road atlas.

Holden, Greg. The Booklover's Guide to the Midwest: A Literary Tour. Clerisy Press, 2010. 308p. ISBN 9781578603145.

The Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant

In my studies of biography, including autobiography, I have often noticed praise for The Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant. The reluctant-to-write former general and president wrote this autobiography late in life to get his family out of debt. It had been on the edge of my mind to read it for years before I finally checked it out this summer. Even then, I renewed it twice before I read a word. Its size is intimidating. Noticing that it is split into two volumes, I resolved to read just volume one before the looming deadline to return it to the library.

Thankfully, I discovered that Grant was as good an author as promised. His style was unadorned by any grand statements or flowery language, unlike some nineteenth century texts. He had a good story of importance to American readers and told it well. He did go into a bit more detail than I wanted in describing some battles, but this is precisely what will interest some other readers. I most enjoyed reading about the every day lives of soldiers in both the U.S.-Mexican War and the Civil War.

Grant's account of the War with Mexico is particularly interesting because he served alongside many men who would later be leaders of the Confederate forces. He even went mountain climbing with them during the quiet spells during the campaign to take Mexico City. Most of them had been at West Point together. His account referenced events of the next war, as he assessed the leadership qualities of these comrades.

I enjoy reading about places, and Grant granted me a view of early Texas which I enjoyed, my being a student who enjoyed a year of Texas history in junior high school. I also found descriptions of pre-Civil War Missouri very interesting - I visited some of the places when I worked in Columbia.

Volume one of the memoirs reports his military life through the conquest of Vicksburg in 1863. Volume two tells his story through the end of the Civil War. He does not write about his presidency in his memoirs. I read from The Library of America volume Grant: Memoirs and Selected Letters, which also adds a Grant chronology and the text of notes that Grant wrote to the doctor who nursed him through his final illness.

Grant, Ulysses S. Grant: Memoirs and Selected Letters. Library of America, 1990. 1199p. ISBN 0940450585.

Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy

I remember 1964 baseball cards. The cards for National League's 1963 leaders in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average all showed Sandy Koufax at the top. He had had a great season and was in his prime. He would dominate opposing batters for three more years and then retire. He was baseball's highest paid player at $150,000 per year, but he said that his health was more important than money and walked away. He was only 31 years old and had nothing left to prove on the field.

Retiring early was only one of the unusual acts of Koufax's short career, according to Jane Leavy in her tribute Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy. By declining to start Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it was Yom Kippur, he put his religious practice before his sports and solidified his reputation within the American Jewish community. He refused to make alcohol and tobacco ads, though he both drank and smoked. His dual strike for higher pay with Don Drysdale in spring training 1966 was the seed of the players' union movement, according to Leavy.

Perhaps the great game Koufax ever pitched was his September 9, 1965 perfect game against the Chicago Cubs. The fans at Dodger Stadium also witnessed a one-hitter pitched by the Cub Hendley. Leavy uses the game as a plot device, alternating innings of that game with chapters of Koufax's life. It is a common way to write a sports biography and in this case very effective. Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy is a biography that no baseball fan should miss. With the playoffs coming soon, this is a great time to pick it up.

Leavy, Jane. Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy. HarperCollins, 2002. 282p. ISBN 0060195339.

America's Other Audubon by Joy M. Kiser

When Joy M. Kiser began her new position as assistant librarian at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in 1995, volume one of Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio was on display in a case near the stairs. She had never heard of the Jones family of Circleville, Ohio. Through research she discovered that they were amateur ornithologists who in the nineteenth century recognized that there was not a good reference book about bird eggs and nests. Encourage by multi-talented daughter Genevieve, the entire family began to work on the collecting and illustrating of nests and eggs from their area. Genevieve soon fell ill and died, but the family increased efforts in her memory and produced an acclaimed work of which fewer than 100 copies were ever made. Kiser tells the story and reproduces the plates and commentary in America's Other Audubon.

Like James John Audubon decades earlier, the Jones family sought to sell their illustrations through subscriptions to collectors. Luckily for us, several of the major museums signed up, and Kiser was able to produce this beautiful book with the help of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries. The work is a testament to the bounty of bird life of the time, when even the passenger pigeon thrived.

Readers of the beautiful and oversized America's Other Audubon may be inspired to take binoculars or maybe even watercolors to the woods. I am sure identifying birds by nests and eggs will still be far more difficult than by plumage or song, but maybe we will at least know now where to look.

Kiser, Joy M. America's Other Audubon. Princeton Architectural Press, 2012. 191p. ISBN 9781616890599.

Wish Lists for Reading

Yesterday, our consortium of libraries rolled out a new look for our shared library catalog, and it is a great improvement. Along with the sprucing up, SWAN added some new features. My favorite is My Wish Lists. Since I was reading book reviews when I learned of the upgrade coming online, I started a list that I call Histories and Biographies to Read. I filled it with books that will come out in the next couple of months. The list looks like this when printed:

What I like is that there is a handy link for each title to place a request. I could have gone ahead and requested the books yesterday, but several of them might suddenly arrived at the same time. I already have a stack of books and I am working on some projects, so I will save borrowing the books for later when the brand-new-books demand for them has faded. I might then request them and get them right away. I might even see copies on the shelf at my library and not have to use the request service. They should be just as good in six months or a year or even five as they are the day they are published.

I manage my audiobook downloads in a similar way. Media on Demand, which is my library's Overdrive download service, has a single wish list into which I add titles to download later. With six to ten titles in the wish list, there is a good chance one will be available when I desire another audiobook on my iPod. I can see from the wish list which titles are ready for checkout. Just a couple of clicks and it is mine (for two weeks).

How do you keep track of the books you want to read? I think more people are keeping lists and making requests now. I hardly ever see people browsing the stacks, and the reserve shelves behind the checkout desk are always full. I'd enjoy knowing what you are seeing.

The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere by Debra Marquart

"As I get older, I become infinitely interested in everything older than I am - old people, old letters, photographs, and papers, ship manifests, yellowed newspapers, crispy deeds, buried archives." Debra Marquart

One reason that we enjoy memoirs is that we identify with authors. In their experiences and thoughts, we see a bit of ourselves. I found this true with The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere by Debra Marquart. As I read of her spending an afternoon watching the nearby highway out her brother's window, counting the cars going in each direction, I recalled slow hot summer afternoons looking out my grandmother's front window with my sister. Would the next car be red or green? What a delight it was when we were right.

There is a good mix of similarities and differences in Marquart's life and mine to keep her story fascinating and unpredictable. Many of the circumstances were the same but her actions were far different from mine, but I can understand why she rebelled. I was not faced with the prospects of being expected to become a farmer's wife. I never had daily farm chores that kept me from friends. My life was much easier, and I was given my ticket for escape. Marquart traveled a hard road out.

Yet, in middle age, we are in similar places. Both of us are book people now living in communities of little interest to our families. We pass through time portals when we revisit our origins. We have reconciled with and care for our aging parents. Our dreams often take us back to houses we will never reenter.

Marquart is a fine storyteller with an eye for detail and sense of place. She'll string you along, and you'll gladly follow. By the way, turn your head 90 degrees to look at the book cover.

Marquart, Debra. The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere. 2006. 270p. ISBN 9781582433455.

Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons) by Joseph Haydn

Each summer, Bonnie and I try to attend at least one of the evening concert at Grant Park in Chicago. This year we made a Saturday evening performance by the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus under the direction of Carlos Kalmar of the epic oratorio The Seasons by Joseph Haydn. It is epic in that a full performance takes two hours to perform. I do not remember previously hearing even parts, but with three strong soloists and a huge chorus, it was glorious.

If you have ever heard a Christmas performance of The Messiah by George Frideric Handel, imagine that kind of music but longer. (The Messiah is much longer, too, when played in full.) There are orchestral parts, recitatives with voice and harpsichord, arias, and big choral blockbusters. Everything was impression, except the lyrics sung in English. "Come, sweet maidens, let us wander o'er the glowing fields" is a representative line. Haydn himself complained about the lyrics that he was commissioned to set to music. He preferred his previous oratorio The Creation. (I want to hear it, too.) Most of the time, I could not actually understand the lyrics, so I was not distracted from the music.

The next week I borrowed Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons) by Joseph Haydn performed by the London Symphony Chorus and London Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Sir Colin Davis. The oratorio is sung in German! It is fabulous in German. I listened to the two CDs three times through in the next several weeks, mostly while driving or cooking. I hoped to memorize some of the melodies, but I failed. I can not hum any part now, but I did enjoy imagining myself like Inspector Morse driving around in a hot red sports car with the opera cranked up. (For the record, we have a modest green car.) 

Here is a sample from "Winter" so you can see if you might also enjoy Haydn's The Seasons.

The Day the Revolution Ended: 19 October 1781 by William H. Hallahan

After reading The Day the Revolution Ended: 19 October 1781 by William H. Hallahan, I am left with the impression that the American colonists were always a long shot to win their revolution. With strong leadership, the British military should have mopped up the remnants of the hastily formed rebellion on several occasions. The rebels were short of funds, clothing, and ammunition. Their ranks were reduced by disease and the annual needs of soldier farmers to get back to sow and harvest crops. Why did the British not finish them off?

Historian and novelist Hallahan tells in great detail how many British officers and soldiers profited from their occupation of cities and campaigns through the various states. Why rush the war? While in New York, many officers under General Clinton took over great houses in the city, living lavishly in some and renting out others as barracks for their own men, pocketing the rent. These same officers shipped furniture and books taken from these homes back to their estates in Britain. Some also skimmed from the payrolls of their own troops. During campaigns chasing rebel forces, they loaded wagons full of goods to sell or keep. After defecting the colonial cause, General Benedict Arnold was openly joyous about the profit he would make marching through the rich plantations of Virginia.

This corruption in the British military contributed to its eventual demise, as the officers and soldiers stole from loyalists as wantonly as from rebels. As the war progressed, the British found it more and more difficult to enlist more loyalists into their ranks. Of course, rebel violence against loyalists had reduced their numbers, too. Hallahan is also very critical of most colonial political leaders, especially the Continental Congress, which he claims usually did nothing other than debate issues, leaving the army underfunded. He especially rebukes Virginia Governor Thomas Jefferson for doing little to prepare his state for invasion and Boston's Samuel Adams for opposing any measure to strengthen the national government. The only heroes in the narrative are Generals Washington, Lafayette, and Greene.

A better title for the book would have been The Year the Revolution Ended, as Hallahan chronicles how the American, British, and French forces all arrived at the Yorktown battlefield, a long process that seemed to develop in slow motion. It is a good story that Hallahan tells well from his point of view. We should be eternally grateful to the French, who were really there to oppose the British.

I like the Afterward which reports what happened to each of the principal characters after the war.

Hallahan, William H. The Day the Revolution Ended: 19 October 1781. John Wiley & Sons, 2004. 292p. ISBN 0471262404.

60 Ways to Use Your Library Card

September is National Library Card Month. Here are 60 reasons to get a library card.


               


 Visit your local library to see what it can do for you.

The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity by Elizabeth Rusch

Just a week ago, I wrote about The Mighty Ted. This week, it is the mighty Spirit and the mighty Opportunity, NASA's Mars surface rovers that far exceeded the expectations of scientists and engineers in 2004. Both went about taking pictures and soil samples and then relaying data back to Earth beyond their three month missions. In fact, Opportunity in still chugging away. Science writer Elizabeth Rusch tells their stories in The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity. 

The narrative begins on Earth with the dreams of science kid Steven Squyres, who got his first telescope at eight and tried to build a robot when he was nine. Of course, he grew up to be a NASA scientist whose proposal for Mars rovers was commissioned in the year 2000. Rusch tells how in less than four years Steve and a team of engineers, scientists, and contractors built the two rovers sent to opposite sides of the our sister planet. The story continues with the nail-biting landing and difficult explorations across the rock-strewn and sometimes sandy Martian surface.

Though aimed at late elementary or middle school readers, this book is perfect for an adult wanting to revisit the years of rover activity. It is a slim but substantial book. I spent about three hours reading and studying the many photos and maps of Mars. With the recent landing of Curiosity on Mars, this is a great time to put The Mighty Mars Rovers on display in libraries and bookstores.

Rusch, Elizabeth. The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity. Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2012. 79p. ISBN 9780547478814.

Why Spencer Perceval Had to Die: The Assassination of a British Prime Minister by Andro Linklater

It has been 200 years since an event of which I had never heard - an event that author Andro Linklater claims changed the course of history. On May 11, 1812, British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval was shot and killed upon entering the lobby of Parliament on his way to a hearing in the House of Commons. With many witnesses, there was no doubt that John Bellingham, a businessman from Liverpool, was the assassin. Linklater recounts how paths of the prime minister and businessman crossed in Why Spencer Perceval Had to Die: The Assassination of a British Prime Minister.

The author thinks that it is curious that such a dramatic and important incident has been mostly forgotten. It seems that British authorities wanted it that way. Bellingham was tried and hung within a week of the crime. Little effort was made to investigate why the businessman wanted to kill the prime minister, and the story was soon out of the newspapers. Many people were actually pleased to have the very powerful Perceval dead, Linklater claims. The people of London poured into the streets to celebrate upon hearing the news of the assassination.

In a way, Linklater's research was cold case investigation. Readers learn from his book much about the people who benefited from the crime and its impact on the ongoing war with France, the new war with the former American colonies, and the British Navy's efforts to enforce the Abolition Act of 1807 which aimed to stop the international slave trade. British bankers and shipowners of Liverpool had a lot of money invested in the slave trade. Fans of both American and British history will enjoy Why Spencer Perceval Had to Die.

Linklater, Andro. Why Spencer Perceval Had to Die: The Assassination of a British Prime Minister. Walker & Company, 2012. 296p. ISBN 9780802779984.

Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare

Recently, I heard voices telling me "Read Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare." First, it was Lorenzo speaking with Jessica in Act V Scene I of The Merchant of Venice, which we saw under the stars in July.

   "Troilus methinks mounted the Troyan walls
   And sigh'd his soul toward the Grecian tents,
   Where Cressid lay that night."

Then it was a group of actors in Oxford in an episode of PBS Masterpiece Mystery's Inspector Lewis. They were recording Troilus and Cressida for a professor. The young woman playing Cressida became a murder victim, and her boyfriend who read Troilus was a suspect.

Finally, we replaced a bunch of old Shakespeare volumes in our library's play collection with fresh copies. Among the additions was an edition of Troilus and Cressida from the Folger Shakespeare Library. It was definitely time to read this play of which I was unfamiliar.

Despite the clues in the brief encounters above, I was totally surprised to learn that Troilus and Cressida tells a story from the siege of Troy by the Greeks wanting the return of Helen, Queen of Sparta, who had been kidnapped by the besotted Paris. Having once read The Iliad, I was able to figure out some of what was going on. The story, however, seems a bit different from what I remember of the battle between Achilles and Hector. It is certainly different than the battle in the movie Troy.

According to the introduction in the Folger Shakespeare Library edition, the playwright drew from Homer and from Troilus and Criseyde, a play by Chaucer. Shakespeare's play was published in 1609, but there is no evidence of its being performed during his lifetime. The Riverside Shakespeare says the first known performance was in 1898. To help modern readers, the Folger edition has text on the right hand page with extensive footnotes on the left hand page.

Troilus and Cressida is a hard play to categorize. There is comic banter that reminds me of Much Ado About Nothing and a forbidden steamy romance much like Romeo and Juliet. In the fourth act, most of the Greeks and Trojans enjoy a friendly banquet together to prepare for the next day's battle. The main characters (if you use the title as a clue) hardly appear in the final act and then not doing much of final importance. The Riverside Shakespeare groups it with the comedies but calls it historical.

Troilus and Cressida is not among Shakespeare's masterpieces, but it is interesting for those wanting more after having repeatedly seen or read the major plays.

Shakespeare, William. Troilus and Cressida. Simon and Schuster, 2007. 343p. ISBN 9780743273312.

The Mighty Ted: An Unexpected Journey, Written and Performed by Ted Waltmire

Ted Waltmire just wants to be "An Average Guy" again, as he tells us in song in his short musical comedy The Mighty Ted: An Unexpected Journey, performed each Saturday night this September at Donny's Skybox Theater in Pipers Alley in Chicago. He's getting there, as we learn in his funny look at his recovery efforts from the stroke that nearly killed him in 2009.

Ted has been the musical director for community and college theaters in the Chicago area for several decades, as well as being the computer guy at the Downers Grove Public Library. Bonnie and I have attended numerous musicals (Into the Woods, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Godspell, 1776, and more) where he would direct the pit orchestra (often including his wife Michelle) from the piano. Of course, some of the pits were under the stage and hardly visible, but we would always see him at intermission or after the performance. So he was a natural to turn his own experiences into a performance. After the stroke, his colleague and friend Dale Galiniak (who is in the cast) suggested that they take an improv class at Second City. Ted eventually also took a writing class and from that came the script, which was accepted for performance.

For the debut performance, there were many of Ted's family and friends as well as his nurses and therapists in the audience watching him graduate from wheelchair to walker to cane. There was even a song about his many canes. Some got to see themselves comically portrayed. Of course, comedy can include anger, and in this case most was directed at Social Security and impatient people unwilling to give stroke victims time to do the things they are relearning to do. It was an emotion-filled performance with lots of laughs and lively tunes.

Of the remaining four shows, one is already sold out. Go to the Second City website to get tickets. If you decide to go, the best parking deal is at the Treasure Island supermarket across the street.