by Jason Heller
Review by Theresa Kolacek, Davis Library
Just when you thought the American presidential election couldn’t get any more bizarre, it does. Just when you thought all but two of the potential candidates had been cut down and threshed in the 24/7 media frenzy, William Howard Taft awakens from the grave after nearly 100 years’ slumber. Yes, that Taft, the only commander-in-chief to get stuck in the presidential bathtub.
Unfortunately for Taft, he awakens from his underground “sleep” on the White House grounds and lumbers toward the current president, who is giving a press conference. Shot by Secret Service agent Ira Kowalczyk, he is immediately recognized and given medical attention in the White House to limit a full-blown media circus.
Soon Taft is being briefed on life in 21st century America, and his guide is Susan Weschler, a noted historian whose field of expertise is Taft and his presidency. His other guide is his great-granddaughter, Representative Rachel Taft (Ohio), whose legislative passion is crafting an International Foods Act. This legislation would require the agricultural industrial complex be held accountable for the rise in health problems, such as obesity and diabetes, that are directly related to their unsavory food practices. After a particularly distasteful Thanksgiving dinner where “the innards of [his] Fulsom TurkEase disagreed most profoundly with [his] own innards,“ Taft realizes that some aspects of modern life have not improved, and he begins to rail against the modern industrial agribusinesses that supply Americans with the chemical concoctions disguised as “food.”
With Agent Kowalczyk as his personal security detail, Taft (code name: Big Boy) embarks on a cross-country trip to reconnect with the America he so loved during his 20th century life. Watching reruns of WKRP in Cincinnati in a shabby motel room does nothing for Taft’s opinion of American entertainment, and musing on Johnny Fever’s mustache leads Kowalczyk to realize that Big Boy might be less of a security risk without his own mustache. Unfortunately, even Kowalczyk can’t prevent Big Boy from hitting the panic button on New Year’s Eve as a night of celebrating spins out of control with a tattooed woman named Sam. Some things are better left unexplained in the Secret Service incident reports.
As Americans of every political stripe become more disillusioned with the current political gridlock, they begin to coalesce around a third possible candidate in the 2012 election – William Howard Taft. With the aid of social media and nonstop coverage, the “Tafties” begin a fervent campaign to elect someone they hope will transcend the widening partisan divide and bring common sense and compassion back into politics. Although his record as a moderate, progressive Republican puts him at odds with the current Republican Party, Taft becomes an immediate media sensation. For the second time in his life, Taft may be headed for the White House out of a sense of duty to his country. What he learns just before the Taft Party convention will have repercussions for years to come.
Filled with humor and sprinkled liberally with news bulletins from The Washington Post, Twitter, and TV and radio broadcasts, Taft 2012 is a welcome respite from the current political slugfest. If only it were true . . . where are you now, WHT, when we need you the most?
Check out the website http://taft2012.com to learn more about William Howard Taft and his party’s platform and to read a letter from the candidate himself.
By Lisa Navidi, Davis Library
Did you ever read a series of books that at first glance bear no resemblance to each other but the more you read the more similarities become apparent? Well, that's what happened to me as I read the following titles:
Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy, Interviews with Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. These conversations took place in March of 1964, barely 4 months after JFK's assassination. Although it comes with both book and CD, I mostly listened to the CD version. At first, I just marveled at Jackie’s voice, as it flooded my memory with thoughts of those lost years. And her voice is almost hypnotic as well as charming and cultured. Listening to her speaking about “Jack” and their relationship was not just romantic--it was very dated as she spoke about the role of a wife and how submissive she should be. Apparently she did change her mind in later years. It was somewhat difficult to listen to, knowing what we know about JFK’s lifestyle.
Their conversations range from staff in the Cabinet, Congress, foreign heads of state, and friends. Having the book nearby helped to identify the myriad of people that she and Schlesinger discussed. And they do mention many people, not all in a positive light. It still amazes me that her family made the decision to publish these seemingly private conversations.
My advice is to listen to these conversations and let me know what you think about Mrs. Onassis after you’ve finished. Then read Robert Caro’s new book about LBJ, Passage of Power, and compare notes.
And that is a perfect segue into Stephen King’s latest time-travel novel, 11/22/63. Jake Epping, a high school teacher finds a portal from 2011 back to 1958—it is always 1958 and it is always the same day. Under the tutelage of a friend, he is urged to stop the JFK assassination. Along the way, he prevents other accidents and murders, finds a job, falls in love (he has to fill in the time between 1958 and 1963) and gives the reader a wonderful travelogue of life in the late 50s and early 60s. We learn more about Lee Harvey Oswald and all his cohorts and as good historical fiction, it was well researched. As good science fiction, the fight between changing the past and the past itself was very engaging. Yes, it is long—849 pages, it is Stephen King after all--but I found it fascinating reading, so don’t give up. You must read it until the end.
Which leads me to Cell, also by Stephen King. Clayton, a graphic novelist, has finally sold his book and at 3:00 pm is standing in Boston Commons, reveling in the fact that he will finally have enough money to rebuild his life with his ex-wife and son, when he starts noticing bizarre behaviors. Anyone using a cell phone immediately becomes a zombie, complete with “Night of the Living Dead” attributes and appetites. He bands together with two other “non-phoners” and together, after exhausting their options, they make their way to Maine to find Clayton’s son, Johnny. The trip, of course, if fraught with peril as the phoners band together and develop a hive-like mentality and begin to evolve in true King-like fashion. I am intrigued with the idea that cell phones are used as a tool of destruction or terrorism. This book, possibly a cautionary tale, was written in 2008. Imagine what would happen now as virtually everyone uses cell phones…all the time. I also thought it interesting that we only know what is happening to Clayton and his friends. We never see or hear any news of the rest of the world or even the country. No one of course will pick up a phone or tries to connect with the internet or television after that. This is a page-turner, and you have to keep reading until the climactic ending.
And then I read The Leftovers, by Tom Perrota. In what can only be described as a Rapture, ordinary men, women and children suddenly disappear, leaving behind their baffled and grief stricken families and friends. However, those who disappeared are not the good Christians one would expect from a Rapture-like disappearance. They are simply taken at random. Three years later, strange cults have appeared: The Barefoot People, a hippie-like group that just seems to party all the time; The Healing Hug movement, complete with a guru who likes teenage girls and is awaiting the birth of the cosmic child to usher in a new age. Not so benign is the Guilty Remnant, who wear white and smoke constantly (whether they want to or not). They simply stare at others and wait for the end of the world. The story is tied together by a group of family and friends in the small town of Mapleton. Don’t look for an explanation of the disappearances. The author is more interested in what happens to the “leftovers.” This was my first novel by Tom Perrota, but it won’t be my last.
The Leftovers reminded me of the families of the 911 victims, which brought me to The Submission, a novel by Amy Waldman. When the 911 Memorial Commission holds a blind submission contest for a suitable memorial and chooses a winner, they discover that he is a Moslem American. And then politics take over. We see everyone’s point of view from the families, the architect himself, the political movers and shakers, the anti-Islamists and the Islamists themselves. Most poignant is a young Afghani widow. There is no clear cut hero or villain in this novel. This is an important book to read and discuss as we look into the diverse future of this country.
In next month’s Librarian’s Choice, look for Taft 2012, another “unexplained phenomenon” novel. It resonates nicely with our current never-ending political campaign.
Review by Mark Santoro, Potomac Library
Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun is a brisk, informative look by journalist Paul M. Barrett at the history of the Glock pistol in America. Glocks are famous (or notorious) for their ease of use, reliability, and rapid rise in popularity among American police departments and civilian gun owners. The flat, boxy pistol has become a pop culture icon, appearing in countless Hollywood actions films and mentioned in numerous rap songs. Now used by police department throughout America, the gun has at times been met with furious opposition, including the spurious claim that it cannot be seen by airport metal detectors.
The author does a remarkable job of covering the history, economic impact and cultural relevance of the Glock in just under 270 pages. Barrett includes the technical development of the first Glock pistol in 1982 by Austrian industrialist Gaston Glock and the later iterations of the now famous gun. He covers the weapon’s rise to popularity in America and the Glock company’s deft (or devious) handling of challenges from gun control opponents. Barrett also follows the fates of the company’s sometimes unsavory principle executives as they lead the firm from a small start up to a multinational corporation.
Guns can be a controversial topic and it is natural to wonder about the bias of an author writing a book on the topic. Barrett’s book is quite fair. He clearly dismisses common misconceptions about the gun. In the mid-1980s, for instance, when the Glock pistol was introduced to America, a controversy arose over whether the gun, mostly made of plastic, could be detected by airport security. Not only does Barrett demonstrate the inaccuracy of the undetectable pistol myth, but he also points out the media’s inability to get the facts right at the time of the controversy. He also notes that despite the Glock’s bad boy image in movies and gangsta rap, it is not particularly popular among criminals, who, based on weapons seizures, prefer less expensive guns.
At the same time, Barrett does not shy away from the more unsavory aspect of the Glock corporation and its executives. He describes the tension that arose between Gaston Glock and his American employees due to his imperious management style and contempt for American workers. Barrett also discusses the dummy corporations Glock established in Panama and Luxembourg to avoid American and Austrian taxes, as well as protect the company from American product-liability lawsuits.
Barrett’s description of the feint and parry between gun control advocates and Glock was particularly interesting. Readers will likely find themselves amused or scandalized by this part of the book. In 1994, for instance, President Clinton signed a bill that in part banned the manufacture of ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds. High capacity guns and magazines made before the law went into effect, however, could be still be sold and resold. Gun manufacturers anticipated the law and stepped up production of the affected guns and magazines. After the ban, demand for such grandfathered guns and magazines soared, boosting Glock’s and other gun companies’ profits immensely. In addition, Glock began trading new versions of its pistols to the police departments of Washington, DC, and other cities in exchange for the departments’ old versions of the same weapon, at no cost to the departments. Among the pistols Glock received in the trade were thousands of the soon to be banned, immensely profitable, high capacity magazines and pistols.
Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun is an enjoyable, readable book for anyone with even a passing interest in the ubiquitous Glock, American gun culture and the gun trade. Readers seeking similar books can find a historical guide to guns in Guns: A Visual History, which highlights 300 prominent guns from the last 700 years. The Gun, by C.J. Chivers chronicles the history of another well known weapon, the AK-47. For a practical guide to gun ownership, see The Complete Gun Owner: Your Guide to Selection, Use, Safety and Self Defense. Finally, see Adam Winkler’s recent Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America for a review of gun rights and gun control throughout American history.
by Amitav Ghosh
Deeti, a young mother in Bihar India, raises opium poppies for the British East India Company. The opium is processed at the nearby plant where her husband works, and then sent by ship to be sold in China, all part of the Chinese opium trade. After Deeti’s husband dies, her living situation becomes unbearable. She is rescued and runs away with Kalua, a giant whom some regard as mentally deficient. With him she joins the migrants who will be sailing on the Ibis, a two masted schooner and former slave ship, with a prow like the beak of a bird. Due to a recent decline in the opium trade, the Ibis has been refitted to transport indentured servants and convicts to Mauritius.
The second mate of the Ibis is Zachery, the free son of a Maryland freedwoman, who signed on as ships carpenter and worked his way up to second mate. In Calcutta the Ibis takes on a diverse group of passengers. These include Raja Neel Rattan Halder, now on his way to a penal colony, tricked and ruined by the local head of the East India Company, who coveted his land. He travels with an opium addict and cellmate, the half Chinese half Parsi Aafat, a man with well hidden skills and depths. The East India Company’s man, Mr. Burnham, explains at a dinner party about the opium trade and the threat of an opium war in China:
“The war, when it comes, will not be for opium. It will be for a principle: for freedom – for the freedom of trade and the freedom of the Chinese people. Free Trade is a right conferred on Man by God, and its principles apply as much to opium as to any other article of trade. More so perhaps, since in its absence many millions of [Indian] natives would be denied the lasting advantage of British influence.”
The fates of many more are joined on the Ibis, all their lives swept about in the swirls and and eddies of the opium trade. These include, Mr. Burnham’s agent Baboo Nob Kissin Pander, the French orphan Paulette, ward of Mr. Burnham, and Paulette’s childhood friend Jodu. Paulette joins the Ibis disguised as an Indian woman, Jodu joins the crew. And there are many others whose fates will become mingled and extend over generations following the events of the voyage.
Amitav Ghosh has a gift for storytelling and language. The story rolls forward, bearing the reader as if carried on the crest of a great wave. The tale is greatly enriched by the varied vocabularies of the disparate characters, colorfully and gracefully reconstructed by Ghosh. At the end of the book, Ghosh includes the Ibis Chrestomathy, an optional assist to the curious reader who is interested in time, place, and language.
Sea of Poppies is the first of a trilogy, the second part is River of Smoke. Sea of Poppies is also available as a CD book or downloadble audiobook, with the rolling narrative and rich language brilliantly performed by Phil Gigante.
Review by Theresa Kolacek, Davis Library
Mention James Fenimore Cooper, Elizabeth Blackwell, and Oliver Wendell Holmes in one sentence, and most Americans would be hard put to name something they have in common besides their American citizenship and celebrated accomplishments. In David McCullough’s The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris, we learn that each of them, as well as many of their peers, lived and studied in Paris, the shining star of the European Continent, if not the world during the late 18th and most of the 19th centuries. 
For educated Americans who wanted to excel in the arts, medicine, or humanities, Paris was the ultimate destination at that time. Its medical schools were considered the best in the world, and drew students from around the globe, including America. The finest and most skilled surgeons practiced and taught medicine to thousands of medical students, who were able to accompany French doctors on their daily hospital rounds. In contrast, most American medical schools did not require any hospital experience. Many American doctors in the early 19th century did not attend medical school at all; they “apprenticed” with a local doctor, and after a period of time were considered practicing physicians. After the cholera epidemic of 1832, Paris numbered twelve hospitals, which “provided treatment for 65,935 patients. In Boston, by comparison, the Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital together cared for fewer than 800 patients” (p. 105). And treatment in all Paris hospitals was free.
In politics, Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner became an ardent anti-slavery voice after witnessing “free black” students at the Sorbonne in Paris who were accepted as equals to their white colleagues. “They were standing in the midst of a knot of young men, and their color seemed to be no objection to them . . . .It must be then that the distance between free blacks and whites among us is derived from education, and does not exist in the nature of things” (p. 131). This was a radical idea for an American in 1838: that blacks and whites were equal as human beings, and that an educated black man could attain the same status in life as a white man.
American art and invention would not exist as we know it today if John Singer Sargent, Samuel Morse, and Mary Cassatt, among others, had not studied and worked in Paris. Sargent was considered one of the most esteemed artists of his generation, whose infamous portrait of Madame X shocked Parisian society. Samuel Morse, who never achieved the level of artistic success he desired, swore off art completely and concentrated on his invention of the electromagnetic telegraph. Mary Cassatt became accepted as one of the great Impressionists; her work focused on women and children in everyday settings, unprecedented at that time.
After reading this book, I was surprised at how frequently I ran across something from McCullough’s book. The cover of Henry James’ Portrait of a Lady is the once-scandalous painting by Sargent of Madame X; the painting by Morse of the Louvre masterpieces is currently on exhibit at the National Gallery of Art; and the Charles Sumner School in D.C., currently a museum, was formerly a black teachers’ college. In untold ways, the power of The Greater Journey is its ability to tie together seemingly disparate pieces of American cultural, political, and scientific history in a way that resonates with today’s headlines. Whether it’s educational reform, artistic expression, or political strife, McCullough’s writing makes us realize that we are all players on a collective American journey. The question still to be answered is: will it be great?
Compiled by Keith Fleeman, Retired Manager of Little Falls Library
Darkside by 
The Joe Pickett novels by 
The Kate Burkholder novels by 
Sharp Objects by 
The FBI Profiler (Quincy series) ; The D.D. Warren Series (with Bobby) and the stand-alone books. by 
Kop by 
Deeper Than the Dead / Secrets to the Grave by 
The Analyst by 
Books by Val McDermid by 
The Redbreast by 
Books by T. Jefferson Parker by 
Books by Thomas Perry by 
The Atticus Kodiak novels by 
In the Bleak Midwinter by 
Copycat by 
Snow Angels by 
Think of a Number. by Reviewed by Lisa Navidi, Davis Library
In The Free World, David Bezmozgis has taken a literary snapshot of a time when Soviet Jewry were allowed to emigrate from the Soviet Union to a country of their choosing (or a country which would accept them). The novel takes place in 1978 Rome as the Krasnansky family from Latvia awaits their future in the way station full of Russian émigrés. This is a piece of history and as such, could simply be that, except for the literary crafting of Bezmozgi, who has made this family very personal and as real and flawed as all our families.
Samuil, the patriarch of the family, is a lifelong Communist, who was urged by his family to make this change. He grudgingly goes along, but just that. His son Karl, who adapts quickly to his family’s needs, goes into the thriving Russian émigré black-market business.
Alec, the most engaging of the characters, brings his new non-Jewish wife Polina but still fancies other women and hasn’t really grown up yet. If he had to give a reason for leaving, he would say that the Soviet Union gave him no freedom to bumble. And bumble he does, dragging his family down with him.
We get to know Polina, who has the most to lose by leaving her home and her family. Her loving letters to and from her sister provide a link to what she has left behind.
There are wonderful little scenes such as when Samuil’s wife, who wants them to become more involved in Judaism and eventually go to Israel, takes him to a screening of “Fiddler on the Roof.” Samuil’s reaction is disgust as he sees Sholem Aleichem’s story perverted into “sentimental Jewish burlesque.”
Bezmozgis, born in Latvia in 1973, knows whereof he speaks. His family made the same trek and ended up in Canada. The Krasnanskys are an amalgam of the many Jewish families who experienced this emigration. Whether they ended up in Canada, the US, Australia or Israel was purely a matter of luck or quick decision-making. Or, in the words of another émigré who had lived in Israel as well, whichever “country has the least parades.”
The Free World is Bezmozgis’s first novel and a New York Times 2011 Notable Book. Natasha and Other Stories, his debut publication is about the Bermans after they arrive in Canada from Russia. Bezmozgis has been chosen as one of New Yorker magazine’s 20 under 40.
by Mark Santoro, Potomac Library
Is technology making it harder for us to concentrate? Sure, says Duke University professor Cathy N. Davidson, and that’s a good thing. In Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn, Davidson proposes that our increasing tendency to get distracted provides opportunities to see our tasks and our world in new ways. Being distracted is a natural state for the brain, she asserts, and overcoming our old fashioned, 20th century emphasis on single minded focus will help us adapt to the new world of 21st century work, learning and life. 
There is an ongoing debate among scholars and writers about whether the Internet is making us dumber and less able to accomplish tasks. Davidson takes a satisfyingly bold stance on the issue, agreeing with pessimists that we are becoming more prone to distraction, but refuting their assertion that it’s a problem. Unfortunately, she does not present a clear discussion of the costs and benefits of distraction. Near the beginning of the book, she notes how distraction provides opportunities to see things in a different way. Halfway through the book she acknowledges that distraction can make it difficult to complete a task. She mentions some people’s strategies for dealing with this problem. One technology worker has three computers, one for tasks requiring concentration, another for e-mail and other work requiring connection to the outside world and a third for fun stuff like Twitter and personal e-mails!
Interesting as such anecdotes are, a more straightforward analysis would have been helpful. Something along the lines of distraction is good for these three reasons, it’s bad for these three reasons but in the end it’s a net positive because of x, y and z. Given her wonderfully bold assertion about the benefits of distraction, one wonders why she did not more directly address the obvious question of how one gets something done (like this review) when one is constantly distracted.
Like too many popular non-fiction books, Davidson seems to focus on a small subset of the population. In her case, that subset consists of software designers, marketing professionals and other members of the knowledge based economy. It’s true that the Internet has changed and even revolutionized many of our lives. She cites the work and perspective of IBM executive Chuck Hamilton. Davidson notes that in the 20th century, his position might have been human resources manager or director of labor relations. His actual title, however is, “virtual learning strategy leader.” He believes that “the best work - like the best education - has to be inspiring, challenging, exciting, playful.” This sounds great for knowledge workers, but how does one make plumbing, garbage collecting or stocking grocery shelves inspiring and playful?
Davidson has an enthusiasm for technology and its benefits that is infectious. She provides a delightful contrast, for instance, between the jargon filled, stilted prose of term papers with the more natural style of blogs that students write for peers. One study she cites indicates that such blogs contain fewer typos, factual errors and more eloquence than classroom assignments. Perhaps Davidson is correct and it’s not that students are poor writers. Perhaps the problem is schools’ over reliance on prose forms such as the term paper.
However, she may be too optimistic. Just because many of us now could write an entertaining blog or edit Wikipedia’s article on our hometown doesn’t mean we will. There were high achievers and the rest of us before the advent of the Internet and that is probably still the case. The Internet has made it easier for previously unknown high achievers to shine, but has created talent that wasn’t already there?
Now You See It provides plenty of food for thought to those interested in how technology is changing our lives. I appreciated and enjoyed Davidson’s enthusiasm for the promise of technology and her role in it. Time will tell whether the advantages of distraction she sees will benefit society as a whole or be limited to those fortunate enough to secure a place in the knowledge based section of the economy.
For a counterpoint to Davidson’s optimism, try Maggie Jackson’s Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age. If you’re looking for a cure, seek Pier Forni’s help in his The Thinking Life: How to Thrive in the Age of Distraction. For a more personal perspective, try The Winter of Our Disconnect: How Three Totally Wired Teenagers (and a Mother Who Slept with Her iPhone) Pulled the Plug on Their Technology and Lived to Tell the Tale by Susan Maushart.
by Andrew Rice
Reviewed by Nell Marshall, Little Falls Library
This is a classic detective story. We've all read mysteries where the client asks the detective to investigate a long-ago disappearance. In this book, Duncan Laki himself is the detective. Duncan Laki's father disappeared in 1972. Rice uses Laki's search to lay open not only the complex psychology and personal histories of those involved in the crime but also the history of Uganda. Many of the people involved were politically prominent, and politics played a major role in this crime. The mystery drives the story forward: what happened to Eliphaz Laki, where and how did he die, and where is the body?
Andrew Rice tells the story easily and gracefully, pulling the reader in from the very beginning. He can condense in a few sentences what other writers take chapters or essays to describe, as with this bit of background information:
"… this anthropological notion of "tribe" was something the British applied inflexibly everywhere in Africa, often for reasons that suited little besides their political objectives. [Among the people in Uganda] … classifications were fluid - they could change from generation to generation. An individual could alter his ethnicity by marrying outside his group, or even by moving, the same way someone born in Iowa can become a New Yorker."
Duncan Laki's father had owned a Volkswagen Beetle and had been very proud of the car. The car disappeared with Laki but was occasionally seen again, although no one knew who was driving it. When Duncan's mother was dying, she gave Duncan the car's spare key, which she had secretly saved. He kept it with him after that, even when he traveled to Chicago to continue his education as a lawyer.
The car becomes the key piece of evidence Duncan uses to trace the story of the murder of his father. He does some brilliant detective work, employing both good procedural technique, and a resourceful imagination. He ultimately traces the crime to Major General Gowan, former chief of staff of the Ugandan Army and second-in-command to Idi Amin. Laki manages to bring Gowon to trial.
Duncan Laki remains implacably committed to finding what happened to his father and bringing his father’s body to rest. Despite sparse records, people who often do not wish to recall or bring back the past, the doubts of his own family, he was able to pursue his quest until he got answers, making a true and truly remarkable detective story.
reviewed by Theresa Kolacek, Davis Library
Rebirth. Second chances. Redemption. Happiness. Who hasn’t longed for a chance to begin anew, to wipe the slate clean, especially with the wisdom of hindsight? In Emily and Einstein by Linda Francis Lee, this gift is thrust upon Sandy Portman when he is killed in a freak car accident, and his soul is then transferred to the body of Einstein, a scruffy, wire-haired bundle of canine angst. Railing against his fate, Einstein learns that the only way he can possibly recover his former self is by helping his wife put her life back together after she learns of his death.
Unbeknownst to his widow, Emily, Sandy was on his way to tell her that their marriage was over and he wanted a divorce. Unaware of her husband’s growing disinterest, Emily had been happily remodeling their expansive apartment at an exclusive Manhattan address. As her life implodes upon learning of Sandy’s death, she stumbles upon a homeless mutt at a shelter, names him Einstein, and slowly, her life begins to change. With Einstein’s help, Emily uncovers her husband’s journal and learns the truth about their marriage, and that everything she thought she had – a loving husband, a secure home, and a wonderful future – wasn’t true. Even the home she had worked so hard to transform is now being claimed by her mother-in-law; Sandy never changed his will to make her the beneficiary.
Now faced with eviction and cutthroat competition at her publishing job, Emily must somehow muster the will to fight for what she believes is rightfully hers. The only problem is she can barely function at this point. So Einstein, with his limited communication skills, must somehow guide Emily back from the brink, even if he is only doing it to save himself.
In alternating chapters we see the story unfold from both Emily’s and Einstein’s perspectives. In Einstein’s chapters, we see life from a dog’s point of view, especially the frustration that he feels as he sees Emily slipping further away. We also learn about the doggy impulses that Einstein can’t quite control – a box of Lucky charms left out on the table turns into a canine food orgy, and ends in panic as Einstein struggles to get the cereal box unstuck from his head. Then there is the decidedly unpleasant issue of having to relieve himself in public, with all the dangers inherent when other dogs are around. “I put up with the attention as best I could until an overly amorous poodle tried to have her way with me.” At one point he decides to commit doggie suicide, only to be frustrated again. “I howled and bayed, then fell off the counter. I lay there for a second, hoping for a broken neck. First I moved my paws, then my head. I thought I would cry in disappointment.”
Emily’s coping mechanisms include ignoring deadlines at work and throwing herself into a frenzy of baking – anything with flour, butter, and sugar – to dull the pain of her loss. When her troubled younger sister Jordan shows up, Emily takes her in, still hoping that she can rescue her from the dissolute life she’s been leading. Slowly, Emily begins to think of a way to redeem herself at work, while also helping her sister stand on her own. When Jordan runs away without warning, Emily’s life begins to spiral downward again. Now Einstein is desperate, since his own fate depends upon Emily. Eventually he realizes that as a human being his life was one of blaming others, taking the easy way out. “After a lifetime of wasted living without truth, it had taken becoming a dog to understand I had lived without honor.”
How Emily manages to pull the pieces of her shattered life together echoes the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. Sometimes, we just need someone (whether canine or human) in our corner, cheering us on.
Lisa Navidi, Davis Library
My reading habits tend to group themselves in threes. Here are three books that are painful but rewarding to read: Let Us Water the Flowers about a political prisoner in Khomeni’s prison in 1984; Unbroken about a downed WWII navigator captured by the Japanese and placed in a POW camp; Sarah’s Key, a novel about a young Jewish girl, who, along with her family was arrested by the French police in the infamous July 1942 Vel d'Hiv' round up. Each was heartbreaking in its own way.
Jafar Yaghoobi, a geneticist, was arrested in 1984 and spent 5 years as a political prisoner in Iran. Let Us Water the Flowers is his story.
I've read many, many memoirs, but I've never felt as involved as I've felt reading "Let Us Water the Flowers". I felt the fear, the pain, the longing for home and family, the day-to-day humiliations, and the small moments of triumph. And while Yaghoobi lets us into this Iranian prison, emotionally, politically, and socially, he also gives us the historical background we need so that non-Iranians can better understand exactly what he is talking about without the feeling that we're being lectured.
It's an incredible story that unfortunately has not ended for many still in Iran. We are so lucky to have his voice to share it. I must admit that Jafar is an old and dear friend and that I helped him with the first draft of his book. He is not a professional writer, but through the many drafts of this memoir, he has honed his skill, so that the reader can understand exactly what he has experienced and identify with his predicament.
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, Laura Hillenbrand’s new blockbuster, follows the life of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner turned Air Force navigator, turned POW in a Japanese camp. His is the story of a man that refused to buckle under the most intense pressure.
After his plane crashes and he and the rest of the crew try to survive on a raft for 47 days, the reader would assume that that would be enough adventure for anyone, but after they are captured by the Japanese, Zamperini soon yearns for the quiet, safety of the raft.
His existence at the hands of sadistic guards, one in particular, is almost unbelievable, a story if you didn’t know was true, you would assume was a work of fiction.
Was it Zamperini’s spirit or athleticism that led Watanabe, a guard known to prisoners as “The Bird,” to torment him? When the war was over, Zamperini was able to say, “I am free, I am free.” But like many POWs, he was not free. He suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, which was not understood until much later.
Unbroken is a page-turner, or a CD-turner, which is how I read it. Sometimes almost too painful to read, the inhumanities just go on and on. But it is worth it, knowing that Zamperini does live through this horrendous period of his life and comes through it unbroken.
We have all learned about the harrowing stories of Jewish victims of the Holocaust, but what many did not realize was that some of their captors were actually the French police. Jewish families were rounded up in Paris on July 16, 1942, sent to French concentration camps and then transported to Aushwitz where they were summarily killed. Among them were many children. Until 1995, under President Jacques Chirac, there was never an acknowledgment, there was never an apology, and most of the French population were either unaware or conveniently forgot about this shameful time in French history.
Tatiana de Rosnay wrote the novel Sarah’s Key as an homage to the victims of the Vel d'Hiv' round up. Ten-year old Sarah and her parents were herded out in the street with all the other Jewish families in Paris. What her parents didn’t know was that Sarah’s three-year old brother had hidden himself in a secret cupboard. Thinking they would return soon, Sarah locked the door, took the key, and promised to let him out as soon as they were released. What followed was a tragic story, narrated by a present-day American journalist whose husband’s family had lived in that apartment during the war. No, this is not great literature, but it's a fast-paced read that brought the reader back to a period of French history many do not want to remember.
by Mark Santoro, Potomac Library
Clive Cussler’s The Spy features Isaac Bell, a top investigator for the Van Dorn Detective Agency, a fictional version of the famous Pinkerton Detective firm. In The Spy he is assigned to investigate the death of a gunnery engineer. The evidence points to a dramatic suicide, but the engineer’s daughter suspects murder. As Bell’s investigation progresses, he discovers that his case involves much more than the death of one man. Other key men in the development of America’s next generation battleships have also met untimely ends.
The Spy is an engaging combination of spy novel, historical fiction, mystery and suspense. It’s set in 1908, as Britain, Japan, America and other great powers vie for dominance of the seas through bigger, faster, stronger battleships. Cussler skillfully integrates the book’s historical setting into the story. He includes period details from the peculiarities of cross country rail travel to inter-gang relations in New York City while maintaining a fast paced, interesting story.
The novel also includes aspects of a retro techno-thriller. The telegraph, elementary forensics, a submarine and other early 20th century technology play a role in the work of Bell and his various friends and foes. Such devices, however, are not the focus of the story and, as with the historical background, are well integrated into the plot.
The Spy provides a robust plot with the twists and turns one expects of a good suspense or spy novel. It features a master spy manipulating the agents of several other countries for his own aims. Though the story all takes place in America, there are elements of international intrigue as the agents of various nations scheme. Bell’s investigation grows from one focused on the death of one man to a conspiracy with implications for America’s future naval prowess. One satisfying aspect of the plot is its restraint. Though the master spy’s machinations threaten America’s security, he is no Bond villain trying to rule the world. The threat poised by the spy is serious but realistic.
Cussler kindly keeps the intricacies of the story to a manageable level. Scenes that at first appear to be subplots are quickly integrated into the main storyline. As befits a good mystery, the author has fun killing off victims. Any oaf can have a man shot, but it takes style to take out a victim with an exploding piano and still make it look like a suicide.
The Spy is a very satisfying read. Cussler packs a lot of story into its 436 pages without letting the plot get bogged down in too much detail or cluttering the story with a vast array of characters. The Spy is the third Cussler book featuring Isaac Bell. The previous books are The Chase and The Wrecker. A new Isaac Bell adventure, The Race, is coming out this September. Readers seeking other espionage novels set in the past can try John Altman’s A Gathering of Spies, about a Nazi infiltrator in the Manhattan Project. Alan Furst is also well known for his spy novels set in World War II Europe, though his work is less action oriented than The Spy.
by Amitav Ghosh
The Hungry Tide, a novel published in 2005, is set in the Sundarbans, the vast delta of rivers and islands where the Ganges and the Brahmaputra flow together and spread wide into a huge delta, flowing into the Bay of Bengal. Ghosh’s descriptions capture the sweep, the ebb and flow of the tides and currents:
“The rivers’ channels are spread across the land like a fine mesh- net, creating a terrain where the boundaries between land and water are always mutating, always unpredictable . . .
"The tides reach as far as two hundred miles inland and every day thousands of acres of forest disappear underwater, only to reemerge hours later. The currents are so powerful as to reshape the islands almost daily …
"When the tides create new land, overnight the mangroves begin to gestate. And if the conditions are right they can spread so fast as to cover a new island in a few short years. A mangrove forest is a universe unto itself … Visibility is short and the air still and fetid. At no moment can human beings have any doubt of the terrain’s hostility to their presence, of its cunning and resourcefulness, of its determination to destroy or expel them. Every year, dozens of people perish in the embrace of that dense foliage, killed by tigers, snakes and crocodiles.
"There is no prettiness here to invite the stranger in: yet to the world at large this archipelago is known as the Sunderbans, which means “the beautiful forest.”’
This is the last great refuge of the Bengal tiger, whose life is valued above the human lives in the delta.
Into this land comes Piya, a young Indian-born American cetacean biologist, studying river dolphins. She is rescued from drowning and crocodiles by a fisherman, Fokir, whom she hires as her guide to help her find the dolphins. They do not speak the same language, but they share an understanding and appreciation for the tides and mud and forest, the flora and fauna of the Sunderbans. Piya Roy is also befriended by Kanai Dutt, whom she meets on her journey to the Sundarbans, and by his Aunt Nilima, who founded and runs the only hospital in the region.
Kanai takes posession of a recently discovered package of documents, left to him by his Uncle Nirmal, the poet, local schoolmaster, who had died some 20 years earlier. Some of these papers concern a girl named Kusum. Kanai and Kusum had formed a brief friendship when, as a schoolboy, he was sent to stay for a while with his aunt and uncle. The stories of these people, the land and water, and the history and ecology of the Sundarbans are all intertwined.
With Fokir’s help, Piya makes significant progress in her studies of the dolphins. Kanai slowly unfolds the story of his aunt and uncle, and of Kusum, her family, her mother, and her son. Overshadowing events throughout the story is the 1979 massacre of settler refugees on the island of Morichjhap.
Ghosh is one of the best storytellers writing today, weaving together place and character in a complex matrix that keeps the reader turning the pages, swayed and carried forward as if by the surge and ebb of the tides.
The Hungry Tide as an audiobook, narrated by Firdous Bamji, makes excellent listening.
by Lionel Shriver
Reviewed by Theresa Kolacek, Davis Library
Who among us hasn’t wanted to chuck the hassles and stresses of everyday life for a completely new beginning in another part of the world, at least once? Lionel Shriver’s latest book So Much for That addresses the risks of placing all of your dreams for the future in one basket, and what can happen when a major crisis derails that dream.
Shep Knacker has sold his handyman business for a cool million, in order to quit the rat race and start over on the remote island of Pemba. This is not a spur-of-the-moment idea, but a plan that has been carefully plotted over the years, as he and his wife Glynis have traveled to inexpensive (read: unorthodox) parts of the world to test-drive the dream. Finally, he makes the decision to go, with or without his wife and teenage son, and buys the tickets. Meanwhile, his wife has discovered that she has a rare and extremely deadly form of cancer, mesothelioma. Suddenly, Shep’s world goes into freefall, as he makes the decision to use his nest egg to pay for cancer treatments which may or may not extend his wife’s life. Other demands complicate his life: his father needs nursing care; his sister expects him to bail her out financially; and his job as an employee at his own former company is at risk as he juggles time off for medical appointments.
Shriver skillfully weaves a story full of anger and loss: anger at the cancer that has robbed Shep of his dream; loss of that dream, of his life savings, and potentially of his self-respect , and of life itself (Glynis’s). Secondary characters and plotlines echo these themes, as we see Shep’s co-worker Jackson struggle with his daughter’s serious illness, and view the dysfunctional undercurrents of Glynis’s family as they attempt to cope with her cancer.
Shep’s despair at modern life can be summed up when he states, “There’s something especially terrible about being told over and over that you have the most wonderful life on earth and it doesn’t get any better . . . . I must have forty different ‘passwords’ for banking and telephone and credit card and Internet accounts, and forty different account numbers, and you add them all up and that’s our lives. And it’s all ugly, physically ugly. . . . all plastic and chrome with blaring, clashing colors, and everyone in a hurry, to do what?”
For Shep, the answer may be more than he can bear.
Reviewed by Barbara Davis and Lisa Navidi, Davis Library
What could have been merely a sordid tale of kidnapping, incarceration and rape becomes a poignant and ultimately inspiring story in Room. Author Emma Donoghue filters this nightmare through the eyes of the child who is born during his mother’s seven-year captivity. The boy’s attempts to make sense of his world -- both inside the confines of the “room” and, later, in the outside world -- are what redeems the novel and keeps it from falling into the “true crime” genre its subject matter would suggest.
A young college student is snatched off the street and imprisoned in a specially fortified garden shed by her captor. Reinforced below ground by a steel fence and above ground by cork tiles on the floors and walls, an electronically operated metal door, and no windows except for a tiny skylight, the shed is impenetrable, and the young woman despairs of being rescued. She begins to lose her will to live until she finds herself pregnant. The birth of her son, Jack, sparks a fierce determination to survive and to provide Jack as full a life as possible within the four walls of their room.
Jack narrates the story and, through his eyes, we come to know his world and to understand the creative lengths to which his mother goes to conjure a sense of normalcy and to protect her son from the reality of their situation. However, reality can be held at bay only so long, and his mother finally decides to risk everything to save Jack.
It is not giving away too much of the plot to reveal that mother and son are rescued. The story does not end there. Both must adjust to their new reality, and Jack struggles to reconcile his old world and his new.
Ultimately, Room is a story about the fierce love between a mother and her son and the power of this love to see them through unimaginable horrors. The novel is one of the ten winners of the 2011 Alex Award, which is given by ALA’s Young Adult Library Services Association to books written for adults but having special appeal to young adults.
Laura Lippman, famed Baltimore crime writer, is known primarily for her Tess Monahan series. But she has also written many “stand-alone” suspense novels, most of which concern young girls and murder. I have read them all and am in awe of this incredibly perceptive writer.
I’d Know You Anywhere takes it one step farther. When Eliza Benedict was 15, she was kidnapped by Walter Bowman who held her captive for almost 6 weeks before he himself was captured. She returned to her life and ultimately married and had children. Her life was reasonably happy until she received a letter from Walter now on Death Row and her nightmare began again.
This was an “unputdownable” book, not only because it was so well written, bringing the characters to life in a way few writers can; but because I wanted to finish it as fast as I could. It was her most creepy novel to date. Imagine your worst nightmare just “popping” back into your life, knowing too much information about your family and you, with some residual power over you. And it takes place, at least some it, right around the corner from where I am sitting. It was all too close. They even go to 5 Guys near Montgomery Mall.
Walter (through an anti-death penalty advocate) wants to see her and is trying to get Eliza to “admit” that he didn’t hold her against her will. He doesn’t want to die.
What could possibly influence her to respond to him? And therein lies the power of Lippman’s writing. As the only girl of a string of his kidnappings to survive, Eliza bears a burden of guilt that must be confronted by seeing him again. And it is only then that she can regain her voice and really start to live again.
Reviewed by Mark Santoro, Potomac Library
Caveat Emptor (Latin for “let the buyer beware”) is a new mystery novel
by British author Ruth Downie. It is set in Roman-occupied Britain around 120 A.D. Gaius Petreius Ruso, a former Roman
military doctor, returns to Britain with his new wife Tilla to start their married life.
While he looks for work as a civilian doctor, the couple stays with a
fellow medicus in Londinium. Ruso gets a temporary job investigating an
apparent theft of tax money from a nearby barbarian town. The
investigation proves less straightforward than it initially appears as Ruso
uncovers a possible homicide, political corruption, and a conspiracy of silence
among the residents of a British town determined to secure their place in the Roman Empire
no matter what the cost.
Downie provides readers with a surprisingly robust plot in just over 300 pages. Despite the plot’s complexity, the story is tight. Downie does not burden the reader with unnecessary subplots or divergences. The main plot follows Ruso’s investigations, with one relevant subplot focused on his wife’s efforts to assist the main suspect’s lover and newborn son. The plot and subplot weave together nicely and provide fertile ground for the many permutations of the seemingly simple case of outright theft.
The novel starts out strong, with on opening scene that manages to express the seriousness of the crimes while displaying Downie’s very human humor. As the story develops, readers may find it easier to follow the increasingly complex plot by reading the novel in larger chunks. Those who dip their toes into the book for 10 pages at a time may find themselves a bit lost. The novel’s conclusion is strong, wrapping up each detail without loose ends. Throughout the novel and into the conclusion, Downie skillfully highlights the tension between justice and political expediency that marked Rome’s relationship with its subject peoples.
Downie does a good job integrating local customs and historical facts into the story without losing focus on the main plot. About half the story takes place in the town of Verulamium. It is inhabited by a native British tribe that enjoys autonomy in governing its internal affairs. It is an ambitious town, eager to embrace Roman culture and curry Roman favor. It offers formal Roman architecture, a forum and the luxury of Roman baths. However, individual townfolk harbor a mixture of resentment and guilt at their complicity with Roman imperialism.
Ruth Downie is a relative newcomer to the sub-genre of mysteries set in the ancient world. Caveat Emptor is her fourth book featuring the investigations of medicus Ruso. Her previous works include Medicus, Terra Incognita and Persona Non Grata. Her work is reminiscent in setting and plot to Lindsey Davis’s well-established Didius Falco series. Caveat Emptor focuses more on the central mystery of the plot, while the Falco books are somewhat lighter with more local color and more attention to the main characters’ personal lives. Steven Saylor is another author well known for his mysteries set in ancient Rome. Children can find a satisfying ancient world mystery series in Caroline Lawrence’s The Roman Mysteries.
Nell Marshall, Little Falls Library
Vijay Prashad introduces The Darker Nations by telling us: "The Third World was not a place. It was a project. During the seemingly interminable battles against colonialism, the peoples of Africa, Asia, and Latin America dreamed of a new world. … They demanded political equality on a world level.” Prashad explains that his book is not exhaustive but illustrative. It is also meticulously researched, with over 60 pages of notes.
The formal beginning of the Third World project was in Brussels, February 1927, the first conference of the League against Imperialism. Sukarno was there and Nehru was there, as well as other luminaries. Albert Einstein became a patron of the organization along with Madame Sun Yat-sen. It was no accident that the conference was held in Brussels, which was undergoing a renaissance of wealth and culture funded by King Leopold's brutal exploitation of the Congo, a fact well known to the conferees.
The book is divided into three parts, Quest, Pitfalls, and Assassinations. The chapters are named for cities from all around the world and cover events ranging across the entire world but relating specifically to the named city. Bandung, Indonesia, hosted 29 representatives of Asian and African nations in 1955. Cairo was the scene of the 1961 Afro-Asian Women's Conference. In 1961, Belgrade became the scene of the Non-Aligned Movement Conference in 1961. Havana hosted the Tricontinental Conference in 1966. The Caracas chapter discusses the politics of oil and oil-producing countries. And the Kingston chapter discusses the role of the International Monetary Fund. "States outside the G-7 that took IMF money had to submit to a total makeover of their political and economic relations."
Prashad covers what ultimately destroyed the Third World project: the growth of the arms trade, the alignments it created, the coups installing military governments, and the crushing burden of debt. Adjustment strategies of IMF-led globalization weakened the Third World as a political force. "Every attempt to stem the arms trade or cut back on the vast increase in the global military budget was met with disdain or incomprehension - security and defense had come to be reality, whereas social development became idealistic."
The shock doctrine became a tool of economic domination: "In 1975 Chile welcomed the economist Milton Friedman, who advocated "shock therapy" and austerity to increase growth rates." Pinochet restored the Chilean oligarchy which, according to Prashad, pleased American corporations.
In 1986 Julius Nyerere "summarized the Third World project in five words: 'growth and hope -- then disillusionment.' ... It was unique in world history for the majority of the world to agree on the broad outlines of a project for the creation of justice on earth. But it did not last. External and internal pressures crippled the project."
Prashad covers all these issues and much more, telling the story from a viewpoint we rarely hear. He explains market forces as they interact with political events and violent conflicts. He writes with eloquence, passion, and meticulous respect for the facts, making it easy to follow a complex global story as it unfolds.