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.

Mike Suggests (Surprise!) A Comic

Comic mega-events (also known as crossovers) can be the bane of a comic collector's life--in order to get the gist of the story, you have to "collect them all" and buy comics you'd never consider just to fill the narrative gaps. Thankfully Marvel & DC have begun to move away from that method and have run an individual series to give you the core of the story, replete with major character deaths, the impending doom of world destruction and a landscape that is forever changed in light of said events.

Case in point: this past year Marvel featured Fear Itself and DC destroyed (and recreated) its universe through Flashpoint. If you're like me, you've dropped out of paying attention to these crossovers a long time ago but you may still have your interest piqued and want to know what zaniness the editors and "world architects" come up with. To feed that fix, you need to look no further than your local library because we're looking out for you!

Mike gets "Justified"

For the past few years, television has been the place to go to for a decent story as Hollywood has become addicted to blockbuster hits devoid of an intelligent plot. You may have enjoyed the exquisitely paced Mad Men, period pieces like Downton Abbey, or the social misfit humor of Curb Your Enthusiasm, but if you're still jonesing for a bit of action then you should come to the library and check out the first season of Justified. Based on a short story by the expert author/screen writer Elmore Leonard, Justified follows deputy U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens after he's relegated to an office in the piney woods of Kentucky which just happen to be the area he was born in and spent his life trying to stay away from. His particular brand of justice is what keeps me so interested in the story; with a style that consists of equal mixes Western gunslinger, chivalrous knight, and unconventional law man, it's always what gets Raylan into trouble but is also his only way out of it. I promise you, you'll never think of a hillbilly the same way after watching this show. And for those of you who are already enjoying what may be considered Elmore Leonard's greatest work yet, you should check out Raylan, his new (and first) novel featuring the show's main character.

Mike Suggests some Bill Willingham

I'm an unabashed fan of graphic novels. Wait, let me stop trying to act like I'm not a nerd and call them by their rightful title: comic books. Those of you who have asked me for a recommendation of what comic you should read have probably been subjected to at least ten minutes of me gushing about how much I adore Bill Willingham and his long-running comic, Fables, which may be the greatest ongoing comic and second only to Neil Gaiman's Sandman series in my comic pantheon.

Bill's work is very similar to Neil's in that he's taking the stories that reside deep down in our cultural memory--fables, folk tales, etc.--and remixing, revamping, and recombobulating them into something completely new and fascinating. Like most authors, before tackling the entire cosmos of humanity's rich storytelling past and writing his magnum opus, he had to cut his teeth and what he had written (and, sometimes, drawn) has finally been collected for the fanboys and fangirls into the aptly named Bad Doings & Big Ideas. So for those of you out there who have shared my passion for all things Willingham, you can't say I didn't tell you. And for those of you who have never heard of him but enjoy the works of greats like Neil Gaiman, what are you waiting for?!?

Mike Suggests Marzi

Marzi: A Memoir by Marzena Sowa, illustrated by Sylvain Savoia

The realm of graphic novels has long been a haven for memoirs, starting with Spiegelman's Maus and continuing into the present with greats such as Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis and David B.'s Epileptic. Marzena Sowa adds to the list with her memoir about growing up behind the Iron Curtain in Poland. It's a unique view that contrasts the naivete and curiosity of childhood with the harshness of Communism. A must-read, especially if you've enjoyed Guy Deslisle's travelogues from his time spent in totalitarian countries (Pyongyang, Travels in Burma).

Mike's going to let Lev do the talking

If you've stopped by the reference desk and asked me for a good fantasy book to read, or told me that you've enjoyed Harry Potter but were looking for something more adult, or even said that you don't like fantasy for one reason or another, then chances are I sent you home with Lev Grossman's The Magicians. And if you haven't yet read it yet, then you have to do so--especially since it's one of the rare series where the sequel is even better than the first title.

Well, this post isn't about the book so much as the author, who just happens to also be the book critic at Time Magazine. Taking advantage of the lack of books published before Christmas he looks forward to books to be published in the new year, naming seven that he's looking forward to in 2012; and I have to admit I'm a very bad librarian because I only recognized one name on the list (the National Book Award finalist and difficult-to-pronounce Paolo Bacigalupi). Regardless of my ignorance, I've made an early New Year's resolution and am planning to pick up two or three on this list and, for those of you who will be looking to relax after the hectic times and overbearing family encountered during the holiday season, I'd suggest you put a couple of these titles on hold . . .

Mike detects that you'll enjoy Sleuth

Sleuth, with Michael Caine and Lawrence Olivier

I've been dipping my toes into the mystery genre these past few months and my most recent foray was one that I've particularly enjoyed. In Sleuth (originally a Tony Award-winning play by Anthony Shaffer), Michael Caine plays a dapper young man who has wooed the wife of a millionaire detective fiction author, played by Lawrence Olivier. Invited to the author's mansion, the young Casanova is drawn into a game of wits with a man who has made his life out of weaving intricate traps and games. The talents of these two fine actors are on display as the story takes us through a series of intrigues and plays for the upper hand; it's sure to be a crowdpleaser whether you're a mystery fan or just enjoy watching a couple of great actors.

Mike (and NPR listeners) suggests a hundred SciFi/Fantasy books

Over the summer NPR asked its listeners to nominate and vote for their favorite SciFi and Fantasy books in order to create a list of the 100 best. Summer's over and the list is out. But what fun is a list ranking them? I mean, really--those of you who are fans, could you really choose between JRR Tolkein and George RR Martin? Aren't Ray Bradbury and Robert Heinlein just as good but in different ways? That's why I ask you to look to the amazing (and funny) flowchart below, taken from the NPR Top 100 list and remixed by the good people at SF Signal, which provides a more nuanced method to deciding what you read next.


You can also take a look at the interactive list at http://www.sfsignal.com/interactive/npr100.htm, which is a good way to keep from losing your eyesight when looking at the tiny print above. I promise, there's going to be something for you on this list!

A couple of good comics . . .

Okay, let's admit it:  I'm a nerd.  I'm a librarian, a hot dog enthusiast, and have a regular pull list at my local comics shop.  If you understood that last point then I'm sorry to tell you: you're a nerd too . . . .

But you're a nerd in luck, because I've got a couple of ongoing series recommendations for you, so check it out.

Sweet Tooth
Jeff Lemire, author & illustrator

In this ongoing series from Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics, Jeff Lemire takes the Mad Max approach to a genetic apocalypse for mankind.  Horror sweeps the world as mothers give birth to babies who are a hybrid of human and animal, and death follows in its wake as men and women alike succumb to the incurable disease.  Sweet Tooth, the title character, may be the answer to why it is happening.  Recommended if you’ve enjoyed Brian K. Vaughan’s excellent story of a similar genetic apocalypse, Y: The Last Man.

The Invincible Iron Man

Matt Fraction, author with Salvador Larroca, artist

High on my list of current favorites, Matt Fraction gives us the post-Civil War Tony Stark, a man bereft of his company, wealth, friends and respect; in short, all of the things that made Tony Stark who he is.  But there’s one essential Stark element kept intact—his undefeatable can-do attitude—that provides fuel for the fire as he seeks to rebuild his empire, take on the enemies who brought him so low, and create even better technologies for the benefit of mankind.  The question remains, however: can Stark maintain and not self-destruct?

Neutral Milk Hotel, Gavin Bryars, and Tinariwen

So what does fuzz folk, modern orchestral music, and African blues/rock played by former rebels have in common? Well, this past Saturday I had the pleasure of encountering all three at one concert. Those of you who may be fans of the band may already know that Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel was in Boston this weekend, playing his first shows in New England since 1998. For those of you who don't know Jeff Mangum, he's a bit of a J. D. Salinger figure among musicians, having made his masterpiece back in 1998 with the release In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, shortly after permanently disbanding the band and only sporadically touring on his own thereafter. The album has since become a seminal work among musicians, songwriters and fans due to Jeff Mangum's layered lyrics involving siamese twins, Anne Frank, angels and the cycle of death & rebirth, supported by an intermingling of multiple organs, musical saw, and hard-driving guitar.

As if that wasn't odd enough for you, opening for Jeff Mangum was ACME, a string quartet from NYC which, according to their website, "is dedicated to the outstanding performance of masterworks from the 20th and 21st centuries." The selection that really raised the hair on my arm was a work of Gavin Bryars, a British composer whose work "Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet" features an unaccompanied elderly man singing an off-beat religious song. As the performers told the story, Gavin Bryars had filmed this man as a part of a documentary and was so taken by the song that he looped it on a recorder and was listening to it in his office, a shared space with other artists. Not thinking about the music playing on loop, he took off to get a cup of coffee and returned to find that everyone in the office was transfixed by this music, some even to the point of weeping. Realizing the potential and strength of the old man's song, he wrote a composition for it with a slow buildup of string instruments that play on variations while his warbling voice extols a simple statement of faith.

So, on to the final piece--what do African rock rebels have to do with all this? During the concert Jeff Mangum was being a pretty amiable guy and asked if anyone had any questions. When asked what was the last concert he had been to and he answered "Tinariwen." Being the geeky librarian I am, I did a search of our catalog while leaving and brought up several albums which have been stuck on repeat on my iPod this last week. These former Touareg rebels have traded in their guns for guitars and have been produced several albums marrying American Blues music to African sensibilities, bringing the blues back home as it were.

So, I hope that my joy in music will be your gain and that you'll give at least one of these great musicians a try because I don't know if I'll ever come up with a more eclectic list than this!

Mike's Hoping the Creeks Don't Rise . . . .

I wouldn't call it delicious irony, but it's pretty ironic that we're bracing for a hurricane to hit the East Coast and I've just finished Douglas Brinkley's The Great Deluge, a recounting of the horrors following Hurricane Katrina in 2005 (today being just a few days shy of the six year anniversary of the event). Visiting New Orleans just this past month prompted my interest in the subject, where swaths of still-unoccupied or still-damaged row houses dominate the landscape in sections of the Treme, Marigny, and other neighborhoods.

Covering a week-long period that involves days before and after the Hurricane's landfall, Brinkley documents the ineptitude of government officials and inability of government institutions to take charge that led to the "federally-induced disaster" as locals have taken to describing it. The void of responsibility was filled by the man-on-the-street who took it upon themselves to help out those in need, with a myriad of examples provided by Brinkley. Told in a style that deftly balances finger-pointing with a recounting of compassionate deeds, Brinkley has written an immensely important contribution to the literature of natural and government-induced disasters.


image courtesy Flickr user News Muse

Summer Movie Tie-In's, Comic Book Style!

For those of you who are comic book fans or read comics as a kid, this summer might find you pale and pasty as you're spending the majority of your time indoors enjoying a movie rather than outdoors enjoying the sun. With both DC and Marvel in the game, as well as other comic-based movies like Cowboys & Aliens, you've got your plate full. So now that you've seen the movies, what comics should you read?

If you've been enjoying Marvel's blockbusters like Thor and Captain America, look no further than Ed Brubaker's run on Captain America and J. Michael Straczynski's Thor series. Brubaker has taken the Captain along some of the most groundbreaking storylines in comic history starting with the reintroduction of Bucky, his long-lost sidekick who was brainwashed into working as a Soviet assassin--and that's not to mention the widely publicized Death of Captain America that followed. Straczynski's run on Thor was unfortunately cut short when the author jumped ship for DC but was widely acclaimed as one of the strongest run on the mythological Thunder God's comic as he returned from the dead and the destruction of Ragnarok to engage with some of the century's most disastrous human- and nature-born events like Hurricane Katrina and genocide in Africa.

DC has begun unearthing some of their popular crime fighters and started with the intergalactic peace officer Green Lantern, and much like Brubaker with Captain America, Geoff Johns has taken the character of Hal Jordan and reinvented him to take on some of the events that have had the greatest impact on the DC Universe, like the Blackest Night/Brightest Day series. Even if you were underwhelmed by the movie you shouldn't hold it against Johns, trust me.

Mike bets you'd like to read about someone else's crummy vacation . . . .

A family--the matriarch Emily, recently widowed; Meg, her soon-to-be-divorced daughter with children; and Ken, her underemployed artist photographer son with wife and kids--travels from their disparate hometowns to spend a last week together at the family lake house that was their refuge for so many summers. The book drifts quickly into a prevailing melancholy as a four-day-long rain storm moves in and forces the family to begin confronting the uncomfortable realities of their lives. As the rains lift they see the inevitable conclusion to their stay, which is ultimately escape from each other and back into their lives, where nobody will be there to judge but themselves for the way their lives have turned out.

The language that the author uses is rich, much more rich than you may feel these unlikeable characters deserve, but it helps the reader to understand why these individuals deserve your attention. Let's face it, returning home isn't always easy, and even when we're adults we're faced with the prospect of assuming our childhood roles when we take cover under our parents' roof.

Emily is a character that is easy to dislike as she nitpicks her children and makes them feel guilty for the paths their lives have taken but when the author allows a glimpse of her interior monologue her intentions aren't always in alignment with the way she is perceived. Stuart O'Nan recently wrote the sequel to this titled "Emily, Alone" which perfectly summarizes my expectation of where she would be left after leaving the summer house.

Mike Wants You To Step Into the Second Line

I have to admit, my mind has been on other things this week because come Friday I'm on my way to the annual American Library Association conference. This year's conference is especially sweet since it will happen in the granddaddy of party towns, home of the Who Dat Nation, New Orleans. To add to my excitement, the television show that I'm going to preach to you about is set in a place I'll be staying, a neighborhood just north of the French Quarter.

If you've read this blog before or had the ill luck to talk to me on a day when I'm thinking of it, you'll know that I'm a huge fan of David Simon and his past HBO television show The Wire. The Treme is set in its namesake neighborhood and pulls from the cast of characters that you'll find walking down the streets: the down-on-their-luck musicians hustling to get by, the bartenders weary of lending an ear, harried police and the lawyers keeping an eye on them. The show is rife with New Orleans' rich musical tradition, where you have at least one big name musician making a guest appearance; toss in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and you've got yourself something to keep your attention.

In contrast to his previous series, David Simon is taking his time in setting viewers up for major story moves; much like life, the earth-shattering moments aren't set up for a season's worth of wrap-ups. After all, the event that shook the character's bedrock has already happened, and they're just starting to pick up the pieces. It's this process of starting over that's the meat of the show, and the potatoes are memories of places, events, and things that came to signify what it means to live in New Orleans which are now just starting to show from under the receding flood.

Mike can't get enough of Sherlock Holmes

In my quest to read genres new to me, I've tried tackling mysteries. They're an untapped vein of literature that has sadly remained outside of my purview for some time--and for those of you who are die-hard mystery fans (like half of all of our patrons) you're probably shaking your head, wondering if you should even bother reading further. Do not despair however, because I am a convert, and have been baptized by one of the best--Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.


There are a ton of great ways to get into the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick/chronicler, Dr. James Watson. For instance, if you're taking a long drive or making a daily commute, you can't go wrong by listening to the BBC Radio dramatizations. Produced with a full cast, the performance has a wonderful radio nostalgia feel about it; they performed every work in the series but you might try cutting your teeth on the first volume of the Sherlock Holmes Essentials, recently released.

If you want to listen to the work as it was originally written, however, you can't go wrong with a reading by Simon Prebble. Check out The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, which features some of the notable moments in Sherlock Holmes' career, such as an instance when he was incorrect about his deductions (and that's not his tax deductions).

Or would you rather watch something on the telly? Look no further than the recently produced Sherlock series on BBC. This modern re-envisioning of the world's greatest detective is as dark as it is witty and was an absolute hit; the series won a BAFTA for "best drama series" and Martin Freeman, who portrayed Dr. Watson for the series, garnered another one for his supporting role.

And if you're a novitiate in the Church of Holmes, you'll of course need to peruse the originals. Reading a copy of the two-volume Annotated Sherlock Holmes will make you better informed than almost any Holmes expert and will look handsome on the bookshelf, which you can admire while thoughtfully smoking a pipe or playing your violin.

Mike Hopes You Listen to Velvet Underground

Loaded by Velvet Underground

It seems like at the beginning of every spring Velvet Underground's "Loaded" hits the rotation in my playlist. Maybe it's because I've been so sick of the doldrums of winter that I can really rock out to "Who Loves the Sun." And there's nothing quite like rolling down the windows and cranking up "Rock 'n Roll", which is Lou Reed's paean to America's present to the world. Of course, every song on the album is great (imho) so you'll just have to grab a copy, roll the windows down, and blast it as you're driving down the highway on a bright spring day.

Mike Suggests Hyperion by Dan Simmons

Hyperion by Dan Simmons


It took me a while after enjoying my first taste of Simmons (the audio version of Drood, hauntingly performed by Simon Prebble, is a must-listen) before I took the plunge into his other works and I'm a little disappointed that I waited so long. The story riffs on Chaucer's Cantebury tales, with a band of pilgrims sharing stories as they travel; each story that's told sheds greater light on the mystery that they're traveling to--the Shrike, embodiment of death and destruction, and the hauntingly empty Time Tombs. The Chaucer-like drawing out of the world of Hyperion allows SciFi novitiates to ease into the other-worldliness but it's also an expert way to tell the tale. This is the first in a four-part series so don't get upset when the ending leaves you hanging!

Mike wonders why you don't like Dylan

Bob Dylan in America by Sean Wilentz

I picked this one up because I'm a rabid Dylan fan, have appreciated Sean Wilentz's writings in the Bootleg Series books & on bobdylan.com, and had run out of audiobooks to listen to on my daily 2 1/2 hour commute to and from work. For casual listeners of Dylan, or of music in general, the book will probably frustrate you if it doesn't bore you. For those of us who would rather take five essential albums rather than books to a deserted island, this work will thrill you. Not only does the author make masterly demonstrations of how Dylan weaves an intricate tapestry with and within American music, but only Sean Wilentz has the ability to make you believe "Masked & Anonymous" wasn't only a decent movie, but one that demonstrates a key point in Dylan's canon. Most highly suggested as an audiobook, with its inclusion of snippets of tunes that demonstrates Wilentz's points.

Play Their Hearts Out: A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball Machine by George Dohrmann

A sports coach can be the most revered or vilified person in the room; a Red Auerbach-like personality who can inspire a team of individuals to come together to form a dynastic team, or someone who pitches a fit and sends a chair skidding across the floor a la Bobby Knight. George Dohrmann presents to the reader a very different type of coach, who has the skills to find the most dynamic players and then milk them for the most base of ends: his financial well-being.

But in the end the story isn't solely about Joe Keller as a coach, it's about him as a pioneer of the efforts made by the shoe companies to extend their commercial empire by ensnaring the next LeBron James before the kid graduates middle school. The author does an exquisite job as chronicler of the years spent by Joe Keller building up his AAU team to become one of the greatest in the U-13 leagues; of the hard-knock maturation process the children went through; and of the backroom machinations that made Joe Keller a very rich man.

I'm far from interested in basketball, but I would come home from work every night looking forward to reading more of this book--it had all of the personalities of a great page-turner, with easily recognizable villains and victims, but, appropriately enough, the hero never made an appearance.

How To Understand Israel by reading graphic novels

How To Understand Israel In 60 Days Or Less by Sarah Glidden

Another stellar graphic novel proving that the medium has an essential place in storytelling, this comic is the first full-length effort by Boston-native Sarah Glidden and should be shelved alongside Joe Sacco's works and Maus in terms of its importance for fostering an intelligent discussion of the troubles between Israel and Palestine. It doesn't touch on the extreme alienation and despair of Sacco & Spiegelman's works because Glidden's story is of an American-born Jew who takes the birthright trip with the intention of reinforce her preconceived pro-Palestinian ideas that most college students sporting a keffiyeh share. As the trip progresses, her prejudices begin to break down through a very emotional process as she begins to formulate her own opinion. While the ending of the book leaves us with the same question Sarah was asking herself at the beginning, the process of reading it allows us to encounter and embrace our own uncertainty of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.