WFL Staff Reads moves to the WFL Reference Blog

Please continue to check the book, audio, and film suggestions on the Wellesley Free Library Reference Blog.  You will find the same fabulous librarians pointing you to the best titles available as well as other helpful information regarding award winners, author information, and useful tips on using technology! 

Book mark it or sign up today  to be a follower so you do not miss any postings on the Wellesley Free Library Reference Blog!

Deb enjoyed The Glass Room by Simon Mawer (the audiobook)

Jefferson Mays narration of Simon Mawer's family epic begins in pre-WWII Czechoslovakia. As the Landauer's build their dream house, political events unfold which threaten their home and their lives.  Mays' voice reflects the tension of people whose homeland is about to be torn apart, whose fears include impending pogroms, work camps and Nazi occupation.  The house, built as a "modern house adapted to the future rather than the past, to the openness of modern living" remains standing in stark contrast to unfolding world events.

-DB

Gifts of the Crow

The Gifts of the Crow: How Perception, Emotion, and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans
     by John Marzluff, Tony Angell (Illustrator)

 

 Suddenly a crow turns his head, caws softly, and glides away, landing on a lamppost directly above a blonde woman. The woman, Lijana Holmes, smiles and calls him "Bela" as she offers him a breakfast of eggs and meat, which she prepares daily. Five-and-a-half years ago we captured Bela and affixed light plastic rings to his legs for identification. So whenever he sees us, the old crow cocks his head, stares, takes flight and swoops low--right at us--screaming a harsh call that we immediately recognize as a bird scold. His family and neighbors hear the cry and join in, flying toward Bela to support his attack, and soon they, too, share his rage. The mobbing crows circle and scream above our heads just as they would do to a predator. Bela's discriminating actions give us remarkable and invaluable information, proving that crows can recognize and remember human faces. We wonder when, or if, he will ever forget (or forgive) us. The gifts of the crow are physical, metaphorical, and far-reaching.

 Although packed with the latest research this is far from a dry academic tome.  Instead the authors use plenty of anecdotes which will keep you fascinated.  You will be amazed at just how smart these social birds are. 

Tyson

 

Rob Recommends "The King's Speech" (the movie)

It’s not often that I agree with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I, for one, would trust me a lot sooner than I would trust the Academy to pick anything but Best Make-up. I can’t be lobbied and my vote can’t be bought. I never have any friends or relatives up for nomination and I have never taken a film course. So you can believe me when I say that The King’s Speech is a really good film. As you no doubt know, the movie is about King George VI, his terrible stutter, his non-fawning speech coach and yes, his big speech on the eve of World War II. Not an obviously attractive subject. (What, no chase scenes?)  See it for the acting, a satisfying story and especially the interplay between King (Colin Firth) and “doctor” (Geoffrey Rush).  

A note: While the main storyline is apparently pretty close to “true,” some history has been mangled in the filmmaking process. 

Another note: Check out Debra's post on the recorded book version.

Recent Photography Books

Whether you are hoping to take some nice family photos at the beach this summer with your new digital camera, are interested in learning advanced lighting details for your photographic subjects, or enjoy reading essays on photography, you may enjoy some of our newest books in this genre.

Rethinking digital photography : making & using  contemporary & traditional photo tools by John Neel.

The life and death of buildings : on photography and time by Joel Smith

Light essentials : a subject-centric approach to lighting for digital photography by Don Giannatti

Believing is seeing : observations on the mysteries of photography by Errol Morris

Why photographs work : 52 great images - who made them, what makes them special and why by George Barr

Composition : from snapshots to great shots by Laurie Excell

500 Cameras : 170 years of phtographic innovation by Todd Gustavson

Simply beautiful photographs by Annie Griffiths

-DB

Megan recommends: The Kissing List

The Kissing List by Stephanie Reents

Don't let the title of the book or its cover fool you.  This book doesn't qualify as chick-lit.  Rather, you're getting linked short stories by an author who is a former Rhodes Scholar.  Yes, there's a single girl in the city theme, but it's more along the lines of HBO's Girls than Sex and the City.  Reents is a talented writer.

maf

I loved listening to Diane Keaton's Then Again

Diane Keaton's remarkable, insightful, stunningly written memoir about her mother and herself would be enough of a great read on its own. The audio version, narrated by Keaton, enhances and embellishes the story  with the 'voice' of the author - at times funny, sad, desperate, confused, hopeful and brimming with love. We meet Diane's mother through Dorothy's journals, kept over a lifetime.  We get a glimpse into the mother/daughter relationship, hear stories about the Keaton and Hall families and  begin to understand how tremendous creative energy can be passed on from one generation to the next. Keaton also shares her sentiments about her own career, boyfriends, phobias and illnesses.

-DB

Megan recommends: Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan

Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan

This is a great novel about four women from an Boston Irish Catholic family and their relation to the family's summer home in Maine.  Alice, the matriarch, Kathleen, the daughter, Ann Marie, the daughter-in-law, and Maggie, the granddaughter are the four protagonists.  Each has a story to tell in alternating chapters and ethnicity, tribalism and religious identity have strong influences on all of their lives.  This book has lots of local color and reminded me of the novels of Alice McDermott. 

maf

Rob Recommends The Columnist

A novel in the form of a memoir of an extremely obnoxious a##h##e. I’m guessing it’s harder than we think:  to have the narrator prove his arrogance in almost every paragraph yet be oblivious to how his audience is judging him. And this is what makes The Columnist a fun read—catching every self-serving rationalization, every twist of a knife told as stroke of fortune and every conceited deceit disguised as innocent miscommunication. And the story itself? We follow the career of Brandon Sladder from novice (but self-inflated, nevertheless) reporter to influential (yes, and still self-inflated) columnist and opinion-maker. Along the way Sladder uses all who would befriend him—girlfriends, editors, secretaries, prostitutes and sources—dumping them when they were no longer needed. The author works real people into the plot, but never makes it explicit just which (if any) big shot columnist Sladder is modeled on. (The play based on the book does name Joseph Alsop as the satirical target.)  Those old enough to remember the heyday of the Lippmans, Alsops, Restons, Pearsons of the last century will especially enjoy this book.

Are We Alone?

The Life of Super-Earths: How the Hunt for Alien Worlds and Artificial Cells Will Revolutionize Life on Our Planet

     by Dimitar Sasselov 

Intended for general readers, this volume on the history and possibilities of astronomical and biochemical research examines the study of super-earths, distant planets similar to earth that allow scientists to study how earth may have been millennia ago. Sasselov (astronomy, Harvard U.) explores the implications of these discoveries for biological research in chapters which discuss both the study of extraterrestrial bodies and the search for the origins of life on earth.

Life of any kind has yet to be found anyplace except on the Earth.  However, within the last few years astronomers have found over 3000 exoplanet candidates.  In December the Kelper satalite teleoscope found two earth sized planets orbiting sun like stars.  The planets were not in the sun's habitable zone.  This book has the cutting edge information on the search for alien worlds.

Tyson

City of Fortune

City of Fortune: How Venice Ruled the Seas
     by Roger Crowley

The rise and fall of the Venetian empire stands unrivaled for drama, intrigue, and sheer opulent majesty. City of Fortune is framed around two of the great collisions of world history: the ill-fated Fourth Crusade, which culminated in the sacking of Constantinople and the carve-up of the Byzantine Empire in 1204, and the Ottoman-Venetian War of 1499–1503.   Drawing on firsthand accounts of pitched sea battles, skillful negotiations, and diplomatic maneuvers, Crowley paints a vivid picture of this avaricious, enterprising people and the bountiful lands that came under their dominion.

Crowley's narrative is a quick page turner for history lovers. He does a great job explaining the how Venice controlled the spice trade between Europe and Asia.  A trade which put them at odds with the Mongols, Genoans, and Turks.

Tyson

Sue Recommends The Innocent by David Baldacci

David Baldacci is best known for his Camel Club Series featuring Oliver Stone, but fans should try out his newest book, The Innocent. This standalone thriller

highlights an unnamed government agency that employs snipers, such as Will Robie, to perform sanctioned assassinations usually overseas but occasionally in the U.S.

The problem with Will Robie is that he has a moral center, a conscience, and has the ability to think for himself.  Is his job assignment to kill a suspected terrorist (who turns out to be a mother with 2 small children AND an FBI agent) a political ploy that is connected with the murder of the parents of a 14 year old gifted student who has been in and out of foster homes? Can Will remain objective or will his sympathy for this new orphan threaten his and her lives and draw him further into a side of Washington that you and I do not even want to think exists?

 If this is your introduction to David Baldacci, you will enjoy a fully thought out plot with lots of twists and turns and then be looking up his other books to continue your enjoyment.  I, for one, hope that Will Robie will become the main character in more of the author's stories.  SH

Rob Recommends Listening to Richistan

My family listened to Richistan, by Robert Frank, on a recent car trip to New Jersey. Frank is a Wall Street Journal reporter who got himself assigned to cover the super-wealthy beat in America. He spent a year traveling the country, observing, studying and interviewing the very wealthiest Americans. The author came to believe that the best way to understand this group of millionaires is to see them as inhabiting a separate country. To help the rest of us understand this nation’s culture and people, Frank wrote this book, Richistan: a Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich. Richistan is a fascinating and funny glimpse into a world most of us could never imagine. It’s a world of $700,000 watches, 300 foot yachts, millionaire support groups, $25,000 a plate charity dinners and residents who don’t know how many cars they own. In one particularly interesting chapter, Frank takes us through butler training at Butler Boot Camp. The rigors of the training course say more about those doing the employing (“principals”) than about the trainees themselves. (FYI, the top graduates of elite butler schools earn $75-120,000 per year.) Throughout, Frank accomplishes the nearly impossible feat of neither fawning over nor disparaging the citizens of Richistan. See what you think…

Deb enjoyed Bill Cunningham - New York

If you enjoy the New York Times Style section,  you are surely familiar with Bill Cunningham's work. As the pre-eminent chronicler of fashion trends and high society events, Cunningham's photography has graced the pages of the Times for decades. An official selection at the 2010 Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival,  filmmaker Richard Press documents Cunningham's bohemian lifestyle, in stark contrast  to the flamboyance of many of his subjects.  A man of the street, Cunningham's bicycle is his only mode of transportation, in all weather, capturing life in the city.   Well known as one of the most important people in New York fashion,  his 'On the Street' column documents eclectic, individual looks worn by everyday New Yorkers.  Check out this film and watch an artist at work.

This Mighty Scourge

This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War
     by James M. McPherson

 The Pulitzer Prize-winning author James M. McPherson is America's preeminent Civil War historian. Now, in this collection of provocative and illuminating essays, McPherson offers fresh insight into many of the most enduring questions about the Civil War. Topics include the Lost Cause Mystique, Peace Negotiations, Myths of the confederacy and Jesse James.

McPherson's essays ask; Why did the war come?, What were each sides objectives? How did each side try to obtain those objectives? How good was the leadership of both sides? What was the impact of the war on those who lived through it? A very interesting and thought provoking read.

Tyson

Megan recommends: The Call

The Call by Yannick Murphy

I really liked this short novel with an alternative style.  Told in the form of notes in a journal, the story concerns the life of a veterinarian and his family in rural New England.  The veterinarian's son is injured in a hunting accident and the family has to deal with the aftermath of that.  A quirky book that is a celebration of the simple joys and daily rhythms of family life. 

maf

Peggy Recommends Two Upbeat Films; Romantics Anonymous and The Women on the Sixth Floor

No time or money to take in Paris this springtime? Pick one or both of these delightful  and feel-good DVDs and be in France instantly courtesy of your remote.

 In Romantics Anonymous, Jean-Rene and Angelique fall in love drawn together through a shared passion for chocolate but neither is able to express how they feel. Sadly, their crippling shyness is driving them apart. But eventually, they manage to overcome their lack of self-confidence, and risk baring their true feelings. The Huffington Post called this "one of France's best new films."

  In The Women on the Sixth Floor it's Paris, 1960. Jean-Louis lives a bourgeois existence with his neurotic socialite wife Suzanne while their children are away at boarding school. The couple's world is turned upside down when they hire Maria, a Spanish maid who introduces Jean-Louis to an alternative reality a few stories up on the sixth floor. Befriending a group of sassy Spanish maids, the women teach him there's more to life than stocks and bonds, and their influence on the house ultimately transforms everyone's life. PM

Rob Recommends the documentary There But for Fortune

I will admit it hadn’t occurred to me to mention There But for Fortune here in Staff Reads. But I happened across a list of top movies for 2011 and there it was (with a rottentomatoes.com rating by critics of 100% positive).  The film documents the life and work of Phil Ochs—the protest singer form the 1960s and 70s.  There But for Fortune breaks no new ground in movie-making, but does a very nice job of placing Ochs in the storm of counter-cultural/anti-war protest that seemed to envelop the decade. With video, songs, stills and interviews, Kenneth Bowser the director, documents the troubled life of Ochs the artist and activist and the movement he was part of.

 I had assumed that the film’s appeal for me had to do with my having grown up listening to his songs. Plus his family and mine criss-crossed in a couple of minor ways in New York.   So it was with some surprise that I read the reviews from sources as far apart as the Boston Herald and the New York Times crediting the movie as a fitting tribute to a man worth remembering.

In addition to the movie, the Library owns seven CDs byOchs.

Sue Recommends The Technologists by Matthew Pearl

Give TheTechnologists, an historical suspense novel written by Matthew Pearl, a try!  

 If you have any interest in Boston in the 1860s and the beginning rivalry between MIT and Harvard, this book is for you.  Pearl does an incredible job of bringing the first graduating class from MIT to life.  

He researched the MIT's first class's student journals and other histories of Boston and MIT to paint a picture of life in Boston in the 1860s.  The suspicion that Professor Rogers and his students provoked because they chose to take science past the theory and apply it to make a better world may seemed to be where Harvard and MIT differed and the friction began between the two schools.  

Add to this a mystery that of fictional unexplainable events that the students investigate through science and you have a novel with appeal to history, science, and suspense fans alike.

I listened to the Book on CD and found that it was difficult to shut it off and I kept reaching for the next disc to keep the story going.  All I can say is try it, you will certainly like it!

Also try Pearl's Dante Club that is set in the same time period in Boston.

SH

Deb suggests listening to Elizabeth and Hazel : Two Women of Little Rock by David Margolick

When Elizabeth Eckford tried to enter the newly desegregated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 as part of the Little Rock Nine, she was unaware that photographers would capture her image along with Hazel Bryan, her white tormentor. The photos of the 15 year old girls would come to symbolize the highly charged Civil Rights struggle for school integration. Award-winning narrator Carrington MacDuffie's stellar performance combines perfect timing with her subtle southern softening of the language. Margolick chronicles the girls' tumultous lives into adulthood including their reunion and reconciliation many years later.

What ifs of American History

What Ifs? of American History : Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been
     edited by Robert Cowley

 An all-American collection of essays on the pivotal moments in our nation's history by award-winning historians, the third in the bestselling series. The "what if" concept is one of the most original and engaging on the current history bookshelf. The essays are chock-full of provocative ideas; they are as accessible to the general reader as they are to the scholar; and they are the perfect gift for the dedicated history buff on anyone's list. In this new collection of never-before-published essays, our brightest historians speculate about some of America's more intriguing crossroads.

TYSON                  

Each historian examines a pivotal event, then considers the ramifications had the event come out differently. Contributor's include;David McCullough,James M. McPherson,Tom Wicker and Robert Dallek. Some of my favorites are Beyond the Wildest Dreams of John Wilkes Booth by Jay Winik and The Cuban Missile Crisis: Second Holocaust by Robert L. O'Connell.

First Great Triumph

First Great Triumph : How Five Americans Made Their Country a World Power
by Warren Zimmermann


"We were sure that we would win, that we should score the first great triumph in a mighty world-movement."--Theodore Roosevelt, 1904






Americans like to think they have no imperial past. In fact, the United States became an imperial nation within five short years a century ago (1898-1903), exploding onto the international scene with the conquest of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, and (indirectly) Panama. How did the nation become a player in world politics so suddenly? What inspired the move toward imperialism in the first place? Read and find out.

The authors center the story on five men Theodore Roosevelt, Alfred T. Mahan, Henry Cabot Lodge, John Hay, and Elihu Root. These five friends pushed for the U.S. to be involved in international affairs at a time when their elders remembered or fought in the Civil War and knew how awful war could be.

TB

To Win a Nuclear War

To Win a Nuclear War: The Pentagon's Secret War Plans
by Michio Kaku and Daniel Axelrod, Introduction by Ramsey Clark

The authors show that the U.S. nuclear policy of nuclear deterrence has been nothing but political spin. The real policy has been one of threatening the use of nuclear weapons. The book uses unclassified documents to show the evolution of the pentagons nuclear strategy and efforts to integrate nuclear weapons into war fighting doctrine.

What this book shows is how President Eisenhower and the military chiefs debated the possibility of a first strike against the U.S.S.R. in 1952. Amazing that the decision was made all behind closed walls and that Eisenhower kept us out of a nuclear war.

TB

Mike Suggests Guy Delisle

Being a librarian means that I'm in danger of contracting a type of book malaise, because I'm constantly inundated with pre-publication information and I never can seem to get a handle on the torrent of books that I come across daily. That malaise was overcome today when I realized that one of my favorite graphic novelists, and a fantastic travel writer to boot, is going to be releasing his newest on April 24th. Guy Delisle has written and illustrated insightful travelogues that focus on societies traditionally closed to Westerners, largely because he worked in these countries as an animation supervisor or traveled with his wife (who works at an NGO). Delving into societies and the cultures of Burma, China, and North Korea, Delisle's graphic novels provide us with a perspective of an everyman struggling to understand and make himself understood in these societies while displaying the humanity, inherent in the cultures, that's being perverted by totalitarian cultures. This makes it all the more interesting that this round he's focusing on Jerusalem, which is rife with topics for him to explore. To top it all off he'll be at the Harvard Book Store on the 25th, and I'm sure it'll be a treat for all who go.

Rob recommends "The Visitor"

After I finished watching "The Visitor" and after a thoughtful discussion with my family, I began to imagine the same plot in the hands of another director. This didn't have to be a great movie...
Richard Jenkins plays a middle-aged college professor who's lost his wife and with her death, his spirit. He arrives at his seldom-used apartment in Manhattan to find an immigrant couple living there without his knowledge (victimized by a scam-artist). He ends up letting them stay. That touch of compassion sets in motion a reawakening of his own humanity and slowly, his zest for life. Tarek, the man of the couple, is a Syrian drummer who is as open and friendly as Walter (Jenkins) is shut down. The two bond and Tarek teaches Walter to play the African drums. Trouble strikes when Tarek is swallowed up by the immigration authorities.
I couldn't help but think about the many ways another director might have overplayed it: casting a flashier Walter, zeroing in on his transformation (rather than allowing the changes to seep in more believably), hard-selling the message about illegal immigrants, in general going for the cliche instead of nuance, easy sentiment instead subtlety.

A Practical Wedding: Creative Ideas for Planning a Beautiful, Affordable,and Meaningful Celebration by Meg Keene

Is a practical wedding an oxymoron? Not according to Meg Keene who has written a down-to-earth but very wise and sensible guide to the increasingly expensive and exhausting business of planning and giving a wedding. The suggestions about many aspects of the event: guest lists, venues, flowers, photography, vows, and the roller-coaster of predictable emotions involved will help any couple maintain their "wedding zen". If you have a wedding coming up or know someone who does, treat them to this title. It will be one of the best presents they receive! PM

Rethinking A Lot: The Design and Culture of Parking by Eran Ben-Joseph

Rethinking A Lot: The Design and Culture of Parking by Eran Ben-Joseph

Ben-Joseph, Professor of Landscape Architecture and Planning at MIT, attempts to answer the question, "Are there any good examples of notable or 'great' parking lots?" As basic parking lot design has not changed since the 1950s,, where to put the 600,000,0000 passenger cars in the world has become a critical issue. The author provides a visual history of of this vital space and presses us to consider that parking lots could be rendered into significant public spaces. This is a fascinating and absorbing read that will make you think differently about a space you visit almost everyday--a parking lot. PM

Beacon Street: Its Buildings and Residents by Robert J. Guarino

Ever walk or drive down Beacon Street and wonder about the stories behind the houses that line this venerable street? This gem of a book traces the beginnings of Beacon Street from its earliest inhabitants the Massachusett tribe of Algonquin stock, through William Blackstone the first European in 1624 to the 1950s when changes to the street essentially stopped with the exception of the building of One Beacon Street in 1974. The journey down Beacon Street from Tremont to Arlington Streets gives the reader a fascinating glimpse into life in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries with many photos, maps and renderings. The book can be used as a visitor guide to this beautiful part of the city or a imaginative sojourn from the comfort of one's armchair through the history and architecture of Beacon Street's past. PM

New cookbooks to enjoy

River Cottage Fish Book : the definitive

guide to sourcing and cooking sustainable fish and shellfish by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

La Tartine Gourmande : recipes for an inspired life by Beatrice Peltre

Cooking with Quinoa : the supergrain by Rena Patten

-DB

Megan recommends: Other People We Married: Stories

Other People We Married by Emma Straub

Not everybody likes short stories, and their circulation statistics here at the library seem to confirm that. When a writer is first published, it's often a collection of stories, so I say give newly published writer Emma Straub a try. She's the daughter of horror novelist (and Stephen King collaborator) Peter Straub and writing is in her blood. The stories do often revolve around marriage but the characters also include widows and singles. "A Map of Modern Palm Springs" concerns the unequal relationship between two sisters and was the story I liked best.

maf

His Majesty's Dragon

His Majesty's Dragon
by Novik, Naomi

Check our Catalog

Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors rise to Britain's defense by taking to the skies . . . not aboard aircraft but atop the mighty backs of fighting dragons. When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future-and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France's own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte's boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire.

As outlandish as the premise seems, Novik pulls it off by capturing the spirit of society during the Napoleonic age. This is a fun read for teens and adults with some romance and some violence. Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings fame has purchased the movie rights to the first 3 books.

TB

Rob Recommends Faceless Killers

Ingredients: Flawed main character. Palpable and exotic setting. Emotional social issue. Brutal crime. Crackerjack detective work. Mix the ingredients together and you've got a modern Swedish crime novel. There's a reason why they've gained recent popularity in the U.S. and other parts of the globe. They're good. And the ingredients are variable enough that the novels (even the series) don't present as formulaic. So it's in this context that we're given Kurt Wallander, homicide inspector from Ysad, faced with a cruel double murder of an elderly rural couple. The story takes place in a Sweden that seems cold and barren, both physically and culturally. And the murders are set inside a cauldron of simmering anti-immigrant emotion. Faceless Killers is the first Kurt Wallander book translated into English. The detective has also been the hero of Swedish movies and TV shows and a British TV films.

The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

1930's New York City - Greenwich Village jazz clubs - disingenuous patrician banker - smart, ambitious working girls looking for glam and glitter - excellent dialog - strong narrative - literary comparisons to Fitzgerald and Wharton.
Mr. Towles, a Massachusetts native, received the Wall Street Journal's rating of 'one of the ten best novels of 2011' for Rules of Civility, his first novel.

Loved this book. Try it.

-DB

The Art of Uncertainty: How to Live in the Mystery of Life and Love It by Dennis Merritt Jones

As Yogi Berra so famously said “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up somewhere else.” Dennis Merritt Jones’s compact guidebook The Art of Uncertainty will help you understand, reconcile, and spiritedly handle the currents of uncertainty in your life. Jones, a regular contributor to The Huffington Post leans heavily on the tenets of New Thought and the writings of Ernest Holmes. The reader can dip into any of the 14 short chapters of this book ( with engaging headings such as “Like it or Not, This too Shall Pass”) to gain encouraging insights and wisdom or use a study guide available at the author’s website. PM