Posted May 31, 2011

With warm weather right around the corner, it's time to take a look at some of the books that inspired upcoming summer movies. Earlier this month, Something Borrowed opened starring Kate Hudson and based on the novel by Emily Giffin. Everything Must Go, an indie film starring Will Ferrell, is based on the short-story “Why Don't You Dance” by Raymond Carver (included in his anthology Where I'm Calling From). And we know many of you are looking forward to the film adaptation of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See.

Here are some other summer movies based on books:

Submarine based on the coming-of-age novel by Joe Dunthorne.
Mr. Popper's Penguins based on the beloved children's book by the same name and starring Jim Carey.
One Day starring Anne Hathaway based on the romantic and amusing novel by David Nicolls.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 2 based on the final installment of the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.
Sarah's Key based on Tatiana's De Rosnay's historical novel about the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup during the Nazi occupation of France.

D.I.Y. Film Fest: Sidney Lumet

Posted May 12, 2011

Director Sidney Lumet died last month, and it was quite a loss. The New York Times called him "a director who preferred the streets of New York to the back lots of Hollywood and whose stories of conscience...became modern American film classics." He was also talented at adapting great plays for the big screen. Three of his films are still so wildly popular that they chart on the Internet Movie Database's constantly updated Top 250 Movies poll, based on the ratings of the popular site's users. Those three are 12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon, and Network. But there are many more classics to be found in Lumet's filmography, which includes a great variety of films.

Lumet worked with some of the greatest actors of his time, including Al Pacino, William Holden, Katharine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Rod Steiger, Paul Newman, River Phoenix, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The cast of Murder on the Orient Express is ridiculously, opulently star-studded: Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Vanessa Redgrave, etc. Feeling less than enchanted with the crop of movies currently in theaters? Consider spending some time with Lumet and company.

More great films directed by Sidney Lumet
The Fugitive Kind (1960)
The Iceman Cometh (1960)
Long Day's Journey Into Night (1962)
Fail-Safe (1964)
The Pawnbroker (1964)
Serpico (1973)
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Equus (1977)
The Verdict (1982)
Running on Empty (1988)
Find Me Guilty (2006)
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

Top Cookbooks

Posted May 10, 2011

The James Beard Foundation Book Awards were announced last Friday night at an event hosted by Emmy Award winning Ted Allen and Top Chef’s Gail Simmons. The top prize for Cookbook of the Year went to Oaxaca al Gusto, an Infinite Gastronomy by Diana Kennedy. Another top honor went to Harold McGee as his tome, On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, was inducted into the Cookbook Hall of Fame. You can find those and more winning titles at the Chicago Public Library:

American Cooking: Pig: King of the Southern Table by James Villas
Baking and Dessert: Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole-grain Flours from Amaranth to Teff by Kim Boyce
General Cooking: The Essential New York Times Cook Book: Classic Recipes for a New Century by Amanda Hesser
International: Stir-frying to the Sky's Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Mastery, with Authentic Recipes and Stories by Grace Young
Healthy Focus: The Simple Art of EatingWell Cookbook by Jessie Price & the EatingWell Test Kitchen
Reference and Scholarship: Salted: A Manifesto on the World's Most Essential Mineral, with Recipes by Mark Bitterman
Single Subject: Meat: A Kitchen Education by James Peterson
Writing and Literature: Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food by Paul Greenberg

I Was a Dancer

Posted May 5, 2011

Please join us on Monday, May 9, 2011 at the Harold Washington Library Center at 6pm for an event with dancer and author Jacques d'Amboise. d'Amboise will discuss and sign his recently published memoir, I Was a Dancer. d'Amboise was the principal dancer at the New York City Ballet where George Balanchine choreographed work especially for him. The New York Times called the memoir, "highly engaging" and Kirkus noted that in the book d'Amboise maps "out the complex evolution of ballet in America."

Dance enthusiasts should also check-out Jennifer Homans' history of ballet, Apollo's Angels, which made the New York Times' Best Books of 2010 list.

Mental Health Awareness

Posted May 3, 2011

May is Mental Health Month, and Chicago Public Library has created a guide to free resources that are available for coping with such common challenges as anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, eating disorders, grief, schizophrenia, and suicide. There will be some excellent free programs as well, including one on children and depression and another on the potential downside of modern technology.

Mental Health America has also put together a useful site that lists "10 Tools to Live Your Life Well." Their common sense suggestions under each tool are terrific. Want to help? Consider spreading the word online. Mental Health America shares some easy ways to do your part.