Blog Post
Review: Encore’s “Noises Off!” delivers a hilarious back-stage romp
by amy
The Encore Musical Theatre Company is taking a break from musicals to offer up a double dose of farce.
Slamming doors, fractured romances, comical confrontations, and lots of sardines happen on stage and off in Michael Frayn’s witty send-up of the theatrical life Noises Off! and the Encore company deliver a laugh-filled romp.
A very British theater group is traveling the countryside with a country house farce called Nothing On. Frayn’s play begins with a dress rehearsal that suggests the troupe is not quite ready for prime time and then takes us to two performances that devolve into chaos, one from the backstage view and the other from the stage view. It’s an affectionate but also biting view of theater types -- just the sort of thing theater types love to do.
Director Tobin Hissong keeps the verbal and physical action moving at breakneck speed. This is a play with a lot of witty dialogue and slapstick and mime. Hissong has a fine cast and he gets exactly the right comic effect from the various stereotypes Frayn uses for the play within the play and his portrayal of actors.
Daniel A. Helmer is the suave, sardonic Lloyd Dallas, the poor man assigned to direct Nothing On, a naughty sex farce. Helmer affects a just right Cary Grant snap in his English accent and a slightly florid set of gestures. At the beginning of the play, he’s a disembodied voice patiently and then less patiently taking his cast through their paces. Helmer has a winning charm that makes his character’s complicated romantic life believable and funny.
Each of the actors is a type and each is always cast to play that type.
Derek Ridge is the stiff, masculine leading man Garry Lejeune, who plays Roger Tramplemain, the real estate man hoping to “have a go” with a sexy young blonde named Vicki. On stage Lejeune is a man in charge. But without a script, he has a hard time finishing a sentence or framing an idea. Ridge does a great English accent and has a hilarious range of facial expressions that convey shock, outrage, and pure bewilderment.
The object of Roger’s pursuit is Vicki, played in Nothing On by spacey Brooke Ashton. She’s an actress who throws herself body and soul into her performance of Vicki. Tara Tomcsik-Husak is, as the British would say “brilliant", as Brooke and Vicki. Her body is all awkward angles and extravagant gestures. Her voice is a couple octaves higher than it should be. If Vicki is dim and frantic, Brooke is bored and spaced out. Tomcsik-Husak is very funny with her facial expressions, especially when she loses track of her contact lenses.
The hopeful lovers are using a country house for their liaison thinking that no one is there. How wrong they are.
The housemaid -- you know the one -- is loud, lazy, forgetful, with a lower class accent. Mrs. Clackett is a regular in British farce and a chance for aging actress Dotty Otley to return to the footlights. She’s even helping finance the production. Wendy Katz Hiller is a hoot as Dotty, a well-named woman who has a hard time remembering her lines, her actions, or much of anything else. She’s having a thing with the young Garry Lejeune, but she can always change her mind.
The plot thickens. The tax-dodging owners Philip and Flavia Brent sneak back to their house from Spain. Doors open and close, sardines appear and disappear, Vicki’s getting goosebumps dressed only in her underwear.
Method actor Frederick Fellowes is the sort of ham who needs a proper motivation for every move he makes on stage. Rusty Mewha affects a sweeping Leslie Howard persona. He’s funny being sweet and innocent as those around him suspect he’s up to no good. Mewha is particularly good at looking baffled.
Julie Garlotte is the acting company’s anchor, the level-headed, confiding adult in a group of overage children. Garlotte is Belinda Blair who plays the trusting wife Flavia and who rallies the troupe when things are down. Garlotte has her comic moments late in the play, but her importance is in providing a sensible center.
The last Nothing On cast member is the old veteran. Selsdon Mowbray has traversed the British countryside for years and years. He sometimes forgets rehearsals and performances because he “drinks a bit.” Dale Dobson plays the forgetful, frustrating, and yet lovable Selsdon with all those adjectives in place.
All good theatrical productions depend of good stage managers. The very talented Keith Kalinowski plays Tim Allgood, the person who can repair a set, run errands, keep the shows running on time, keep the actors fresh long after the director has gone, and fill in when Selsdon fails to show. Kalinowski plays Allgood with stoic forbearance even as things fall apart around him and his shift from excited to placid is a wonder.
Tim’s assistant is the much overworked and frequently frazzled Poppy Norton-Taylor played with just the right amount of weary pluck by Chris Purchis. She sees it through without complaint until she’s taken for granted one too many times.
Jennifer Maiseloff ‘s fine set in the small Encore space is excellent in a comically cramped way. Acts one and three are the country house living room and upstairs hall and bedroom doors. Act two is the back of this set with props ready and cast members making costume changes and frantically communicating in mime. The set works beautifully. As an added bonus, the audience can watch the company move the set around and rearrange it from front to back and back to front.
Even the program is entertaining with a funny mock program of Nothing On inside the real program. Who knew sardines were that important?
Though this is a fine production throughout, Acts One and Three draw more laughs than the backstage Act Two, which relies on slapstick and mime for its humor. Much of this is funny but it sometimes gets a little muddled as to what is going on and why. But the actors are all in for the fire drill pace and when things spill over to the stage it’s a riot.
The play spins deliriously out of control and into a sublime silliness at the end, as Frayn intended. As Hissong writes in his program note, “The truth of the matter is we all need a good laugh every now and then.”
Well, here it is!
Hugh Gallagher has written theater and film reviews over a 40-year newspaper career and was most recently managing editor of the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers in suburban Detroit.
Noises Off! continues Thursdays to Sundays through Feb. 19. For tickets, call The Encore Theatre Box Office at 734-268-6200 or visit the website
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts: #624, #625, #626 & #627
by christopherporter
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #627
“There are only two worlds - your world, which is the real world, and other worlds, the fantasy... these worlds provide an alternative." ~ Neil Gaiman
Set in an alternate modern-day England, Gilded Cage * by (Dr.) Vic(toria) James is first in the Dark Gifts dystopian trilogy. It is one of the LibraryReads February picks, "where enticing drama and social unrest mix with aristocratic scandal and glamorous magic." (Kirkus Reviews)
Thanks to clever Abi(gail), the Hadleys believe they have a better deal than most, as they have arranged to serve their decade of servitude (being commoners without the magical power of the aristocratic rulers) together. They will work as slaves at Kyneston, the country estate of the Jardines, one of the most powerful families in the country.
At the last minute, 16-year-old Luke Hadley is separated from the family and sent to Millmoor, Manchester’s infamous slave town to toil in its horrific factories where he finds friendship among those with a dangerous agenda. Meanwhile, Abi, yearning for love and knowledge, stumbles into the middle of Jardine family intrigues and political scheming that could alter their world forever.
"Debut novelist James does an excellent job of creating a dark contemporary world in which magic is used to prop up a corrupt aristocracy at the expense of ordinary people. Hopefully, the details of this realm's powers will be fleshed out in the next volume, which readers will eagerly anticipate after the cliff-hanger ending here. With solid YA crossover potential, this first novel should especially appeal to fans of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games Trilogy. (Library Journal)
Also for those who enjoyed Red Rising by Pierce Brown and Uprooted by Naomi Novik.
* = starred review
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #626, Debut Mysteries
If you are waiting for The Girl Before *, J.P. Delaney's cunning debut, you might give these a try.
Little Deaths * * * by Emma Flint is inspired by a true crime case which occurred in Queens, NY in 1965.
When single-mother Ruth Malone reports her young children missing from a locked room with an open window, suspicion immediately falls on her. A stylish cocktail waitress who works long hours and is separated from her husband, Ruth smokes, drinks, and parties, often with married men and keeps their love letters under her bed.
When the bodies of the children are found, the police investigation focuses solely on her. The lead detective, a strict Catholic who believes women belong in the home, leaps to the obvious conclusion. The only person who becomes convinced that Ruth may not be guilty of the crime is Pete Wonicke, a rookie tabloid reporter determined to make a name for himself.
"This accomplished debut novel will intrigue fans of both true crime and noir fiction. Flint, a technical writer in London, is a welcome addition to the world of literary crime fiction. Readers of Megan Abbott may want to investigate." (Library Journal)
The Dry * (one of January's LibraryReads picks, and winner of the 2015 Victorian Premier Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript) is drawing debut novelist Jane Harper comparisons to Dennis Lehane.
It has been 20 years since he and his father were driving out under a cloud of suspicion, Melbourne-based Federal Agent Aaron Falk returns to his hometown Kiewarra for the funeral of his childhood best friend Luke. Beyond trying to repay the debt he owed Luke, he questions the official narrative that Luke killed his young family and committed suicide on his farm - the desperate act of a man pushed to the brink by financial woes caused by the area's two-year drought.
With the help of recently arrived Sgt. Raco, Falk finds that small towns have big secrets and Luke's death might be connected to Ellie Deacon’s suspicious death by drowning 20 years ago.
"From the ominous opening paragraphs, all the more chilling for their matter-of-factness, Harper, a journalist who writes for Melbourne’s Herald Sun, spins a suspenseful tale of sound and fury as riveting as it is horrific." (Publishers Weekly). Film rights to Reese Witherspoon’s production company.
Read-alike: The Broken Shore by Peter Temple, which also offers a portrait of small-town Australia.
* * * = 3 starred reviews
* = starred review
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #625, Part 1
I don't know any significance to January 17, but three of the most buzzed spring debut novels will be officially released on that date.
The Bear and the Nightingale * * * * by Katherine Arden is set in medieval Russia, steeped in history and myth.
At the edge of the wilderness where winters last forever, Princess Marina risked it all to bring Vasilisa “Vasya” Petrovna into the world, certain that she would inherit her royal grandmother’s gift of magic and knowledge of the spirit world. A stranger with piercing blue eyes presented the grieving father with a precious jewel meant for the child. Growing up wild and fearless, Vasya roamed the woods befriending sprites and household spirits until Konstantin, an exiled priest with golden hair, and Anna, her pious, and troubled stepmother became obsessed with Vasya’s salvation.
As two supernatural beings, Morozko and Medved, sought to harness Vasya’s powerful gifts by threatening the survival of their village, Vasya discovered that armed only with the necklace and embracing the magic within, she might be the only one who could save them all.
"In a lush narrative with the cadence of a fairy tale, Arden weaves an immersive, earthy story of folk magic, faith, and hubris, peopled with vivid, dynamic characters, particularly clever, brave Vasya, who outsmarts men and demons alike to save her family. This beautifully written, auspicious first novel is utterly bewitching." (Booklist)
"Fleet and gorgeous as the firebird, a highly recommended exemplar of literary fantasy." (Library Journal)
Will appeal to fans of Naomi Novik, Neil Gaiman, and Eowyn Ivey.
* * * * = 4 starred reviews
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #625, Part 2
First, you need to know that as one trusted Library Journal reviewer puts it in no uncertain terms: "[T]his bleak, potent picture will scare the pants off readers."
According to debut novelist Lindsey Lee Johnson (herself a former tutor/teen mentor), The Most Dangerous Place on Earth * * is your local high school - where we send our precious ones as a matter of course.
Alternately narrating is a group of privileged Mill Valley juniors, linked by the parts they played in the suicide of a middle school classmate. Among them are the classic high school archetypes: the jock, the A-student, the bully, the stoner, the outcast - all in the throes of a time of tumult and confusion, amplified by the seduction and tyranny of social media.
Caught up in the daily drama of these teens is Molly Nicoll, a mid-year replacement teacher from scrubbier Fresno. First time away from home, and barely out of her teens, she too, is navigating faculty-lounge cliques; the vigor of teaching; demands of entitled and indulgent parents; and trying to connect with her students. Lonely and naive, she strikes up a relationship with a fellow teacher who turns out to be a predator.
"(Johnson) keeps the action brisk and deepens readers’ investment, culminating in a high school party that goes wrong. Readers may find themselves so swept up in this enthralling novel that they finish it in a single sitting." (Publishers Weekly)
Suggested for fans of Celeste Ng's Everything I Never Told You and The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer.
* * = 2 starred reviews
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #625, Part 3
A Word for Love * is inspired by the author Emily Robbin's year spent as a Fulbright Fellow in Syria, where she studied religion and language with a women’s mosque movement and lived with the family of a leading intellectual.
Bea, an American student of Arabic is spending an exchange year in an unnamed Middle Eastern Country under a dictatorship. Rather than enrolling in an established university program, she studies with a private tutor and immerses herself in the daily life of her host family. Her ultimate goal is to locate “The Astonishing Text,” an ancient manuscript of a famous Arabic love poem that is said to move its readers to tears.
As Bea becomes entwined in her host family’s complicated lives during a time of civil unrest and violence, she is also increasingly being drawn into a contemporary Romeo and Juliet-like romance between their Indonesian housemaid and the handsome policeman guarding their apartment block. Bea’s own story begins to mirror that of “The Astonishing Text” that drew her there in the first place—not in the role of one of the lovers, but as the character who lives to tell the story.
“Robbins’ melodic novel is story of war, family, language, but above all, a paean to unabashed, unbridled love. Told in quiet but elegant prose, each thump of this melodic novel’s heart (and what an enormous, rousing heart it is) attests to the timeless and life-giving power of love." ~ Khaled Hosseini
For readers who enjoyed The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu, and The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht.
* = starred review
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #624
“I've always wanted to play a spy, because it is the ultimate acting exercise. You are never what you seem.” ~ Benedict Cumberbatch
Ascension, the first book in a new series by Gregory Dowling is set in 18th century Venice in the weeks leading up to the Feast of the Ascension.
Alvise Marango, having grown up in London, is back in Venice, the city of his birth, alone, barely making a living as a cicerone, if not for his command of the English language. Rescuing an unsuspecting Mr. Boscombe and his tutor Shackleford from some shady characters at the gondola landing, he is hired as a guide as they continue their Grand Tour.
After a series of gruesome murders, with the latest being that of Shackleford, Mr. Boscombe is arrested, along with Marango as his accomplice. With a solid alibi and his intimate knowledge of Venetian history and politics, Marango impresses the authority enough to be recruited as a spy.
From the grandest palaces to its darkest alleys, he follows the trail of a missing book that might lead him to a secret society and its sinister plan to destroy the city on its most important and spectacular holiday. That is, if he manages to stay alive.
British author Gregory Dowling moved to Venice in 1981, where he teaches American Literature at Ca' Foscari University of Venice.
Readers partial to the setting and time period might also enjoy Beverle Graves Myers' Tito Amato series (many of them available for download), featuring an opera singer who is also a spy, and Jason Goodwin's The Bellini Card, which takes Investigator Yashim of the Edgar Award-winning series to Venice.
Related:
➥ Fabulous Fiction Firsts, full archive
Blog Post
Review: Purple Rose’s "Smart Love" asks big questions in family drama
by amy
What is a human being? Is a human a collection of parts, an accumulation of memories? A smile, a dance, a bundle of eccentricities?
These are a few of the questions pondered in Brian Letscher’s new comic drama Smart Love, being given its world premiere at Chelsea’s Purple Rose Theatre.
It’s a tightly focused family drama which is also a brainy sci-fi take on the limits of science and the consequences of going beyond those limits.
In a small Hamtramck bungalow, the widowed Sandy Wachowski is slowly remodeling her home and her life. She’s in a relationship with a good-hearted man and dealing with her conflicted feelings about her late husband, Ron.
Ron was one of those dreamers, a would-be world-beater inventor whose ship never quite came in. When he died of a heart attack it was unsettling for Sandy but devastating for their adult son, Benjamin.
On a stormy, sleepless night, a manic Benjy arrives unexpectedly from his job at MIT and has a shocking surprise for his wary and concerned mother.
This taut, four-character work is performed without an intermission to maintain the emotional tension for the cast and the audience.
Benjy is a brilliant young doctoral candidate at MIT, working on his dissertation and also as a working researcher at an MIT lab. He misses his father, who was his guide and inspiration. But Benjy is also bipolar, flying high and dipping low emotionally, and since his father’s death going deeper into his pain while Sandy has begun to move on.
The young scientist is writing his dissertation on artificial intelligence and he’s brought home the stunning, shattering results of his research and work.
Director Guy Sanville is a master at working his acting ensembles into precision interplay. Here the challenges are keen. The play is both a riveting family drama and also a mordant comedy. It’s four characters each operate on a different key, which is what makes the interplay so interesting. The timing and the person to person interactions are excellently in sync.
Sarab Kamoo plays Sandy as a woman trying to regain her zest for life, happy to move on. Kamoo is sexy one minute, motherly the next, and always intelligent and probing. Kamoo has some fine comic moments, one involving a long keening howl that seems especially appropriate.
David Bendena is Benjy. He’s all eyes, darting about, voice a little too loud, hair an oily mop. But Bendena’s performance is anything but one-note. When he pulls back, trying to get himself in sync with others he perfectly captures the sad reality for many who are bipolar. His mile-a-minute dialogue, his wild gestations, his needy pleas are all right on character.
Now for a spoiler alert: The play is about artificial intelligence. And the AI that Benjy has created is his father, seemingly in the flesh and the mind. He is created from official records, old journals, bits of saved memory and a son’s love.
Wayne David Parker is and isn’t Ron Wachowski. He embodies all of the surface charms of Ron. He’s a tap dancer, literally and figuratively. He’s a song and dance man, a flim-flammer. He’s the man Sandy fell in love with. But he is missing some key parts. Parker portrays those missing parts in small, reserved moments that aren’t quite like the real Ron. It’s subtle but effective. As a charmer, Parker is delightfully not subtle but endearing.
Equally effective are the small shared gestures of father and son, like tucking their arms high on theirs waists or certain other gestures and phrases. Benjy carries his father’s mad scientist approach to invention to its highest levels, but at what costs.
Jim Porterfield is solid as Sandy’s new boyfriend, Vic. He’s a great bear of a man with a kind heart and a somewhat shy demeanor. He helps set a comic tone at the beginning.
Gary Ciarkowski’s set is a realistic rendering of a small tract house and all the little reminders of a home under renovation, from paint swaths on the wall, to partially ripped out carpet. He puts you in a real house.
This is a stormy and sometimes magical setting dependent on the precise sound design of Tom Whalen and lighting design of Dana L. White. They play a key role in the play's action.
Letscher’s play is leavened by the crisp wit and charm of the characters (even Benjy at times). He also employs music in as a prod to happy memories. The play takes a melodramatic turn at the end but that seems in keeping with its science fiction side. And the questions raised are important and worth pondering. Can science go too far in trying to play the role of god and what do we miss in that transaction?
This is a play to enjoy but also one to talk about long after it’s over.
Hugh Gallagher has written theater and film reviews over a 40-year newspaper career and was most recently managing editor of the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers in suburban Detroit.
Smart Love continues through March 4 at the Purple Rose Theatre, 137 Park Street, Chelsea. Ticket prices range from $20.50 to $46, with special discounts for students, seniors, teachers, members of the military and groups. For more information and to make reservations, call (734) 433-78673 or visit: http://www.purplerosetheatre.org/
Blog Post
Double Acts: Theatre Nova's "Popcorn Falls" is full of comedic riffs
by christopherporter
The new play Popcorn Falls is an energetic romp, full of impressions, wit, and (slightly manic) charm. Written by James Hindman and directed by Daniel C. Walker, Popcorn Falls features two men riffing off one another in the style of comedy duos like Laurel and Hardy or Abbott and Costello. The time breezes by as the actors take on fifteen different roles, bringing to life the citizens of an entire small town.
The play focuses on Ted Trundell (Jeff Priskorn), the mayor of Popcorn Falls, and his friend, Joe (Jonathan Jones). When Mr. Doyle -- also played by Jones, a grinch-like role similar to Mr. Potter from It’s a Wonderful Life but with the lilting accent of a villainous Jimmy Stewart -- tells the mayor that he plans to take over the town and turn it into a sewage treatment center unless they can successfully put on a play that the town agreed to many years earlier. Ted decides that he’ll do whatever it takes to save his home -- even writing and directing a play despite having practically no familiarity with theater whatsoever.
Blog Post
It's Showtime: Japanese Prints of Kabuki Theater from the Collection of the University of Michigan Museum of Art
by christopherporter
There are only a handful of art exhibits of such sophisticated complexity that they can absorb the viewer’s attention for an indefinite amount of time. Japanese Prints of Kabuki Theater from the Collection of the University of Michigan Museum of Art is one of those treasures.
This display, mounted in the UMMA’s spacious second-story A. Alfred Taubman Gallery, represents a level of sophistication that could only truly be appreciated by two audiences: Those for whom these colorful prints were originally intended and subsequent experts who can identify the identity of the portraiture as well as the work’s iconography. The rest of us will have to take what we can get.
It doesn’t mean that one has to be an expert in Japanese theater or have an advanced degree in the history of that country’s culture to appreciate Japanese Prints of Kabuki Theater -- although it sure doesn't hurt. Rather, appreciating this imaginative display requires a unique kind of patience that will allow the show to open up to the viewer at its own pace and in its own way. But that seems to be the intent of kabuki all along.
Blog Post
No More Cakes in the Rain: Colson Whitehead at Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre
by christopherporter
Bestselling author Colson Whitehead spoke in Ann Arbor on January 12 as part of U-M’s bicentennial celebration theme semester, but it wasn’t his first visit to Treetown. Apparently, in 2001, Whitehead gave a reading at Borders to “about five people,” on a night when the Red Wings were playing for the Stanley Cup.
“It seemed like a good excuse,” said Whitehead with a shrug –- this time, to a near-capacity crowd packed into Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre.
Whitehead now has many more published books and years of experience under his belt, of course. But his mainstream profile spiked most dramatically in the last few months, when the publication date of his newest novel, The Underground Railroad, got bumped up a month (from September to August) due to it being named an Oprah’s Book Club selection -- and nothing makes an author’s career explode quite like receiving Oprah’s imprimatur.
That’s far from Railroad’s only distinction, though. The novel also won the National Book Award for fiction and was named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, GQ, Newsday, and more.
Blog Post
Ann Arbor District Library 2016 Staff Picks: Books, Movies, Music & More
by christopherporter
The Gregorian calendar rules most of the world, but time is a continuum. That's why our 2016 Ann Arbor District Library staff picks for books, music, film, and more include items that go back as far as 1865. Our list is comprised of media (and a few other things) that made an impact on us in 2016, no matter when the material came out.
Libraries have always acted as curation stations, helping sort through the vast amount of media released every year. On our website, we have more than 50 staff-curated lists of recommendations, but we don't just advocate for things digitally. We share our "picks" in person every time you step into the library. Books with prominent positions in our spaces, whether facing forward or on shelf tops, are chosen by staff members because they want you to pick up those pages.
Consider the massive post below featuring 55 books, 25 films and TV shows, and 20 albums -- plus a few odds and ends -- as a continuation of those curated lists, those forward-facing books, and the Ann Arbor District Library’s ongoing mission to bring high-quality art, entertainment, and information into your lives.
So, ready your library cards: Most of the recommendations below are in our collection; just click on the {[AADL]} link at the end of each pick to be taken to the item's page on our website.
Josie Parker | Director
📖 Book
➥Lila by Marilynne Robinson (2014) {AADL}
Eli Neiburger | Deputy Director
📖 Book
➥Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (2013) - Any fans of Iain M. Banks Culture novels will feel right at home with Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch series. Breq was once a powerful ship, but now she's just one body on a 20-year quest ... for JUSTICE. The Radch is a predominantly female galactic empire struggling to hold itself together. Such outstanding writing, pacing, and worldbuilding makes it hard to believe it's a debut novel. All three Imperial Radch books are available at the library. {AADL}
Amy Cantu | Librarian
🎥 Film
➥A Canterbury Tale (1943) - This strange and magical movie filmed in 1943 is at once a tender homage to the English countryside and threadbare mystery that barely holds its thematic scenes together. It’s also now one of my favorite films. During a blackout in a small southeast English village, three modern-day Canterbury pilgrims -- a classical music student, an American soldier, and a Land Girl from London -- are thrown together to solve a mystery involving the infamous “glue man,” an eccentric nocturnal who pours glue on the hair of British women who date American soldiers. It’s a shaggy dog of an odd movie, with lovingly filmed asides about English myths, history, and moments of sublimity unique to the legendary filmmaking duo of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger -- made perhaps all the more poignant because it was filmed during the dog days of World War II. {AADL}
Laura Pershin Raynor | Librarian
📖 Books
➥Among the Living by Jonathan Rabb (2016) - This compelling novel tells the story of a survivor who lands in the strange world of Jewish Savannah after WWII. Through Yitzhak's eyes, we see the tenuous relationships between black and white, reform and orthodox, men and women. The combination of American innocence, greed, and racial divide makes fascinating reading as we watch young Yitzhak traverse the new world. {AADL}
➥Full of Beans by Jennifer Holm (2016) - Bean Curry and the Diaper Gang have hilarious little escapades in this kid's book that is getting lots of buzz. This is the story of a struggling Key West during the Clutch Plague and what happens when the "New Dealers" come to town to spiff it up and turn it into a slick tourist attraction. {AADL}
🎥 Film
➥Half Japanese: The Band That Would Be King (2000) - These friends of mine, from my college days, leave me speechless. Their wonky, wacky courageous style made me go back and view Half Japanese again this year and it brought me great joy. {AADL}
Erin Helmrich | Librarian
📖 Book
➥Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan (2015) - Youth, recklessness and the need to find the next wave, the best wave, the unsurfed wave mixed with gorgeous and literary descriptions of water, living and traveling define this memoir. Those with surf stoke and without will enjoy the barbaric adventure. {AADL}
Mariah Cherem | Librarian
📖 Books
➥The Girls by Emma Cline (2016) - I've long been fascinated by group dynamics, cults, charismatic leaders, girlhood/girl-crushes, and LA spiritual-subcultures. So, the second I read about this book, I knew I had to give it a shot — it was basically a checklist of topics that interest me. Cline is an observant writer who includes a lot of perfect details. You'll hear this book described as a fictionalized account of the Manson family. While I can see those connections, I think that's a bit too obvious. I found the writing about coercion, influence and control between and among young women/girls just as compelling and identifiable as that by the main male figure. The Girls has a lot of things to say about girlhood and those times when we aren't sure if we're attracted to someone or want to be that person. {AADL}
➥Gold, Fame, Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins (2015) - Last year, Watkins expressed her complex feelings about Battleborn, but I adored most of it, which lead me to pick up Gold Fame Citrus. It took me a few chapters, but once I was in, I was in. The future looks very, very arid, and the physical, cultural and social shape of California and the United States is vastly different, but all of this is really just the setting for the journey of a small family. There is no easy path to safety or redemption, but a few significant surprises, and writing that's bleak and beautiful. {AADL}
♫ Music
➥My Woman by Angel Olsen (2016) - I might have listened to "Sister" on repeat a dozen times when I first heard it. My Woman is a sweeping masterpiece, with such production, arrangement, and tone. This record shows off the power of a voice -- of a writer's "voice," sure -- but also just the sheer visceral power of a literal, sung voice -- that wild thing of Olsen's that swings from whisper to contemplative question to exuberant holler. {AADL}
➥Downriver by Kelly Jean Caldwell Band (2016) - One of my favorite songwriters, one of my favorite voices from around here. I know a good handful of these songs almost by heart. So thrilled that this album, recorded a few years back, is finally out in the world. Before this, getting to aKJCB live show was really the only way to get these sometimes twangy, always true songs stuck in your head for days. Available at Wazoo and Encore.
➥FRKWYS Vol. 13: Sunergy by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith & Suzanne Ciani (2016) - Warm synth swells and burbles from an original master and a newer Buchla experimenter, collaborating. Especially recommended: playing it LOUD on great headphones -- it rattles my brain into a peaceful place. {Bandcamp}
🎥 Film
➥Gimme Danger (2016) - If any director could do the story of the Stooges justice, it would be Jarmusch. His task was tricky, but he kept the interview circle tight to focus on the internal logic/world of the Stooges without getting sidetracked or lost in their legacy/relying on interviews with all the musicians and bands they've influenced. So glad this was made about some of the 734's favorite weirdos, and so thrilled I got to catch this. {Film Website}
➥Holy Hell (2016) - I was lucky enough to catch this as a part of Cinetopia this last year. In the ‘80s, Will Allen, a 22-year-old, joined a guru-based community in L.A. on the invitation of his sister. He remained in the community as both a member and its main documentarian, for over 20 years. Dark, and in a lot of ways tragic, but interesting and ultimately a triumph with Allen's return to the outside world. {Film Website}
Andrew MacLaren | Librarian
📖 Book
➥We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson (1962) - The best novels leave you questioning the very nature of storytelling. Shirley Jackson doesn't leave you that way, she gets you there in the first ten pages. But once you think you've figured out what's going on (or at least how we got where we are), you are still questioning, questioning everything, right up until the end. Another incredible narrative voice from Jackson, author of perhaps the greatest ghost story (or not?) ever written, "The Haunting of Hill House." {AADL}
♫ Music
➥Absolutely Free by Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention (1967) - I haven't listened to Frank Zappa in about 20 years but something made me decide to start again. Most of my old favorite albums didn't click with me (16-year-old me was clearly a different person with different tastes), but this one I'd never gotten to did. Zappa touches on so many different styles of music in this 44 minutes that it should be a chaotic mess, but it flows so perfectly you don't notice until several listens in. Zappa's editing skills are also on display here as he reuses multiple snippets to different effect within the same work. Some of the themes don't work for 2016 sensibilities, but the importance of vegetables will never fade. {AADL}
🎥 Film
➥Don't Look Now (1973) - Honestly, I picked this one up because of the great artwork Criterion has created for their restoration, and, man, am I glad they make such nice covers. Tense and sad at the same time, the film is more than the thriller it advertises itself as, dealing with the effect the loss of a child has on a family. Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie both turn in masterful performances that are worth seeing and the ending does not disappoint. {AADL}
Elizabeth Pearce | Library Technician
📖 Books
➥11/22/63 by Stephen King (2011) - I was a Stephen King novice when I picked up this hefty book, and I tore through it in a week. The story of a time traveling high school English teacher who returns to the mid-twentieth century to attempt to stop the Kennedy assassination. Crazy suspenseful, surprisingly romantic, and in general just fascinating. {AADL}
➥A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (2015) - Mind-blowing. A man tries to create a successful and healthy life for himself after suffering devastating abuse throughout his childhood but comes up against his memories and the long-term effects of his abuse so that every step forward seems to lead to two steps back. The support and unconditional love of his friends and family make for a powerful secondary storyline about the challenges of dealing with a loved one's mental illness and, beyond that, the enormous strength of human connection. {AADL}
♫ Music
➥Real by Lydia Loveless (2016) - Awesome country-punk-rock from the Ohio-based Loveless, who tours quietly around the Midwest with her own special brand of blue-haired swagger. She combines badassery, wit, and heartbreak into killer songwriting. A great album for us Michiganders... there's even a particularly relatable song called "Midwestern Guys" on it. {AADL}
🎥 Film
➥Manchester by the Sea (2016) - A powerful, beautifully shot movie that tells the story of a man struggling with the demons of his past in a tiny New England town. Not the film to watch if you're seeking a redemptive story, but oddly hopeful nonetheless. (In theaters now, but it’ll be in our collection when it hits DVD.)
Amanda Schott | Library Technician
📖 Book
➥Be Frank With Me by Julia Clairborn Johnson (2016) - A reclusive author needs to put out another book for monetary reasons. To help keep the author on track, and keep an eye on her 9-year-old son, her publisher sends an assistant out to help. Twenty-something Alice is excited for the chance to work the famous author but finds a great challenge and eventual delight in working with her eccentric son Frank who dresses for breakfast in a tie and tails and has very specific needs regarding where he goes and how he gets there. The dialog is divine! {AADL}
🎥 Film
➥Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) - 14-year-old foster child Ricky Baker is dropped off at his next placement, which is the home of Bella and Hec, who live off the land on a remote farm next to the bush in New Zealand. Tender Aunty Bella and curmudgeonly Uncle Hec end up being not so bad after all. But after tragedy strikes, Ricky is given the news that he’s headed back to child services. This is unacceptable, so he runs away into the bush, soon to be joined by Hec. The fellas are at odds and end up on the run and subject to a nationwide manhunt. A funny and tender movie with such lovable characters. {AADL}
♫ Music
➥Lemonade by Beyoncé (2016) - A phenomenal album by the queen, with a world tour that was one of the best live shows I've ever seen. The visual album is a must-hear, must-watch. It's Beyoncé, enough said. {AADL}
Toby Tieger | Book Processor
📖 Book
➥Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari (2015) - This brief sketch of the War on Drugs looks at what has worked and what hasn't when dealing with various drug addictions around the world. It's well-researched, readable, and surprisingly hopeful. {AADL}
🎥 Film
➥Don't Think Twice (2016) - Six 30-somethings in a Chicago improv troupe start to realize that some of them will make it as artists and others won't. One of the most thoughtful coming-of-age films I've seen in a while. {AADL}
📺 TV
➥W1A (2014-2016) - A British sitcom about the inner workings of the BBC, which excels at dry lunacy as only British television can. Focuses on the protagonist in his position as the "Head of Values" and his coworkers, including the "Director of Better." {Amazon}
➥Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015-current) - A feminist musical dramedy about a woman who moves across the country to follow her crush. It's significantly smarter and much more imaginative than the summary can possibly make it sound; winner of the 2016 Golden Globes for Best Actress. {AADL}
Kathy Randles | Building Supervisor
📖 Books
➥Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult (2016) - I normally don't read this author but was glad I read this one. {AADL}
➥Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo (1994) {AADL}
➥How to Read Water by Tristan Gooley (2016) {AADL}
Beth-Ann Campbell | Desk Clerk
📖 Book
➥Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl (1984) - The first autobiographical book by British writer Roald Dahl. It describes his life from birth until leaving school, focusing on living conditions in Britain in the 1920s and 1930s, the public school system at the time, and how his childhood experiences led him to a writing career. {AADL}
Matt Gauntlett | Media and Events Producer
♫ Music
➥Paradise Gallows by Inter Arma (2016) - Building on the same weird, doomy, spacey, old-West-y brand of heavy metal that they did so well on previous records (2012’s eye-opening Sky Burial and 2014’s 40-minute meditation The Cavern), this record is undoubtedly one of the heaviest and greatest releases of 2016. These guys sound like a wild thunderstorm at their heaviest (think Neurosis, or a more upset-sounding Black Sabbath), and have odd similarities to Pink Floyd and Thin Lizzy at their most out-there and moody. If nothing else, listen to this for the drummer, who sounds completely unhinged at all times, even in the simplest moments. {AADL}
🎥 Film
➥The Nice Guys (2016) - Shane Black flexes the writing/directing muscles we know him for rather neatly here, weaving a serpentine story of two bumbling private eyes investigating a missing girl, and the surprising twists and turns as the scope of the case unfolds. Sound dry and by-the-numbers? It's NOT. Russell Crowe breezily reminds us why he has an Academy Award, while Ryan Gosling absolutely steals the show in one of the great comedic performances of 2016. Oh, and did I mention that all the kid actors are great? What more do you need? {AADL}
Joe Harris | Systems Specialist Desktop Engineer
♫ Music
➥Awaken, My Love! by Childish Gambino (2016) {AADL}
Tim Grimes | Manager, Community Relations and Marketing Dept.
🎭 Theater
➥The Humans by Stephen Karam (2016) - The absolutely best play that I saw last year sadly closes in New York in just a few weeks. This comedy-drama is a brilliant ensemble piece, focusing on one family -- three generations -- as they gather in a rundown two-story Manhattan apartment for Thanksgiving dinner. Filled with heartbreak, humor, and poignancy, the play features a remarkable set, a series of haunting, unsettling noises, and lights that get dimmer and dimmer as the play progresses. The Humans was a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Play. The script is available in the library. {AADL}
🎥 Film
➥Don't Think Twice (2016) - The story of a struggling improv troupe in transition when one of their members captures a spot in a national SNL-type television show. The film is both funny and bitingly honest as the group faces the realization that one of their friends may become famous and leave the others behind. {AADL}
Molly Jones | Desk Clerk
📖 Book
➥God Help the Child by Toni Morrison (2015) - Bride, a beautiful woman with blue-black skin, grew up negotiating a world where skin darkness affected her family relationships, self-worth, and choices. Now, a successful and self-assured professional woman, she tries to make amends for a lie she told as a child, setting off a chain of events that lead her to northern California, an orphaned girl named Rain, and a magic reliving of her not-so-magical childhood. {AADL}
Lucy Schramm | Desk Clerk
📖 Books
➥Making Toast: A Family Story by Roger Rosenblatt (2010) - The final book I read in 2016 also turned out to be one of my favorites. Making Toast chronicles the period of time after Rosenblatt’s daughter -- a pediatrician and mother of three young children -- dies unexpectedly. Rosenblatt and his wife move into his daughter’s house to help their son-in-law and the children with their grief and the work of daily life. What could be a heartbreaking book is instead at turns funny, wise and poignant. Rosenblatt never resorts to sentimentality and his spare words lingered with me long after I’d finished this book. {AADL}
➥When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (2016) - Astounding. {AADL}
➥Underground Airlines by Ben Winters (2016) {AADL}
➥Moonglow by Michael Chabon (2016) {AADL}
➥Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler (2016) {AADL }
♫ Music
➥Hamilton: Original Broadway Cast Recording (2015) - I have spent a large part of 2016 listening, like the rest of the world, to Hamilton -- and for good reason. Each time I listen I encounter something new, and often unexpected, from a character, lyric or instrument. {AADL}
➥We Got It From Here ... Thank You 4 Your Service by A Tribe Called Quest (2016) - Their sixth and final album. Well worth the 18-year wait! {AADL}
Evelyn Hollenshead | Librarian
📖 Books
➥Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson (2015) - This is an absolutely amazing book aimed at teen readers, but I think it's perfect for anyone who is interested in the Siege of Leningrad but doesn't want to dive into a huge academic text. The audiobook is also amazing and it includes parts of Shostakovich's symphony. {AADL}
➥Ada Twist, Scientist (2016) by Andrea Beaty - The third in a series, this picture book featuring a spunky young scientist and her experiments is one of my new favorites. {AADL}
🎥 Film
➥Ghostbusters (2016) - It was amazing to see a cast of all women in this remake. It’s hard to articulate how much it means to see women taking the lead in movies like this. I loved it from start to finish, and I’m glad my son will grow up with lady ghostbusters and lady Jedis (looking at you, Rey!). {AADL}
♫ Music
➥Hamilton: Original Broadway Cast Recording (2015) - If all musicals were mainly like this, I would like musicals a lot more. {AADL}. I also loved The Hamilton Mixtape {AADL}.
Rachel Yanikoglu | Librarian
🎥 Film
➥Durrells in Corfu (2016) - I discovered this DVD set on New Year’s weekend and I did not want it to end. In 1935, when dreary English weather and four miserable children challenge the spirit of their widowed mother, she decides to sell everything and move the family to the sun-drenched Greek island of Corfu. As they find new ways to do everyday things, they find peace in paradise without much money. By the final episode, I was working out a list of who I needed to recommend this treasure to. {AADL}
Laura Van Faasen | Desk Clerk
📖 Books
➥The Wright Brothers by David McCullough (2015) - This concise, exciting and fact-packed book sees the easy segue between bicycling and aerial locomotion, which at that point was mostly a topic for bird fanciers and dreamers. Brothers Orville and Wilbur, with their unyielding resolve, changed the course of history. A totally fascinating read that helped me recall many other highlights of our history. {AADL}
➥Skyfaring: A Journey With a Pilot by Mark Vanhoenacker (2015) - Marvelously literate. This 747 pilot takes you along over mountains, oceans, deserts, and conveys his experiences in a way that makes you appreciate the details of flight, the men and women who pilot the machines, and gain a unique and poetic view of our world from the sky. {AADL}
➥The Shepherd’s Life: Modern Dispatches From an Ancient Landscape by James Rebanks (2015) - It’s a book about a way of life essentially unchanged for centuries in an era that’s all about change and flux. Beautifully and intelligently written by an Oxford graduate who returned to the Lake District in northern England, with a determination to continue to farm where generations of his forebears had done so. {AADL}
Audrey Huggett | Library Technician
🎥 Film
➥Song of the Sea (2014) - A young boy named Ben must go on a journey to save his sister, who is one of the fabled selkie - a human able to turn into a seal. A modern day exploration of Irish folklore wrapped in stunning animation and supported by a captivating story. {AADL}
📖 Book
➥Paper Girls by Brian K Vaughan and Cliff Chiang (2016) - Set in 1988, Paper Girls has it all, fantasy, aliens, and some phenomenal characters. I love it when girls get a chance to kick some butt, and this graphic novel gave its characters numerous chances to shine. {AADL}
🎲 Game
➥Dungeons & Dragons, 5th edition by Wizards of the Coast (2014) - Most people are familiar with D&D, which has been around in various incarnations since the '70s, but the most recent version is probably the most accessible to new players. I highly suggest giving your imagination a workout and trying out D&D in the new year. (D&D rulebooks are coming to AADL soon, but you if can't wait, you get them locally at Vault of Midnight!)
Emma Garrett | Desk Clerk
📖 Books
➥The Girl With All the Gifts (2014) - It's a zombie/post-apocalypse story where the "good" guys are lead by the small zombie child who has somehow become a hybrid zombie/monster/human, her humanity is tested to by her schoolgirl crush on her female teacher. It's amazing how much coming of age in a school where you are strapped to a chair and bathed in chemicals so you don't devour the people around you has in common with coming of age in a regular high school! I hadn't read many zombie or apocalypse stories before this one and I didn't anticipate the beautiful descriptions of clouds of zombifying fungus sprouting through the land. M Carey is a pen name for Mike Carey, of Guardians of the Galaxy fame, but he writes these really stunning and intricate female characters. {AADL}
➥The Mothers by Brit Bennett (2016) - It's easy to say that this is a book about an abortion, and it does show the complexity, conflict, and loss of people faced with that decision. Bennett has written about abortion in a way that both pro-lifers and pro-choice advocates can tolerate because the story transcends political ideology. But I actually think that the novel is more about friendship, in the vein of Sula {AADL} and Truth and Beauty {AADL}. Two women grow up in each other's shadows, borrowing each other's courage and beauty, and unfolding their life stories together. {AADL}
➥Thank You for Your Service by Dave Finkel (2013) - I'm also not usually a fan of military stories, but honestly the second season of serial got me thinking about the daily challenges of fighting in Afghanistan. Thank You for Your Service follows the returns of several marines and the ways they try to piece together their lives. It's journalistic feature writing at its best -- insightful, compassionate and unsparing. {AADL}
➥Evicted by Matthew Desmond (2016) - Talk about great participant observation journalism! Neither the landlords nor the tenants emerge unscathed from this portrait, but neither do they lose their dignity. Desmond weaves the context of deteriorating housing stock in Milwaukee and the way police charge landlords for "quality of life" complaints at their properties, all of which pushes thousands of residents out onto the streets. You see the lines waiting at housing court, the way poor and homeless neighbors take care of each other, and the personal travails of speculators trying to profit from the ghetto. Like "thank you for your service," this is a depressing book, but worth wading through. {AADL}
Katrina Shafer | Desk Clerk
♫ Music
➥My Woman by Angel Olsen (2016) - Olsen's influences on this album range from ‘60s girl groups to Fleetwood Mac, but her voice is entirely her own. I discovered this album while sick, but I couldn't resist singing along to "Shut Up Kiss Me" in the car. The sore throat was worth it. {AADL}
📖 Book
➥Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin (2016) - Shirley Jackson was never content with the ordinary. The author routinely created detailed stories about inanimate household objects to occupy herself while performing chores, was a self-described amateur witch and a true believer in ghosts. This biography details the imagination behind her writing along with the struggles of her rocky marriage with New Yorker critic Stanley Hyman, the expectations of raising four children and running a household in the 1950s, and her desire to write with little time to do so. All this adds up to Jackson's veiled theme of discontent with domesticity in her horror writing and the still modern battle of working mothers trying to find a balance in her comedic family tales. {AADL}
🎥 Film
➥Green Room (2016) - This horror film about a punk band trapped by a group of neo-nazis (commanded by Patrick Stewart) after they witness a murder is a thrilling, head-spinning maze that leaves you on edge as the band desperately attempts to escape. It also showcases a stunning performance from Anton Yelchin, which is now tragically one of his last. {AADL}
Heather Shell | Desk Clerk
📖 Book
➥The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (2008) - This is a book of great subtlety and significance. It traces the growth and impact of the friendship between a reclusive concierge and the precocious 11-year-old girl who lives in her building {AADL}. The 2009 film adaptation is also excellent {AADL}.
🎥 Film
➥Only Yesterday (1991) - With animation by Studio Ghibli, this film was made in the early '90s but only released in the U.S. in 2016. The movie examines the power of memory the reverberations of the past in the life of a 27-year-old woman, who stands at a crossroads in her life. The engaging animation and the charming storyline make this a must-see for anyone who enjoys Japanese culture or animated films. {AADL}
♫ Music
➥The Rhythm of the Saints by Paul Simon (1990) - This album is a masterpiece. Simon brings his characteristically profound lyrics to life with Latin American rhythm and instrumentation. Though you may be familiar with a few songs, the album as a whole is the kind you can listen to on a loop and still be captivated by new layers of meaning and musicality. {AADL}
Lucy Roehrig | Librarian
♫ Music
➥Blackstar by David Bowie (2016) - The final work by the late, great artist incorporates jazz and pop sensibilities with Bowie's crooning -- at times haunting and always memorable {AADL}. Also, check out the soundtrack to Bowie's critically acclaimed Broadway musical play, Lazarus, which also features his music. The lead singer on the soundtrack is Michael C. Hall (Six Feet Under, Dexter) who sounds incredibly like Bowie {AADL}.
📖 Book
➥Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal (2016) - A fascinating study by biologist de Waal of animal intelligence and cognition. He discusses various experiments that show the incredible approaches scientists are using to better understand animals that go beyond traditional lab experiments. Given the right tools and settings to work with, these scientists are introducing us to animal intellects that will surprise and amaze everyone. {AADL}
📺 TV
➥Detectorists (2015-; 2 seasons so far) - A funny, very original, and award-winning show from England that stars Mackenzie Crook (who played Gareth on the British version of The Office) and Toby Jones (Infamous, Frost/Nixon) as metal detector enthusiasts ("detectorists") and the day-to-day goings-on in the small village. Will they ever find that buried Saxon treasure? Watch and find out. {AADL}
Amanda V. Szot | Graphic Designer
♫ Music
➥Apocalypse (2013) and Where the Giants Roam EP (2015) by Thundercat - I was first introduced to Thundercat in 2016 and his albums have been on constant rotation ever since. The special jazz-funk-fusion-type-substance on these two albums makes them complex and worth many, many listens -- songs range from quiet and introspective to dance floor inspiration. Stephen "Thundercat" Bruder is a freakishly skilled bassist with a unique style (in both sound and aesthetics) and has been featured with other musicians like Flying Lotus, Kamasi Washington, and Kendrick Lamar. AADL doesn't have either of these albums in the collection, but the library has 2011’s Golden Age of the Apocalypse {AADL}. You can also check for Thudercat’s music at Wazoo, Encore, Underground Sounds, and PJ’s.
🎥 Film
➥Hell or High Water (2016) - Amazing modern western crime drama was directed by David Mackenzie and written by Taylor Sheridan. This is a slow-paced and brooding film with superb acting and storytelling. Plus, I'm a sucker for any movie that is filmed on location in the stark and gorgeous landscapes of New Mexico. {AADL}
📖 Books
➥Pretty Much Everything by Aaron James Draplin (2016) - If you're a designer, this really needs to be on your bookshelf. It's a truly remarkable book that is jam-packed with the work of graphic designer Aaron James Draplin -- a Michigan native who works out of Portland, Oregon. AADL was really fortunate to host Draplin in October 2016 as he embarked on his official book tour -- and watch this space for the video from his talk! {AADL}
➥Hour of Land by Terry Tempest Williams (2016) - I've always been a fan of Terry Tempest Williams' writing, and this book, released in the centennial year of the National Park Service, was an important release. Williams explores the lands and landscapes of 12 National Parks with a very personal perspective through her signature approach to environmental writing and social commentary in an age of climate change and pressures on our wild lands and open spaces. {AADL}
Liz Grapentine | Desk Clerk
📖 Books
➥Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer (2012) - If you like cool twists on old fairy tales, then this sci-fi reimagining of the classic Cinderella tale is for you. Cinder, a cyborg mechanic in a futuristic earth, works for her harsh step-mother to pay the bills left by her deceased adoptive father. But when a mysterious, handsome stranger comes to Cinder's shop with an old robot, and a hard drive with a potential conspiracy theory that could affect the relations between the lunar kingdom and earth, Cinder has to get to the prince before the ball! This tale is more than just a story of a servant with a missing shoe after a night of dancing. Meyer has created a whole new world: a kingdom from the moon, with a Queen who's more ruthless than royal, and more depth to each character than I could ever have imagined myself. The first of a fantastic series in this world, the following tales follow Meyer's adaptations of Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and even Snow White -- each with their own space-age twist! {AADL}
➥Daring Greatly by Brene Brown (2012) - One of the more intuitive and inspirational texts I've read, this book is a great way to feel more connected to the gladiator in you. The book's title comes from the Theodore Roosevelt speech "The Man in the Arena," which sets up the rest of the book -- and if you haven't heard it already, the speech is a good one. This text speaks about the trend in this time to guard against vulnerability, but also why vulnerability is necessary to connect -- to yourself, to others, and to a life of fulfillment and joy. If you want to tap into deepest self, find your vulnerable side, and find how to unleash the power that is being your most authentic self, then this is a book you need to read! {AADL}
Film:
➥The Jungle Book (2016) - An adaptation of a classic Disney cartoon, this reinvented, live-action film is well-worth seeing. This film pays great homage to the old children's classic, featuring some of the same great songs and iconic scenes that we all know and love, while still remaining fresh for a new audience. There's more plot given to the scenes, and more meaning is given to each character. With an outstanding cast, featuring Ben Kingsley, Bill Murray, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson, and many more, this new twist on the old Disney classic - based on Rudyard Kipling's most famous tales - will be a wild time and a great movie night. {AADL}
Anna Benson | Desk Clerk
📖 Book
➥Wild by Cheryl Strayed (2012) - Traces the personal crisis the author endured after the death of her mother and a painful divorce, which prompted her ambition to undertake a dangerous 1,100-mile solo hike that both drove her to rock bottom and helped her to heal. {AADL}
📺 TV
➥Broad City (2014) - This Comedy Central show follows two women, played by Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson, throughout their daily lives in New York City, making the smallest and mundane events hysterical and disturbing to watch all at the same time. {AADL}
♫ Music
➥Blood by Lianne La Havas (2015) - With a voice that is at once magnetic and soulful, Lianne La Havas mesmerizes in her second studio album. {AADL}
Kayla Coughlin | Library Technician
📖 Book
➥The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (2003) - This is a sweet little tale sure to win the hearts of readers young and old about a small mouse with a whole lot of courage. It's masterful storytelling at its best! {AADL}
♫ Music
➥Greatest Hits by Earth, Wind & Fire (1974) - This well-rounded album stands the test of time with punchy brass hits and killer vocals as well as jazz ballads to complement the funkiest tunes. {AADL}
Kelsey Ullenbruch | Library Technician
🎥 Film
➥The Martian (2015) - Full disclosure I am a huge Matt Damon fan, and this movie does not disappoint! Astronaut Mark Watley is presumed dead and left by his crew on Mars. Luckily, he is also a botanist and figures out how to survive until he can re-establish contact with NASA. The plot is equally comedic and gripping, with a balance between "reality" and science fiction that was extremely entertaining and engaging. {AADL}
📖 Books
➥Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult (2014) - A young girl is obsessed with finding her mother, and enlists a psychic and alcoholic PI to help her find her. Chapters switch from Jenna's search for her mother Alice, and Alice's experiences of researching and caring for elephants in Africa and New England. I've put off reading any Picoult novels before because I (wrongly) assumed they were all tragic, tear-jerking fiction with a focus on a dramatic female lead. Leaving Time was recommended by a friend and I was initially interested because one of the characters studied grief in elephants, which is a main theme in the book. I enjoyed the enchantment of elephant facts based on Alice, but I also enjoyed the book on the whole thanks to the cast of characters and how Picoult weaved the plot together. {AADL}
➥Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013) - A young woman shares her experiences as a college student and writer through her travels from Nigeria to America and back to Nigeria. This book made headlines soon after it's release and had my interest from the start, but by page 2 I was in love with Adichie's writing. Her mix of intellect, introspection, and cynicism created a gritty and accessible approach to one woman's view of race in America as a non-American black living in America. {AADL}
Tom Smith | Library Technician
♫ Music
➥Paul’s Boutique by Beastie Boys (1989) - I live in both love and fear the day my 9-year-old brings this home instead of a Harry Potter book, but I love the fact we at the library make it an option. {AADL}
🛠 Tool
➥IKAN FLY-X3 PLUS Smartphone Video Stabilizer - This thing is rechargeable And will make you a better person. {AADL}
📺 TV
➥The Returned. The Complete First Season (2014) - This has been out for a while, but the library just got it in pretty recently. Creepy as hell, well acted, and so atmospheric I was Airbnb-ing the town it was filmed in after the first episode. (Unfortunately, season two is a travesty on the scale of True Detective season two.) {AADL}
Beth Manuel | Library Technician
♫ Music
➥Good Will Prevail by Griz (2016) - Our family had the pleasure of attending GRiZmas in December at the Masonic Temple. Our son wanted us to experience this musician, so he bought the family tickets and GriZ didn't disappoint. This 25-year-old from Southfield, Michigan, samples the funkiest, bassiest beats and layers it with soulful, deep funk on his saxophone. It was a huge dance party and a lot of fun. {Griz}
Graham E. Lewis | Desk Clerk
🎥 Film
➥Spotlight (2016) {AADL}
➥The Danish Girl (2016) {AADL}
➥Remember (2016) {AADL}
📖 Books
➥The Puffin Chalk series encouraged me to re-read some classics, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol (1865) {AADL} and The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum (1900) {AADL}.
Ira Lax | Library Technician
📖 Books
➥The Sibling Society: The Culture of Half-Adults by Robert Bly (2016) {AADL}
➥LaRose by Louise Erdrich (2016) {AADL}
➥The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1869) {AADL}
➥The Adolescent by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1875) {AADL}
➥Dostoevsky: The Miraculous Years, 1865-1871 by Joseph Frank (1995) {AADL}
♫ Music
➥Jazz Sahib: Complete Sextets Sessions, 1956-1957 by Sahib Shihab (2008) {AADL}
Christopher Porter | Library Technician
♫ Music
➥Blackstar by David Bowie (2016) - Written and recorded while Bowie was dying of liver cancer, the record came out just before he succumbed -- and before anybody in the public knew he had been sick. So, the first wave of almost universally positive reviews for Blackstar were written based on the strength of the material, not because people were mourning a legend. If this is Bowie’s “cancer album,” it’s mine as well. When Blackstar came out on January 8, 2016, I spent two straight days listening to it on headphones as my own mother was dying of cancer. But I kept returning to Blackstar based on its stunning artistic merit, not for comfort during my vigil. But when the Starman died on January 10 and it was revealed to be from cancer, the album took on a whole new meaning for me, with the sometimes oblique lyrics suddenly revealing themselves as clear meditations on mortality. Now, Blackstar truly is a source of solace for those of us who have been affected by cancer -- which is most everybody -- and I consider it an amazingly generous parting gift from an artist who has soundtracked my life. {AADL}
📖 Books
➥Seven Story Mountain (1948), No Man Is an Island (1955), New Seeds of Contemplation (1957), Thoughts in Solitude (1958), and Contemplative Prayer (1969) by Thomas Merton - After my mom died, I dove into reading about grief, from C.S. Lewis’ A Grief Observed {AADL} to David Ferry’s poem “That Now Are Wild and Do Not Remember” from Bewilderment {AADL}, which uses the neologism “dislanguaged” to describe the feeling when you lose someone you love -- for there are no words. But the author who made the biggest impact on my coming to terms with grief was also the least likely, at least on the surface. Thomas Merton was a Catholic monk who belonged to the ultra-strict Trappist order -- none of which means anything to nonreligious me. But in Merton’s numerous books, he reveals an Eastern mindset, coming across more like a Buddhist philosopher rather than a Catholic priest. His clear prose and confident declarations feel like paths to healing, but his prose is also laced with self-doubt -- especially in his journals -- lending even more power to his writings since we get to see this “man of God” as someone who routinely struggled with very human things. Really, any Merton book in our collection is worth investigating; his humanity is that universal, no matter your religion -- or lack thereof. {AADL}
Blog Post
A Deep Welles of Ideas: “It’s Still Terrific: Citizen Kane at 75”
by christopherporter
Get over it: Citizen Kane is smarter than you. It’s smarter than any and all of us—or even its own creator, for that matter.
It’s smarter, because—if as has sometimes been said—the making of any movie is a miracle, then Citizen Kane is more than a miracle. It’s the Mona Lisa of film-making: inscrutable, ineffable, and unfathomable to whomever views it.
It’s also not a bad effort for a 25-year-old first time-out-of-the-chute theatrical amateur who by his own admission in the University of Michigan Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library’s It’s Still Terrific: Citizen Kane at 75 tells us that he had no real idea of what he was doing.
Indeed, as this exhibit at the U-M Hatcher Graduate Library Audubon Room illustrates through both sight and sound, it’s very likely the film is superior because enfant terrible Orson Welles didn’t know what he was doing. Which, of course, only makes the film that much more impressive.
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #623
by nicole
In the same vein as fictional biographies such as Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen; The Paris Wife by Paula McLain; and Mrs. Engels by Gavin McCrea - in which intelligent women whose own aspirations and contribution were marginalized in favor of their spouses. Marie Benedict's debut gives us the story of Mileva Maric, a brilliant physicist and an extraordinarily gifted mathematician.
In 1896, before she was The Other Einstein, Mileva Maric´ was the only woman studying physics at Zurich Polytechnic and easily fell under the spell of a charismatic fellow student. Their courtship was kept secret not only due to the disapproval of the social-climbing Einsteins, but also for disappointing her father who held great hopes for her. An unplanned pregnancy, and failed qualifying exams sent Mileva home alone without any support from Albert.
When they eventually married, it was anything but the promises of being treated as an equal in both love and science. As a devoted mother of 2 boys, she was increasingly treated like a servant. The self-centered, womanizing Albert has no compunctions about deleting her name from papers they assiduously work on together, as a matter of fact, it has been hotly debated for over a century that Mileva might be the mastermind behind his 1905 groundbreaking ideas about relativity.
Benedict draws on many sources, especially letters from Albert, Mileva, and her friend Helene Kaufler, many of them now available at Princeton University's The Digital Einstein Papers Website. "Benedict insightfully portrays Mileva, Albert, and other European intellectuals of the time and dramatizes the difficulties a woman faced when attempting to enter that world. She also vividly captures the atmosphere, the cafes, the boardinghouse, and the customs of Mileva’s world, making for an engaging and thought-provoking fictional telling of the poignant story of an overshadowed woman scientist." (Booklist)
Blog Post
Prêt-à-Potter: Avant Garden — Matthaei Botanical Gardens 2016
by christopherporter
With the coldest temperatures of the year forecast for this week, you’ve surely noticed that winter has finally arrived in Ann Arbor.
If you’re not quite ready to accept the frigid temps or crunchy snow underfoot and are still in the denial about the transition to winter (which, by the way, officially arrives on Wednesday at 5:44 am EST), treat yourself to a visit to Matthaei Botanical Gardens for a respite in the lovely Conservatory, which is currently hosting the Avant Garden: Weaving Fashion and Nature Together exhibition. (Fun fact! Alden Dow designed the Conservatory in 1964, and he also designed the original part of the Downtown Library building at 343 S. Fifth Avenue.)
Avant Garden is a whimsical convergence of planting design and fashion design in the form of seven “fantasy outfits.” I asked Bob Grese, Professor of Landscape Architecture and Director of the Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Nichols Arboretum, about the exhibit and the use of plants in unexpected ways. He said, “The exhibit is a playful look at plants as a direct material for the fashion industry, with fantasy use of plants for dresses, vests, and suitcoats. Beyond the artistic use of plants in the exhibit, the real message is that we rely on plants for a variety of things in clothing—fibers, dyes, and representation on fabric patterns.” (Full disclosure: Grese was one of my professors in the Landscape Architecture program at U-M’s School of Natural Resources and Environment)
Part of the joy in this exhibit is wandering through the Conservatory to find each of the creations. The Conservatory is separated into three “Houses,” each replicating a different climate: Tropical, Temperate, and Desert. The dresses are thoughtfully placed within each of their respective garden spaces and the feeling of discovery and exploration is part of the exhibit experience. The shades of green and variety of textures in each of the plant selections bring richness to each design. Each dress has a different style, and all are charming and elegant. I particularly enjoyed the bromeliad dress, which comes complete with a fascinator hat.