Blog Post
Passion for Decorating
by muffy
For those of us who find ourselves permanently parked at the HGTV channel, here is a good reason to take a break from reruns with Debbie, Candice and Summer and pick up a good book.
Rococo by Adriana Trigiani is in many ways a small story about a small-town decorator (excuse me – interior designer) Bartolomeo di Crespi (“B”). The fact that “B” is talented, single, and a good Catholic boy made him the only game in town, in more ways than one. This is a heart-warming story about family, faith, and going after the big dream.
Adriana Trigiani is an award-winning playwright, television writer, and documentary filmmaker for whom decorating has been a longtime passion. She is currently hard at work finishing up the screenplay for the movie version of her novel Big Stone Gap and a fourth in the series called CHRISTMAS IN BIG STONE GAP which picks up where Milk Glass Moon left off.
Blog Post
The Brethren
by amy
The recent retirement of Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and the nomination of U.S. Circuit Judge John G. Roberts Jr. has put the Supreme Court in the spotlight of American politics. Read The Brethren: Inside the Surpreme Court, Bob Woodward's 1979 ground-breaking study of American jurisprudence at its highest level and a behind-the-scenes view of the Supreme Court at mid-20th century in transition from the relatively liberal Warren Court to the more conservative Berger Court.
Blog Post
The Memory of Whiteness
by eli
Kim Stanley Robinson is well known for his Mars Trilogy and The Years of Rice and Salt, but I've read some of his earlier works recently, and while markedly different from his more recent, high-profile works, both The Memory of Whiteness and Icehenge are rewarding, idea-rich reads with complex characters and political structures.
The Memory of Whiteness, his first novel, is particularly unique; Robinson envisions a future where we've colonized most of the solar system, including moons and asteroids. Rather optimistically, Robinson's story is primarily about how important live music is to this distributed culture, and if you can get past that, he's got a bit of whodunit and some genuine cultish weirdness thrown in that makes for a loopy-but-gripping read.
I've also just started his Forty signs of Rain, which is set in Washington DC of the very near future, dealing with the political landscape of climate change legislation. Sounds fun, right?
Blog Post
Did you read it over the weekend?
by amy
We know it sold a record 6.9 million copies in the first 24 hours, but did you actually have time to read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince over the weekend? I only had time enough to get through the first fifty pages, but I'm looking forward to the next 622.
Blog Post
Polio and its Aftermath
by amy
Fifty years ago, Jonas Salk announced a vaccine against polio at the University of Michigan. Today on the Diane Rehm Show, author Marc Shell talks about his book Polio and its Aftermath.
Click here for an image of Dr. Salk from the Making of Ann Arbor image collection.
Blog Post
The Mighty Asparagus
by eli
There's an oft-reinterpreted russian folk tale about a big turnip, and lots of people try to pull it out, etc. etc. The titular Mighty Asparagus of this book is an obvious descendant of the russian turnip, but the brilliantly off-kilter style and tone of Vladimir RadunskyVladimir Radunsky provide a wonderful new spin on the otherwise warmed-over folk tale that is eccentric and quite silly.
Radunsky uses famous renaissance paintings as visual fodder (and includes thanks and an apology to each pillaged artist in his dedication), and the result is a unique combination of rich texture and cross-eyed goofiness that overshadows (in a good way) whatever the parable is supposed to be about (even the smallest effort counts).
My 3-year-old son adores this book, especially the Ballad of the Mighty Asparagus at the end, but if you have a child who is into order, they may be a bit dismayed by the centerfold-style pullout of the fallen asparagus. Should that have had a spoiler warning?
Also, don't miss Radunsky's Manneken Pis, the simple story of a boy who peed on a war.
Blog Post
Lance Armstrong
by amy
The new youth book Lance Armstrong, Cyclist by Michael Benson describes Armstrong's amazing journey from cancer survivor to today's frontrunner in the 2005 Tour de France.
Blog Post
The Historian
by amy
This morning Diane Rehm interviewed Elizabeth Kostova, winner of a UM Hopwood Award for the Novel-in-Progress. Kostova is the author of one of this summer's hottest reads, The Historian, currently #2 on the New York times bestseller list.
Blog Post
Panda-monium
by amy
Can't get enough of Giant panda Mei Xiang and her new cub? Check out the Giant Pandas page at the National Zoo for up-to-date news and a live webcam. We also have lots of information on pandas right here in the library. Also today, the New York Times published a review of the new book, The Lady and the Panda, The True Adventures of the First American Explorer to Bring Back China's Most Exotic Animal, by Vicki Constantine Croke.
Blog Post
Stardust
by john
This gem of a novella is about a young man, Tristran Thorn, who promises a fair maiden that he will fetch a fallen star for her from beyond a wall that is crossed only once every nine years during a magical flea market. The wall (which resides in a rural English town named Wall) separates our world from the land of Faerie. During his travels, Tristran encounters witches, goblins, upset trees, feuding brothers, and farting hair-balls. Eventually, he uncovers his true heart's desire.
Stardust is an adult fairy by Neil Gaiman, author of Neverwhere, American Gods, and other highly stylized fantasy novels. He is also the creator of the DC Comic Sandman series. I sat down and read this book in about 5 hours.