CPL Blog

2009 National Book Awards

November 19 2009 12:00 AM GMT

Posted November 19, 2009

The National Book Awards were bestowed on some very deserving authors in New York City last night. The best fiction winner tells the story of a legendary tightrope walk between New York's twin towers, and the nonfiction award winner tells the life story of a famous New Yorker. Not a bad night for the Big Apple. Irish-born writer Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin, which has been getting pretty much unanimous praise all year, tells the story of Philippe Petit, who undertook the daring and adventurous feat of tightrope walking. If that chapter of Manhattan history sounds familiar, perhaps it's because the real-life story was also the subject of the acclaimed recent documentary Man on Wire.

Writer TJ Stiles won the nonfiction award for The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt. The book has received sterling reviews and sounds like a classic up-by-the-bootstraps story that's as timely as ever, given Wall Street's central role in our current economy. The book calls to mind other lauded biographies of the barons of the Gilded Age, including the celebrated 1998 Titan: the Life of John D. Rockefeller by Ron Chernow and the more recent Andrew Carnegie by David Nasaw and The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockerfeller, Jay Gould, and J.P. Morgan invented the American Supereconomy by Charles R. Morris.

The award for poetry went to Transcendental Studies: a Trilogy by Keith Waldrop. Novelist, playwright and essayist Gore Vidal received a lifetime achievement award for his "distinguished contribution to American letters," and Dave Eggers was honored with an award for "outstanding service to the American literary community." Eggers, of course, has a hit on his hands with his book Zeitoun and recently collaborated on a film adaptation and novelization of the classic children's story, Where the Wild Things Are. A fine night all around.

Food For Thought

Posted November 17, 2009

Organic, local, and sustainable are all concepts that foodies and most anyone who does the grocery shopping are becoming familiar with. Most of us personally know vegetarians and vegans, or maybe we have adopted an animal-free diet for ethical or health reasons, or perhaps we have joined a CSA or started going to the farmer's market in order to support local farmers. Conscious consumption and eating with a conscience may have seemed like fads a few years ago, but nearly four years after the publication of Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan is practically a household name and the topic of what we eat and why is still on the table.

There are many passionate and varied opinions regarding our food system and our diet, including the recently published Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. Although the author says it's not an argument for vegetarianism, it is convincing some: the already-vegetarian Natalie Portman announced that the book prompted her to adopt a vegan diet. Safran Foer examines factory farming, the free-range alternative, philosophy, and his own history. Booklist notes it is "an indelible book that should reach a diverse audience and deepen the conversation about how best to live on a rapidly changing planet." The bottom line for Safran Foer and others seems to be that pleading ignorance about the dark side of our food system is not really an option regardless of the choices one makes. If this topic interests you or you're a fan of Safran Foer, join us tomorrow evening at the Harold Washington Library Center to hear him read from, discuss and sign Eating Animals.

If you are looking for more books on our food system, including the state of the food industry, sustainable agriculture, vegetarianism, and other hot food topics, there are a wealth of materials at the Chicago Public Library. Here are some of the best:

Food Matters : A Guide to Conscious Eating With More Than 75 Recipes by Mark Bittman
Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly by James E. McWilliams
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
Kitchen Literacy: How We Lost Knowledge of Where Food Comes From And Why We Need To Get It Back by Ann Vileisis
Righteous Pork Chop: Finding A Life and Good Food Beyond Factory Farms by Nicolette Hahn Nieman
Recipie For America: Why Our Food System Is Broken And What We Can Do To Fix It by Jill Richardson
Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers In The Age of Agribusiness by Lisa M. Hamilton
A Nation of Farmers: Defeating the Food Crisis on American Soil by Sharon Astyk
The Face On Your Plate by J. Moussaieff Masson
Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds About Animals and Food by Gene Baur
Food, Inc. (DVD)
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver

Spotlight on Local Book Reviews

Posted November 12, 2009

Looking through the local media, plenty of books have been generating buzz. Over at the Chicago Tribune, critic Carolyn Alessio calls Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna "rich" and "impassioned." The sprawling novel concerns art and politics in Mexican and U.S. history, weaving together imaginary characters and historical figures such as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Leon Trotsky. The Saturday Tribune also spotlighted Eula Biss's Notes from No Man's Land (review not online).

This weekend the Chicago Sun Times got a kick out of Paul Shaffer's We'll Be Here for the Rest of Our Lives. Shaffer's long experience in show biz has garnered him a treasure trove of insider stories. (Don't worry, we have more copies on order.)

Meanwhile, New City heaps praise on Jonathan Lethem's latest, Chronic City; TimeOut Chicago recommends Michael Chabon's Manhood for Amateurs; and in their Fall books issue, the Chicago Reader keeps the great buzz going for Dominic Pacyga's Chicago: A Biography.

Happy 40th Birthday, Sesame Street!

Posted November 10, 2009

Sesame Street premiered on PBS on November 10, 1969 to the delight of children and parents everywhere. Set in the inner city with a diverse cast of both actors and puppets, it was a groundbreaking show geared toward children with educational and entertaining elements. Sesame Street has been significant in shaping children's television since its premiere. The amount of research that went into creating the show, one that would teach and entertain children, was substantial. As Michael Davis stated in his recently published book Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street, "Sesame Street came along and rewrote the book. Never before had anyone assembled an A-list of advisors to develop a series with stated educational norms and objectives. Never before had anyone viewed a children's show as a living laboratory, where results would be vigorously and continually tested. Never before in television had anyone thought to commingle writers and social scientists, a forced marriage that, with surprising ease and good humor, endured and thrived." And thrive it did for the last forty years making Sesame Street the longest-running children’s show in the history of American television. Malcolm Gladwell even touches on the success, or rather the "stickiness factor," of Sesame Street in The Tipping Point. To celebrate, Google has been featuring characters from the show on their homepage and Michelle Obama will appear on today's anniversary show. Congratulations to Big Bird, Ernie, Bert, Elmo and all those who reside on Sesame Street for a job well-done!

Who Wrote the Great Books of 2009?

Posted November 5, 2009

Publishers Weekly recently published their take on the top ten books of 2009, kicking off the season of year-end lists. As with awards, such lists, helpful and interesting as they always are, often lead to controversy, and this list has set off a storm of discussion on the internet for one simple reason: none of the ten books chosen was written by a woman. Readers on the internet have taken matters into their own hands and assembled a long list of 2009 contenders written by women, and Laura Miller, the Salon.com books editor who has much experience in choosing books for these kinds of year-end lists, has written a thoughtful response.

Several commentators have suggested that Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood, Lydia Davis's Collected Stories, Barbara Kingsolver's just-published The Lacuna (which is getting tremendous reviews), Lorrie Moore's A Gate at the Stairs, and Alice Munro's Too Much Happiness would all make great candidates (among many others). Meanwhile, Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips, which recently took the Trib's annual Heartland prize, has emerged as one of the novels of the year. And Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall won the Booker prize. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions, but there's no doubt that women have written at least many of the year's most prominent books.

Adam Langer

Posted November 3, 2009

Please join us this Thursday, November 5th at 6pm at the Harold Washington Library Center for a reading and book signing with native Chicagoan and author Adam Langer. He will be reading from his new book, My Father's Bonus March, which Library Journal noted is a "sweet autobiographical tale about a writer at midlife trying to understand his late father, a radiologist (and lifelong Chicagoan) who aspired to write about a key historical event in his early life: the Depression-era bonus march on Washington, DC, by veterans of World War I."

We'd also highly recommend Langer's debut novel, Crossing California. The bitingly funny novel is set in West Rogers Park in the late 70s and explores California Avenue's divide with more well-to-do Jewish families on the west side of the street and the middle class residing on the east. Langer's engaging follow-up, The Washington Story, is a sequel to Crossing California; the title refers to the late mayor Harold Washington. Langer is also the author of Ellington Boulevard, set in Manhattan. Don't miss the chance to hear this acclaimed Chicago author read in his hometown.

Peter Pan's Dark Side

October 29 2009 12:00 AM GMT

Posted October 29, 2009

A new book about the author of Peter Pan and a new novel that reworks the Peter Pan myth are as good a cause as any to ponder the perennial appeal of the story. J.M. Barrie's most famous character debuted in a section of a novel for adults and then, as depicted in the Johnny Depp movie Finding Neverland, Barrie wrote a play that later became the novel. Barrie returned to the story for some of his later works, including When Wendy Grew Up, and the story was subsequently adapted into famous film and stage versions. A new book, Neverland: J.M. Barrie, the Du Mauriers, and the Dark Side of Peter Pan by Piers Dudgeon (currently on order), claims to find the stuff of scandal in Barrie's life, and a new novel, Brom's The Child Thief, reworks Peter Pan into a macabre fantasy for adults. Clearly, the dark side of Peter Pan has as much resonance for us these days as the more innocent side, and the new books got us thinking about other works that have been inspired by the timeless story.

More Books Inspired by Peter Pan:
Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Tigerheart by Peter David
The Lost Girls by Laurie Fox
Kensington Gardens by Rodrigo Fresan
Second Star to the Right by Mary Alice Kruesi
Island of Lost Girls by Jennifer McMahon

D.I.Y. Fright Fest

Posted October 27, 2009

Halloween is right around the corner, and there is no better way to celebrate than by scaring yourself silly with a frightening film. There are many movies that will send chills up your spine, but we have selected just a few of our favorites. Included are two classics by Alfred Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense; a film featuring the most terrifying acting Jack Nicolson has ever done; and other movies starring pod people, serial killers, a Swedish vampire, and demonic possessors. We are certain that these will keep you awake this Halloween night.

Rosemary's Baby
Blair Witch Project
The Shining
The Exorcist
Se7en
The Silence of the Lambs
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Jaws
Halloween
The Omen
The Orphanage
28 Days Later
The Ring
The Fly
Let The Right One In
The Birds
Psycho
The Host

Don't Miss This: 1982

Posted October 22, 2009

For the next installment in our series of highlights of yesteryears, let's jump in the time machine and go back to 1982. Sure, it was the year of E.T. and Michael Jackson's Thriller, but what else were people talking about?

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Alice Walker's famous novel about the hardships of African American life in 1930s Georgia won multiple awards, including a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award. It was later adapted into a celebrated film and, more recently, a successful Broadway musical. (Here are some other notable books of that year.)

Violent Femmes by The Violent Femmes

Lore has it that the band was busking on the street when a member of The Pretenders noticed them. Their self-titled album may not have dominated the charts when it was released, but it's become a classic with hits that have been a staple of alternative radio ever since. (And here are some other notable albums of that year.)

Blade Runner

Ridley Scott's noir science fiction masterpiece was based on a short story by Philip K Dick and quickly amassed a devoted cult following. The film, starring a never cooler cast including Harrison Ford, Sean Young, Darryl Hannah, has notoriously been recut several times, but the recent 'Final Cut' is a great place to start. (Some other notable films of the year.)

Awards Roundup

Posted October 20, 2009

Some major literary awards, including the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Man Booker Prize, as well as nominees for the National Book Award, have all been announced over the past few weeks. Hilary Mantel was awarded the Man Booker for Wolf Hall, a novel about Thomas Cromwell, the powerful and close advisor of Henry VIII and a major player in the English Reformation. The story of Henry's court has been told time and time again, but according to accolades Mantel is receiving, Wolf Hall is something you should not miss. "Hilary Mantel has created a novel both fresh and finely wrought: a brilliant portrait of a society in the throes of disorienting change, anchored by a penetrating character study of Henry's formidable advisor, Thomas Cromwell," noted the Washington Post, and Library Journal stated, "There will be few novels this year as good as this one."

In other book news, Herta Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, which is an award given for an author's life's work. The Nobel committee stated that Ms. Müller, "with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed." A Romanian-born German, Müller grew up under the repressive dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu, which is the focus of her work. Only a few of her nineteen novels have been translated into English, but there is little doubt that it is only a matter of time before we see more.

Finally, an eclectic and surprising list of nominees for the National Book Award in Fiction has been announced. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the nomination of American Salvage, a collection of short stories set in rural Michigan. "These fine-tuned stories are shaped by stealthy wit, stunning turns of events, and breathtaking insights" noted Library Journal in a starred review. The field includes another collection of stories by Daniyal Mueenuddin, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, which is set in Pakistan. Other nominees include the novel Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann, which uses the backdrop of New York in 1974 when Phillip Petit walked between the Twin Towers on a wire; and Lark and Termite, called "poetic" by the New Yorker, the story of a family in small-town West Virgina in 1959 whose father is fighting in the Korean war; and Marcel Theroux's Far North, which Publishers Weekly called a "postapocalyptic road novel." You won't find out the winner until mid-November, so you have the next month to check out the nominees!

Chicago Book Festival

Posted October 15, 2009

We're smack dab in the middle of 2009's Chicago Book Festival, but there are plenty of exciting events still to come. Some of this month's biggest events being hosted at the library include:

Michael Chabon reading from his new book Manhood for Amateurs on Wednesday, October 21, 6:00 p.m. [Event details]
Sherman Alexie discussing his new collection War Dances with Victoria Lautman on Thursday, October 22, 6:00 p.m. [Event details]
Kimberla Lawson Roby reading from her latest book A Deep Dark Secret on Thursday, October 22, 7:00 p.m. at Woodson Regional Library [Event details]

Meanwhile, we're in full swing with our latest One Book One Chicago selection, Carl Smith's The Plan of Chicago, chosen to celebrate the Burnham Plan Centennial. Check out the full listing of One Book programs and events. One particularly appealing event coming up is a presentation featuring Dominic Pacyga, author of Chicago: A Biography, the latest Chicago classic. (The book was profiled in the Chicago Sun Times this past weekend.) The event will be Wednesday, October 28, 6:00 p.m. [event details].

And there are plenty more events being hosted by partners of the library. A few highlights (please consult the festival guide for directions or any special ticket instructions):

Luis Urrea, author of the new Into the Beautiful North, at Columbia College on Monday, October 19, 6:30 p.m.
Barbara Ehrenreich reading from her new book Bright-Sided Tuesday, October 20, 6:00 p.m. at International House, 1414 E. 59th St. (sponsored by Seminary Co-op Bookstores & International House)
Aleksandar Hemon, whose latest is Love and Obstacles, on Tuesday, October 27, 6:00 p.m. at Loyola University Chicago
Augusten Burroughs reading from You Better Not Cry at Music Box Theater (sponsored by Borders) Tuesday, October 27, 7:00 p.m.
Taylor Branch, author of the new The Clinton Tapes, at the University Club of Chicago on Thursday, October 29, Noon

Fall into Baking

Posted October 12, 2009

The leaves are turning, and there is a chill in the air. When Fall rolls around, there are few things as comforting as the aroma of something baking: apple pie, bread, cookies, really anything will do. Luckily, we have plenty of materials at the Chicago Public Library to provide inspiration and instruction to both the novice and expert baker. For the ambitious, we recommend Baking by James Peterson, the sequel to his James Beard award-winning Cooking. It includes over three hundred recipes including chiffon cake, croissants, chocolate mousse, passion fruit tart and many other delectable treats. Or dig into the Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri. "With Malgieri's confidence-building tutelage and a little practice, readers will be frosting cakes and cranking out scones like pros, and the chef offers multiple variations to try once the basics have been mastered," notes Publisher's Weekly. There are other cookbooks that specialize in nearly everything from cookies to chocolate to specialty bread. We have listed some titles that may tempt you to pull out your apron!

A Passion For Baking by Marcy Goldman
Anyone Can Bake by Jan Miller and Tricia Laning
Baking For All Occasions by Flo Braker
Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy
Martha Stewart's Cookies by the editors of Martha Stewart Living
Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson
Cake Love by Warren Brown
BakeWise by Shirley O. Corriher
Ghirardelli Chocolate Cookbook by Ghirardelli Chocolate Company
Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois
Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads by Peter Reinhart
Local Breads by Daniel Leader with Laura Chattman

Born to Run

Posted October 8, 2009

With the annual Chicago Marathon happening this weekend, now's the perfect time to highlight some hot titles that will be of interest to runners and readers alike. The library owns several books about the marathon itself, including Chicago Marathon by Raymond Britt and The Chicago Marathon by Andrew Suozzo. There's also a recent dvd entitled Spirit of the Marathon sure to be on interest. Further Chi-town persepctive is available in Chicago Running Guide by Brenda Barrera and Eliot Wineberg.

But we'd be remiss not to point out a recent surprise bestseller that has runners talking: Christopher McDougall's Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. Here's a useful description from the publisher: "McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world's greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we thought we knew about running is wrong. Isolated by the most savage terrain in North America, the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons are custodians of a lost art. For centuries they have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it." Booklist praised it for bring a "slyly important, highly readable account" and Kirkus raved, calling it a "terrific ride, recommended for any athlete." Sounds anything but...run of the mill. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month With Books

Posted October 6, 2009

We're right in the midst of Hispanic Heritage Month, which begins in mid-September and ends in mid-October. The Chicago Public Library is celebrating, too, so please join us for these Hispanic Heritage Month events. In addition to our programming, we'd like to recommend some new fiction that would make for excellent reading this month.

Local author Achy Obejas' newest novel Ruins is set in Havana in 1994 and features Usnavy, a 54-year old man who still believes in communist Cuba. He lives a simple life, but a beautiful lamp, perhaps a Tiffany, provides a connection to Cuba's past. Junot Diaz, author of Pulitzer Prize-winning The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao said, "Daring, tough, and deeply compassionate, Achy Obejas's Ruins is a breathtaker." Another Chicagoan, Luis Albero Urrea, is the author of the recently published Into the Beautiful North, a humorous tale of a young woman on a quest to smuggle Mexican men back into Mexico. Oscar Casares's new novel Amigoland revolves around estranged elderly brothers Fidencio and Celestino, living in the border town of Brownsville. They are brought together by Celestino's housekeeper, Socorro, and the three take off on a trip to find out the truth about an old family legend. Publishers Weekly called the book "a winning novel."

We would also like to recommend the debut novel The Time It Snowed in Puerto Rico by Sarah McCoy, a coming of age tale that, as Booklist noted, "captures the essence of life in Puerto Rico." Finally, we'd like to suggest a nonfiction title, Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Life by Gerald Martin, a biography of the renowned author of A Hundred Years of Solitude and master of magical realism. This book has received favorable reviews, and Marquez is one author we'd love to know more about.

Blueprint for Disaster: The Unraveling of Chicago Public Housing

Posted October 1, 2009

Join us this Tuesday for a One Book, One Chicago event: D. Bradford Hunt will discuss his new book Blueprint for Disaster: The Unraveling of Chicago Public Housing, a historical examination of public housing in Chicago, at 6pm at the Harold Washington Library Center. Bradford is certainly qualified to write the book - a professor at Roosevelt University, his dissertation was on public housing, and he collaborated with J.F. Fuerst on the book When Public Housing Was Paradise, a compilation of residents' oral histories dating back to the beginnings of public housing in Chicago, a relatively golden age in its history. In Blueprint For Disaster, he lays out how it went wrong. In a review in the Chicago Tribune, Elizabeth Taylor noted that the book "adds a new dimension to the debate by pointing to missed opportunities for the CHA to heed warning signs and change course and that policy choices at the local and federal level led to the demise of public housing."

Public housing is certainly a hot-button topic, and there have been many worthy studies of the subject, including a few excellent books focusing on Chicago. Sudhir Vankstesh, author of Gang Leader for a Day, is also the author of American Project, a history of Chicago's Robert Taylor Homes. Library Journal notes that Vankstesh's research approach "provides a fascinating and rigorous explanation of how a model of urban subsidized housing, which succeeded for 20 years, declined into disastrous conditions for its inhabitants." There is also Waiting for Gautreaux. The title refers to the landmark case Gautreaux v. CHA and HUD, the 1966 case regarding discriminatory polices in public housing, and the author, Alexander Poilkoff, was the attorney who argued the case. The impact of the Gautreaux decision, the relocation of many low-income residents into the suburbs, is examined in Crossing Class and Color Lines by Leonard Rubinowitz and James Rosenbaum. A more intimate and affecting look at public housing in Chicago is Alex Kotlowitz's There Are No Children Here. This 1991 book, for which Kotlowitz won the Carl Sandburg award, tells the story of two brothers growing up in the Henry Horner housing project.

We also recommend you check out the current One Book selection, The Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City by Carl Smith.

Coming to a Theater Near You: Books

September 29 2009 12:00 AM GMT

Posted September 29, 2009

The Fall movie season is upon us, and this year's roster includes quite a number of adaptations, as usual. What would Hollywood do without books? (Then again, what would the publishing industry do without all that free publicity?) High profile films include adaptations of the work of authors Kurt Eichenwald, Nobel winner JM Coetzee, Dennis Lehane, the late David Foster Wallace, Sapphire, and Cormac McCarthy.

Currently in Theaters
The Informant: a True Story / Kurt Eichenwald
Disgrace / J M Coetzee
Taking Woodstock / Elliot Tiber

Scheduled for This Fall
Shutter Island / Dennis Lehane
The Boys are Back / Simon Carr
The Men who Stare at Goats / Jon Ronson
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men / David Foster Wallace
Youth in Revolt / C.D. Payne
The Road / Cormac McCarthy
Push / Sapphire [Movie title: Precious]
Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation / John Carlin [Movie title: Invictus]

Oprah's Book Club

Posted September 24, 2009

Oprah announced her new book club selection last Friday. Her choice of Say You're One of Them was a bit of a surprise to some, since it is the first time Oprah has selected a collection of short stories, but it is no surprise that she chose a work that has been called stunning, startling and extraordinary. She noted, "Each one of these stories really just left me gasping." The debut by Uwem Akpan, a Jesuit priest for Nigeria, is a collection of five stories told from the point of view of children contending with brutal circumstances. We know many of you will read the title for Oprah's Book Club, and we thought it would be an ideal time to recommend some more great fiction by African authors.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's novel about the Biafran War, Half of a Yellow Sun, won the 2007 Orange Prize for Fiction, and she has recently published a new book of short stories, The Thing Around Your Neck. Booklist noted, "A meticulous observer of tactile detail and emotional nuance, Adichie moves sure-footedly from the personal to the communal as she illuminates with striking immediacy the consequences of prejudice, corruption, tyranny, and violence in war-torn Nigeria and unaware America." And another recommended collection of short stories is Tropical Fish by Doreen Baingana. These linked stories about three sisters are set in Uganda after the fall of military dictator Idi Amin. An up-and-coming author to check out is Christopher Abani. His well-received debut, Graceland, is the coming- of-age story of a teenage Elvis impersonator from Nigeria. He is also the author of Becoming Abigail, The Virgin of Flames and Song for Night. Abani's writing is also featured in Gods and Soldiers, an anthology of contemporary fiction and nonfiction from Africa. This nuanced collection offers an array of writing of which Publisher Weekly notes, "sheds light on a multifarious continent too often thought of in one-size-fits-all terms."

Fall Books Bonanza

September 22, 2009

Several commentators have pointed out that by any measure the Fall 2009 season will go down as one of the most spectacular publishing seasons in memory. By now you've probably heard about the long overdue return of Dan Brown, but even if he weren't on the calendar, the season would still dwarf most. We've also got the return of Audrey Niffenegger just as the movie adaptation of her Time Traveler's Wife has spiked more interest in her work than ever. And we've also got several other supernova-class writers returning this season, including Mitch Albom, Nicholas Sparks, Malcolm Gladwell, Jon Krakauer, David Baldacci, Stephen King, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner.

Oh, that's not enough for you? How about Sara Paretsky, Nick Hornby, Margaret Atwood, Lorrie Moore, Anne Rice, Danielle Steel, Barbara Kingsolver, John Grisham and not one but two books from Charlaine Harris? Ridiculously, the list goes on an on. And as always, we're eager to learn what new names will rise to the occasion of this crowded field. It's hard not to feel sorry for the underdogs in a season of titans like this. Heck, even Oprah's Book Club may have a hard time getting attention in this environment. Let's put it this way: if you can't find something to read this fall, then something's seriously wrong with you. You might consider seeking medical attention. And now, a sure-to-be-futile attempt at highlights. Prepare to gape in wonder.

September
The Anthologist by Nicholson Baker
Backstage by Nikki Turner
Blood's a Rover by James Ellroy
Dark Slayer by ChristineFeehan
Dawn Light: Dancing with Cranes and Other Ways to Start the Day by Diane Ackerman
Day After Night by Anita Diamant
The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave
Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay
An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain
A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
Generosity: An Enhancement by Richard Powers
God Ain't Blind by Mary Monroe
Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment by A. J. Jacobs
Hardball by Sara Paretsky
Have a Little Faith: A True Story by Mitch Albom
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
Homer & Langley by E. L. Doctorow
Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
Little Bird of Heaven by Joyce Carol Oates
Lost Art of Gratitude: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel by Alexander McCall Smith
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
Love and Summer by William Trevor
Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall by Kazuo Ishiguro
Reheated Cabbage by Irvine Welsh
Vanishing Act by Fern Michaels
Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer
Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

October
Angel Time: The Songs of the Seraphim by Anne Rice
Anne Frank: The Book, the Life, the Afterlife by Francine Prose
Blood Game: An Eve Duncan Forensics Thriller by Iris Johansen
Breaking the Rules by Barbara Taylor Bradford
Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich
Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker by James McManus
Dirty Old Men (and Other Stories) by Omar Tyree
Dracula the Un-Dead by Dacre Stoker (descendent of Bram Stoker)
Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel by Jeannette Walls
Home in Time for Christmas by Heather Graham
Hothouse Orchid by Stuart Woods
Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving
Lover Man by Geneva Holliday
Mama Dearest by E. Lynn Harris
Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon
Monster in the Box: An Inspector Wexford Novel by Ruth Rendell
Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly
Pilgrims: A Wobegon Romance by Garrison Keillor
The Professional by Robert B. Parker
Rough Country by John Sandford
Scarpetta Factor by Patricia D. Cornwell
Southern Lights by Danielle Steel
A Touch of Dead by Charlaine Harris
True Blue by David Baldacci
True Compass: A Memoir by Edward M. Kennedy
Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett
What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell
The Wild Things by Dave Eggers
You Better Not Cry: Stories for Christmas by Augusten Burroughs

November
Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts
A Deep Dark Secret by Kimberla Lawson Roby
Ford County by John Grisham
Generation a by Douglas Coupland (sequel to Generation X)
Good Fall: Stories by Ha Jin
Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris
The Humbling by Philip Roth
I, Alex Cross by James Patterson
Kindred in Death by J. D. Robb
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
Makers by Cory Doctorow
Matchless: A Christmas Story by Gregory Maguire
Our Choice by Albert Gore, Jr.
Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance by Steven D. Levitt
Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro
Under the Dome by Stephen King
Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog: The Amazing Adventures of an Ordinary Woman by Lisa Scottoline

Richard Russo

Posted September 17, 2009

Join us next Wednesday, September 23rd at 6 pm for Writers on the Record With Victoria Lautman at the Harold Washington Library Center. Richard Russo joins Victoria Lautman to discuss his new novel, That Old Cape Magic, a story of a middle-aged man coming to terms with his past. Library Journal notes, "Those who savored Russo's long, languid novels may be surprised by this one's rapid pace, but Russo's familiar compassion for the vicissitudes of the human condition shines through."

Russo is also the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Empire Falls, which was adapted by HBO into a film starring the late, great Paul Newman. Other Russo books include Bridge of Sighs, Nobody’s Fool, Straight Man, The Risk Pool, Mohawk and The Whore’s Child and Other Stories. Don't miss this engaging discussion!

Granta 108: Chicago

Posted September 15, 2009

This week the Harold Washington Library Center is hosting an exciting event that celebrates our great city. Granta, the renowned literary magazine, will release its latest issue this month with Chicago as its focus. The issue is composed entirely of writing by Chicago authors and writing about Chicago.

In an interview with Victoria Lautman Granta editor John Freeman discusses why Chicago was chosen as the theme for their latest issue. When asked if any other cities were considered he replies, "It wasn't even close!" He goes on to say, "Chicago is having a real cultural moment. There are so many good writers coming out of the city, and the city itself is evolving out of its industrial past, accepting new immigrants from many different parts of the world, so the heady mix of the city's population is changing too, and obviously Barack Obama is also a powerful symbol of that."

We don't have to be reminded what a cosmopolitan city we live in, but it does make us proud to see our city and some of our favorite writers featured in such a prestigious publication. At Thursday's event Freeman will host an evening of discussion and readings by Stuart Dybek, Alex Kotlowitz and up-and-comer Maria Venegas. We encourage you to attend the event and pick up a copy of the newest issue of Granta (it's worth it for Chris Ware's beautiful cover alone). Also, be sure to check Granta's website for Chicago content available now. Until the new issue hits the racks you can check out titles by some of the contributors listed below.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Coast of Chicago by Stuart Dybek
The Lazarus project by Aleksandar Hemon
Never a City So Real: A Walk in Chicago by Alex Kotlowitz
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Echo Maker by Richard Powers

Booker Prize Shortlist 2009

Posted September 10, 2009

No matter what the weather is telling us, we know we're looking at the end of the Summer season when the Booker prize shortlist is announced. As is often the case, not all of the honored titles have been published in the United States yet. The prize honors works written by citizens of the Commonwealth of Nations and the Republic of Ireland and therefore can be an ideal source of reading inspiration for American readers curious about English language literature beyond our shores. Only one of the nominees has been published Stateside so far, but others are scheduled to follow very soon.

Prizes are magnets for controversy, and this year most of the chatter so far has been over the exclusion of two books by Irish titans who had made the longlist: Love and Summer by William Trevor and Brooklyn by Colm Toibin. Given the exceptional upcoming season of literary publishing, there have been plenty of other surprising omissions: new work by Margaret Atwood and Kazuo Ishiguro, for example. Also, interestingly, two previous winners have made this cut: A S Byatt and J M Coetzee. So it's somewhat surprising to learn that in Britain, the buzz is strongest for the forthcoming Mantel novel as the frontrunner. Mantel's Wolf Hall is about Henry VIII's Chief Minister Thomas Cromwell, and many commentators have pointed out that the list is dominated by historical novels. So the Irish are out and English history is in this year, quite a change from recent years.

This year's Booker shortlist:
The Children's Book by A S Byatt (to be published in October)
Summertime by J M Coetzee (scheduled to be published in the U.S. in early Dec.)
The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds (not yet scheduled for U.S. release)
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (to be published in October)
The Glass Room by Simon Mawer (not yet scheduled for U.S. release)
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

Good Reads for Animal Lovers

Posted September 8, 2009

We know people adore their pets, and we also realize that they love to read books by and about fellow animal lovers. Many of you have already enjoyed the story of the very sweet and poorly behaved Labrador in Marley and Me, which was also adapted into a film, and you'll be pleased to discover a wealth of new titles for Marley fans and other pet lovers at the Chicago Public Library. There is the story of Dewey, a kitten abandoned in a library book drop, who added joy to the life of his rescuer, librarian Ms. Myron, who was dealing with her own hardship. The cat Homer, blind and also abandoned, found a special owner in Gwen Cooper. Publisher's Weekly notes that the recently published Homer's Odyssey "reveals Homer's lessons about love and acceptance — and how he transformed Cooper into the woman she had always wanted to be." Popular fiction authors are even getting in on the game: Rita Mae Brown's forthcoming Animal Magnetism recounts her life with a number of beloved pets, and Dean Koontz's A Big Little Life is an affectionate memoir of his late dog, Trixie.

It's not all cats and dogs, though: perhaps you are a bird lover, in which case we recommend Wesley, The Owl by Stacy O'Brien, a biologist who chronicles her 19-year relationship with a barnyard owl she rescued, or Alex and Me by Irene Pepperberg, a scientist in animal communication who spent 30 years working with Alex, an exceptional African gray parrot with a vocabulary of over 100 words. "In this highly readable, anecdotal book, Pepperberg describes the training techniques she and her assistants used with Alex, the breakthroughs he made, and his growing fame as word began to spread about the brainy parrot who could differentiate colors, count, and describe objects accurately and in human language," according to Booklist. And finally, adventurous types might check out A Lion Called Christian. Yes, that's right: a lion, one purchased in Harrods' pet department. Want to know more? You'll have to check out the book.

Hit the Books!

Posted September 3, 2009

Fall is in the air. We know, summer never really seemed to arrive this year. Nevertheless, it's time to head back to school. We thought we'd help you ease back into the season with a list of books that explore academia and all of its trials and tribulations.

To kick off the list we'd like to direct you to one of our favorite novels to be set against the backdrop of academic life, The Secret History. This is a dark tale about an inner circle of students whose intense study of ancient Greek language and culture leads them to commit a heinous crime. The pace quickens as the group struggles to keep their secret under wraps and they begin to turn on each other. Donna Tartt's modern classic will have you up late cramming, but in a thoroughly enjoyable way.

Acceptance by Susan Coll
Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Blue Angel by Francine Prose
Gossip of the Starlings by Nina de Gramont
The Headmaster's Dilemma by Louis Auchincloss
I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe
Lake of Dead Languages by Carol Goodman
Moo by Jane Smiley
Old School by Tobias Wolff
Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis
Straight Man by Richard Russo

The Darwin Bicentennial

Posted September 1, 2009

Somewhat overshadowed, at least here in the land of Lincoln, by another bicentennial that inspired our annual Summer Reading theme, the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth has also been widely observed both here in Chicago and around the world. Darwin was born on February 12, 1809, but the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of the Species, less than three months away on November 24th, has provided scientists, biographers and writers all the more reason to reconsider Darwin and evolution. At this point in the year, readers are looking at a bumper crop of excellent books (including two that pair Darwin with Honest Abe), and so it seems like a good time to take stock of the recent highlights. Additionally, we've rounded up a few notable novels that look at the life of Darwin. May these books set you on your own voyage of discovery.

Recent Books about Darwin and Evolution
Why evolution is true by Jerry A. Coyne
On the origin of species (Illustrated edition) by Charles Darwin
The 10,000 year explosion: how civilization accelerated human evolution by Gregory Cochran and Henry Harpending
Evolution: the first four billion years edited by Michael Ruse, Joseph Travis
Your inner fish: a journey into the 3.5-billion-year history of the human body by Neil Shubin
Life ascending: the ten great inventions of evolution by Nick Lane
Darwin's sacred cause: how a hatred of slavery shaped Darwin's views on human evolution by Adrian Desmond and James Moore
Darwin's armada: four voyages and the battle for the theory of evolution by Iain McCalman
Natural selections: selfish altruists, honest liars, and other realities of evolution by David P. Barash
The Beagle letters by edited by Frederick Burkhardt
Angels and ages: a short book about Lincoln, Darwin, and modern life by Adam Gopnik
Rebel giants: the revolutionary lives of Abraham Lincoln & Charles Darwin by David R. Contosta

Selected Novels about Charles Darwin and His Legacy
To the edge of the world by Harry Thompson
Born again by Kelly Kerney
The Darwin conspiracy by John Darnton
Mr. Darwin's shooter by Roger McDonald

Liberal Lion, Ted Kennedy

August 27 2009 12:00 AM GMT

Posted August 27, 2009

'Liberal Lion' Ted Kennedy died this past Tuesday in his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. Kennedy was one of the longest serving senators in history - only Senators Strom Thurmond and Robert Byrd served longer - and the youngest of the Kennedy clan. He began his political career when he was sworn into office on November 7, 1962, taking over the seat vacated by his brother, John F. Kennedy. Kennedy's life was not without controversy, including his involvement in the Chappaquiddick incident which tarnished his reputation, but he was respected on both sides of the aisle for being an eloquent speaker and tireless worker. He championed many causes including healthcare reform and civil rights. Senator Kennedy was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor in May 2008 but remained upbeat and active until his passing. President Barack Obama noted at a press conference Wednesday morning, "Our country has lost a great leader, who picked up the torch of his fallen brothers and became the greatest United States Senator of our time."

Ted Kennedy's memoir, True Compass, will be coming out in September. Also of note is Edward Klein's recently published, Ted Kennedy: The Dream that Never Died and Last Lion: The Rise and Fall of Ted Kennedy, put out by the team of the Boston Globe.

The Magicians

Posted August 25, 2009

The newest book from Time magazine book critic, Lev Grossman, has been garnering praise in the literary world including starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist. The story centers around Quentin, a high school senior who discovers he has been granted admission to a magical college he didn't even know existed. He decides to forge ahead and train to become a wizard rather than return to finish out his traditional education. Sounds like Harry Potter for the older set, but from what the critics are saying Grossman manages to pull it off. The Chicago Tribune has particularly high praise: "Grossman is a bewitchingly gifted writer, and the alternative world he creates is sumptuous and weird and yet completely plausible."

Writers have been working magic into their fiction for years and we've taken notice and compiled a handy list of Magical Fiction for your browsing pleaure. We'd like to point you to a few more titles before you jump over to that list.

Fiction:
The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes
The Manual of Detection by Jebediah Berry
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician by Daniel Wallace

Non-fiction:
The Secret Life of Houdini: The Making of America's First Superhero by William Kalush and Larry Sloman
The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam by Ann Marie Fleming

Films:
The Prestige
The Illusionist

A Tale of Two Cooks

Posted August 20, 2009

Has there been a more book-happy movie in theaters recently? Julie and Julia, starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, is based on not one but two books, Julie and Julia by Julie Powell and My life in France by Julia Child. It also tells the story of the creation of another, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. On top of that, both stories, that of Julia Child and that of blogger Julie Powell, are essentially about the struggle to get a book published. Any way you slice it, it's been a recipe for success, resulting in big demand for all books involved. Beyond these few books, however, there are many more Julia Child books to be found in the library. Following is a list of highlights, both books and dvds:

Books
Julia's Kitchen Wisdom by Julia Child with David Nussbaum
The way to cook by Julia Child
Julia Child & company by Julia Child with E. S. Yntema
Julia Child (Penguin Lives) by Laura Shapiro
Baking with Julia: based on the PBS series hosted by Julia Child by Dorie Greenspan
The French chef cookbook by Julia Child
Julia and Jacques cooking at home by Julia Child and Jacques Pepin, with David Nussbaum

DVDs
Julia Child: an appetite for life (Biography)
The French chef with Julia Child
Julia Child!: America's favorite chef
Julia Child's kitchen wisdom
Julia and Jacques cooking at home

Don't Miss This: 1955

Posted August 18, 2009

Because there are so many gems from the past we don’t want you to miss, we're starting a new occasional series highlighting some of the best books, movies, and music worth discovering or rediscovering. Let's start with 1955:

The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

The first of several novels to feature Tom Ripley, The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith is a psychological suspense novel that was adapted twice for film: Plein Soleil (1960) and The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). Fans of Hitchcock will delight in the amoral Tom Ripley and the subversive humor of this highbrow crime novel.

Rebel Without a Cause

James Dean died a month before the film was released, but his performance in this melodrama depicting teenage angst is a classic. The film also features Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo, who both received Oscar nominations for their performances. Anxiety over teenage delinquency was widespread at the time, and this film presented viewers with a middle-class, dysfunctional family long before it was in fashion.

In The Wee Small Hours / Frank Sinatra

A break-up with Ava Gardner provided the inspiration for this concept album with arrangements by Nelson Riddle. These melancholy ballads represent some of Sinatra's best work.

D.I.Y. Film Fest: John Hughes 1950-2009

Posted August 13, 2009

If you grew up in the 80s you probably have many fond memories of John Hughes' films. They brought so much pleasure to so many. Chicago fans possibly more than others because of his use of the city and its surrounding suburbs as locations for his many wonderful comedies. Since his death there has been an outpouring of emotions for the passing of this talented writer and director. One particularly touching note came in the form of a blog post from a long-time fan. In it she writes about how Hughes' movies touched her life and how a fan letter led to a long correspondence between herself and Hughes. It's a wonderful tribute. We'd like to suggest a D.I.Y. film festival to celebrate the life and work of a man who left a lasting impression on a generation of filmgoers. [Update: Also check out the recent book, Don't You Forget About Me: Contemporary Writers on the Films of John Hughes]

Sixteen Candles (1984) writer and director
The Breakfast Club (1985) writer and director
Weird Science (1985) writer and director
Pretty in Pink (1986) writer and executive producer
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) writer, director and producer
Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) writer, director and producer
Home Alone (1990) writer and producer

Marc Kelly Smith

Posted August 11, 2009

Earlier this summer, an article in the New York Times profiled Marc Kelly Smith, king of the slam poetry movement whose headquarters is the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge right here in Chicago. Marc Smith has had an eventful year, with two new books about slam poetry, so it seemed like an excellent time to put the spotlight on them, and some related books from the modern poetry scene.

Take the Mic: the Art of Performance Poetry, Slam, and the Spoken Word / Marc Kelly Smith with Joe Kraynak
Stage a Poetry Slam: Creating Performance Poetry Events, Insider Tips, Backstage Advice, and Lots of Examples / Marc Kelly Smith with Joe Kraynak
The Spoken Word Revolution: Slam, Hip-hop, & the Poetry of a New Generation / edited by Mark Eleveld ; advised by Marc Smith ; introduction by Billy Collins
The spoken word revolution redux / edited by Mark Eleveld
Word Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken Word Revolution
Words in your Face: a Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam

Southern Sleeper

Posted August 6, 2009

Kathryn Stockett's debut novel has created quite a buzz. Published in February of this year to very positive reviews, it finally hit the New York Times Best Sellers list in March and climbed all the way up to number 5 this past week. Such staying power is rare these days.

The novel tells the story of a young white woman, Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, living in Civil Rights era Mississippi. An aspiring writer fresh out of college, she is inspired to write a book collecting the stories of local African-American maids and their experiences working for white families. Little does she know how deeply this project will affect not only her and her subjects, but also their surrounding community. The Washington Post had this to say about The Help: "In a page-turner that brings new resonance to the moral issues involved, she spins a story of social awakening as seen from both sides of the American racial divide." Sounds like a ringing endorsement to us.

If you're among those who've already read it or are just looking for more Southern fiction with strong female characters and equally strong writing check out these other titles:

Freshwater Road by Denise Nicholas
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
Four Spirits by Sena Jeter Naslund
The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg

Lollapalooza

Posted August 4, 2009

You have had a few weeks now to reminisce about the great time you had aT Pitchfork, and it was an excellent warm-up to that other Chicago music festival, Lollapalooza. This year Grant Park will be filled with enthused music fans from August 7th – 9th to see their favorite bands play, and the line-up is impressive: headliners include Depeche Mode, The Killers and the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, but don’t forget to catch Chicago's own Andrew Bird, the Decemberists, and Vampire Weekend. It is going to be a cornucopia of sound. Can't be there? Then grab some of these albums from the Chicago Public Library and recreate your own Lollapalooza weekend:

Only By the Night / Kings of Leon
It's Blitz! / Yeah Yeah Yeahs
White Lies For Dark Times / Ben Harper & Relentless 7
Noble Beast / Andrew Bird
Vampire Weekend / Vampire Weekend
Two Suns / Bat For Lashes
Middle Cyclone / Neko Case
Day & Age / The Killers
Dear Science / TV on the Radio
Youth Novels / Lykke Li
Radio Retaliation / Thievery Corporation
Glasvegas / Glasvegas
Keep It Hid / Dan Auerbach
Swoon / Silverspun Pickups
Sounds of the Universe / Depeche Mode
Living Things / Peter, Bjorn and John
Microcastle / Deerhunter
Remind Me In 3 Days / The Knux
Merriweather Post Pavilion / Animal Collective
The Hazards of Love / The Decemberists
The Mountain / Heartless Bastards

E. Lynn Harris

July 30 2009 12:00 AM GMT

Posted July 30, 2009

Beloved author E. Lynn Harris died last week at the age of 54. Cause of death was not known at the time the news broke, but today it has been reported to have been heart disease. Harris famously started out by self-publishing his first novel, Invisible Life, selling copies out of the back of his car to bookstores and leaving copies in beauty salons in Atlanta. Word of mouth grew the book into a hit, and Essence magazine called it one of the ten best of the year, comparing it to work of Ralph Ellison and James Baldwin, and many also compared his work to that of Terry McMillan. The author sold a staggering 10,000 copies of his book before it was picked up by a mainstream publishing house. In many ways, then, Harris was a key figure in the successful growth of the contemporary African American literary scene, nurturing younger authors as he had been encouraged by writers like Maya Angelou. The writer Karen E. Quinones Miller has written a touching appreciation of this side of Harris's work. And Google has pulled together a selection of quotes from various articles about the author. The author also penned a memoir, What Becomes of the Brokenhearted, and it should be noted that at least one of his novels, And This Too Shall Pass, was set in Chicago. Following is a list of his novels:

Invisible Life
Just as I Am
And This Too Shall Pass
If This World Were Mine
Abide with Me
Not a Day Goes By
Any Way the Wind Blows
A Love of My Own
I Say a Little Prayer
Just Too Good to Be True
Basketball Jones

Aargh! Discover Real Pirates

Posted July 28, 2009

Does robbery on the high seas intrigue you? Can't get enough of wily Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean films? Then we recommend checking out the Field Museum's Real Pirates exhibit to take a look at some pirate finery, weapons, and loot. The exhibit features over 200 artifacts from a real pirate ship, the Whydah, which sank in 1717 during piracy's "golden age". We suspect that this engaging exhibit is only going to whet your appetite for more stories of real pirates. You may be surprised to discover that Captain Morgan isn't only a rum: he was an absolute headache for the Spanish Empire in the Caribbean according to Stephan Talty in his book Empire of Blue Water, which the New York Times called a "swashbuckling adventure." Or you may want to take a new look at the infamous Captain Kidd in The Pirate Hunter by Richard Zacks. The New Yorker notes, "Zacks argues that in fact Kidd was a privateer, commissioned by the British Crown to hunt down pirates. But his mutinous crew was dissatisfied with the slim pickings of buccaneer-hunting, and Kidd himself inadvertently fell afoul of the powerful East India Company, which tarred him as a criminal." Perhaps recent stories of piracy in the news have compelled you to find out more about current piracy problems. We suggest Terror on the Sea: True Tales of Modern Day Pirates by Daniel Sekulich. Looking for more? Here is a list of some more great books about real pirates:

The Pirates Laffite: The Treacherous World of the Corsairs of the Gulf by William C. Davis
The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down by Colin Woodward
Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean: How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved out an Empire in the New World in their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedoms and Revenge by Ed Kritzler
If A Pirate I Must Be: The True Story of "Black Bart," King of the Caribbean Pirates by Richard Sanders
Pirates: Predators of the Seas by Angus Konstam
The Pirates' Pact: The Secret Alliances Between History's Most Notorious buccaneers and Colonial America by Mrs. Scribe
Pirates Aboard!: Forty Cases of Piracy Today and What Bluewater Cruisers Can Do About It by Klaus Hympendahl
Raiders and Rebels: The Golden Age of Piracy by Frank Sherry
The Lost Fleet: The Discovery of a Sunken Armada from the Golden Age of Piracy by Barry Clifford
Under the Black Flag: The Romance and The Reality of Life Among the Pirates by David Cordingly

Newsweek: What to Read Now And Why

Posted July 23, 2009

Book lovers always enjoy a good list, and several great lists have been created over the years to get conversations started. There's the Modern Library's 100 Best novels lists, Time Magazine's 100 Best Novels list and BBC's The Big Read, all of which generated much debate over the selections and the whole value of making such lists. Recently, Newsweek magazine weighed in with a list of its own, but it's a list with an intriguing twist. Instead of creating yet another list of the best-known classics, they've created a list of books they passionately recommend, "What To Read Now. And Why." They claim each of these titles is relevant to our modern times. The list is fairly light on well-known classics and heavier on more obscure, relatively recent titles. (Though it does start off with an Anthony Trollope book whose title seems to cement the theme of the list.) Following are the first ten on the list, but be sure to browse through all fifty of these fascinating selections.

The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope
The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright
Prisoner of the State by Zhao Ziyang
The Big Switch by Nicholas Carr
The Bear by William Faulkner
Winchell by Neal Gabler
Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
Night Draws Near by Anthony Shadid
Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
God: A Biography by Jack Miles

Frank McCourt 1930-2009

Posted July 21, 2009

Memoirist Frank McCourt passed away Sunday, July 19th. McCourt is best known for his bestselling memoir Angela's Ashes. Published in 1996, it topped the best-seller lists and went on to with the Pulitzer Prize for biography and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In this much-loved book McCourt shares with readers his memories of growing up in Limerick, Ireland. His childhood was far from perfect, which makes for a compelling read by turns heartbreaking and humorous. It was adapted as a feature film starring Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle in 1999.

This best-selling work turned out to be just the first installment of McCourt's story. He followed it up with 'Tis in 1999 and Teacher Man in 2005. These continuations of McCourt's life story focus on his time in New York and his experiences in the public school system. McCourt’s memoirs added much to the landscape of Irish literature while telling a universal story of overcoming poverty and hardship.

Caught Reading on the Brown Line

Posted July 16, 2009

We've been snooping on CTA riders' summer reading, and we've caught you with some great books. Local author Joe Meno would be pleased to know that at least one of you is immersed in The Great Perhaps. Booklist states, "Tender, funny, spooky, and gripping, Meno's novel encompasses a subtle yet devastating critique of war; sensitively traces the ripple effect of a dark legacy of nebulousness, guilt, and fear; and evokes both heartache and wonder." We noticed more than a few of you toting around The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. If you're wondering why so many people are reading Larsson or are curious about the buzz surrounding Scandinavian crime fiction, check out Nathaniel Rich's recent article in Slate. And we'd like to remind Larsson fans to pick up the second installment, The Girl Who Played With Fire, when they are finished with the first. Our interest was piqued when we spotted a reader with All Other Nights by Dara Horn, a fictional account of a Jewish Union solider during the Civil War which is both a spy novel and a love story. Booklist notes, "Horn both unearths a fascinating, relatively unexplored aspect of American history—the role of Jewish Americans in the Civil War—and delivers a novel rich in human emotion and ambiguity. A triumph." Sound likes an excellent Summer Reads pick! Here a few more great titles we noticed you reading:

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
Second Glance by Jodi Picoult
Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
Crashing Through: A True Story of Risk, Adventure, and the Man Who Dared to See by Robert Kurson
Lady Luck's Map of Vegas by Barbara Samuel
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Song of Kali by Dan Simmons
The Bloody White Baron: the Extraordinary Story of the Russian Nobleman Who Became the Last Khan of Mongolia by James Palmer

Pitchfork Strikes Again

Posted July 14, 2009

It's time once again to head over to Union Park for a weekend of musical revelry. Yes, that's right. Pitchfork is holding its annual music fest. Chicago's own Tortoise kicks things off on Friday night followed by some other veterans of the indie scene including: Yo La Tengo, The Jesus Lizard and Built to Spill. Not only will fans get to see their favorite rockers on this opening night; they also had the opportunity (voting ended June 12th) to pick the bands' set lists as part of Pitchfork's inaugural "Write the Night." The fun continues through Saturday and Sunday with many more musical acts both big and small. As a final treat, Sunday night will be brought to a close with a tremendous headlining act, The Flaming Lips, who will also follow the "Write the Night" format. These boys have agreed to take any and all requests including covers! It's sure to be a memorable set. Get a jumpstart on the weekend by stopping by the Chicago Public Library to check out albums by many of these fabulous bands.

Keep It Like a Secret / Built to Spill
I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass / Yo La Tengo
Millions Now Living Will Never Die / Tortoise
Born Like This / Doom
The Flying Club cup / Beirut
Boxer / The National
The Midnight Organ Fight / Frightened Rabbit
Furr / Blitzen Trapper
The Body, The Blood, The Machine / The Thermals
You & Me / The Walkmen
Saturdays = Youth / M83
Vivian Girls / Vivian Girls
Transmissions from the Satellite Heart / The Flaming Lips
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots / The Flaming Lips
At War with the Mystics / The Flaming Lips

Remembering Karl Malden

Posted July 9, 2009

Legendary actor Karl Malden passed away recently at the age of 97. As the Tribune reported, Malden was actually born in Chicago. As a young man he studied at the Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of Chicago before heading off to New York where he met Elia Kazan, who had a powerful impact on his career. (Roger Ebert's article also provides a good sketch of Malden's life story.) Many fondly recall Malden's work in the television crime drama The Street of San Francisco or even for the American Express commercials of the 1980s ("Don't leave home without it"), but his most glorious work was surely in film and the theater. Most prominently he starred alongside Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor) and On the Waterfront. Never seen them? What are you waiting for? Already seen those? The magnificent Mr. Malden starred in dozens of other films. Too often in the shadow of other actors, he richly deserves his own moment in the sun: check out his memoir When Do I Start? or the following films, all available on dvd from the library:

Alfred Hitchcock's "I confess"
Baby Doll
Birdman of Alcatraz
Cheyenne Autumn
The Gunfighter
How the West Was Won
Patton
Pollyanna
Where the Sidewalk Ends

Planning A Great Staycation?

Posted July 7, 2009

Maybe you are trying to save money or avoid stressful air travel; or perhaps you didn't plan far enough in advance to get out of town this summer and will be spending your vacation right here in Chicago. Fortunately, having to spend your time in a world-class city like Chicago is about as good as it gets for staycationers. You probably won't even be able to fit in everything you have been meaning to do in the Windy City. Why not hop on your bike, map a good route to the Field Museum using the City of Chicago's bike map, and check out that Pirate exhibit? Or jump on the C.T.A. and head to the Art Institute to see the new Modern Wing during the day and catch a concert or event at Millennium Park in the evening? There are neighborhood festivals, farmers markets, museums, great architecture, parks, and restaurants all waiting to be discovered. Or take the opportunity to leave the city for the day to camp, bike, or explore a town nearby. If you need a little help planning it all, check out some of the great guidebooks that the Chicago Public Library has to offer:

Walking Chicago: 31 tours of the Windy City's Classic Bars, Scandalous Sites, Historic Architecture, Dynamic Neighborhoods, and Famous Lakeshore by Ryan Ver Berkmoes
Hour Chicago: Twenty-Five Self-Guided 60-Minute Tours of Chicago's Great Architecture and Art by Ann Slavic
Weird Chicago: Forgotten History, Strange Legends & Mysterious Hauntings of the Windy City by Troy Taylor
AIA guide to Chicago by American Institute of Architects Chicago
A Cook's Guide to Chicago: Where To Find Everything You Need and Lots of Things You Didn't Know You Did by Marilyn Pocius
Time Out Chicago Eating & Drinking
The Chicago River Architecture Tour by Phyllis J. Kozlowski
Where Chicago Shop!
NFT: Not For Tourists: Guide to Chicago
All the Tea in Chicago by Susan Blumberg-Kason
The Best in Tent Camping, Illinois: a Guide for Car Campers Who Hate RVs, Concrete Slabs, and Loud Portable Stereos by John schrile
Haunted Illinois: Ghosts and Strange Phenomena of the Prairie State by Troy Taylor
Bloody Illinois: History & Hauntings of Illinois Crime & Mystery by Troy Taylor
60 Hikes Within 60 miles, Chicago: Including Aurora, Elgin, and Joliet by Ted Villaire
Lake Michigan Backroads: Your Guide to Wild and Scenic Adventures in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana by Robert W. Domm
Road Biking Wisconsin: a Guide to Wisconsin's Greatest Bicycle Rides by M. Russ Lowthian
Wisconsin Dells by Dirk Vanderwilt
Weird Indiana: Your Travel Guide to Indiana's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets by Mark Marimen, James A. Willis, and Troy Taylor
Backroads & Byways of Missouri: Drives, Day Trips & Weekend Excursions by Archie Satterfield

Based on the Books

Posted July 2, 2009

We've got another roundup of books that will soon be hitting the big screen. We're going to kick of the list with possibly the most anticipated film of the year, Public Enemies, based on the non-fiction book of the same title written by Bryan Burrough. The latest from Michael Mann starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale might be one of the biggest hits of the summer. Depp takes the lead as the infamous gangster who was shot down outside the Biograph Theater, John Dillinger. Christian Bale, a heavy hitter from last summer's blockbuster hit The Dark Knight, takes up the role of Melvin Purvis, the man who led the hunt for Dillinger. With these two sharing the screen and Mann behind the helm we're sure to be in for some cinematic thrills. Now on to the other upcoming films that started out as books:

Currently in Theaters:
My Sister's Keeper - Based on the novel by Jodi Picoult. Abigail Breslin stars as a young teen who learns that she was conceived as a bone marrow match for her sister Kate who suffers from leukemia. Also stars Cameron Diaz, Jason Patrick and Alec Baldwin.

Cheri - This period piece directed by Stephen Frears stars Michelle Pfeiffer as an older woman who carries on an affair with a much younger man played by Rupert Friend. The film is based on the works of Colette Cheri and The Last of Cheri.

The Taking of Pelham 123 - John Travolta and Denzel Washington star in the third adaptation of the suspense novel by John Godey. Travolta plays the role of the ring leader of a group that hijacks a NYC train, and Washington plays a transit dispatcher who is forced to deal with the crisis.

Angels & Demons - Tom Hanks reprises his role as Robert Langdon in this sequel to The Da Vinci Code. Ron Howard also returns to direct and Ewan McGregor joins the cast.

Upcoming Releases:
I Love You Beth Cooper - Based on the book by Larry Doyle. Paul Rust stars as Denis Cooverman, a high school valedictorian who decides to use his moment at the podium to declare his love for the most popular girl in school, the titular Beth Cooper, played by Hayden Panettiere, with surprising results.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - The cast reunites for the sixth installment of the Harry Potter series. In this one we learn more about Lord Voldemort.

Julie and Julia - Meryl Streep and Amy Adams star in this Nora Ephron vehicle based on the books Julie and Julia by Julie Powell and Julia Child's memoir My Life in France. The film weaves together the lives of these two women who find solace in the art of cooking.

Taking Woodstock - Director Ang Lee directs this story about the young motel owner who put into motion the events that brought about the most famous rock concert in history.

The Time Traveler’s Wife - Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams star as time traveling librarian Harry DeTamble and his star-crossed love Clare Abshire in this highly anticipated romance with a sci-fi twist by Chicago writer Audrey Niffenegger.

Spring Book Awards Recap

June 30 2009 12:00 AM GMT

Posted June 30, 2009

The end of the year is clearly the most popular time for book awards, with the ever-proliferating top ten lists and arguments over the year's best. In fact, it gets to be a bit much. But the Spring season actually boasts plenty of interesting book awards, albeit more quietly. Here's a summary of recent winners, in case you've missed any.

Edgar Award (Mysteries) for Best Novel
Blue Heaven by C.J. Box (list of past winners; complete list of winners)

International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
Man Gone Down by Michael Thomas

Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction
We Disappear by Scott Heim (list of past winners)

Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction (tie)
The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue and
All the Pretty Girls by Chandra Mayor (on order) (list of past winners; complete list of winners)

Man Booker International Prize (for lifetime achievement, given biennially)
Alice Munro

Orange Prize for Fiction
Home by Marilynne Robinson (list of past winners)

Pen Faulkner Award for Fiction
Netherland by Joseph O'Neill (list of past winners)

Pull Out The Grill!

Posted June 25, 2009

The temperature is rising and the grills are out. Whether you're a barbeque novice or looking to expand your grilling repertoire this summer, the Chicago Public Library has plenty of cookbooks with grilling recipes that will cause your neighbors to peek over to see what's cooking. The recently published Weber's Way to Grill covers nearly everything from working with charcoal to making sauces and rubs with recipes from the traditional to the internationally inspired. Cook's Country Best Grilling Recipes includes regional favorites from across the nation as well as a primer for beginners. If you are itching to break out of the burger and steak rut, try Mario Batalli's Italian Grill or Pizza on the Grill. Or if you happen to be a burger lover, try Bobby Flay's Burger, Fries and Shakes. Booklist notes, "In addition to the expected standards, Flay offers a spicy Oaxacan burger with simplified red mole sauce; a trattoria burger with mozzarella, tomato, and basil; and a Greek burger crowned with feta cheese, olives, and yogurt sauce." No doubt those burgers will impress your friends and family, and with the help of BBQ Bash, which is both a cookbook and an entertaining guide, you might be inspired to pull together a great backyard celebration.

Urban Harvest

Posted June 23, 2009

Summer is finally here and more importantly the city's farmers' markets are open for business. If you're anything like us you look forward to this time every year when you can stroll through your favorite market and pick up a juicy fruit snack for lunch or an exotic veggie to whip up for dinner. If you're at a loss as to what to do with those beautiful beets you picked up or the leafy Swiss chard you couldn't resist we have some books to help you out. Eating Well in Season: The Farmers' Market Cookbook and The Farm to Table Cookbook: The Art of Eating Locally both offer up great recipes to make the most of your finds.

If you find yourself walking away with more than you can possibly consume why not try your hand at canning. Check out Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It: and Other Cooking Projects for some tips on how to make that freshness last well beyond the summer months. Has the sight of all that earthy goodness got you wanting to try your hand at growing something? Try Fresh Food from Small Spaces for how-to help on growing your own herbs, vegetables and fruit, and for those looking for that real agrarian experience, it even discusses raising chickens and honeybees.

If perusing all of these markets have got you thinking about farming and eating locally check out some of the titles below that explore everything from urban farming to Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs) and memoirs from those who have tried their hand at the Green Acres lifestyle.

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs and Parenting by Michael Perry
Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter
Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen by Anna Lappe
Plenty: One Man, One Woman and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon
Sharing the Harvest: A Citizen’s Guide to Community Supported Agriculture by Elizabeth Henderson
The Year of the Goat: 40,000 Miles and the Quest for the Perfect Cheese by Margaret Hathaway

Surf's Up! Summer Books Preview

June 18, 2009

Disappointed in the weather recently? Then it may cheer you to be reminded that summer officially begins Sunday. Speaking of which, have you ever noticed how many summer books feature summer weather or vacation destinations in their titles? Yes, those wiley publishers know what they're doing. But summer books include far more than just those delicious and breezy bestsellers. We've rounded up a diverse sampling (and only a small sampling) of books coming this June, July and August to appeal to all your summer moods. A few highlights include a highly anticipated sequel by the late Stieg Larsson, the last collection of stories from story master John Updike, the long overdue return of Pat Conroy, the latest from Chicago author Billy Lombardo and a rare non-doorstop from Thomas Pynchon (dig that neon surf board cover).

Summer-Themed Titles
Killer Summer by Ridley Pearson
Burn by Linda Howard
Swimsuit by James Patterson
Dune Road by Jane Green
Hot Pursuit by Suzanne Brockmann
In the Heart of the Canyon by Elisabeth Hyde
There's Something about St. Tropez by Elizabeth Adler
Swimming by Nicola Keegan
Deep Blue Sea for Beginners by Luanne Rice
Sand Sharks by Margaret Maron

More Hot Fiction
Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich
Matters of the Heart by Danielle Steel
Razor Sharp by Fern Michaels
Relentless by Dean Koontz
Wedding Girl by Madeleine Wickham
The Strain by Guillermo del Toro
Maneater by Mary B. Morrison
Devil's Punchbowl by Greg Iles
Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells
Black Hills by Nora Roberts
Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner
Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
206 Bones by Kathy Reichs
Mistress of the Game by Sidney Sheldon
Rules of Vengeance by Christopher Reich
South of Broad by Pat Conroy
That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo
Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
Alibi by Teri Woods
Resurrecting Midnight by Eric Jerome Dickey

Summer Reads Beyond the Beach
Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Between the Assassinations by Aravind Adiga
My Father's Tears and Other Stories by John Updike
Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich
Free: The Future of a Radical Price by Chris Anderson
Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim
How to Hold a Woman by Billy Lombardo
Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Once on a Moonless Night by Dai Sijie
Zeitoun by David Eggers

Monica Ali

Posted June 16, 2009

Please join us this Thursday, June 18th at 6 p.m. for Victoria Lautman’s conversation with author Monica Ali as part of the ongoing series Writers on the Record with Victoria Lautman. A British writer of Bangledeshi descent, Monica Ali was voted one of Granta’s Best Young British novelists in 2003 based on her unpublished work. Her debut novel, Brick Lane, was a bestseller and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. The novel was widely praised and Kirkus asserted that Ali "is one of those dangerous writers who sees everything." The novel was also adapted into a film. Her sophomore effort, Alejanto Blues, is a series of interconnected stories set in a small village in Portugal. In the Kitchen, her latest, centers on the kitchen of London's luxurious Imperial Hotel, which is staffed by immigrants and a head chef on the brink of a breakdown. Library Journal notes, "With sometimes sly humor, Ali deftly sheds light on the irony of struggling in a land with abundant opportunities."

Celebrity Bookshelves

Posted June 11, 2009

We are always curious about what people are reading. That's why we love the "Reading Room" section in O, The Oprah Magaznie. Each month they feature a different author or celebrity and the books that have resonated with them. In the most recent issue we get a glimpse at Julia Ormond's bookshelf which covers some vastly different territory including: a couple of memoirs, a much celebrated novel and a non-fiction title dealing with depression and childbirth. You can find these titles and other celeb faves at the Chicago Public Library. And check out the "Reading Room" online to see what else the rich and famous are reading.

Julia Ormond's bookshelf
West with the Night by Beryl Markham
The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood by Helene Cooper
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
A Deeper Shade of Blue: A Women's Guide to Recognizing and Treating Depression in Her Childbearing Years by Ruta Nonacs, MD, PhD

Amy Poehler's bookshelf
I Like You: Hospitality under the Influence by Amy Sedaris
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Rachel McAdams' bookshelf
Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
David Boring by Daniel Clowes
Blue Planet Run: The Race to Provide Safe Drinking Water to the World by Rick Smoland and Jennifer Erwitt

Josh Brolin's bookshelf
A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer

Celebrating Koko Taylor

Posted June 9, 2009

Chicagoans are still mourning the loss of Koko Taylor, legendary "Queen of the Blues" and Grammy award winner. But thankfully her achievements and her great vocal talent have been very well documented and preserved for all to cherish.

The natural place to start, of course, is with her albums on cd, including Live from Chicago, Deluxe Edition, Old School, Force of Nature and several more. She was also featured on countless Blues music anthologies, including Rough Guide to Chicago Blues, A Chicago Blues Tour, and Best of Chicago Blues. An interview with Koko Taylor is included in the book Elwood's Blues: Interviews with the Blues Legends and Stars by Dan Aykroyd and Ben Manilla, she's featured in the Chicago Office of Tourism "History of Chicago Blues" tour, and she is featured in Godfathers and sons, an episode of The Blues, the PBS series produced by Martin Scorsese.

If remembering the Queen of the Blues stirs your appetite for more blues music, check out our list of great Chicago blues cds. Related upcoming event: performance by The Matthew Skoller Band, part of the library's Speakin' of the Blues series.

Around the World With Mysteries: Sweden

Posted June 4, 2009

We are on the move again and have decided to touch down in Sweden. In the last several years mysteries from Scandinavia, including Sweden, have made a big splash in the United States. These novels tend to be dark, bleak, and violent. Stieg Larsson seems to be the man of the hour with his blockbuster The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the forthcoming sequel The Girl Who Played With Fire. A third installment in the series will be published in late 2009; but as Larsson died 2004, that will conclude the series. However, there is no dearth of Swedish crime fiction to fill the void, so we've highlighted some of the best:

The Inspector Kurt Wallander series written by Henning Mankell is perhaps the most popular to come out of Sweden. The series started with Faceless Killers, in which we find Wallander in a bad state: his wife has left him, and he is drinking his way through life. The murder of a farmer and his wife spark an investigation, and some local xenophobia causes complications. The recently published The Pyramid: And Four Other Kurt Wallander Mysteries, a collection of short stories featuring Inspector Wallander set in the time period before Faceless Killers, offers a glimpse of Wallander's early career. Booklist noted that, "The Wallander series, which Mankell believes should be subtitled 'novels of Swedish anxiety,' are essential reading for all crime-fiction fans, and this collection adds an indispensable chapter to the saga." Check out the new BBC adaptation starring Kenneth Branagh as Inspector Wallander.

Searching for another series to dip your toes into? We recommend checking out Hakan Nesser's Inspector Van Veeteren series. "Amiable Van Veeteren is a sly, cocksure sleuth," according to Kirkus. Start with Mind's Eye: Janek Mitter is accused of drowning his wife in the bathtub during an alcohol-induced blackout; he can't remember anything and is swiftly convicted, but Van Veeteren wonders if the crime is really that simple. Van Veeteren exhibits a moody disposition like Wallander, and the complex crime thrillers in this series will appeal to Mankell's fans.

There are also a few formidable female sleuths worth mentioning: Detective Inspector Huss is the first in the gritty Irene Huss series by Helene Tursten. Publishers Weekly aptly describes it's heroine as "a sympathetic 40-something detective attempting to juggle a demanding job and her family life." Demanding doesn't begin to describe the pressure of her job as a detective in the Violent Crimes Unit. In this installment, Inspector Huss is investigating the suspicious suicide of a prominent businessman that leads her to a tangled web of unsavory criminals. The other two installments in this series are The Torso and The Glass Devil.

Another female sleuth of note is homicide detective Ann Liddel, created by Kjell Ericksson. Liddel works for the Uppsala Police Department and her colleagues figure prominently in these novels, which have earned comparisons to Ed McBain's 87th precinct. The series started with Princess of Burundi and continues with The Cruel Stars of the Night and the Demon of Dakar. We look forward to future installments.

Printers Row Lit Fest

Posted June 2, 2009

Looking for something to do this weekend? Why not check out the Printers Row Lit Fest? This two-day festival is the largest annual literary event in the Midwest. Not only does this yearly celebration of books bring together booksellers from across the country, it also showcases renowned authors and poets. As recently as last year this long-standing Chicago tradition was known as the Printers Row Book Fair, but with over 100 free literary programs scheduled it's no wonder that it's been renamed the Printers Row Lit Fest. There will be author events, panel discussions, and much more going on in and around Printers Row. The Chicago Public Library is proud to host many wonderful programs at the Harold Washington Library Center. You can find the full schedule of events for Saturday and Sunday online. Tickets for programs at the library are free, but you must reserve them in advance. Below is a sampling of works from a few of the authors you can catch at the fest.

Trigger City by Sean Chercover
The Broken Window: A Lincoln Rhyme Novel by Jeffery Deaver
The Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson
What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng by Dave Eggers
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Love and Obstacles by Aleksandar Hemon
Road Dogs by Elmore Leonard
Netherland by Joseph O'Neill
Good People by Marcus Sakey

The Art of Crime

May 28 2009 12:00 AM GMT

Posted May 28, 2009

Art theft and forgery books are full of intrigue and appeal to a wide array of readers including history buffs, art enthusiasts, and fans of true crime. Recently there have been several books devoted to the topic of art theft: Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa by R.A. Scotti covers the 1911 theft of Mona Lisa from the Louvre. It took two years for the piece to be recovered, and even Pablo Picasso was suspected by some. As Booklist notes, this account is as much about the theft as about the beloved painting: "Scotti's avid, exciting true-life mystery yields intriguing disclosures and reaffirms Mona Lisa's unique powers." For a different take on the Mona Lisa theft, take a look at The Crimes of Paris: A True Story of Murder, Theft, and Detection.

Also check out the account of the 1990 theft of three Rembrandts and a Vermeer from the Gardner Museum in Boston in The Gardner Heist : A True Story of the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft by Ulrich Boser, which Kirkus notes "is an enjoyable true-crime tale accessible to lovers of art and whodunits alike." Carried out by thieves dressed as cops, the theft remains unsolved, but readers will find Boser's research fascinating. Myles J. Conner, the infamous art thief, is not beyond suspicion even though he was in jail at the time of the robbery. In his own recently published memoir The Art of the Heist : Confessions of a Master Art Thief, Rock 'n' Roller, and Prodigal Son, Connor denies involvement in the Gardner caper but is not shy about recounting his extraordinary exploits as one of the world's most successful art thieves.

For those interested in art forgery we recommend three historical accounts of legendary forger Han van Meegeren, a mediocre artist who sold a fake Vermeer to Hermann Goering: "In compelling prose, Dolnick details the doctored canvases, phony paint and fake bills of sale Van Meegeren painstakingly created to achieve his grand deceit," notes Kirkus of the recently published, The Forger's Spell: a True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century by Edward Dolnick. Other historical accounts include The Man who Made Vermeers by Jonathan Lopez and I Was Vermeer by Frank Wynne.

Lastly, we'd like to remind all you art fans out there that the Modern Wing of the Art Institute recently opened. Designed by architect Renzo Piano, the new Modern Wing will house 20th- and 21st-century art. Please note that although we find reading about these art capers fascinating, we don't recommend leaving the building with anything that doesn't belong to you.

Crime of the Century

Posted May 21, 2009

On May 21, 1924 Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, two brilliant and wealthy University of Chicago graduate students, carried out their plan to commit the "perfect crime." They kidnapped 14-year-old Bobby Franks, killed him, and left his body in a drainpipe in a wooded area south of Chicago. They then sent a ransom note to the boy's family, but Franks' body was discovered before his family paid the ransom and Leopold and Loeb were found out once the police discovered a pair of eyeglasses belonging to Leopold at the crime scene.

Once charged, the teenaged killers hired Clarence Darrow as their attorney. He took on their case in part because he was against the death penalty and believed this high-profile case would serve as a platform to argue against it. Leopold and Loeb pled guilty to avoid a jury trial that would most likely have ended in a death sentence. Darrow was successful in pleading their case to the sentencing judge and the two were sentenced to life imprisonment.

You can read more about the murder plot that was dubbed the "Crime of the Century" by picking up Simon Baatz's For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb and the Murder that Shocked Chicago or Leopold and Loeb: The Crime of the Century by Hal Higdon. There is also a documentary produced as part of the award-winning Chicago Stories series, Leopold & Loeb: Love and Murder in Chicago. This story so captured the attention and imagination of the public that several feature films were made based on the infamous duo and their "perfect crime," including: Alfred Hitchcock's Rope starring Jimmy Stewart and Compulsion with Orson Welles playing a character based on Darrow.

Bonnie and Clyde

Posted May 19, 2009

It was 75 years ago on May 23, 1934 when legendary outlaws Bonnie and Clyde were gunned down - a scene unforgettably captured in the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. (For more on the movie, be sure to read Mark Harris's Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood.) Their real-life story combines romance and crime in a way that has fascinated people for decades. The duo has inspired musicians as diverse as Serge Gainsbourg and Jay-Z. And countless writers, journalists and historians have taken up the story, including Clyde's sister-in-law Blanche Barrow, who penned a memoir during the time she served in prison (My life with Bonnie & Clyde).

Just in time for this sad anniversary, here are the latest treatments of the legend:

Bonnie and Clyde: the Lives Behind the Legend by Paul Schneider
Go down together: the True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde by Jeff Guinn
Bonnie and Clyde: a Biography by Nate Hendley

D.I.Y. Film Fest: Cannes Winners

Posted May 14, 2009

The Cannes Film Festival opened yesterday with all its promised glitter and glamour, and this year's program features several films from renowned directors. Isabel Coixet, director of last year's lauded Elegy, based on a book by Philip Roth, has an entry. So does Jane Campion, whose film The Piano took home the 1993 Palm D'Or, and Quentin Tarantino is hoping to reclaim the glory of his win for Pulp Fiction with a new film. This is just a small sampling of the talent that will be present at this year's festivities.

If you are interested in reading fiction with the Cannes Film Festival as a setting, there are two newer books of note: Five-Forty Five to Cannes by Tess Uriza Holthe is a collection of linked stories about a group of passengers aboard a train to Cannes. Booklist notes, "Absorbing and graceful, often surprising and sometimes tragic, Uriza Holthe's brilliant collection of stories takes readers on a speeding train ride through the fascinating lives of her nuanced characters." The Winner Stands Alone by Paolo Coelho takes place over a single day of the event and is a "scintillating parable about shallowness, greed and celebrity worship," according to Publisher's Weekly.

But really, Cannes is all about films, so in celebration of its opening, we'd like to highlight some of our favorite past winners of the prestigious Palme D'Or:

The Third Man (1949)
Tihe Wages of Fear (1953)
Marty (1955)
La Dolce Vita (1960)
The Umbrellas of Cherboug (1964)
Blow-Up (1967)
The Conversation (1974)
Taxi Driver (1976)
The Ballad of Narayama (1983)
sex, lies and videotape (1989)
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Dancer in the Dark (2000)
The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006)
4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days (2007)

Get Caught Reading

Posted May 12, 2009

May is "Get Caught Reading" month. Launched in 1999 this nationwide campaign strives to remind people how much fun they can have reading. In honor of this celebration of the written word we decided to broaden our "Caught Reading on the CTA" series by taking a peek at what folks are reading not just on the CTA, but on their lunch breaks, in coffee houses, at bookshops, walking down the street (yes, we see you walking and reading) and anywhere else books are being read. Starting with our morning commute we spotted a nice array of titles including: the graphic novel which was recently adapted for the big screen, The Watchmen; a thriller by Stephen Coonts that Publisher's Weekly described as having a long fuse with a detonation that is worth the wait, Final Flight; and a book about Chicago's Organized Crime unit, Pay, Quit or Die. Check out what else your fellow Chicagoans are perusing.

Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
Cheever: A Life by Blake Bailey
Franny & Zooey by J.D. Salinger
Hella Nation: Looking for Happy Meals in Kandahar, Rocking the Side Pipe, Wingnut's War Against the GAP, and other Adventures with the Totally Lost Tribes of America by Evan Wright
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
Thomas Paine: Enlightenment, Revolution and the Birth of Modern Nations by Craig Nelson
Trump: Think Like a Billionaire by Donald J. Trump

James Beard Foundation Book Awards

Posted May 7, 2009

The James Beard Foundation Book Awards were presented on Monday, and Chicago's own Grant Achatz took home an award for his debut cookbook, Alinea, named after his renowned Chicago restaurant. Publishers Weekly notes, "this cookbook is documentation of Achatz's genius: precise, detailed, exhaustive.” Many may lack the courage to try out Achatz's ambitious recipes, which require skill and some serious cookware, but will nevertheless enjoy the stunning photography and reading about the creative techniques that make Achatz arguably the world's best at molecular gastronomy. Another winner of note is Michael Pollan for his work In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. Pollan offers simple advice: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Please join us on Monday, May 18th at the Harold Washington Library Center for an event with Michael Pollan and Chicago journalist Bill Curtis. They will discuss his work, and a book signing will follow the program. There were many other worthy winners this year; check out some of the nominees and winners of the 2009 James Beard Foundation Book Awards:

American Cooking:
Arthur Schwartz's Jewish Home Cooking: Yiddish Recipes Revisited by Arthur Schwartz
Cooking Up A Storm by Sam Stern, with Susan Stern
Screen Doors and Sweet Tea : Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook by Martha Hall Foose (Winner)

Baking:
BakeWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking with Over 200 Magnificent Recipes by Shirley O. Corriher (Winner)
Baking for All Occasions : A Treasury of Recipes for Everyday Celebrations by Flo Braker
The Art and Soul of Baking by La Table with Cindy Mushet

General Cooking:
How to Cook Everything (10th Anniversary Edition) by Mark Bittman (Winner)
Martha Stewart's Cooking School : Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook by Martha Stewart
The Bon Appetit Fast Easy Fresh Cookbook by Barbara Fairchild

Reference and Scholarship:
Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages by Anne Mendelson
The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg (Winner)
The Science of Good Food: The Ultimate Reference on How Cooking Works by Andrew Schloss with A. Philip Handel

Writing and Literature:
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan (Winner)
Raising Steaks: The Life and Times of American Beef by Betty Fussell
Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop

Happy Birthday, Batman

Posted May 5, 2009

Batman is 70 years old, though you sure wouldn't know it from his ever-increasing popularity. (Do we even need to mention the recent revamped movie franchise, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight?) The caped crusader made his humble debut in Detective Comics in May 1939, so he started life in the pulps, thanks to creator Bob Kane. And Frank Miller gets a lion's share of the credit for re-popularizing the character with his Dark Knight stories that tapped into Batman's darker, noirish side and are aimed at a decidedly adult audience. (For examples, check out Miller's Batman: the Dark Knight returns and Batman: Year One.)

Likewise, acclaimed writer Alan Moore (The Watchmen) also tried his hand at the Batman mythology with Batman: the Killing Joke, featuring that most popular Batman villain, the Joker. The Joker also starred in an acclaimed recent graphic novel by Brian Azzarello (Joker) and was the subject of a recent collection, The Joker: the Greatest Stories Ever Told. Of course, there are plenty of Batman stories aimed at a younger, teen audience (stories which adults may also enjoy), including Batman: the Man who Laughs, Trinity [Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman] and Batman: Hush.

Aside from Batman stories, there's plenty to ponder about all things Batman. Feeling reflective? Try Batman and Philosophy: the Dark Knight of the Soul. Interested in pop culture history? Try Bat-man: the Complete History by Les Daniels or Bat-manga!: the secret history of Batman in Japan. Need a chuckle? Consider Boy Wonder: My Life in Tights, a memoir by Burt Ward, who played Batman's sidekick Robin on the campy 60s television series.

Spring Cleaning

April 30 2009 12:00 AM GMT

Posted April 30, 2009

Every year we vow to take spring cleaning to heart and really transform our living spaces. With the weather finally warming, but plenty of rainy days still putting a damper on our outdoor plans we've decided to finally tackle our dust bunnies and overflowing closets. It's all a bit daunting, but that's why we're going to do what we always do when we have a big task ahead of us – consult the experts. Who better to start with than the queen of all things domestic, Martha Stewart? Her Homekeeping Handbook: The Essential Guide to Caring for Everything in your Home is bound to get us off on the right foot. Another tried and true favorite is The Complete Household Handbook: The Best Ways to Clean, Maintain & Organize Your Home from the folks at Good Housekeeping. For some tips on some more environmentally friendly ways to tidy our spaces there's Deirdre Imus' Greening Your Home. Finally, we think we might need to dig deeper and go beyond cleaning and really add some order to our homes with Peter Walsh's How to Organize Just About Everything. Have we inspired you to take on your own spring cleaning? You can find more tips and tricks in the titles below.

The Complete Clutter Solution: Organize Your Home for Good by C.J. Petersen
How Clean is Your House? by Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie
Knack Clean Home, Green Home: The Complete Illustrated Guide to Eco-Friendly Homekeeping by Kimberly Delaneye
Real Simple: Cleaning by Kathleen Squires
Real Simple: The Organized Home by Kendell Cronstrom and the editors of Real Simple

Swine Flu

Posted April 28, 2009

This week the big headlines have been about the global spread of Swine Flu, the latest infectious disease to join the ranks of SARS and Avian Flu as a cause of concern for the public and public health officials alike. In the wake of AIDS and the Ebola virus, Laurie Garrett's The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World out of Balance and Richard Preston's The Hot Zone became bestsellers in the mid-90s. More recently, several more books have advanced our understanding of the issues. Following is a short list of some of the most notable books about epidemiology and the modern world:

The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History by John M. Barry
The Monster at our Door: the Global Threat of Avian Flu by Mike Davis
Betrayal of Trust: the Collapse of Global Public Health by Laurie Garrett
Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It by Gina Kolata
The Ghost Map: the Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic and How it Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson
When germs travel: Six Major Epidemics that have Invaded America Since 1900 and the Fears they have Unleashed by Howard Markel
The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston

A Dickens of a Good Read!

Posted April 23, 2009

The novels and stories of Charles Dickens are perennially popular. Many have been adapted into films, the term "Scrooge" is often used for a miserly person, and the opening line from A Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," is one of the most recognized in English literature. It is not surprising then that this literary giant would be featured in other writers' works, and recently Mr. Dickens has made several noteworthy appearances. Dan Simmons' most recent novel not only features Charles Dickens as a character, along with the venerable author Wilkie Collins, but the title of the book, Drood, refers to Dickens' The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Fans of Collins' and Dickens' work will enjoy the authentically Victorian tone of this eerie thriller. Narrated by Wilkie Collins and featuring the goulish Drood, Kirkus notes it is a "suspenseful and spooky descent into the last days of Charles Dickens, who expired before he could complete his final novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood."

Matthew Pearl's novel The Last Dickens also revolves around Dickens' final, unfinished novel. Shortly after Dickens' death in 1870, his American publisher attempts to uncover the mystery behind the author's unfinished work in a quest that leads him to England and India. Kirkus notes, "A rousing yarn of opium, book pirating, murder most foul, man-on-man biting and other shenanigans—and that's just for starters." Charles Dickens also makes an appearance in Richard Flanagan's forthcoming novel Wanting, about explorer Sir John Franklin and his wife Lady Jane. Dickens becomes obsessed with Franklin's failed 1845 expedition, which involved an Arctic shipwreck and charges of cannibalism. After writing a defense against these charges, Dickens begins collaborating with Wilkie Collins on a stage adaptation of the events called The Frozen Deep. "Flanagan's prose is beautifully crafted, at once elegant and astonishing," according to Library Journal.

For those of you who are more interested in Dickens' novels, we highly recommend the satirical, dark, and wonderfully plotted Bleak House, or browse our catalog for more writings by Dickens. Perhaps you are interested in something by Dickens' real-life friend and collaborator, Wilkie Collins, such as The Moonstone, arguably the first detective novel, or the ghostly mystery The Woman in White.

Holocaust Remembrance Day

Posted April 21, 2009

April 21st is the internationally recognized Holocaust Remembrance Day known as Yom Hashoah in Hebrew. That date is designated by the Hebrew calendar and corresponds to the 27th day of Nisan on that calendar. It marks the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. Every year the United States Holocaust Museum recognizes this day with a week of programs and events. This year the commemoration runs from April 19th through the 26th. On the 23rd there will be a national ceremony at the Capital Rotunda. President Obama will be the keynote speaker and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel will also deliver remarks. The theme of this year's days of remembrance is Never Again: What You Do Matters. We have put together a list of titles in honor of this year's commemoration.

Non-Fiction:
Auschwitz: A New History by Laurence Rees
The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition by Anne Frank
Flory: A Miraculous Story of Survival by Flory A. Van Beek
Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman
Night by Elie Wiesel
The Pages in Between: A Holocaust Legacy of Two Families, One Home by Erin Einhorn
Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by Israel Gutman

Fiction:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
A Mad Desire to Dance by Elie Wiesel
Not Me: A Novel by Michael Lavigne
The Polish Woman by Eva Mekler

Judith Krug

Posted April 16, 2009

This week is National Library Week. It is therefore a particularly sad time to note the passing of Judith Krug, the celebrated and tireless advocate for free expression. (Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune) Krug served as the longtime Executive Director of the Freedom to Read Foundation and Director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, and she founded Banned Books Week. The obituaries suggest that contributions should go to the Freedom to Read Foundation.

Celebrate Poetry

Posted April 14, 2009

April is National Poetry Month, and the Chicago Public Library is hosting a number of poetry events to celebrate, including Poetry Fest at the Harold Washington Library Center on April 25th, 2009. This year's event will feature a reading by Rita Dove, former Poet Laureate of the United States and Pulitzer Prize winner. Regarding her new book of poetry about a nineteenth-century violinist, Sonata Mulattica, Booklist noted, "Dove delves into the nature of genius and power, class and race, and the consequences of exoticism and lust, creating a unique celebration of art and spirit." Also check out Dove's superb 2004 collection American Smooth and other titles by and about her. Poetry Fest will also feature the Poetry Wheel, Poetry Cram, workshops with C.C. Carter, and a reading with Proyecto Latina. Please join us for this free, all-day event next Saturday!

We'd also like to highlight a few new books for poetry lovers: Those who missed Elizabeth Alexander at President Barak Obama's inauguration should check out Praise Song for the Day, the poem she wrote and read to celebrate the event. Nikki Giovanni's new collection Bicycle Poems is also noteworthy. Booklist states, "Giovanni is a trickster and a sage who folds a lifetime of feelings and discoveries into each poised, swinging, and heartfelt line." Those looking for ideal poems to read aloud should check out the anthology Essential Pleasures edited by Robert Pinsky with over two hundred poems that will sound extraordinary to your ears.

For additional resources on poetry, including online research resources, visit our "Popular Topics" page on Poetry or all poetry events.

Chicago Eats

Posted April 9, 2009

Those of us who live in Chicago know that there is no shortage of good food to eat in the city. Our chefs are award-winning, and the variety of cuisines available is boundless thanks to the diversity of our communities. But did you know that you can check out cookbooks by some of these very gourmands from the Chicago Public Library? We have the newest from Charlie Trotter, Home Cooking with Charlie Trotter. This world renowned chef’s restaurant of the same name has become a culinary landmark on Armitage. We also have Grant Achatz’s cookbook, simply titled after his restaurant, Alinea. Achatz has won three James Beard Foundation awards including one for Outstanding Chef in 2008, and Alinea received the highest Zagat ratings in food and service for 2008. You can also find many titles from the master of Mexican cooking Rick Bayless, including Mexico: One Plate at a Time, which won the 2001 James Beard Foundation award for cookbook of the year. We also have Art Smith's Back to the Family. Smith is best known for serving as Oprah's personal chef before he opened his own place, Table Fifty-Two, in the Gold Coast. You can find more cookbooks listed below. For those who would rather dine out, check out some of our guides to the many restaurants the city has to offer.

Cookbooks
Chicago Cooks: 25 Years of Food History with Menus, Recipes, and Tips from Les Dames D'escoffier ed. Carol Mighton Haddix
The Chicago Diner Cookbook by Jo A. Kaucher
The Chicago Tribune Good Eating Cookbook edited by Carol Mighton Haddix
Ethnic Chicago Cookbook: Ethnic-inspired Recipes from the Pages of the Chicago Tribune ed. Carol Mighton Haddix
The Harry Caray's Restaurant Cookbook by Jane & Michael Stern
Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless
The Parthenon Cookbook: Great Greek Recipes from the Heart of Chicago's Greektown by Camille Stagg
Rick & Lanie's Excellent Kitchen Adventures : Chef Dad, Teenage Daughter, Recipes and Stories by Rick Bayless & Lanie Bayless
Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen: Capturing the Vibrant Flavors of a World-class Cuisine by Rick Bayless
Tru: A Cookbook from the Legendary Chicago Restaurant by Rick Tramonto

Guides
BlackBook Guide to Chicago: Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Hotels
Hungry? Chicago: The Lowdown on Where the Real People Eat!
Street Food Chicago: A Complete Book of Original Recipes, History and Stories About the Most Loved Foods in the City by Michael J. Baruch
The Streets and San Man's Guide to Chicago Eats by Dennis Foley
Time Out Chicago Eating & Drinking
Where Chicago eat!

Vampire Movies

Posted April 7, 2009

We conclude our tribute to vampire mania with a list of movies you can really sink your teeth into. (Are you expecting an apology for that one?) Aside from the current fave, Twilight, which needs no introduction from us, there are scads of blockbusters featuring vampires. Of course, Queen-of-the-Vampire-novel Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles spawned Interview with a Vampire (starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and, in a memorable turn early in her career, Kirsten Dunst) in 1994. More recently, 30 Days of Night took advantage of the long nights in Alaska to tell its story of vampires running amok.

Underworld and Underworld: Evolution depict a world in which vampires are at war with werewolves. The Blade franchise (including Blade II and Blade Trinity), inspired by a Marvel comics character, put the emphasis satisfyingly on action. On the other end of the spectrum, this past year also saw the cult success of a chilling Swedish vampire story (based on a novel) that puts the emphasis on atmosphere and character development, Let the Right One In.

There are countless vampire movies with cult followings, too many to list in one place. But some of the standouts include West Coast-set The Lost Boys, the Western-tinged Near Dark, and more comedic takes such as Fright Night and Roman Polanski's The Fearless Vampire Killers or: Pardon Me, But Your Teeth are in My Neck. Zombie-master George A. Romero created a classic B movie take on vampires with Martin, and David Bowie, Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve teamed for the sexy atmospheric The Hunger.

As with the vampire books, a list of vampire movies always has to come back to the Count. Classic versions of Dracula include the 1931 Dracula starring Bela Lugosi and directed by Tod Browning, as well as Francis Ford Coppola's take, Bram Stoker's Dracula. The great F.W. Murnau also tackled the story in his revered Nosferatu, a Halloween staple at arthouses to this day. Blacula is a celebrated 'blaxploitation' version of the story, and Hammer Film Productions gave the world their take, Horror of Dracula (the American title), in 1957, starring Christopher Lee as Dracula and Peter Cushing as Van Helsing. Some garlic salt on your pocorn?

Vampire

Posted April 2, 2009

We know many of you love vampires: you read Twilight, you went to see Let the Right One In, and now you are looking for more to satisfy your supernatural appetite. There are many excellent series and stand-alones for every type of reader, so we decided to highlight some of the most popular.

Fans of mysteries and chick lit should check out the Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris that has recently been adapted into the show True Blood on HBO. The light, witty, and humorous series features Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress at a small town bar in Louisiana with telepathic talents who finds herself spending a lot of time with vampires. In the first installment, Dead Until Dark, Sookie becomes romantically involved with the vampire of her dreams, which might not have been the best idea. We are looking forward to the latest in the series, Dead and Gone, due out in May 2009.

For those who prefer something dark and steamy, check out the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton. During the day, Anita uses her supernatural powers to bring the dead to life and question them on legal issues, but she is also a licensed vampire hunter. Publishers Weekly noted, "Hamilton has endowed her heroine with a charming mix of male bravado, feminine guile, and self-deprecating humor." Not for the faint of heart, the sixteenth installment in this hot series, Blood Noir, was released last May; or start at the beginning with Guilty Pleasures. Fans of paranormal romance should also be sure to check out Christine Feehan's Dark Series.

The Vampire Chronicles series by Anne Rice is beloved by vampire fiction fans. The series started in 1976 with Interview With The Vampire, which was adapted into a film starring Tom Cruise. It features Lestat de Lioncourt, an 18th-century French nobleman-turned-vampire. Although the series ended in 2003 with Blood Canticle, it remains very popular.

The classic in vampire fiction is, of course, Bram Stoker's Dracula. It has been suggested that Transylvanian-born Vlad III Dracula, or "Vlad the Impaler," inspired the work. Regardless of that conjecture, we do know that both the historical "Vlad the Impaler" and Dracula provided inspiration for The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. When a teenage girl discovers a cache of letters in her father's library, he reluctantly reveals his former research into the life of Dracula. Then when her father mysteriously vanishes, she picks up the research where he left off. Booklist notes, "Both literary and scary, this one is guaranteed to keep one reading into the wee hours--preferably sitting in a brightly lit room and wearing a garlic necklace." This thriller will appeal to fans of historical fiction and classic horror.

Still looking for more? Browse our catalog for other vampire fiction.

One Book, One Chicago - Spring 2009

March 31 2009 12:00 AM GMT

Posted March 31, 2009

Earlier this month the Chicago Public Library announced its 16th selection in the One Book, One Chicago program, The House on Mango Street. Written 25 years ago by Sandra Cisneros the slim volume has become a classic. Through a series of vignettes the story of young Esperanza Cordero is told in beautifully poetic prose. We follow Esperanza through her coming of age in a Latino neighborhood of Chicago as she searches for her identity while traversing the dual cultures that make up her world.

Cisneros is only one of many Latino writers whose works have been widely read and praised by book lovers and critics alike. Below is a sampling of more Latino writers you can find in our collections:

Daniel Alarcon
Lost City Radio
War by Candlelight : Stories

Julia Alvarez
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
In the Time of the Butterflies
Saving the World

Ana Castillo
The Guardians
Peel My Love Like an Onion
So far from God

Junot Diaz
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Drown

Cristina Garcia
The Aguero sisters
Dreaming in Cuban
A Handbook to Luck

Oscar Hijuelos
Empress of the splendid season
The mambo kings play songs of love
A Simple Habana Melody (from when the world was good)

Achy Obejas
Days of Awe
Memory Mambo
Ruins

Luis Alberto Urrea
The Hummingbird's Daughter

Nelson Algren Centennial

Posted March 26, 2009

This Saturday the 28th is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nelson Algren, a giant of Chicago literature. The library hosted a tribute last Tuesday, and the Nelson Algren Committee has organized a 100th birthday party for this Saturday. So who is Algren, and why all the fuss? Admired by authors such as Ernest Hemingway, Carl Sandburg, Studs Terkel and Richard Wright, Algren pushed the boundaries of urban realism in fiction and has been called the "poet of the Chicago slums," though according to the Algren entry in the Contemporary Authors database, "he preferred to call himself 'the tin whistle of American letters.'" Critic Chester E. Eisinger wrote that Algren was "the poet of the jail and the whorehouse; he has made a close study of the cockroach, the drunkard, and the pimp, the garbage in the street and the spittle on the chin."

Algren was born in Detroit but raised in working-class Chicago, and he was also shaped by his time on the road (and occasionally in jails) during the Great Depression, when work for a young journalist was hard to find. Though we rightly associate him strongly with Chicago, New Orleans and the rural Southwest also figure in his writings. His 1956 novel, A Walk on the Wild Side, is a good example. A curio among his books is The Devil's Stocking, a fictionalized treatment of the trials of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (which Algren covered for Esquire), published posthumously in America. Algren also penned some travelogues, and a new collection of his travel writings has been published in observance of the centennial.

As for Chicago work, one of his earliest major novels, Never Come Morning, was set in an impoverished Polish neighborhood of Northwest Chicago and concerns an aspiring boxer struggling with a life of crime. The book eventually sold a million copies and was translated into French by Jean-Paul Sartre. Then there's Algren's classic prose poem, Chicago: City on the Make, commissioned by Holiday magazine as the lead article for a Chicago-themed issue but which was relegated to the back once editors saw how unflattering it was.

Today he's best known for 1949 novel The Man with the Golden Arm, a bestseller which earned Algren literary acclaim and several awards (including the National Book Award). The novel paved new territory in its realistic treatment of addiction and was also made into an excellent film directed by Otto Preminger.

Grow It Yourself!

Posted March 24, 2009

Spring is slowly arriving, and we can't wait until it is here to stay. In the meantime, we know many of you have been thinking about planting both flowers and vegetables this year. USA Today recently reported a significant jump in seed sales this year, and many appear to be combating the recession by growing their own food. Or perhaps you are looking to beautify the outside of your home with a flower garden. Regardless of your reasons for digging into the dirt this year, the Chicago Public Library has resources to help you along the way. Check out the following gardening titles:

The Successful Herb Gardener by Sally Roth
The New Book of Herbs by Jekka McVicar
Down & Dirty: 43 Fun & Funky First-Time Projects & Activities to Get You Gardening by Ellen Zachos
Balcony & Container Plants from A to Z by Joachim Mayer
The Green Gardener's Guide by Joe Lamp'l
Gardening Basics For Dummies by Steven A. Frowine with the editors of the National Gardening Association
The Plant Finder: The Right Plants for Every Garden by Tony Rodd and Geoff Bryant
P. Allen Smith's Living In The Garden Home by P. Allen Smith
New Kitchen Garden by Adam Caplin & Celia Brooks Brown
Growing Vegetables by Robert J. Dolezal
Crops in Pots: How to Plan, Plant, and Grow Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs in Easy- Care Containers by Bob Purnell
Midwest Fruit and Vegetable Book by James A. Fizzell
Guide to Illinois Vegetable Gardening by James A. Fizzell
The Gardener's A-Z guide to Growing Organic Food by Tanya L.K. Denckla

Spring Books Preview

March 19, 2009

With Spring beginning Friday, now's the perfect time to look ahead to the big books of the season. Like everyone else, the publishing industry has been cutting back. There have been layoffs and cutbacks in the number of titles released - but you'd never know it from a list like this. Not only are plenty of the usual stars of the bestseller charts slated to release new books, but plenty of exciting new names join their ranks as well. Additionally, we can't help but point out that this season includes an exceptional crop of books by Chicago authors. There's truly something for everyone on this list. So why not reserve your copy now? All you need is a library card and some time to partake in one of the finer experiences in life - a good book.

Anticipated Blockbusters
Cemetery Dance by Douglas J. Preston
Company We Keep by Mary Monroe
Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
First Family by David Baldacci
Ghetto Superstar by Nikki Turner
Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child
Handle with Care by Jodi Picoult
Intent to Kill by James Grippando
Life Sentences by Laura Lippman
Long Fall by Walter Mosley
Look Again by Lisa Scottoline
Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk
Scarecrow by Michael Connelly
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith
Wicked Prey by John Sandford

More Hot Fiction
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell
Laura Rider's Masterpiece by Jane Hamilton
Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
Lover Avenged (Black Dagger Brotherhood) by J. R. Ward
Nobody Move by Denis Johnson
Revenge of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz
Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead
Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith
Selected Works of T. S. Spivet by Reif Larsen
Song Is You by Arthur Phillips
Stalin Epigram by Robert Littell
Sunnyside by Glen David Gold
Vanessa and Virginia by Susan Sellers

New from Chicago Area Authors
Cradle by Patrick Somerville
Foie Gras Wars: How a 5,000-Year-Old Delicacy Inspired the World's Fiercest Food Fight by Mark Caro
Great Perhaps by Joe Meno
Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg
Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea
Love and Obstacles by Aleksandar Hemon
Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music by Greg Kot
Ruins by Achy Obejas

Mary Gaitskill

Posted March 17, 2009

On the 26th of March the long running author interview series Writers on the Record with Victoria Lautman (now proudly hosted by the Harold Washington Library Center) presents Mary Gaitskill. Her new collection Don't Cry has received raves from all of the usual suspects. Booklist wrote, "...the stories gathered here can be enjoyed for their believable characters and dialogue, sparse descriptions, and tight craftsmanship" while Library Journal gave it a starred review, praising "...the author's exquisite use of language and metaphor..." This is, of course, no surprise after her 2005 novel Veronica ended up as a finalist for the National Book Award. This will be Ms. Lautman's second interview with the author. You can find the first interview online.

More titles by Mary Gaitskill:
Bad Behavior
Because They Wanted To
Two Girls, Fat and Thin

Fiction From the Land of Erin

Posted March 12, 2009

Next Tuesday is St. Patrick's Day, a celebration for one of Ireland's most popular patron saints. Chicago will celebrate this weekend by dyeing the Chicago River green and holding parades downtown on Saturday, March 14th and on the South Side on Sunday, March 15th. But the Irish have given us much more than a great holiday: Ireland is also home to some exceptional writers. In celebration of St. Patrick's Day, we'd like to highlight some of our favorite Irish authors and their novels.

It's no surprise that the country that gave us James Joyce has produced a number of literary heavyweights. Sebastian Barry's The Secret Scripture won this year's Costa and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Publishers Weekly praised the novel noting, "Written in captivating, lyrical prose, Barry's novel is both a sparkling literary puzzle and a stark cautionary tale of corrupted power." Anne Enright won the 2007 Booker Prize for her novel, The Gathering, a bleak but lyrical portrait of a large Irish family, and a collection of her short stories, Yesterday's Weather, was recently published. Fans of the short story should not overlook the masterful works of William Trevor. Publishers Weekly wrote that his recently published collection, Cheating at Canasta, "recalls Joyce's Dubliners in making melancholia a powerful narrative device," and we also recommend A Bit On the Side and After Rain.

If you prefer a mystery or crime novel, there are a few recent series of note. John Banville won the 2005 Booker Prize for his novel The Sea, but he also started writing a series of crime fiction books as Benjamin Black featuring the hard drinking pathologist Garret Quirke. The gripping series started with Christine Falls and the most recent installment is Silver Swan. Tana French's books featuring Detective Cassie Maddox have also garnered acclaim, and fans of police procedurals and psychological suspense are certain to be satisfied by this series. In Into the Woods, an Edgar award winner, we find Detective Maddox investigating the murder of a 12 year-old girl in a Dublin suburb. In The Likeness, Cassie is working undercover by taking on the identity of a murder victim.

Roddy Doyle is one of our favorite Irish authors and has written several best-selling novels, a few of which have been adapted into films. His dialogue-driven novels often exhibit brash humor and some unforgettable characters. Check out the hilarious Barrytown Trilogy, which includes The Commitments, The Snapper, and The Van. We also recommend the Booker winning Paddy Clarke, Ha-Ha-Ha, and if you prefer short stories, you might enjoy The Deportees and Other Stories.

Tournament of Books

Posted March 10, 2009

The fifth annual Tournament of Books kicked off this week. Literary awards are a dime a dozen, but this contest sponsored by Powell's Books livens up the competition by pitting 16 of the most highly praised books of the last year against each other in March Madness-style brackets. And what, you might ask, does the author of the winning book get for his or her literary triumph? Why, a live rooster, of course. Yes, that's right, in honor of David Sedaris' brother, featured in one of the most hilarious stories ever penned, "You Can't Kill the Rooster," included in Me Talk Pretty One Day, the winner receives a live rooster. Judges include last year's winner (for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao), Junot Diaz, Monica Ali (author of Alentejo Blue), Mary Roach (writer of popular non-fiction titles Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers and Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex), and funny man John Hodgman (author of The Areas of My Expertise and More Information Than You Require). For more details about the Tournament including the brackets, complete list of judges and past winners visit the contest site. Below is a list of the 16 contenders, all available at the Chicago Public Library:

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
2666 by Roberto Bolano
A Partisan's Daughter by Louis de Bernieres
The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher
The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon
My Revolutions by Hari Kunzru
Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen
The Dart League King by Keith Lee Morris
A Mercy by Toni Morrison
Steer Toward Rock by Fae Myenne Ng
Netherland by Joseph O'Neill
City of Refuge by Tom Piazza
Home by Marilynne Robinson
Harry, Revised by Mark Sarvas

Indian Cooking

Posted March 5, 2009

Many of us love Indian cuisine and are more than willing to travel to Devon Avenue to get the best the city has to offer. Cooking Indian food at home, however, can seem intimidating. It doesn’t need to be. You can find an array of cookbooks at the Chicago Public Library that will walk you through the steps of making your favorite Indian curry, saag paneer, or chicken vindaloo to enjoy at home. Madhur Jaffery, who the New York Times called "the Indian cuisine authority," is the author of over a dozen popular cookbooks. Jaffery's very popular Indian Cooking covers techniques and ingredients in addition to providing some outstanding recipes. Some of Jaffery's other excellent titles include From Curries to Kabobs and Madhur Jaffery's Spice Kitchen. If you are a fan of curry, then the recently published 660 Curries by Ragahvan Iyer is the cookbook for you. According to Publishers Weekly, "Iyer makes the enormous spectrum of Indian curry dishes enticing and accessible in this hefty tome, bound to be a must-have for lovers of Indian cuisine." For a traditional approach to Indian food, try Cuisines of India, in which each chapter covers a distinct region of India and its cuisine. A very vegetarian friendly cuisine, there are a host of books that cover meatless Indian cooking, including India's Vegetarian Cooking, Indian Vegetarian Cooking from an American Kitchen, and The Indian Vegetarian. This is just a small sample of what is available at the Chicago Public Library; check out our catalog for more books on Indian cooking.

Neal Bascomb Reading

Posted March 3, 2009

Adolf Eichmann, the infamous Nazi war criminal, fled after the war and lived for many years under an alias in Argentina until he was captured by the Mossad and tried for his crimes. (It was Eichmann who inspired philosopher Hannah Arendt to coin the phrase "banality of evil.") Author Neal Bascomb delves into this story and reportedly unearths some startling new findings in Hunting Eichmann: How a Band of Survivors and a Young Spy Agency Chased Down the World's Most Notorious Nazi. Mr. Bascomb is a rising star of narrative nonfiction, with several acclaimed works that reveal a gift for selecting broadly appealing topics: the seeds of the Russian Revolution in Red Mutiny: Eleven Fateful Days on the Battleship Potemkin; the race to break the four-minute mile in The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It; and the pre-Depression competition to build the tallest skyscraper in Higher: A Historic Race to the Sky and the Making of a City. Please join us as we welcome Mr. Bascomb for a reading from his latest book next Wednesday, March 11th at the Harold Washington Library Center's Cindy Pritzker Auditorium.

Around the World with Mysteries: Edinburgh

February 26 2009 12:00 AM GMT

Posted February 26, 2009

For out latest installment of "Around the World with Mysteries" we've decided to take you to the capital city of Scotland. With his 19th entry in the Inspector John Rebus series, Ian Rankin has certainly done his fair share to bring attention to his home city of Edinburgh. The first entry in the series, Knots and Crosses, introduces mystery lovers to Inspector Rebus as he attempts to solve the mystery of a series of murders of young girls. Rankin made quite the impression with his debut, prompting reviewers to name him "a newcomer to watch" because of his writing style and his "...Solidly-drawn characters, keen psychological insights and an intriguing, well-knit plot." In his latest entry, Exit Music, we find Rebus on the verge of retirement when the case of a dead Russian poet lands on his desk. Once again, Rankin received high praise from critics, and while this may be the last entry in the series, at least one reviewer is holding out hope that John Rebus will return.

Another popular series to call Edinburgh home comes from the prolific Alexander McCall Smith. His Isabel Dalhousie series stars Dalhousie as moral philosopher and editor of "The Review of Applied Ethics." Readers will find a far more civilized Edinburgh featured as the backdrop of this series, but not to worry, there is still some foul play to be uncovered. Kicking off with The Sunday Philosophy Club we find Ms. Dalhousie drawn into the death of a young man after she witnesses his fatal fall during a concert she's attending. Booklist noted the "...author's gentle humor and keen insights into human nature..." as part of the draw of this series, now in its fifth iteration with The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday.

For those who enjoy their mysteries with a little more grit we turn to Whitbread winner Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie series. While it began in Cambridge with Case Histories, the series soon moved to Edinburgh in One Good Turn when PI Brodie follows his girlfriend to an arts festival and becomes embroiled in a case after witnessing an instance of road rage. Atkinson then fully embraces the Edinburgh landscape in the latest and most acclaimed entry to date, When Will There Be Good News? Library Journal practically gushes, "[e]vocative, smart, literary, and funny, Atkinson's third novel...is both complicated and a page-turner." Sounds like a winner to us, and after three entries in the series we're looking forward to more Edinburgh intrigue from Atkinson.

81st Oscars

Posted February 24th, 2009

Change has come to the Oscars. Gone was the snarky, roast-like tone of yesteryear. Instead, this year's redesigned broadcast emphasized appreciation over mockery, and, for once, its producers seemed to remember that the ceremony should be about this year's best movies - all of them, including romance, action and comedy pictures that never get nominated. For the acting awards, five stars who had previously won the award paid touching tribute to each nominee, which went a long way towards restoring the honor in the old saying, "it's an honor just to be nominated." A quote used during the presentation of a humanitarian award to Jerry Lewis sustained the inspirational tone: "I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good thing, therefore, that I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." (According to The Home Book of Quotations, the quote has been attributed to various people over the years, including Emerson and Carlyle, but is usually attributed to Stephen Grellet, a Quaker Minister born in the 18th Century.)

The big winner of the evening, as widely predicted, was Slumdog Millionaire, which took home Best Picture and Director among many other awards. Director Danny Boyle kept an old promise to his children that if he ever won he'd hop on the stage like Tigger, the beloved A.A. Milne character who made his debut in The House At Pooh Corner. (Say, why not read the book to your children and see where you end up?) As with many of the nominees, Slumdog is not yet available on video, but the library does have the popular book it was based on, as well as the Oscar winning soundtrack. Meanwhile, if the ceremony revved you up to watch some great movies, here's a list of this year's winners and nominees that are currently available:

Winnners available on DVD
The Dark Knight - Best Supporting Actor
The Duchess - Best Costume Design
Man on Wire - Best Feature Documentary
Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Best Supporting Actress
Wall-e - Best Animated Feature

Nominees available on DVD (various categories)
Encounters at the End of the World
Frozen River
In Bruges
Iron Man
Kung Fu Panda
Tropic Thunder
The Visitor
Wanted

Presidents' Day: The Women Behind the Men

Posted February 19, 2009

February is a great time to learn about the history of U.S. presidents, as two of our most celebrated, Washington and Lincoln, were both born this month. But the spouses of these great men were pretty interesting historical figures themselves: Dolley Madison donned elaborate turbans, threw fabulous parties and used snuff tobacco; Nellie Taft is responsible for the beautiful cherry trees in the capital; and as a delegate of the United Nations, Eleanor Roosevelt chaired the committee that drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. If you think the media frenzy surrounding the Obamas is bad, read something about Frances Cleveland: she was so popular that when the press ran a fabricated story claiming the First Lady had stopped wearing the bustle, scores of American women also stopped wearing it. Even though she had done no such thing, Frances then followed suit. If you are interested in these fun and often surprising facts about the first ladies, check out The Secret Lives of the First Ladies by Cormac O'Brien. For something more substantial on presidential wives, try First Ladies by Margaret Truman, daughter of Bess and Harry. Or why not take a look at a biography of your favorite first lady? The following titles are some of the most popular:

Martha Washington: First Lady of Liberty by Helen Bryan
Dearest Friend: A Life of Abigail Adams by Lynne Whitey
A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation by Catherine Allgor
Mrs. Lincoln by Catherine Clinton
Nellie Taft: The Unconventional First Lady of the Ragtime Era by Carl Sferrazza Anthony
Eleanor Roosevelt by Blanche Wiesen Cook
Bess Truman by Margaret Truman
America's Queen by Sarah Bradford
Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton
Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady by Ronald Kessler
Michelle: A Biography by Liza Mundy

51st Grammy Awards

Posted February 17, 2009

The 51st Grammys were presented last week where, among other highlights, Chicagoan Jennifer Hudson gave a moving performance and took home an award for best R&B album for her self-titled debut. Alison Krauss and Robert Plant were the big winners of the night: their album Raising Sand received five awards. It was no surprise that Coldplay's Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends won the best rock album or that Lil Wayne won best rap album for Tha Carter III. The British female vocalists didn't leave empty handed either: Adele, whose album 19 has garnered critical acclaim, won best new artist, and Duffy's Rockferry won best vocal pop album. Chicagoan Kanye West and Estelle took home an award for best rap-sung collaboration for "American Boy" featured on Shine. In addition to the many awards, there were also some fabulous performances, including hip – hop dream team Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, T.I. and the very pregnant M.I.A. Stevie Wonder joined the Jonas Brothers, and teen superstars Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift sang a duet. Check out some of these Grammy winners:

Contemporary R&B Album: Growing Pains / Mary J. Blige
Country Album: Troubadour / George Strait
Traditional Blues Album: One Kind Favor / B.B. King
Jazz Vocal Album: Loverly / Cassandra Wilson
Latin Pop Album: La Vida - Es Un Ratico / Juanes
Latin Urban Album: Los Extraterrestres / Wisin y Yandel
Electronic Dance Album: Alive 2007 / Daft Punk
Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Juno / Various Artists
Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album: Thy Kingdom Come/ CeCe Winans
Traditional Gospel Album: Down in New Orleans / The Blind Boys of Alabama

Lincoln Bicentennial 1809-2009

Posted February 12, 2009

This week kicks off many year-long celebrations of Lincoln's 200th birthday. At the Harold Washington Library Center an exhibit focusing on the many images of our 16th president, "Tall Man of Destiny: Images of Abraham Lincoln," opened on February 9th and will run through February 28, 2010. Lincoln will also feature prominently in our Summer Reading Program this year which runs from June through August. In the fall Chicago's Newberry Library will host "With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Exhibition," the Library of Congress' traveling exhibition which opens in D.C. on February 12th. You can already check out the companion book, In Lincoln's Hand: His Original Manuscripts, edited by Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer. Holzer also recently penned Lincoln: President-Elect: Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter 1860-1861 which describes in great detail the four months between Lincoln's election and inauguration.

Holzer's is only the first in a long line of new books being released about Lincoln. Two of the titles getting a lot of early buzz are A. Lincoln by Ronald C. White and Michael Burlingame's two volume Abraham Lincoln: A Life. At 2,000 pages we'd have to say Burlingame's well reviewed title will put any Lincoln buff to the test. White's book is also much anticipated and touted by some as the best book on the subject since David Herbert Donald's Lincoln. Of course, these are just the latest, and it's yet to be seen if they will top the best seller lists like some of their predecessors; namely, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin and Manhunt: The Twelve Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson. Below you will find a list of many more titles on arguably the most written about president in history.

1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History by Charles Bracelen Flood
Abraham Lincoln: A Presidential Life by James M. McPherson
Angels and Ages: A Short Book about Lincoln, Darwin, and Modern Life by Adam Gopnik
Did Lincoln Own Slaves?: and other Frequently Asked Questions about Abraham Lincoln by Gerald J. Prokopowicz
Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln by John Stauffer
Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America by Allen C. Guelzo
Lincoln at Peoria: The Turning Point: Getting Right with the Declaration of Independence by Lewis E. Lehrman
Looking for Lincoln: The Making of an American Icon by Philip B. Kunhardt III, Peter W. Kunhardt and Peter W. Kunhardt Jr
The Radical and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics by James Oakes
Re-electing Lincoln: The Battle for the 1864 Presidency by John Waugh
"They have killed Papa dead!": The Road to Ford's Theatre, Abraham Lincoln's Murder, and the Rage for Vengeance by Anthony S. Pitch
Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief by James M. McPherson

T.C. Boyle

Posted February 5th, 2009

The Chicago Public Library is pleased to host a reading by famed author T.C. Boyle on February 17th at 6pm. Boyle will be reading from his highly-anticipated latest novel, The Women, based on the life of legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright and told through the experiences of the four women who loved him. Given Boyle's success in tackling other American icons (John Harvey Kellogg in The Road the Wellville, Alfred Kinsey in The Inner Circle), Wright seems like perfect territory for him, and Booklist reviewer Donna Seaman confirms that expectation, declaring, "Boyle is electrifying in this gorgeous novel of artistic conviction, exalted romance, and appalling moral failings." T.C. Boyle has been writing acclaimed novels and short story collections for thirty years now (The Descent of Man was published in 1979), and he's especially celebrated for the stunning diversity of his subjects and his sparkling sense of humor. Some of his other well-known novels include Tortilla Curtain, Drop City, World's End, and Talk Talk. Please consider joining us for this exciting event.

D.I.Y. Film Fest: Love Hurts

Posted February 03, 2008

It's that time of year once again. Love is in the air. Or is it? Anyone who's tried their hand at love knows that it doesn't always go how you'd like. In honor of all of those who've loved and lost (and who hasn't?) we’ve come up with a list of movies that capture the highs and lows of love.

Annie Hall
Body Heat
The Break-up
Closer
Dangerous Liaisons
Double Indemnity
Intolerable Cruelty
Lolita
Match Point
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Remains of the Day
War of the Roses

John Updike 1932-2009

January 29 2009 12:00 AM GMT

Posted January 29, 2009

Updike is probably best known for his contributions to The New Yorker magazine (read their tributes online) and his series featuring Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, which began with Rabbit, Run and continued with Rabbit Redux, Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest, the latter two of which both won him the Pulitzer Prize in 1982 and 1991, respectively. In 2008 Updike produced his latest work of fiction The Widows of Eastwick, a follow-up to his 1984 novel The Witches of Eastwick, which was adapted to film in 1987. In 2007 the inexhaustible writer released his latest work of nonfiction, Due Considerations: Essays and Criticisms. And, in 2006 the famed author offered up a 9/11 novel with Terrorist. These last three works are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many contributions John Updike made to the literary world throughout his long and exemplary career. He will be missed.

President Obama

Posted January 29, 2009

Back in November we noted several recently published and forthcoming books about then President-elect Barack Obama. Since Obama has since been sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, we thought it would be an ideal time to tell you about some more books the have been published or will soon be published about the President. There are several pictorial works in this new batch and What Obama Means by Jabari Asim. Mr. Asim will be discussing his book at an event at Harold Washington Library Center on February 19th, 2009. The Washington Post notes, "Asim makes a plausible case that Obama's inauguration will usher in a renewed commitment to social justice tempered by a cool-headed pragmatism -- an end to the divisive and counterproductive racial politics that has come to dominate civil rights activism since the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr." Check out the following new Obama books:

The Rise of Barack Obama by Peter Souza
President Obama: the Path to the White House by the editors of Time Magazine
Obama: The Historic Campaigns in Photographs by Deborah Willis and Kevin Merida
What Obama Means by Jabari Asim
Obama: The Historic Front Pages (on order) by David Elliot Cohen
Obama: The Historic Journey (on order) by The New York Times
Inauguration of Barack Obama: A Photographic Journal (on order) by The Washington Post

Sundance

Posted January 27, 2009

The 2009 Sundance Film Festival recently concluded, and the top award went to Push, a movie based on the popular novel of the same name by Sapphire and starring newcomer Gabourey 'Gabby' Sidibe, Mo'Nique (who also took an acting award), the born-and-raised-in-Chicago Sherri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz, and Mariah Carey. (Somewhat confusingly, a Sci-Fi thriller also entitled Push will hit the multiplexes in the next few weeks.) Another adapation that played at the festival is Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, based on the story collection by David Foster Wallace and directed by John Krasinski (of NBC's The Office). Sundance winners rarely arrive in theaters quickly (let alone on dvd), so while we wait for these and other exciting new films, we can occupy ourselves with several Sundance award winners from the last few years that are available on dvd:

Man On Wire [2008 Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema Documentary]
The Wackness [2008 Audience Award, Dramatic]
American Teen [2008 Directing Award, Documentary]
Grace is Gone [2007 Audience Award, Dramatic]
In the Shadow of the Moon [2007 World Cinema Audience Award, Documentary]
War/Dance [2007 Documentary Directing Award]
No End in Sight [2007 Special Jury Prize, Documentary]
Quinceanera [2006 Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award, Dramatic]
Hustle & Flow [2005 Audience Award, Dramatic]
Me and You and Everyone We Know [2005 Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision]
Brick [2005 Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision]
The Squid and the Whale [2005 Dramatic Directing Award, Screenwriting Award]
Thumbsucker [2005 Special Jury Prize for Acting]

Gladwell-esque

Posted January 22, 2009

With Malcolm Gladwell's latest book, Outliers: The Story of Success, topping the bestseller lists, there's been a resurgence of interest in the author who first set readers and critics abuzz in 2000 with The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference and then again in 2005 with Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. We thought we'd put together a list of books in the same vein as Gladwell for those who can't get enough of thought-provoking pop-sociology.

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D Levitt
Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious by Gerd Gigerenzer
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip and Dan Heath
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
Simplexity: Why Simple Things Become Complex (and how complex things can be made simple) by Jeffrey Kluger
Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori Brafman
Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do by Tom Vanderbilt

Celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.

Posted January 20, 2009

The campaign to honor Martin Luther King Jr. with a holiday began shortly after his assassination on April 4, 1968. Ronald Regan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed in 1986. King was one of the most widely admired and influential figures in America's Civil Rights Movement, and there is no dearth of information about the man or the movement. The recently published April 4, 1968 by Michael Eric Dyson examines the impact that King's death had on America and how it affected African-American political leadership. King's Dream by Eric J. Sundquist is an analysis of King's "I have a dream" speech in the political and cultural contexts of the era. For those who are interested in viewing the inspirational and historic speech in its entirety, check out the DVD Martin Luther King: "I Have a Dream." Arguably the most comprehensive examination of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the history of the Civil Rights Movement is Taylor Branch's three volume work collectively called America in the King Years. The award-winning trilogy includes the titles Parting the Waters, Pillar of Fire and At Canaan's Edge. Also of note is the Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. edited by historian Clayborne Carson, who is also the director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. Clayborne drew on previously published and unpublished writings by King for this posthumously published autobiography. For those looking for a far briefer chronicle of King's life, check out the slim biography by Marshall Frady; at less than three-hundred pages, there's just enough to whet your historical appetite. For more information, check out Chicago Public Library's African-American History page which provides some excellent resources for researching the topic.

Poe Bicentennial

Posted January 15, 2009

Guess who's 200 years old next week? That master of mayhem, that heavyweight of horror himself, Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. Best-known (and treasured by lovers of the macabre everywhere) for his tales and poems of gothic horror, Poe was also a pioneer of detective stories and science fiction, and though he was better known in his time as a literary critic, he now looms as one of the early giants of American literature. Without Poe, would we have gotten Stephen King? Tim Burton? Vincent Price? Edward Gorey? A search online turns up a wealth of events planned to celebrate Poe's bicentennial, and apparently, since Poe called many places home in his lifetime, several cities are competing for the honors. Even the U.S. Post Office is getting in on the act, with a commemorative stamp. Likewise, several new raven-decorated books have been published for the occasion, evidence of Poe's far-reaching impact and popularity. From author Peter Ackroyd comes a new brief biography, Poe: A Life Cut Short. The forthcoming anthology In the Shadow of the Master collects classic Poe tales with appreciations from luminaries such as Jeffery Deaver, Nelson DeMille, Tess Gerritsen, Sue Grafton, and Stephen King. And several recent and forthcoming books collect brand new stories inspired by Poe:

Poe's Children: The New Horror ed. by Peter Straub - includes Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Carroll, Kelly Link, Stephen King and others
Poe: 19 New Tales of Suspense, Dark Fantasy, and Horror [forthcoming, on order] ed. by Ellen Datlow - includes Kim Newman, Sharyn McCrumb, Suzy McKee Charnas and others
On a Raven's Wing: New Tales in Honor of Edgar Allan Poe [forthcoming, on order] ed. by Stuart Kaminsky - includes Mary Higgins Clark, Thomas H. Cook, S. J. Rozan and others

Poe has been featured as a character in many novels over the years. Being one of the founding fathers of the detective genre, mystery writers naturally love to feature him as a sleuth. British author Andrew Taylor has written a Poe mystery, Randall Silvis has written two, and Harold Schechter began with Nevermore and continued in a series. And the untimely demise of Poe has inspired authors. George Egon Hatvary's The murder of Edgar Allan Poe explored the circumstances of his death years before Matthew Pearl scored a bestseller with a related premise in The Poe Shadow. Intrigued by Poe's life but more in the mood for romance? Writer John May's Poe & Fanny may fit the bill.

And, of course, there are many classic editions of Poe's best stories and poems:
The collected tales and poems of Edgar Allan Poe
The complete tales and poems of Edgar Allan Poe
18 best stories by Edgar Allan Poe ed. by Vincent Price and Chandler Brossard

To Your Health

Posted January 13, 2009

It's the beginning of a new year, and most of us have made a resolution of some kind. If you're like us, better health and fitness are right at the top of your list. There is no shortage of books and DVDs to help you get started. Everyone from Oprah's diet guru, Bob Greene, to one of The Biggest Loser's trainers, Bob Harper, has a new book out. If you're not quite sure which Bob is right for you, why not check out a copy before you go out and buy it, only to find their style doesn’t work for you? It might help you work on another resolution – to be fiscally fit.

Books:
The Best Life Diet Cookbook by Bob Greene
Are You Ready!: Take Charge, Lose Weight, Get in Shape, and Change Your Life Forever by Bob Harper
Joy's Life Diet: Four Steps to Thin Forever by Joy Bauer
Flat Belly Diet: A Breakthrough Plan from the editors of Prevention by Liz Vaccariello and Cynthias Sass
The 4 Day Diet by Ian K. Smith
Eat This Not That, Supermarket Survival Guide: The No Diet Weight Loss Solution by David Zinczenko with Matt Goulding
Women's Health Perfect Body Diet: The Ultimate Weight Loss and Workout Plan to Drop Stubborn Pounds and Get Fit for Life by Cassandra Forsythe
Biggest Loser Family Cookbook: Budget-friendly Meal Your Whole Family Will Love by Devin Alexander

DVDs:
The Biggest Loser: The Workout 1 and 2
Women's Health: Ultimate Fat Burn
Total Workout in Ten!
Dance Off the Inches, Hip Hop Party
Taebo Get Celebrity Fit Cardio; Sculpt
Boot Camp Total Body Blast
Pilates Weight Loss Workout for Dummies

Around the World with Mysteries: Paris

Posted January 8, 2009

Continuing with our series of mysteries set in enticing locales from around the world, we are traveling to the cosmopolitan city of Paris this month. One of the most popular series set in this famous city features Aimee Leduc, a hip private investigator with a quick wit and a penchant for vintage clothing. Written by Cara Black, the series started ten years ago with Murder in the Marais and continues most recently with Murder in the rue de Paradis, in which Aimee tries to solve her ex-boyfriend's mysterious murder. The most famous sleuth to solve crimes in and around Paris is the gruff, pipe-smoking police detective Maigret. Created by the prolific Georges Simenon, Maigret, who prefers his intuition to evidence, appeared in numerous novels and short stories between 1931 and 1972; try Maigret and the Yellow Dog or Maigret Bides His Time. Another lesser-known Paris Commissare is Jean Baptise-Adamsberg, featured in Fred Vargas's books; the most recent installment is the humorous This Night's Foul Work. And if you are a fan of the comedic mystery, you should also check out Chris Ewan's second mystery with burglar and crime writer Charlie Howard, A Good Thief's Guide to Paris. Also of note is Murder on the Eiffel Tower by Claude Izner, the first of what looks to be a promising series set in the late 19th-century Paris at the time of the World's Fair. Amateur detective Victor Legris, a bookseller, is investigating a series of strange deaths thought to be caused by bee stings, but he suspects something more sinister. Publishers Weekly notes, "The taut pacing and vivid period detail will have readers eagerly turning the pages." Also set at the World's Fair of 1889 in Paris, where a society of the world's best detectives meet, is Paris Enigma by Pablo de Santis. If the Jazz age is more your thing, then check out the most recent installment in the Joe Sandilands series, Folly du Jour by Barbara Clevery. Set in 1920's Paris with Josephine Baker as a character, the novel was praised by Library Journal for its "evocative narrative, sensitive characterizations, artful dialogue, and masterly plottings." It is no wonder that it attracts tourist from all across the world, there is something for every mystery fan to enjoy in Paris.

Winter Wonders: Book Preview

January 6, 2009

With Winter well under way and the days finally starting to get longer, we look ahead to the big books of season - specifically, at books published in December and forthcoming in January and February. It's traditionally the publishing industry's quietest time of the year, but as always, there's more than one person can possibly read. Perennial fixtures of the bestseller lists like James Patterson, Janet Evanovich, John Grisham and Danielle Steel have new novels, and the season also sees new work from several of the reigning titans of African American fiction, including E. Lynn Harris, Mary Monroe, and Carl Weber. Beyond the expected bestsellers, we look forward to new works from T.C. Boyle, Louise Erdrich, Elie Wiesel and the mother-son mystery writing team known as Charles Todd. Further highlights include a thriller about Charles Dickens from rising author Dan Simmons, a memoir from the writer of the "Ask Amy" column, a history of Sesame Street, and several new books to help cope in our challenging economy.

Anticipated Blockbusters
Charlemagne Pursuit by Steve Berry
Dark of Night by Suzanne Brockmann
Scarpetta by Patricia D. Cornwell
Born to Run by James Grippando
Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich
Associate by John Grisham
Basketball Jones by E. Lynn Harris
She Had It Coming by Mary Monroe
Fool by Christopher Moore
Night and Day by Robert B. Parker
Run for Your Life by James Patterson
Best of Everything by Kimberla Lawson Roby
One Day at a Time by Danielle Steel
Mounting Fears by Stuart Woods
Up to No Good by Carl Weber

More Hot Fiction
Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker
Women by T. C. Boyle
Red Convertible (Stories) by Louise Erdrich
Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos
Piano Teacher by Janice Y. K. Lee
Drood by Dan Simmons
Mad Desire to Dance by Elie Wiesel

Hot Mysteries
Spade & Archer: The Prequel to Dashiell Hammett's the Maltese Falcon by Joe Gores
Nemesis by Jo Nesbo
A Matter of Justice by Charles Todd
Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear

Notable Nonfiction
Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street by Michael Justin Davis
Mighty Queens of Freeville by Amy Dickinson (aka "Ask Amy")
Mrs. Astor Regrets by Meryl Gordon
Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
Invention of Air by Steven Johnson
Things I've Been Silent About by Azar Nafisi
Wall Street Journal Guide to the End of Wall Street as We Know It by Dave Kansas
Wall Street Journal Complete Home Owner's Guidebook by David Crook
Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 by Paul Krugman
Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan by Suze Orman

In Memoriam

December 30 2008 12:00 AM GMT

Posted December 30, 2008

This was a very sad year indeed for the literary world. Many fine writers were lost, and they will be missed, but thanks to their fine contributions they will not soon be forgotten. Below is just a sampling of their vast bodies of work.

William F. Buckley, Jr. 1925-2008, founder of the National Review and writer
God and Man at Yale: The Superstitions of "Academic Freedom"
Getting it Right: a novel
Flying High: Remembering Barry Goldwater
The Reagan I Knew

Arthur C. Clarke 1917-2008, writer
2001, a Space Odyssey
Childhood's end
Rendezvous with Rama
The light of other days

Michael Crichton 1942-2008, writer
The Andromeda strain
Jurassic Park

Thomas M. Disch 1940-2008, writer
The Wall of America
Camp Concentration
334
On Wings of Song

Robert Fagles 1933-2008, award-winning translator
The Iliad
The Odyssey
The Aeneid

William Gibson 1914-2008, playwright
The miracle worker

Robert Giroux 1914–2008, publisher and editor

Tony Hillerman 1925-2008, writer
Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee series

John Leonard 1939-2008, literary and cultural critic
Smoke and Mirrors : Violence, Television, and Other American Cultures

Gregory Mcdonald 1937-2008, award-winning crime writer
Fletch series
Fletch (film adaptation)

Nuala O'Faolain 1940-2008, journalist, memoirist and novelist
My Dream of You
Story of Chicago May

Randy Pausch 1960-2008, professor
The Last Lecture

Alain Robbe-Grillet 1922-2008, French writer and filmmaker
The Voyeur
Last year at Marienbad (film)

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 1918-2008, writer
One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich

Louis "Studs" Terkel 1912-2008, writer
P.S.: Further Thoughts from a Lifetime of Listening
Touch and Go: A Memoir
Will the Circle be Unbroken?: Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and Hunger for a Faith
Working: People Talk about What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do
Hard times: An Oral History of the Great Depression
Division Street: America

William Wharton ?-2008, painter and writer
Birdy
A Midnight Clear (film adaptation)

Mysteries and Thrillers: The Best of 2008

Posted December 23, 2008

There are several forthcoming mystery and thrillers that we are looking forward to reading in the new year, including Three Weeks to Say Goodbye and Nemesis by Jo Nesbo. However, 2008 was a great year for the genre, and the holiday season is an ideal time to get caught up in a whodunit or a riveting thriller. We compiled a list of some of this year's favorites:

When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson
Atkinson's third novel to feature P.I.Jackson Brodie exhibits multiple storylines and a series of seemingly coincidental events that result in a complex, satisfying mystery.

Winter Study by Nevada Barr
Park ranger Anna Pigeon is part of a research project studying wolves and moose. The animals begin to exhibit bizarre behavior, and a member of the team is found mauled. Was it a wolf or something else? This chilling thriller is Barr’s 14th to feature Pigeon.

The Black Tower by Louis Bayard
Bayard's historical thriller is set in 19th-century Paris. The narrator, Dr. Hector Carpentier, is pulled into a police investigation by Inspector Vidocq after a man carrying a card with Dr. Carpentier's name on it is found murdered.

The Likeness by Tana French
A girl is found dead and she is more than resembles detective Cassie Madddox, she looks exactly like her. The ID on the girl indicates that she is Lexie Madison, an identity that Maddox assumed years ago as an undercover detective. With no leads, Cassie goes undercover as Lexie and returns to the large house where she lived with her fellow graduate students, all possible suspects in her death.

Private Patient by P.D. James
In James's 14th mystery to feature Adam Dalgiesh, the police commander tries to solve the murder of investigative journalist Rhoda Gradwyn, who’s found dead shortly after undergoing a procedure at an exclusive cosmetic surgery clinic.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson
The first in a trilogy from the late Steign Larsson featuring Blomkvist, a formerly respected journalist convicted of libel and about to be jailed when he is hired by Henrik Vanger to investigate the disappearance of his great-niece. Blomkvist procures the help of the eccentric researcher Lisbet Sanders to uncover the dark mystery behind this decades-old case.

Slip of the Knife by Denise Mina
Terry Hewitt, the ex-boyfriend of journalist Paddy Meehan, is found murdered, and the IRA is a likely culprit. When Paddy discovers that she is named in Terry's will, she decides to investigate, but everyone involved seems determined to keep the motive of Terry's death a secret.

The Turnaround by George Pelacanos
Pelacano's gritty novel set in Washington, D.C. revolves around a racially charged incident that has profoundly affected the survivors.

Exit Music by Ian Rankin
Inspector Rebus is ten days from mandatory retirement and attempting to quickly solve the murder of Alexanader Todorov, an expatriate Russian poet, in this intricate police procedural.

Salt River by James Sallis
John Turner is the sheriff of an economically depressed community near Memphis. When the former sheriff’s troubled son crashes a car into City Hall, Turner set out to resolve the crime and makes some startling revelations in this literary outing.

Milton at 400

Posted December 18, 2008

This month saw the 400th anniversary of the birth of John Milton, the great English poet best known for his epic Paradise Lost. (Excerpts can be heard on this NPR web page.) His free speech treatise "Areopagitica" is also often read in schools. In terms of pop culture, these days Milton's influence is probably most strongly felt through the fantasy books of British novelist Philip Pullman, whose His Dark Materials trilogy takes its title from a line in Paradise Lost. Pullman's trilogy, which includes the novels The Golden Compass (also adapted into a movie), The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass, are partly a reimagining of Milton's work.

Several new books commemorate the quadricentennial, including Milton: Poet, Pamphleteer, and Patriot by Anna R. Beer and John Milton: Life, Work, and Thought (on order) by Gordon Campbell and Thomas N. Corns. Another recent title of interest is Nigel Smith's Is Milton better than Shakespeare?. Milton enthusiasts may also be interested in a pair of novels that feature Milton as a character. Peter Ackroyd's Milton in America imagines what would have happened if Milton had fled England for Puritan America in 1660. And in Paul West's novella Sporting with Amaryllis, the author imagines the great poet as a randy but inexperienced young lad who is seduced by his muse. 400 years old, but clearly younger than ever.

For the Love of Jane

Posted December 16, 2008

On December 16, Jane Austen will turn a sprightly 233. In honor of her tremendous contributions to literature and popular culture, we thought we'd take this opportunity to point out the ongoing trend of books and movies inspired by her novels. There are those that put modern twists on her timeless stories, like the book credited with heralding in the chick lit genre—Bridget Jones's Diary, with its nod to Pride and Prejudice—and the campy flick, Clueless, an updated take on Emma. Then there are those who have taken it upon themselves to continue Austen's stories, which Elizabeth Aston has done in her Darcy series, which begins with Mr. Darcy's Daughters. Even mystery writers have gotten in on the action. The Jane Austen Mysteries, a series starring Detective Jane Austen, kicks off with Jane and the Unpleasantness of Scargrave Manor. Pride and Prescience is the first in the Mr. and Mrs. Darcy series which features the newlyweds investigating some odd happenings among their friends and families. For more Austen-inspired reads and movies check out the titles below:

Books:
Austenland by Shannon Hale
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James

DVDs:
Becoming Jane
Bride and Prejudice
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Jane Austen Book Club

D.I.Y. Film Fest: Holiday Films

Posted December 11, 2008

With the holiday season in full swing, there's no shortage of films that can heighten the cheer or help you unwind from all the excitement. Here are a few fun facts about some of our favorites: It's A Wonderful Life was considered a box office flop. Miracle on 34th Street was released in the month of May. The beloved song "White Christmas" was first featured in Holiday Inn. The genre includes something for everyone: dramas, comedies, animation, and musicals. We recommend cuddling up on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate while watching one of these Holiday classics:

The Bishop's Wife
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Christmas Carol
Christmas In Connecticut
A Christmas Story
Christmas Vacation
Elf
Holiday Inn
Home Alone
It's a Wonderful Life
Love Actually
Miracle on 34th Street
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Scrooged
White Christmas

Lost in Translation, 2008

Posted December 9, 2008

The English language is so prominent in world culture, it's all too easy for us to overlook authors who contribute in other languages. Recently, the Three Percent blog, among others, has been conducting a campaign to raise awareness of books that are translated into English and published here in the USA. Towards the same end, we take a look back at some of the highlights of the year's translated fiction:

Chicago by Alaa Al Aswany
Everything Under the Sky by Matilde Asensi
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
2666 by Roberto Bolaño
Nazi Literature in the Americas by Roberto Bolaño
Senselessness by Horacio Castellanos Moya
White King by Gy'orgy Dragoman
Detective Story by Kértesz Imre
The Girl on the Fridge by Etgar Keret
Real world by Natsuo Kirino
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Beaufort by Ron Leshem
To Siberia by Per Petterson
Death with Interruptions by Jose Saramago
Camera by Jean-Philippe Toussaint
Friendly Fire: A Duet by A. B. Yehoshua

Also noteworthy, the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature went to Jean-Marie Le Clezio. We have several of his books translated into English. Meanwhile, American publishers have been racing to make his work more available, just an example of something to look forward to in 2009.

Making Our List, Checking it Twice

Posted December 4, 2008

Everyone knows the classic Charles Dickens yuletide tale, A Christmas Carol. But if you're looking for some fresh, more contemporary takes on the holidays, check out some of our other offerings, including a novel by a Pulitzer Prize winner, a collection of stories from America's preeminent humorist, and mysteries that run deeper than "What's beneath the wrapping paper?"

Blue Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews
With only a week left until Christmas, antiques dealer Weezie Foley has her hands full with mysterious break-ins at her shop, some new competition and a grumpy boyfriend. Will Weezie be able to make it a merry Christmas after all?

A Christmas Grace by Anne Perry
Best-selling novelist Perry offers up her sixth Victorian holiday tale, this time set in 1890s Ireland, where a woman has traveled to care for her sick aunt.

Dashing through the Snow by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark
Mother-daughter mystery mavens present their fifth holiday offering, featuring a whole lot of lottery confusion.

The Ecco Book of Christmas Stories edited by Alberto Manguel
A collection of 23 Christmas stories from an impressive slate of authors including: Paul Auster, Truman Capote, Graham Greene, Vladimir Nabokov, among others.

Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
Originally published in 1997, Sedaris's Christmas collection is something of a classic. It has now been reissued with six additional stories of holiday hilarity.

Mr Ives' Christmas by Oscar Hijuelos
From Pulitzer-Prize winning Hijuelos comes the story of a man struggling with the death of his son, who was murdered around Christmastime.

Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan
Red Lobster manager Manny tries to keep up the holiday spirit throughout the restaurant's final day.

The Last Noel by Heather Graham
On Christmas Eve, a gang of on-the-run thieves intrude on a family gathering in this holiday thriller from suspense veteran Graham.

Santa clawed: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery by Rita Mae Brown & Sneaky Pie Brown
Rita Mae and Sneaky Pie pen their first holiday mystery after Santa leaves a corpse under the tree.

Wolfsbane and Mistletoe edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner
Nothing says a holly jolly Christmas like wolfmen, as brought to you by Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mystery Series (which has been adapted into the HBO series, True Blood).

Distinguished Debuts of 2008

Posted December 2, 2008

It's that time of year when "best of" lists begin to appear, and of course we've compiled some of our own to share.

A few authors manage hit the ball out of the park with their first work. Will they be one-hit wonders, or can we look forward to more great work from these new storytellers? We can't wait to find out! In the meantime, here are some of the most critically acclaimed debuts of 2008:

Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan
This collection contains five stories set in present-day Africa (Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Benin) featuring children coping with and attempting to transcend their difficult environments.

Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng
Living in Penang during the WWII era, Philip Hutton, who's half-British and half-Chinese, befriends his next-door neighbor, Mr. Endo, a former Japanese diplomat. When war erupts, Philip finds his loyalty divided between his family and his friend.

Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff
After a disastrous love affair, Willie Upton returns to her hometown of Templeton, New York. When her mother reveals that Willie's unidentified father was from Templeton, she sets out on a genealogical quest to discover her family history.

Telex from Cuba by Rachel Kushner
A rich portrait of pre-Castro Cuba, Kushner's novel is told from multiple points of view, including American ex-pats, Cubans, and a former SS officer, as Batista's government begins to crumble.

The Boat by Nam Le
In this collection of short stories, seven characters are all coping with crises in different corners of the world from Tehran to Columbia to Iowa.

Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles
Bennie is on the way to his daughter's wedding in Los Angeles. After becoming stranded at O'Hare, he decides to compose a searing letter of complaint to American Airlines.

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
Set in the Soviet Union during the 1950's, Smith's debut is part thriller, part historical portrait of the dark days of the Stalinist regime.

Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
Despite his muteness, Edgar has the ability to communicate with the dogs his family breeds in rural Wisconsin. In a modern take on Hamlet, he becomes convinced that his uncle is responsible for the death of his father

You Are Gifted

November 25 2008 12:00 AM GMT

Posted November 25, 2008

The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year and kicks off the holiday shopping season. With the current economic climate many more people will be staying out of stores and looking to reduce the cost of holiday spending. If you’re among those looking for money saving alternatives you might consider turning to some of your favorite hobbies for gift ideas. Whether you sew, knit, or just enjoy creative projects check out one of the many titles we have to inspire gifts with a personal touch. Your friends and family are sure to ooh and aah over your craftiness.

Handmade Christmas by Martha Stewart
Culled from the best of Martha Stewart Living this slim volume has tons of projects for the holidays. Some of the gift ideas include: little fabric books, candles, and keepsake boxes. Martha also covers handmade decorations, gift wrapping, sweet treats, and much more.

Simple Gifts to Stitch: 30 Elegant and Easy Projects by Jocelyn Worrall
These projects can be completed in an afternoon and only require fairly basic sewing skills and a sewing machine. Some of the gift ideas include: faux fur scarf, fanned bag, luxurious throw, decorative pillows, and gifts for babies.

Stitch ‘N Bitch Nation by Debbie Stoller
If knitting is more your speed, check out the many patterns from the Stitch ‘N Bitch folks. They’ve got hats, scarves, leg warmers, arm warmers, sweaters, bags and so much more.

The Happy Hooker: Stitch ‘N Bitch Crochet by Debbie Stoller
Prefer the hook to the needles? Similarly to Stitch ‘N Bitch Nation you can find patterns for scarves, hats, sweaters, and all manner of cozy attire as well as some fun stuff for the home and some special projects for the gadget geeks on your list like a cute ipod cases.

Amigurumi: Super Happy Crochet Cute by Elisabeth A. Doherty
These adorable little Japanese crocheted dolls require very few materials: crochet hook, yarn, stuffing, a couple of notions and a few embellishments. Doherty includes many patterns at various skill levels. Why not make Hep Cat or Benny the Monkey for someone on your gift list?

Last-Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson
Quilting sounds like a time consuming hobby, but Hoverson presents projects ranging from those that take as little as 2 hours to complete to those that can take over 12 hours. Depending on how much time you have you can make a quick and simple flannel baby blanket or throw yourself into the more laborious, but very impressive, log cabin quilt.

Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson
Another title from Hoverson includes great projects for knitters divided by the amount of time they take to complete. Some of the patterns included are angora baby booties in the “Less-than-2 Hour Gifts” chapter and a felted yoga bag that falls in the “4-6 Hour Gifts” category. Other projects vary by time and skill level.

Last-Minute Fabric Gifts by Cynthia Treen
These projects use and reuse fabrics in creative ways and range in amount of time and sewing skills, some actually don’t require any sewing.

Secret Agent Man

Posted November 20, 2008

This past weekend the latest 007 film opened. Quantum of Solace was adapted from a short story by Ian Fleming. It stars Daniel Craig, who made his debut in Casino Royale as the secret agent who prefers his martini "shaken, not stirred." Craig is the sixth actor to have the distinction of playing the world's most sophisticated spy on film since the successful series began in 1962 with Sean Connery in Dr. No, and since then over 20 Bond films have been made! However, before James Bond was a star on the screen, he was the daring secret agent of Ian Fleming's novels and short stories. James Bond's true debut was in the 1953 novel Casino Royale, and Fleming penned twelve novels and nine short stories featuring Bond. Among Fleming's countless fans over the years, President John F. Kennedy included From Russia with Love on a list of his favorite books. Following Fleming's death, several authors continued to use the popular British secret agent as a character, the most recent being Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks.

Following is a list of Bond films with links to dvds (and Bond books of the same title):

Dr. No (Book)
From Russia With Love (Book)
Goldfinger (Book)
Thunderball (Book)
You Only Live Twice (Book)
On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Diamonds Are Forever (Book)
Live and Let Die
Man With The Golden Gun (Book)
The Spy Who Loved Me (Book)
Moonraker (Book)
For Your Eyes Only (Book)
Octopussy (Book)
A View To Kill
The Living Daylights
License to Kill
Goldeneye
Tomorrow Never Dies
The World Is Not Enough
Die Another Day
Casino Royale (Book)

Obama Books

Posted November 18, 2008

This month we Americans chose our next president, and like many before him he just so happens to be an author, and a bestselling author, at that. As the President-elect prepares for office, now seems an appropriate time to inventory some of the more prominent books by and about him, as there will surely be many, many more to come. Of course, the two bestselling autobiographies are Dreams From My Father: a Story of Race and Inheritance and The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. A few more books are based directly on his own words and campaign proposals: Barack Obama in His Own Words, Change We Can Believe In: Barack Obama's Plan to Renew America's Promise (foreward by Obama), and An American Story: the Speeches of Barack Obama. Here are several more titles, pro and con, that have been published so far:

Hopes and Dreams: the Story of Barack Obama by Steve Dougherty
The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality by Jerome R. Corsi
The Case Against Barack Obama by David Freddoso
Can a Catholic Support Him?: Asking the Big Question about Barack Obama by Douglas W. Kmiec
The American Journey of Barack Obama by the editors of Life
The Faith of Barack Obama by Stephen Mansfield
Obama: From Promise to Power by David Mendell
A Bound Man: Why We are Excited about Obama, and Why He Can't Win by Shelby Steele
Barack Obama and the Future of American Politics by Paul Louis Street
Obama's Challenge: America's Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency by Robert Kuttner
Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama by Gwen Ifill (on order)

Preparing the Feast

Posted November 13, 2008

Believe it or not, Thanksgiving is just around the corner, which means that grand American tradition is here: overeating. Whether you're hosting the whole dinner or just contributing a savory side or a sweet treat, you might find you need a little help to find that perfect recipe. Giving Thanks is packed with history, trivia, recipes and charming photos and illustrations depicting the history of this long-celebrated holiday. The recipes cover many traditional dishes, but also include some interesting twists from a variety of cultures such as: a Cuban stuffed turkey, a Portuguese Linguica sausage stuffing, and a Finnish turnip casserole. Another great book for those of you have some vegetarians on your holiday guest list is the Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates. The folks from the famed vegetarian restaurant in Ithaca, New York have put together a collection of recipes for every occasion and they’ve included two menus for Thanksgiving, one vegan and one vegetarian. These are just a couple of titles from the many books we have with tips and tricks for everything from cooking the perfect turkey to creating new traditions to share with your loved ones. Check out some of the titles below before you get cooking.

How to Cook a Turkey: and All the Other Trimmings from the editors of Fine Cooking magazine
Betty Crocker Complete Thanksgiving Cookbook: All You Need to Cook a Foolproof Dinner
The Thanksgiving Table: Recipes and Ideas to Create Your Own Holiday Tradition by Diane Morgan
Feast: Food That Celebrates Life by Nigella Lawson
Thanksgiving 101: Celebrate America's Favorite Holiday with America's Thanksgiving Expert by Rick Rodgers

Vegan and Vegetarian Cooking

Posted November 11, 2008

Ever been at a loss for what to serve to a vegetarian dinner guest? Or considered following the advice of Skinny Bitch and cutting meat and dairy out of your diet? Or maybe you've just wondered what exactly vegans eat? October was Vegetarian Awareness Month and November is Vegan Month, so now is the perfect time to investigate these questions! Flip through a few of our favorite vegan and vegetarian cookbooks to find inspiration for your next meatless dinner. At over 300 pages, Veganomicon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, is full of creative and robust vegan recipes for the more experienced cook. For those just beginning to cook vegan, Student's Go Vegan Cookbook by Carole Raymond offers over 100 easy recipes. If you’re looking for vegan recipes with a more international fare, try Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson. For vegetarians, we suggest getting started with New York Times food columnist Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, a straightforward compendium of meatless dishes many which offer enticing variations on the original recipe. Looking relatively simple vegetarian cuisine? We suggest One-Dish Vegetarian Meals by Robin Robertson. Those with more time and skill should check out Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen. Finally, vegetarians and vegans often socialize and cohabitate with meat eaters. For those who face the challenge of feeding friends and family with disparate diets, The Flexitarian Table by Peter Berley offers "convertible" recipes to satisfy all without requiring the chef to prepare multiple meals.

Based on the Books

Posted November 6, 2008

With rich stories and colorful characters books are natural source material for movies. Film makers have been bringing literature to life for years and this season is no exception. Whether you like to read the book and then see the movie or vice versa we’ve got the books these current and upcoming films are based on.

Currently in Theaters:
Appaloosa - Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris team up once again in this western based on Robert B. Parker’s 2005 novel. Harris also co-wrote the screenplay and directs.

Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist - Michael Cera co-stars in this date movie about two teens’ night out in Manhattan in search of their favorite band’s secret show based on the well reviewed novel by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.

Body of Lies - This film starring two of the biggest names in Hollywood, Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe and directed by Ridley Scott is based on the novel by David Ignatius which was praised by Publisher’s Weekly as, “one of the best post 9/11 thrillers yet.”

The Secret Life of Bees - Dakota Fanning and Jennifer Hudson star in the film adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd’s 2002 debut novel. Set in South Carolina during the sixties the story centers on Lily Owens and her caregiver, Rosaleen, after they are forced to flee their town and are taken in by three bee-keeping sisters who may hold the answers to Lily’s questions about her dead mother’s past.

November Releases:
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - Based on John Boyne’s Holocaust novel about Bruno, a young boy whose family moves from Berlin to the country after his father, a Nazi officer, receives a promotion. From his new home the boy can see a camp where people wear striped pajamas, he secretly befriends one of the boys in the camp and their friendship has unimaginable repercussions.

The Soloist - Based on L.A. Times columnist, Steve Lopez’ memoir about how he met and befriended Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, a classically trained musician who fell on hard times and became homeless due to his struggle with schizophrenia. Robert Downey Jr. plays Lopez and Jamie Foxx stars as Ayers.

Twilight - The long-awaited adaptation of the first book in Stephanie Meyer’s young adult vampire trilogy hits the big screen. This maybe the most anticipated new vampire book-to-movie since Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire.

December Releases:
The Reader - This drama set in post-World War II Germany is based on the book by Bernhard Schlink and stars Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes. Schlink’s book was also one of Oprah’s book club picks.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - This tale of a man who is born old and grows younger is loosely based on a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald and stars Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett.

Marley and Me - Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson star in this family movie based on John Grogan’s account of how he and wife adopted a lovable Labrador pup only to find that he was more than they bargained for.

The Spirit - Based on Will Eisner’s classic comic Frank Miller directs this action flick. Sneak peeks of the trailer reveal that this is very much in the style of Frank Miller’s Sin City. With Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson heading up the cast this is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Revolutionary Road - Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio are together again as the young suburban couple facing marital difficulties and discontent based on Richard Yates classic novel.

Television:

"Dexter" - The darkly comedic and wildly popular show about a serial killer who only kills other serial killers is based on the Dexter Morgan seires by Jeff Lindsay.
Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Dearly Devoted Dexter
Dexter in the Dark

"True Blood" - The new HBO series from "Six Feet Under" creator, Alan Ball is based on Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse Southern vampire series which began with Dead Until Dark.

"Bones" - The Fox series about a forensic anthropologist who writes novels on the side and helps solve murders is inspired by Kathy Reichs, a real-life forensic anthropologist, and her Temperance Brennan series. Series begins with Deja Dead.

Studs Terkel, 1912-2008

Posted November 4th, 2008

Beloved Chicagoan Studs Terkel, author and radio and television personality, died last week at the age of 96. As an author, Terkel (whose nickname derived from the title character in Chicago writer James T. Farrell's Studs Lonigan trilogy) was probably best known for his oral histories, books that turned to ordinary people for an understanding of the great events and experiences of history. Notable examples include Hard Times and Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do (which was also the basis for a musical, the soundtrack of which is available on CD). Terkel's latest book P.S.: Further Thoughts From a Lifetime of Listening has just been published.

Terkel also had an acting career that began in theater. He had a small, honorary role in the film Eight Men Out, about the Black Sox Scandal of 1919, as a newspaper reporter. There's also a documentary (only available on VHS) called Studs Terkel's Chicago. And speaking of movies, local movie house Facets points out that he often joined them to discuss some of his favorites, including: Body and Soul, The Blue Angel and The Grapes of Wrath.

But what better way to honor Terkel's life than to read one of his books? Here's a selection:
Giants of Jazz
Division Street: America
Talking to Myself: A Memoir of My Times
American Dreams: Lost and Found
The Good War (Pulitzer Prize winner)
Chicago
The Great Divide: Second Thoughts on the American Dream
Race: How Blacks and Whites Think and Feel About the American Obsession
Coming of Age: The Story of Our Century by Those Who've Lived It
My American Century
The Spectator: Talk About Movies and Plays With Those Who Make Them
Will the Circle Be Unbroken: Reflections on Death, Rebirth and Hunger for a Faith
Hope Dies Last: Keeping the Faith in Difficult Times
And They All Sang: Adventures of an Eclectic Disc Jockey
Touch and Go

The Political Novel

October 30 2008 12:00 AM GMT

Posted October 30, 2008

With the Presidential election right around the corner, there's no doubt you have heard plenty of political chatter on the television and radio, in the office, and at home. Here at the library, all the buzz has got us thinking about fictional accounts of American politics. Not surprisingly, American political fiction has been around for quite awhile. Henry Adams, the grandson of John Quincy Adams, anonymously published Democracy: An American Novel in 1880, a light satire about a young widow who goes to the nation's capital and hobnobs with Washington insiders. Primary Colors inspired by Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign was also published anonymously. It was later revealed that journalist Joe Klein was the author. One of the more enduring works in the genre, All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren, loosely based on Louisiana governor Huey Long's political career, won a Pulitzer in 1947 and was adapted twice adapted to film. Another Pulitzer winner was Allen Drury's 1959 novel Advise and Consent about a former Communist party member's controversial nomination as Secretary of State. The genre offers something for every reader. Walter F. Starbuck, the protagonist in Kurt Vonnegut's Jailbird, is imprisoned for a minor role in the Watergate Scandal, Thomas Mallon's recent novel Fellow Travelers depicts Washington, D.C. in the McCarthy era, and the recently published American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld is a fictional account of the life of the First Lady.

Here are a few more recommendations for anyone needing a break from campaign coverage but still wanting to stay immersed in the world of politics:

Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley
Getting It Right by William Buckley Jr.
Sammy's House by Kristin Gore
Roscoe by William Kennedy
Echo House by Ward Just
The Running Mate by Joe Klein
Shelley's Heart by Charles McCarry
Lucky Bastards by Charles McCarry
Face Time by Erik Tarloff

Around the World with Mysteries: China

Posted October 28, 2008

With the cost of actual travel so high, armchair travel is looking better than ever. And since one of the great benefits of mystery reading is the opportunity to creep along beside detectives as they investigate the more dangerous and secret spots of the world, those places usually kept hidden from actual tourists, we herewith inaugurate an occasional series of blog posts to gather the best recent mysteries set in a variety of enticing locales from around the world. With the Olympics just past, China seemed the logical place to start.

Diane Wei Liang's recent Beijing-set mystery The Eye of Jade features Mei Wang, a private eye in all but name (the profession is apparently illegal in China), who is hired to track down a precious jade seal from the Han dynasty. The investigation leads her to uncover some disturbing secrets about life during the Cultural Revolution, including some surprising discoveries about her own family. Qiu Xiaolong's popular Inspector Chen series numbers five volumes now. It began with Death of a Red Heroine, and the latest in the series is Red Mandarin Dress. In that most recent mystery, Police Inspector Chen Cao investigates Shanghai's first serial killer, who leaves his victims garbed in the fancy red dresses of the title. Scottish writer Peter May's "China thrillers" are usually set in Beijing and feature the team of American pathologist Margaret Campbell and Chinese deputy section chief Li Yan. The Firemaker kicked off the series, with two later installments published so far in the United States: The Fourth Sacrifice, and most recently The Killing Room in which the duo become involved when the bodies of 18 mutilated women are found at a new Shanghai construction site. Publishers Weekly said of the latest that "May offers a little politics, a little romance and a lot of autopsy details." Definitely sounds like something you won't find in Fodor's.

Haunting Reads

Posted October 23, 2008

Just in time for Halloween, Norton has released The New Annotated Dracula. This new edition, edited by Victorian scholar Leslie S. Klinger, is a treat for all those who love the classic tale. Klinger had access to Bram Stoker's original manuscript and notes, which he used to illuminate the story of the most infamous vampire of all time. Klinger added 1,500 annotations that bring the Victorian period to life and explore the assertion made by Stoker that his most celebrated work was actually based on historical fact. Those craving further insight into the lore of their favorite vamp will be sated by the essays covering topics such as Stoker's career, vampire mythology, and the count on stage and screen. Adding to the fine detail put into this book are the many photos and illustrations that make it a visual feast. And as an added bonus we get an introduction by Neil Gaiman. Of course, Dracula is always fun, but you can find more classic spine-tinglers and new horror stories at many of our branches. The picks below will get you on your way to a very scary All Hallows Eve. For an even more frightful experience try one on audio. We dare you.

Poe's Children : The New Horror: An Anthology edited by Peter Straub - Available on CD
A selection of stories from newcomers to the horror world as well as established masters of the genre.

A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans - Available on CD or downloadable audio
A darkly suspenseful literary thriller with the eerie heart of a ghost story, Evans's debut novel delves into 30-year-old George Davies's childhood memories to reveal ominous visions and mysteries that have been long suppressed.

20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill - Available on CD or downloadable audio
This award-winning collection of short fiction by the New York Times bestselling author of Heart-Shaped Box leads readers into a maze filled with exits into a vast country of the surreal. Available for the first time in the U.S., this volume includes an exclusive bonus story.

Lisey's Story by Stephen King - Available on CD
Two years after the death of enigmatic and celebrated author Scott Landon, his wife Lisey fields inquiries from academics and private collectors requesting his personal letters and unpublished works--if any exist. Then another interested party makes contact by leaving a dead cat in her mailbox. And then the terrifying phone calls begin. Lisey's only escape comes in the strange fantasy world where her husband found his inspiration. Now she must struggle to survive in a place where nightfall brings terrifying danger.

The Keep by Jennifer Egan - Available on CD or downloadable audio
Two cousins, irreversibly damaged by a childhood prank whose devastating consequences changed both their lives, reunite twenty years later to renovate a medieval castle in Eastern Europe, a castle steeped in blood lore and family pride.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova - Available on CD or downloadable audio
A young woman discovers an ancient book and a cache of old letters in her father's library, and thus begins her adventurous quest for the truth about Vlad the Impaler, a search that will span continents and generations, and a confrontation with the darkest powers of evil.

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson - Available on CD or downloadable audio
Robert Neville is the last man on Earth because everyone else has become a vampire. Now Neville must struggle to survive in a world overrun by the bloodthirsty undead. Hunting by day and waiting out the long terror-filled nights, how long can he stay alive?

The Collected Tales of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe
This edition includes classics such as: "The Fall of the House of Usher," "Murders in the Rue Morgue," "The Tell-Tale Heart" plus many more.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - Available on CD or downloadable audio
The world's most famous monster comes to life in this classic novel, a tale that combines Gothic romance and science fiction to tell of a young doctor's attempts to breath life into an artificial man. Despite the doctor's best intentions, the experiment goes horribly wrong.

Dracula by Bram Stoker - Available on CD or downloadable audio
On a journey from Transylvania to the nighttime streets of London, the vampire Dracula seeks blood while his enemies plot to rid the world of his frightful power. Although this classic is a cultural phenomenon that has influenced countless novelists and filmmakers, few retellings are true to the original tale of repression and desire.

Caught Reading on the CTA: Brown Line Edition

Posted October 21, 2008

We've been checking out what Chicago is reading again! This time we've been snooping on Brown Line riders to see what keeps them occupied to and from work. You have eclectic tastes, but you like to read, and we observed many of you toting library books. We spotted you reading crooner Nick Cave's novel And the Ass Saw the Angel and cult favorite Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. We also saw you poring over I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe (whose book The Right Stuff is Chicago Public Library's current One Book selection), The White Mary by Kira Salak and Choke by Chuck Palahniuk, which has recently been adapted for film. We were impressed to see you reading the fourth book of John Updike's Rabbit series, Rabbit at Rest. It also appears you have a bent for the supernatural as we caught you with the popular Twilight by Stephenie Meyer and Lasher by Anne Rice. Here are some other titles we spotted:

Dark Hallow by John Connolly
The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon
False Impressions by Jeffery Archer
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
Second Chance by Jane Green
An Actor's Work: A Student's Diary by Konstantin Stanislavski

Halloween Decorations

Posted October 16, 2008

Need a distraction from the headlines? Halloween is fast approaching, and the holiday festivities are sure to provide scares of a more enjoyable nature. Throwing a party? Looking for recipes? Crafts for the kids? Racking your brain for costume ideas? Or perhaps you just want to sport the coolest jack-o-lantern on your block. Your neighborhood library has resources aplenty. Here's a sample of recent titles:

All new crafts for Halloween by Kathy Ross
Extreme Pumpkin Carving by Vic Hood
Extreme Pumpkins: Diabolical Do-it-yourself Designs to Amuse Your Friends and Scare Your Neighbors by Tom Nardone
Great Pumpkins: Tricks and Treats for Halloween by Peter Cole with Jessica Hurley
Halloween: A Grown-up's Guide to Creative Costumes, Devilish Decor & Fabulous Festivities by Joanne O'Sullivan
Halloween Celebrations: Everything You Need for a Fabulous Halloween Party... ed. by Morgana De Ville
Halloween Recipes and Crafts by Christine Lyseng Savage, Rosa Poulin, and Tamara Eder
Hocus Pocus!: Halloween Crafts for a Spooktacular Holiday

Money Smarts

Posted October 14, 2008

Is all the news about the country's economic crisis keeping you up at night? Are you wondering what to do about your retirement accounts, how to cut costs, or how to pay down your debt? We feel your pain and have a ton of resources to help you become more informed about your money. You can visit our popular topics page on Personal Investing to research stocks, bonds, company information, or just to read up on current financial news. We've also compiled this list of recommended titles on personal investing. You can also check out the titles listed below for more tips on how to weather these difficult times. And just think: they're all free!

You know what else is free? Programs at CPL: as part of our continuing Money Smart series there are some timely programs coming up at various locations, including an Introduction to Investing to be held on October 18th at Sulzer Regional library. You can see the full schedule of upcoming programs here.

America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money : Your Guide to Living Better, Spending Less, and Cashing in on Your Dreams by Steve and Annette Economides
Everything Personal Finance in Your 20s and 30s: Erase Your Debt, Personalize Your Budget, and Plan Now to Secure Your Future by Debby Fowles
Busy Family's Guide to Money by Sandra Block, Kathy Chu, and John Waggoner
The Budget Kit: The Common Cents Money Management Workbook by Judy Lawrence
Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ : It's Time to Get Smarter with Your Money by Robert T. Kiyosaki
The Road to Wealth : A Comprehensive Guide to Your Money by Suze Orman
Yes, You Can Get a Financial Life! : Your Lifetime Guide to Financial Planning by Ben Stein and Phil DeMuth
Retire Happy : What You Can Do Now to Guarantee a Great Retirement by Ralph Warner and Richard Stim
The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing by Jason Kelly
The Little Book that Builds Wealth : Morningstar's Knock-Out Formula for Finding Great Investments by Patrick Dorsey
The Mortgage Answer Book by John J. Talamo
Fight Foreclosure! : How to Cope with a Mortgage You Can't Pay, Negotiate with Your Bank, and Save Your Home by David Petrovich
The Credit Repair Handbook : Everything You Need to Know to Maintain, Rebuild, and Protect Your Credit by John Ventura

Louise Glück

Posted October 9, 2008

Please join us on October 21st for a reading and book signing with former U.S. Poet Laureate Louise Glück! Among Glück’s numerous books of poetry, Averno (2006) was a finalist for the National Book Award in Poetry, The Wild Iris (1992) received a Pulitzer Prize, and The Triumph of Achilles (1985) received the National Book Critics Circle Award. She has also been awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim and Rockefeller foundations and the National Endowment for the Arts. Recently in the Washington Post, fellow poet and author Mary Karr wrote of Glück: "The way mere ruins of the Coliseum evoke lost grandeur more than a newly articulated structure, or the way a few strokes from Picasso conjure a whole guitar, so Glück's plain speech makes maximum impact in smallest space." This event is co-sponsored by the Poetry Foundation in celebration of the 54th annual Poetry Day; you can check out a few of Glück's poems in their online archive, and you can find more of her books at the library.

Paul Newman (1925 - 2008)

Posted October 7, 2008

Paul Newman, who died last month at the age of 83, was one of the biggest stars in American history. He was also an excellent actor, which isn't always true of big Hollywood stars, and when you consider that he was a significant humanitarian, our loss seems all the greater. Fortunately, Newman left a tremendous body of work for film lovers to remember him by. Newman broke into the film business in the 50s, around the same time as James Dean (which puts Dean's early death into even sadder perspective), but lived long enough to charm today's youngest audiences by voicing a character in the Pixar movie Cars. He's left quite a legacy to celebrate. Here are just some of the most notable Paul Newman films available on dvd from the library's collection:

The Long Hot Summer
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
The Hustler
Exodus
Hud
Cool Hand Luke
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
The Sting
The Verdict
The Color of Money
The Hudsucker Proxy
Road to Perdition
Empire Falls
Road to Perdition
Cars

DIY Film Fest: Flights of Fancy

Posted October 02, 2008

We began celebrating our fall One Book, One Chicago selection a little early this year. Back in August there was a film screening of The Right Stuff at Grant Park. The 1983 film was an award-winning adaptation of Tom Wolfe's classic based on the true story of the seven men who were chosen to man the first space flight, known as Project Mercury. Now that we've got the flying bug, we thought we'd put together a list of some great movies and documentaries that play off the theme of pilots, flight and space exploration.

Apollo 13
Tom Hanks stars as Jim Lovell, lead astronaut of Apollo flight 13, the historic mission that experienced technical difficulties of grave proportions, prompting Lovell to utter the unforgettable phrase, "Houston, we have a problem."

2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick's classic film was said to be ahead of its time when it was released in 1968, winning an Academy Award for its visually stunning special effects, and made yet another contribution to pop culture with the introduction of the HAL 9000, a computer that takes control of the ship shuttled by Dave Bowman and Frank Poole.

Sunshine
This 2007 film starring Cillian Murphy and Michelle Yeoh set 50 years in the future has a team of astronauts trying to save the sun from dying out, but it's no easy feat, and the crew struggles to survive the mission.

Serenity
This feature film spun off from the short-lived Fox series Firefly features a stellar cast and an edge-of-your-seat space adventure. Led by a rogue captain the crew of the Firefly has unwittingly taken aboard two fugitives, a troubled young woman and her protective brother. Now they must flee from the authorities and hope that they make it out alive.

Top Gun
A very young Tom Cruise stars as Maverick, the guy with a need for speed trying to out-fly everyone and win the girl at the U.S. Navy's fighter-weapons school, Top Gun.

In the Shadow of the Moon
This 2007 documentary explores the history of the Apollo space program by presenting archival film footage from NASA as well as never before seen interviews with the surviving astronauts who lived through this historic period.

From the Earth to the Moon
This 5-disc set collects the 12-hour HBO miniseries presented by Tom Hanks. It chronicles the Apollo missions from President Kennedy's speech calling for the program to reach the moon within a decade to the pinnacle of that quest and all the ups and downs in between.

Chicago Book Festival

September 30 2008 12:00 AM GMT

Posted September 30, 2008

Fall is upon us, and the Chicago Book Festival, a celebration of books, authors and reading during the month of October, is one of the great events of the season. This year we can look forward to programs with Jonathan Kozol, Louise Glück, and Sarah Vowell (promoting her latest book, The Wordy Shipmates), just to name a few. You can also join Josh Elder to learn about creating comics; or attend Writers on Record with Victoria Lautman featuring Egyptian author Alaa al Aswany. Bring your appetite for the culinary talk and tour with Marilyn Pocius, author of A Cook's Guide to Chicago (Where to Find Everything You Need and Lots of Things You Didn't Know You Did); or if you're a poetry fan, don't miss Li-Young Lee reading from his most recent collection, Behind My Eyes. Don't forget about the many One Book, One Chicago programs taking place this month as well, including discussions, exhibits, panels, performances and screenings focused on our Fall 2008 book, Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff. There is a wide variety of Chicago Book Festival events happening at the Chicago Public Library and many other venues throughout the city. Every book lover will find something of interest at this year's CBF, so join the celebration!

Fall Into Books

Posted September 25, 2008

This week Autumn officially begins. The kids are going back to school, the weather is cooling down, and as the nights get longer we look forward to curling up with some good book. To that end, we present a list of some of the biggest, most anticipated books of the Fall season, followed by a second list of books flying slightly lower on the radar but which also sound particularly promising.

The Big Books of Fall
September
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
Indignation by Philip Roth
Anathem by Neal Stephenson
Other Queen by Philippa Gregory
Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman
One Fifth Avenue by Candace Bushnell
The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly
Given Day by Dennis Lehane
Hot Mahogany by Stuart Woods

October
Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire
The Widows of Eastwick by John Updike
Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass
A Most Wanted Man by John le Carré
Death with Interruptions by Jose Saramago
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh

November
Tales from the Perilous Realm by J. R. R. Tolkien
Cross Country by James Patterson
Divine Justice by David Baldacci
Dying for Revenge by Eric Jerome Dickey
Midnight: A Gangster Love Story by Sister Souljah
Just After Sunset: Stories by Stephen King
A Mercy by Toni Morrison
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
The Private Patient by P D James

Staff Picks: Beyond the Blockbusters of the Fall lineup:
When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson (Sep)
Fabergé's Eggs: The Extraordinary Story of the Masterpieces That Outlived an Empire by Toby Faber (Oct)
Chicago by Alaa Al Aswany (Oct)
Fault Lines by Nancy Huston (Oct)
New Annotated Dracula by Bram Stoker (Oct)
John Lennon: The Life by Philip Norman (Nov)
2666 by Roberto Bolaño (Nov)
Bamboo and Blood: An Inspector O Novel by James Church (Nov)

Real Bookish

Posted September 23, 2008

Do you ever feel that your book club has become a chore? The folks over at Real Simple may have just the thing for you. In the current issue RS asks readers, "What is the best book your book club has read?" We think that's a terrific question. What's even better is that RS is starting their very own book club, the No-Obligation Book club. This is how it works. Every month a RS editor chooses four titles. You vote on which one should be read for the month. During the month, the editor will post their thoughts on the book and facilitate the discussion online. You can jump in when you like by commenting, or not, whatever suits you. It's the same process every month with a different book, but the past discussions remain online so you can always go back and comment. They still have a lively discussion going for their inaugural book club selection, Nora Ephron's I Feel Bad About My Neck. Ephron's book beat out The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman. Interested in joining? You can go here to vote for October's pick. The four contenders are listed below and can be found at the Chicago Public Library. The Real Simple line of books is also available at various branches of the Library.

Brother I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat
The Book of Other People edited by Zadie Smith
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Run by Ann Patchett

And some highlights from Real Simple readers' book club picks, also available at CPL:
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore
Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hal
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
Little Heathens : Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish
The Quality of Life Report by Meghan Daum
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

Hispanic Heritage Month

Posted September 18, 2008

Yesterday was the start of Hispanic Heritage Month and the Chicago Public Library is celebrating by offering a variety of programs throughout the month, so please join us. Hispanic Heritage month is also an ideal time to highlight some novels by Hispanic authors. Dominican-American author Junot Diaz was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction this year for his excellent debut novel The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Fans of Diaz’s wonderful short story collection, Drown, waited a decade for Oscar, the overweight nerdy protagonist who dreams of becoming a fantasy writer. Diaz visited the Chicago Public Library last week to talk with Victoria Lautman. If you missed the event, you can listen to the interview in MP3 format at Writers on the Record with Victoria Lautman. Speaking of Pulitzer winners, Oscar Hujelos won the 1990 Pulitzer for Fiction, the first American-born Hispanic author to do so, for his novel Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. The story about two brothers who emigrate from Cuba to New York City in 1949 was also adapted into a film. We also recommend The House on Mango Street, a series of vignettes in the life of Esperanza Cordero, a young girl growing up in Chicago, and Caramelo, narrated by Lala, the youngest of a large Mexican American family recounting her family’s history as they travel to and from Mexico. Both books are by poet and author Sandra Cisneros, who was born in Chicago in 1954. Luis Alberto Urrea, who currently resides in the Chicago area, rigorously researched the life of his great aunt, Teresa, for the historical novel The Hummingbird’s Daughter. You can check out a recent review of this title on the We Recommend section of our website or an interview with the author on the literary weblog The Elegant Variation. These are just a few of many titles that we have enjoyed. For more recommendations check out Hispanic Heritage Month: A Selected Bibliography featuring music, movies and more books.

David Foster Wallace, RIP

Posted September 16, 2008

The much too premature death of author David Foster Wallace has shaken the world of literature this week. There are abundant appreciations and memorials on the web. A few highlights: Time Magazine, Mark Caro in the Chicago Tribune, Laura Miller on Salon.com, Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times, and Dwight Garner on the Paper Cuts blog. Meanwhile, McSweeneys is assembling "memories, anecdotes and encounters" which they will be posting throughout the week. And Believer has made available an interview that Dave Eggers conducted with Wallace.

What better way to remember the writer than to read his work? His most famous book, of course, is that notorious doorstopper Infinite Jest, but Wallace is very much loved for his nonfiction and his stories as well.

Selected Books by David Foster Wallace:
Consider the Lobster (essays, 2005)
Oblivion (stories, 2004)
Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity (nonfiction, 2003)
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (stories, 1999)
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again (essays, 1997)
Infinite Jest (novel, 1996)
Girl with Curious Hair (stories, 1989)
The Broom of the System (novel, 1987)

Booker Prize Shortlist 2008

Posted September 11, 2008

The announcement of the annual Man Booker Prize shortlist this week unofficially kicks off the literary awards season that seems like a traditional part of fall. The winner will be announced in mid-October. Likewise, the National Book Award finalists will be announced in October, the winners in November. (In fact, this year the NBA finalists will be announced by Chicago area author Scott Turow at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre on Oct. 15th.) The Nobel Prize for Literature is usually awarded in October. In November and December, those ever-popular "best books of the year" features will start popping up in newspapers and magazines across the English-speaking world, and by the time the National Book Critics Circle Awards and the Pulitzer Prizes are announced in early 2008, a consensus will probably have emerged about which 2008 books will be celebrated as the best. The interesting thing right now is that there doesn't seem to be any consensus at all, a refreshing change after last year when the same 4 or 5 books dominated every award and list.

This shortlist is notable for skipping Salman Rushdie's latest, not to mention Joseph O'Neill's Netherland, one of the few literary novels to emerge from the pack so far this year. It's also notable for featuring some fairly fresh names that are unlikely to appear on the later lists. In other words, dear readers, there's still plenty of time to explore those bookshelves and to make up your own minds about what's good before the season of heavy hype sets in.

2008 Booker Shortlist:
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (coming in October)
The Clothes on Their Backs by Linda Grant (not yet scheduled for U.S. release)
The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher (to be published in the U.S. in 2009)
A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz

Elvis Appears on the Ed Sullivan Show

Posted September 9, 2008

On September 9, 1956, Elvis Presley appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time. 1956 was considered Presley's breakout year. That year he appeared on The Milton Berle Show in April and again in June with such huge ratings that Steve Allen (NBC) booked him to appear on his show in July. Concerned about the uproar over his gyrating hips, the network asked Elvis to keep this appearance "family friendly" by singing "Hound Dog" to a basset hound in a top hat. Despite this ridiculous performance, the ratings topped The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time and subsequently Sullivan booked Elvis for three appearances on his show for $50,000, an unhead of sum for the time. His debut on The Ed Sullivan Show drew an estimated 55 million viewers, the largest television audience ever at the time. Notably, Elvis was only shown from the waist up on The Ed Sullivan Show. We imagine the viewing audience could have been even larger had this not been the case. Those interested in Elvis's life should check out the slim biography, Elvis Presley, by Bobbie Ann Mason. However, we think the best way to experience the King is to listen to his music, so we have put together a list of some essential recordings to get you started.

D.I.Y. Listening Fest: Elvis 101
Elvis 30 #1 Hits - A primer for the Elvis novice, this disc includes all of the King's hits, big and small, including "Don’t Be Cruel," "Hound Dog," and "Love Me Tender."
Elvis At Sun - Presley's first recordings were with Sun Records in Memphis in 1954-1955. This album includes his five Sun singles and additional demos with Scotty Moore on guitar and Billy Black on bass. These energetic early recordings include rockabilly, country and blues tracks.
Million Dollar Quartet - This is a recording of an impromptu jam session at Sun Studios made on December 4, 1956 with other Sun artists Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash.
How Great Thou Art - Elvis did more than cause anxiety in the parents of American teenagers. He also sang the praises of God. His second full length gospel LP won a Grammy in 1967.
From Elvis in Memphis - On the heels of Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special television appearance, he recorded the album that many critics consider his best. Elvis returned to Memphis to record this album which featured country, blues and soul tracks.

Sew Long Summer

Posted September 02, 2008

I don't know about you, but with the official close of one busy summer, I'm looking forward to getting back to some indoor hobbies. Last year—with lofty ideas of whipping up cute household accessories or doing my own alterations—I took some sewing classes. But then winter came along and my interests turned to all things knit. And though I'm not quite ready to pull out the crochet needles, I think I'll dust off the old sewing machine and find a new project. Thankfully, the library has lots of books for both beginners and pros in need of a refresher course or inspiration. A quick browse of the catalog turned up lots of good picks starting with S.E.W. : Sew Everything Workshop: The Complete Step-By-Step Beginner's Guide with 25 Fabulous Original Designs, Including 8 Patterns by Diana Rupp. This jam-packed volume covers everything from the gear you'll need, to the how-to, and finally tons of fabulous ideas. My favorites so far are the "tote-ally awesome" tote bag and the "wear anywhere yoga pants." Another great find was Bend-the-Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew by Amy Karol. I first heard of Karol from her Flickr page of the same name. She set it up so that all you crafty people can post photos of the great stuff you make using her book. What a great idea. The book includes 30 projects including: pillows, aprons and purses. Need more ideas or tips? Try some of the titles below and you'll be well on your way to becoming a master seamster.

Subversive Seamster : Transform Thrift Store Threads into Street Couture by Melissa Alvarado, Hope Meng and Melissa Rannels
Sewing Basics by Wendy Gardiner
Sew What! Skirts: 16 simple styles you can make with fabulous fabrics by Francesca DenHartog & Carole Ann Camp
Simple Gifts to Stitch: 30 elegant and easy projects by Jocelyn Worrall
Sew U: the Built by Wendy guide to making your own wardrobe by Wendy Mullin with Eviana Hartman

Jazz 101

August 28 2008 12:00 AM GMT

Posted August 28, 2008

Jazz Fest kicks off this weekend, bringing thousands of music fans and dozens of world-class jazz musicians to various stages in Grant Park. The headliners for this year's fest are two legendary saxaphonists: Sonny Rollins and Ornette Coleman. You can check out CDs from our colllection by Rollins and Coleman, or countless other jazz greats to put you in the mood for the fest. If you are looking for a starter book, why not try What jazz is : an insider's guide to understanding and listening to jazz by Jonny King, which hopes to guide those new to the genre through some of the basics of this musical genre, as well as giving a list of seminal recordings. Another good choice in the same vein would be Jazz 101 : a complete guide to learning and loving jazz by John Szwed. But if you are new to jazz and want to know where to start, a great visual introduction would be the wonderful 10-part DVD series, Jazz from Ken Burns. He walks both fans and the uninitiated through the history of this very American musical form. There is also a series of CDs put out around the same time focusing on some of the icons of jazz. These CDs can be a way to get a sampling of the hits of these great artists, but jazz purists will always go for the orginal albums. A guide to some of the landmark jazz recordings can be found in The Penguin guide to jazz recordings.

Oprah with a British Accent

Posted August 26, 2008

In the United States, it's almost impossible not to have heard of Oprah's Book Club, which has a massive effect on book sales. Across the pond in the U.K., television stars Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, a married couple who host the Richard and Judy Show, have a similarly popular book club. However, there's a twist that makes their club a bit different. Every year the club reads ten or so titles, but at the end of the season, the public votes on their favorite selection, Idol-style, and the winner gets a "Book of the Year" award, presented at the British Book Awards:

Richard and Judy Book Club Winners
2004: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
2005: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
2006: Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
2007: The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld
2008: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Looking beyond the winners to the full list of club selections, it's clear there's been no slighting of American authors: books by Alice Sebold, Audrey Niffenegger, Nicole Krauss, and Joshua Ferris have all been chosen (Sebold's book was voted the best of its year). It's also interesting to look up titles that have gone unpublished or uncelebrated here in the States. There's The Know by Martina Cole, a writer who's a bestseller in the U.K. and who recently made her U.S. debut with Close. Some books are perhaps a bit too regional to have crossed over: there's Feel, Chris Heath's biography of U.K. popstar Robbie Williams, and Nigel Slater's Toast, a foodie's memoir that sounds steeped in British cuisine. Other titles, like Danny Scheinmann's Random Acts of Heroic Love and Katharine McMahon's Rose of Sebastopol are scheduled for release in the U.S. in the next year. But if you're looking for something good to read now, there are plenty of enticing Richard and Judy selections that were published in the U.S. to relatively little fanfare. Here's a sampling:

Starter for Ten (U.S. title: A Question of Attraction) by David Nicholls: 80s-set tale of quiz shows and love
Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor: a tale of immigrants during the Irish famine
The Promise of Happiness by Justin Cartwright: a family is reunited with a prodigal daughter
The Conjurer's Bird by Martin Davies: a historical mystery with a dash of romance about the quest for a rare bird
The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice: glamour and romance in 1950s London
The Girls by Lori Lansens: heartwarming tale of two sisters who were born conjoined yet learn to lead full, independent lives
The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson: a Scottish minister who doesn't believe in God meets the Devil

DIY Film Fest: Back to High School

Posted August 21, 2008

Summer is winding down and Chicagoans of all ages are preparing to return to school soon. Even if your formal education is long behind you, there isn't a better time for reminiscing about your own school days then at the end of summer. We are feeling the back to school spirit too and have put together a list of some of our favorite high school movies for you to enjoy. So sharpen some No. 2 pencils, pack your lunchbox, grab a spot on the couch and head back to school.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Feigning sickness, Ferris takes the day off with his best friend and girlfriend and spends the day in Chicago while his high school principal desperately tries to catch him skipping school.

Grease
Greaser Danny and good girl Sandy have a memorable summer romance. When they find themselves enrolled in the same high school Danny tries to protect his cool image by snubbing wholesome Sandy. Could a few changes by both Sandy and Danny draw them back together?

The Breakfast Club
Five very different students find themselves in Saturday detention. They think they have nothing in common, but by the end of the day barriers are broken and friendships are formed.

Hoosiers
Set in 1952, Hoosierstells the story of a small town Indiana basketball team's remarkable trip to the state championships.

Rushmore
Underachiever Max Fisher, a student at Rushmore academy, finds himself in a battle for the affections of teacher Ms. Cross with his good friend, wealthy industrialist Herman Blume in this Wes Anderson comedy.

Stand and Deliver
Based on a true story, this films stars Edward James Olmos as Jaime Escalante, a Los Angeles high school math teacher who rigorously prepares a group of students for the AP calculus Exam.

Mean Girls
Homeschooled by her parents for her entire life, Cady enrolls in a public high school after her family moves from Africa to the United States. She quickly climbs the social ladder until she develops a crush on the ex-boyfriend of the most popular girl in school.

Dead Poet's Society
An emotionally moving film about an English teacher whose unorthodox teaching methods at a boys' preparatory school inspires a group of his students to embrace their passions.

Napoleon Dynamite
Oddball Napoleon befriends new student, Pedro, and helps him run for school president in this offbeat comedy.

Election
This satire, based on a book by Tom Perotta, tells the story of go-getter Tracy Flick's pursuit to get elected as student body president and her teacher Mr. McAllister's attempts to thwart her.

Ooh la la

Posted August 19, 2008

Fashion icon Coco Chanel was born on this day in 1883. Chanel opened her first dress shop in Paris in 1914. She first became known for her ready-to-wear designs for women, but it was the launch of her classic fragrance, Chanel No. 5, in 1922 that really helped keep her growing fashion empire going during the ensuing difficult years of World Wars I and II. Along with her signature fragrance and her ever popular "Chanel suit," we also have her to thank for the "little black dress" and jersey fabric. Yes, that's right Coco is credited with introducing the soft, light knit, previously only used for undergarments, into the fashion foreground. Thanks for that, Mademoiselle Chanel. The Chanel name is still going strong and today the coutre line is designed by Karl Lagerfeld, a fashion icon in his own right. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who isn't familiar with the name Chanel today, but few people probably know much about her life. That is easily remedied by picking up her biography by the former editor-in-chief of French Vogue, Edmonde Charles-Roux' Chanel and Her World : Friends, Fashion, and Fame. Yet another pick for some insight into the world of Chanel is Axel Madsen's Chanel : A Woman of Her Own. If what you really want is a glimpse of her fabulous designs check out the catalogue from the Chanel exhibit held at Manhattan's Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2005. For another fun look at Parisian fashion check out Alicia Drake's The beautiful fall : Lagerfeld, Saint Laurent, and the glorious excess in 1970s Paris. And for an interesting look at the perfume industry check out the recent book by New York Times perfume critic, Chandler Burr, The perfect scent : a year inside the perfume industry in Paris and New York. Burr chronicles the creation of two new fragrances. One by a designer at Paris' Hermes who is charged with creating a scent which will "challenge le monstre of the industry, bestselling Chanel No. 5." The other a fragrance created by Sarah Jessica Parker and Coty, Inc.

Age of Napoleon

Posted August 14, 2008

In honor of the birthday of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was emperor of France in the early 19th century, we'd like to suggest you spend some time with us in the Napoleonic era. Napoleon was born August 15, 1769 on the island of Corsica. He came to power after the French Revolution, through his numerous and successful military campaigns. Considered by many to one of the greatest military leaders of all time, he expanded the French Empire aggressively and eventually plunged all of Europe into war. The period of Napoleon's reign and the Napoleonic wars has long been a fascinating one for writers and has spawned some of the greatest adventure stories ever written. The writings of C.S. Forester would be a great place to start, especially any of the novels in the Horatio Hornblower series set in the British navy. These novels were also made into a terrific collection of movies. Speaking of action on the high seas, another outstanding series of novels is about Captain Jack Aubrey and his friend and fellow adventurer Dr. Stephen Maturin, by Patrick O'Brian. The Aubrey/Maturin books are considered some of the greatest examples of historical fiction, richly detailed and with characters that you will want to follow from adventure to adventure. If you prefer your military adventure on dry land, you can hardly go wrong with the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell. These novels of British soldier Richard Sharpe are set throughout Europe and follow many of the actual battles of the period. And, finally, for a more fanciful take on the age of Napoleon, try the Temeraire novels by Naomi Novik. In this fantasy series she reimagines the Napoleonic wars with an aerial squadron made up of dragons. And yes, I know how that sounds, but fans of both historical fiction and fantasy will be happily surprised at how well it works.

David Sedaris, Rock Star

Posted August 12, 2008

An actual author on network television? David Sedaris was a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman a few weeks back. Not only did the legendary talk show host invite Sedaris to his deskside for a chat (rare enough for an author), but after a commercial break he turned the show over to him completely, like he was the musical guest or something, and there was Sedaris behind a podium reading from his latest book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames. Sedaris, of course, is a mega-bestselling author who came to prominence on NPR reading his now-famous Santaland Diaries. His last five collections of humor pieces have hit the New York Times Best Sellers list, and Engulfed has perched triumphantly atop the chart since June 22nd. The guy will even be doing an evening at the Auditorium Theatre in October where top-tier tickets are selling for $100. If you've never heard of Sedaris before, please excuse us for thinking you need to get out a bit more. He's a rock star. Still, Sedaris has only written so many books, so if you're looking for more books to tickle your funny bone, consider these recent successes:

Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloane Crosley
The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy by Robert Leleux
(Not That You Asked): Rants, Exploits, and Obsessions by Steve Almond
Things I've Learned from Women Who've Dumped Me ed. Ben Karlin
Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly, Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me? by Jen Lancaster
I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell by Tucker Max
My Custom Van: And 50 Other Mind-Blowing Essays that Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face by Michael Ian Black
Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip--Confessions of a Cynical Waiter by Waiter (coming soon)
Swish: My Quest To Become the Gayest Person Ever by Joel Derfner
The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death by Laurie Notaro
I am Not Myself These Days: A Memoir by Josh Kilmer-Purcell
Dark at the Roots by Sarah Thyre

Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

Posted August 7, 2008

Tomorrow evening the Summer Games opening ceremonies will take place in Beijing and thousands of athletes will compete in over 300 sporting events until the closing ceremonies on August 24th. The games date back to possibly 776 BC, although historians are uncertain of the exact date, and were celebrated every four years until 393 AD until they were stopped by Roman emperor Theodosius I. The documentaries The First Olympics and The Real Olympics explore the history of the ancient Olympics. In 1894, 1500 years later, the International Olympic Committee was created by Pierre de Coubertin and the first modern Olympics were held in 1896 in Athens, Greece with only a handful of countries participating. Over 500 athletes will be representing the United States at this year’s games, including swimming superstar Michael Phelps, who has a shot to win 8 gold medals to top Mark Spitz’s 7 gold medals in the 1972 Munich games, the most gold medals won in a single Olympics. Those who are interested in Phelps should check out Amazing Pace: The Story of An Olympic Champion. Be sure to watch 41 year-old Dara Torres who will be the first swimmer to compete in five Olympics. Torres is competing in the 50m freestyle and two relays. To learn more about what it takes to be a 41 year-old Olympic athlete, check out Torres' recent profile in the New York Times. Another remarkable American athlete to watch is Sheila Taormina. Taormina competed in swimming in 1996, the triathlon in 2004, and at the 2008 games is participating in the pentathlon! Perhaps not the most popular event, the pentathlon requires a large skill set. Participants compete in epee fencing, pistol shooting, 200m freestyle swimming, show jumping on horseback and a 3km cross country run. How about the Lopez siblings? Steven, Mark and Diana are all competing in Taekwondo, and elder brother Jean is their coach. This is just a sampling of many phenomenal athletes who will be competing this year. Over the next two weeks there are certain to be stories of glory and heartbreak from Beijing.

Caught Reading on the CTA: Blue Line Edition

Posted August 5, 2008

We're at it again. We've been peering over our own books to catch a glimpse at what you're reading this summer. Turns out you're into a little bit of everything. We spotted two Sedaris titles, his latest, When You Are Engulfed in Flames and an oldie, Me Talk Pretty One Day. Another recent release spotted was Lavinia, the latest from fantasy maven, Ursula K. LeGuin. On the chick lit front, a copy of Sleeping Arrangements by Madeline Wickham (otherwise knows as Sophie Kinsella of Shopaholic fame) caught our eye. Looks like classics remain popular with commuters. The Great Gatsby, One Hundred Years of Solitude and Antigone (!) are making the rounds. One title that really made us perk up was The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. This piece of non-fiction examines what would become of our cities and our environs if humans were to disappear. It's an interesting take on the hot topic of the environment, which just so happens to be the theme of our Summer Reading program, Read Green, Live Green. Of the many books we spied on the train two in particular made us want to run to our computers, sign on to Goodreads and add to our to-read shelf: Motherless Brooklyn (we are long overdue to read Lethem's works) and Monster Island : a zombie novel by David Wellington (zombies!). Here's what else Blue line riders are reading:

Bomb the Suburbs by William Upski Wimsatt
Bright Lights, Big Ass: a self-indulgent, surly ex-sorority girl's guide to why it often sucks in the city, or Who are these idiots and why do they all live next door to me? by Jen Lancaster
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon.
Clinton Wars by Sidney Blumenthal
What is the What by Dave Eggers
War by Candlelight: stories by Daniel Alarco�n
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard
Afterglow by Catherine Coulter

Focus on China

July 31 2008 12:00 AM GMT

Posted July 31, 2008

As we close in on the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, the whole world will be turning their attention to Beijing and China. A country still mysterious to most Westerners, the Olympics are an opportunity for the world to learn a little more about this exotic and diverse country. Even those not interested in the sporting events that will be broadcast from Beijing may find themselves itching to see more of China. The library has a variety of books for those interested in Chinese history and culture, as well as some outstanding fiction titles. Those wishing for an overview of the country might enjoy the heavily illustrated China: People, Place, Culture, History. A reader of current affairs could get a good sense of the current political climate by reading the recent book by The Washington Post’s recent China Bureau Chief, Philip Pan called Out of Mao’s Shadow. A look at the changes happening in China today through the eyes of a traveler could hardly have a more insightful guide than Rob Clifford in his journey across that country detailed in China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power. Peter Hassler is another writer who has done much to shine a light on the mystery of China and her people. One of his best books is Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China. But why stop at nonfiction? Fiction can often offer us an even more vivid window into how people really live. For a fictional look at China and her people, try a novel by one of these terrific Chinese writers:

Da Chen
Ma Jian
Ha Jin
Anchee Min
Jiang Rong
Qiu Xiaolong
Gao Xingjian

Based on the Books

Posted July 29, 2008

Books and movies, movies and books. They go together like Romeo and Juliet...or at least chocolate and peanut butter. At the moment there are several movies in Chicago theaters that were based on books, and as always there are several more to come. We've got everything you need but the popcorn. Here's a handy rundown:

Currently in Theaters:
Tell No One
The American bestseller by Harlan Coben has been adapted into a terrific French thriller about a man whose wife dies in mysterious circumstances. (Incidentally, the film is being nationally distributed by Chicago's own Music Box Films.)

A Journey to the Center of the Earth
Jules Verne's classic science fiction novel has been adapted for the big screen again, this time starring Brendan Fraser.

Brideshead Revisited
Evelyn Waugh's novel of love, religion and money in pre-WWII England has previously been made into a well-known 11-hour miniseries starring Jeremy Irons but has now been made into a feature-length film starring Emma Thompson.

Preview of Coming Attractions:
Midnight Meat Train
The short story by master horror writer Clive Barker can be found in the collection Books of Blood.

Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2
The new Sisterhood movie draws on elements from throughout the beloved series of books by Ann Brashares but is mostly based on Forever in Blue: the Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood.

Boy A
A child criminal is released as an adult after serving time and struggles to assimilate back into life outside in this British novel by Jonathan Trigell and its forthcoming film adaptation.

Man on Wire
The documentary about Philippe Petit and his famed 1974 tightrope walk between the towers of the World Trade Center isn't based on a book, but readers may wish to check out his autobiography, To Reach the Clouds: My High Wire Walk Between the Twin Towers or the Caldecott Medal-winning children's book, The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein.

Elegy
This drama starring Ben Kingsley and Penélope Cruz is based on Philip Roth's novel The Dying Animal.

Blindness
A mass epidemic of blindness breaks out in Portuguese author José Saramago's book club smash.

The Women
Clare Boothe Luce's play The Women was previously made into a classic film starring Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell, and Joan Fontaine, among others, and the new version is no slouch in the casting department. It stars Annette Bening, Candice Bergen, Meg Ryan, Jada Pinkett Smith, and many many others.

How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
Toby Young's snarky memoir has been made into a feature film starring Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst and Jeff Bridges.

Joyeux anniversaire, Alexandre!

Posted July 24, 2008

One of the most prolific writers in world literature, Alexandre Dumas was born on this day in 1802. At the mention of his name two titles instantly come to mind: The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. While these are his best-known works, Dumas wrote volumes. Some attribute the abundance of his writing in part to the day's marketplace. At the time serial-novels, published in popular periodicals, were all the rage. Often, Dumas would work on more than one novel at a time to meet demand. Others attribute Dumas' drive to produce to the lavish lifestyle he led. Successful as he was, he needed to constantly churn out work to pay off debts and continue to lead the high life. Dumas may be most remembered for his novels, but early in his career he worked as a playwright and later in life he published travelogues and memoirs. To this day, his classic adventure stories resonate in popular culture. They've been made into feature films and can be found in various incarnations in places you'd least expect. Take, for instance, the premise of The Count of Monte Cristo. The hero, Edmond Dantès, is falsely accused of a crime and is imprisoned for many years only to escape capture and return to France to carry out his revenge. Sound familiar? Last year's hit, Sweeney Todd starring Johnny Depp offered up its own take on the timeless story of revenge. And in the 2006 film V for Vendetta the tortured V refers to the 1934 classic film as his favorite movie because he identifies with the plight of Edmond Dantès. Clearly Dumas' stories have left a lasting impression. To read more about Dumas' work and his very colorful life check out Claude Schopp's Alexandre Dumas : genius of life. Ready to add some adventure to your summer reading? Check out one of the hefty tomes listed above or try The Last Cavalier, one of Dumas' serialized novels just discovered by Schopp at the Bibliothe?que Nationale earlier this decade. Not ready to make the commitment? Try one of his shorter works like, The Black Tulip. If you'd rather while away a lazy summer night with a swashbuckling film, CPL owns the 2002 film adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo starring Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce. Or, if you're already a Dumas fan, try Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte in which the lead character, a book detective of sorts, gets lured into a sinister plot after a book collector is found hanged, leaving behind a part of the original manuscript for The Three Musketeers. Pérez-Reverte will have you riveted with his cast of characters that bear resemblance to those in Dumas' classic tale.

Dillinger Days

Posted July 22, 2008

On this day in 1934 America's "Public Enemy Number 1" was gunned down outside Chicago’s Biograph Theater. Born in Indiana, the small-time crook turned to more serious crime after a nine-year prison stint for robbery and assault. Hardened and embittered after his release, Dillinger took up with more experienced criminals and began his short-lived career as a bank robber which took him throughout the Midwest and eventually brought him to Chicago. After some 10-20 bank heists Dillinger was finally brought down by the FBI with the help of his new acquaintance, Anna Sage. Sage had informed the FBI she would be going to the movies (incidentally, Manhattan Melodrama was the movie they saw) with Dillinger and his girlfriend, Polly Hamilton. In order to be more easily identifiable to the agents posted at the theater she dressed all in red, cementing her place in history as "the lady in red" who betrayed Dillinger. As they exited the theater the FBI closed in, killing Dillinger with two shots. It's the stuff of classic crime films, no? Perhaps that's why there's been so much written about Dillinger throughout the years. Originally published in 1963, John Toland's Dillinger Days chronicles his brief career. In John Dillinger : The Life and Death of America's First Celebrity Criminal author, Dary Matera, paints a romantic picture of Dillinger and a less flattering one of his pursuers. Yet another account of the famed robber can be found in Dillinger : The Untold story by G. Russell Girardin. Looking for another angle at this fascinating period of history? Try Don't Call Us Molls: Women of the John Dillinger Gang by Ellen Poulsen and for an even broader treatment of the era you might delve into Public Enemies : America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34 by Bryan Burrough. Finally, if this has you at all intrigued, be sure to keep your eye out next year for Johnny Depp's latest project, Public Enemies, a period piece filmed right here in Chicago in which the very talented Depp will play Dillinger.

Pitchfork Music Festival

Posted July 15, 2008

This Friday Pitchfork Music Festival starts at Union Park and runs through the weekend. Organized by Pitchfork, the Chicago-based music website featuring news, interviews, and criticism, the festival features a large lineup of musical acts that will draw tens of thousands of music fans. Last year, Sonic Youth performed their classic album Daydream Nation, and this year festival goers can look forward to Public Enemy performing It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back on Friday evening.

On Saturday, the Ivy League-educated Vampire Weekend, whose Afropop-infused self-titled debut fittingly features a song about the Oxford comma, will perform. Also, Brooklyn-based The Hold Steady, whose 2006 release Boys & Girls in America received a whopping 9.4/10 rating on Pitchfork, making it one of the best reviewed albums of that year, will also perform. Sunday's line-up includes Spoon, whose Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is a staff favorite, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan, and the recently reunited Dinosaur Jr. If you can't attend, check out these albums by some of the acts that are performing at the fest this year:

Vampire Weekend / Vampire Weekend
For Emma, Forever Ago / Ben Iver
Let's Stay Friends / La Savy Fav
Boys and Girls in America / The Hold Steady
Legend of Wu Tang / Wu Tang
You're Living All Over Me / Dinosaur Jr.
Green Mind / Dinosaur Jr.
Gimme Fiction / Spoon
Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga / Spoon
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back / Public Enemy
Fear of a Black Planet / Public Enemy

Vive Le Tour!

Posted July 10, 2008

For three weeks in July, while most Americans are enjoying barbeques and baseball games, one of the most grueling, exciting, exacting sporting events on the planet takes place in France – a cycling race known as the Tour de France. Truly one of the most incredible endurance events in sports, 199 riders started the race on July 5th, and they will ride virtually every day, over 3,500 kilometers until they finish on the Champs-Elysées in Paris on July 27th with one final rider wearing the coveted yellow jersey. Some days of riding are through the gentle rolling countryside of France, giving spectators stunning views of charming rural villages, medieval castles, and towering cathedrals. But the real drama always happens in the mountains. As riders struggle up climbs in both the Alps and the Pyrenees mountain ranges, you see why this is an endurance race. The Tour de France has been plagued by scandals galore in recent years, as dozens of the top riders were thrown out for doping. But despite the scandals, the tour is an amazing thing to watch, and Americans have had a growing interest due in large part to the record demolishing 7 straight wins by the now-retired American cyclist Lance Armstrong. Those wanting to read more about the amazing story of Armstrong’s journey from cancer survivor to tour champion could find no better place to start than his memoir It’s Not About the Bike. But perhaps you need a little more background about the race itself? There are some great guides to the Tour, including Tour De France: The Illustrated History and the more intimate and amusing The Tour de France Companion: a Nuts, Bolts & Spokes Guide to the Greatest Race in the World, written by former competitor and current commentator Bob Roll. Read more about the scandals in From Lance to Landis: Inside the American Doping Controversy at the Tour de France by David Walsh. An entertaining look at the event from an amateur insane enough to try and duplicate the route on his own comes in the form of the comic memoir French Revolutions from travel writer Tim Moore. And finally, there are several great movies that celebrate cycling. Why not try Breaking Away, the story of a young man from a working class family in Bloomington, Indiana who dreams of cycling with the great teams of Europe, or at least competing with the more privileged college kids in a local bike race. For a more whimsical cycling story, you could hardly do better than the animated French film, The Triplets of Belleville, about an old woman who has trained her grandson to be a Tour De France champion. Even if your last bicycle had training wheels, hopefully these great titles will inspire you to watch the Tour and maybe even dust off your own bike and take a ride.

Ziegfeld Follies

Posted July 8, 2008

On June 8, 1907 the first Ziegfeld Follies show opened in New York. Inspired by the Folies Bergères in Paris, Florenz Ziegfeld launched the popular Follies, which ran until 1931 in New York City. The elaborate song and dance revue featured lavish sets and costumes and the best entertainers of the era including Fanny Brice, Will Rogers, and W.C. Fields. Barbara Streisand played Ziegfeld star, Fanny Brice, in the biopic Funny Girl, a screen adaptation of the Broadway musical. The 1946 film Ziegfeld Follies, featuring the real Fanny Brice, is a sequence of musical numbers and comedy sketches.

One of the most popular aspects of Ziegfeld Follies was the chorus girls, known as Ziegfeld Girls. Ziegfeld often featured more than a hundred girls donning extravagant costumes which they changed several time during each show, so it is no wonder they were such a draw. Several women who went on to become Hollywood film stars got their start as Ziegfeld Girls including Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Blondell. Surprisingly, Joan Crawford, Norma Shearer and Lucille Ball were all rejected by Florenz Ziegfeld. The Rockettes, who got their start in 1925 in St. Louis, Missouri and now perform at Radio City Music Hall, are reminiscent of the Ziegfield Girls. The 1941 film Ziegfeld Girl, starring Judy Garland, Heddy Lamar and Lana Turner, depicts three women's experiences as Ziegfeld Girls. For a more academic treatment of the Ziegfeld Girl and her legacy, check out Ziegfeld Girl: Image and Icon in Culture and Cinema by Linda Mizejewski.

DIY Film Fest: I Was a Ziegfeld Girl
The following films feature former Zeigfeld Girls who went on to become Hollywood stars:

Gold Diggers of 1933 with Joan Blondell
Footlight Parade with Joan Blondell
Dames with Joan Blondell
Nightmare Alley with Joan Blondell
Double Indemnity with Barbara Stanwyck
Lady Eve with Barbara Stanwyck
Christmas in Conneticut with Barbara Stanwyck
The Strange Loves of Martha Ivers with Barbara Stanwyck
The Great Dictator with Paulette Goddard
Modern Times with Paulette Goddard
The Women with Paulette Goddard
Pandora's Box with Louise Brooks

Salman Rushdie

Posted July 3, 2008

Sir Salman Rushdie (a knighthood was conferred upon him by the Queen last month) will be giving a reading at the Harold Washington Library Center on the evening of Thursday, July 10th. Though he may be most famous for his second novel The Satanic Verses, in the literary world the author's most lauded book has probably been his Booker Prize-winning fourth novel Midnight's Children. That book won a special "Best of the Booker" award in 1993, and it's also the odds-on favorite to win again in this year's 40th anniversary "Best of the Booker" award. The winner is to be announced on the 10th, when he is here.

Rushdie is touring to promote his new novel The Enchantress of Florence, which takes up the author's perennial theme of East meets West in a tale of classic storytelling set during the time of the Renaissance. Critics have called the novel "enchanting," "magical and haunting," and "entertainment of the highest literary order." In a widely quoted early review, one critic wrote that if the book "doesn't win this year's Man Booker I'll curry my proof copy and eat it."

Rushdie's other novels include: Grimus, Shame, The Moor's Last Sigh, The Ground Beneath Her Feet (which inspired a song of the same name by U2), Fury, and Shalimar the Clown. A collection of his major nonfiction work, Step Across This Line, was published in 2002.

Oh Henry

June 26 2008 12:00 AM GMT

Posted June 26, 2008

Suddenly, Henry James is everywhere again. He's the subject of Sheldon M. Novick's Henry James: The Mature Master and one of the subjects of the forthcoming House of Wits: An Intimate Portrait of the James Family by Paul Fisher. But what's more striking is that four years after Irish novelist Colm T�ib�n won so much acclaim for his novel The Master, James has recently turned up again as a character in several new novels and stories.

In the new novel The James Boys: A Novel Account of Four Desperate Brothers by Richard Liebmann-Smith, the author takes an odd flight of historical fancy: what if brothers Henry and William James, those classic eggheads, were also brothers to Frank and Jesse James, gangsters of wild West legend? In the title story of Cynthia Ozick's new story collection, Dictation: A Quartet, the secretaries of Henry James and Joseph Conrad meet and scheme about making their own mark on literary history. In The Open Door, Elizabeth Maguire takes what little is known about the relationship between Henry James and writer Constance Fenimore Woolson (grandniece of James Fenimore Cooper) and reimagines the story through Woolson's eyes. And in Joyce Carol Oates' collection Wild Nights! Stories About the Last Days of Poe, Dickinson, Twain, James and Hemingway, the author shows James tending the young wounded soldiers of WWI in London and wondering whether his writing has been too bloodless.

So what's going on here? Is it possible that James is more fun to read about than to actually read? Or perhaps it's just that writers can't resist getting their hands on "the Master" of great literature to reassure themselves he was only human, too.

AFI Picks the Top Genre Films

Posted June 24, 2008
The American Film Institute has apparently not run out of things to make lists of, and film fans at a loss for what to check out next can benefit. This time out, they have picked some of the most popular categories or genres of films, and chosen what they think are the top ten in each of those genres. The Chicago Public Library is happy to provide access to many of these terrific films. For each category below, the # 1 AFI title is listed, plus a CPL nominee that didn?t quite make the cut. To see the entire list of films honored by the AFI in their 10 top 10 genre lists, visit the AFI?s webpage. Either way, you are bound to discover something worth watching.

Animation
AFI Pick: Snow White and the 7 Dwarves
CPL Nominee: My Neighbor Totoro
It?s hard to argue with this # 1 pick or the 9 that followed it, but for those who like to stray from the fairy tale canon, the amazing Studio Ghibli animated films can be an amazing introduction to family-friendly Japanese animation. Note: Due to the annoying "Disney Vault" policy, Snow White is currently unavailable on DVD.

Romantic Comedy
AFI Pick: City Lights
CPL Nominee: Say Anything
The AFI list is uniformly wonderful, and it?s great to see the incredible Charlie Chaplain silent film City Lights take the number one spot. Still, a strong case can be made for Say Anything, one of the best portrayals of a truly romantic high school love story.

Western
AFI Pick: The Searchers
CPL Nominee: The Good the Bad and the Ugly
The AFI top ten list moves far beyond the cowboys and Indians that you may think of in this genre, but it seemed a lapse not to have one of the iconic ?spaghetti westerns? from Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone on this great list.

Sports
AFI Pick: Raging Bull
CPL Nominee: Hoop Dreams
No sports movie list could be complete without this documentary of two Chicago high school students with dreams of playing professional basketball.

Mystery
AFI Pick: Vertigo
CPL Nominee: Memento
Heavy on the Hitchcock, the AFI mystery list is great but could use something more modern. I would nominate the tricky mystery film, Memento, with the epitome of the unreliable narrator, a man with no short term memory.

Fantasy
AFI Pick: Wizard of Oz
CPL Nominee: Pan's Labyrinth
A fantasy film should take you to a wondrous place, and the brilliant Pan?s Labyrinth certainly qualifies as a girl?s imaginary world becomes just as dangerous as her real one.

Science Fiction
AFI Pick: 2001: A Space Odyssey
CPL nominee: The Matrix
Although their pick is a truly epic landmark, it doesn?t touch the adrenaline or pace of the visionary first film from the Wachowski Brothers. Sequels? What sequels?

Gangster
AFI Pick: Godfather
CPL Nominee: Miller?s Crossing
The Coen Brothers always have a slightly unique take on the crime film, and this saga of an Irish crime syndicate fighting for control of a city during prohibition is both stylish and gripping.

Courtroom Drama:
AFI Pick: To Kill a Mockingbird
CPL Nominee: Inherit the Wind
Most of the great legal films make the AFI cut, but this classic tale of the epic Scopes trial to decide whether evolution could be taught in schools is a must-see.

Epic AFI Pick: Lawrence of Arabia
CPL Nominee: Dr. Zhivago
This seems like a pretty hard category to define, but based on sweep and scale another David Lean masterpiece, this one featuring the snowy fields of Russia rather than the deserts of Arabia, would be a great pick.

Beach Reads

Posted on June 19, 2008

Chicago's beaches may not be the white sand, tropical paradises that some people imagine when you say "beach read", but for my money, there are few things finer than a sunny weekend afternoon on the Chicago lakefront. So what if we don't have palm trees? We have the most magnificent skyline in the country to look at from our beaches. So grab your sunscreen and a book, and enjoy the third coast this summer. The perfect beach book can be anything that you have been saving for when you really want to just kick back and be entertained. Here are some of the hot books for summer:

Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich: Intrepid bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is back and as wacky as ever in the latest installment of this hilarious series.

Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen: Fans of last year's hit Garden Spells will be happy to see this new novel that again revolves around small-town life and family secrets.

Careless in Red by Elizabeth George: Over her long career, George has made a name for writing detailed, psychologically tangled mysteries, and this latest is no exception. Inspector Lynley has taken left Scotland Yard in this novel, but still gets pulled into the investigation of a death on the Cornish coast.

Dear American Airlines by Jonathan Miles: What could be better to read while you are lounging on the beach, than a novel about some poor sap trapped in an airport? In this very funny novel the sap pens a complaint letter to the airline that stranded him and reflects on his life.

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry: Towner Whitney comes from a family that has the ability to read the future in lace patterns, but it is the past that she must confront when she returns to her hometown of Salem, Mass.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris: Sedaris finds humor in his childhood, his long-suffering boyfriend, and the perils of foreign travel in this new collection of essays.

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith: A Soviet Security Officer clandestinely investigates a murder spree that the Stalinist government swears could never happen in this debut novel, set in and around post-WWII Moscow.

Up Till Now: The Autobiography by William Shatner: There are certainly more serious and important biographies out this summer, but few are as much guilty fun. With his trademark humor, Shatner tells great stories of his long career.

Fire Up That Grill

Posted June 17, 2008

As the temperatures rise, the kitchen oven looks less and less appealing. Summer is a great time to move the cooking outdoors. For those ready to fire up the grill, Chicago Public Library has a variety of cookbooks to help you plan the perfect backyard meal. Both new and experienced grillers will find something to love in the guru of the barbeque Steven Raichlen?s classic How to Grill. Other great barbequing titles by Raichlen include Barbecue Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades, Bastes, Butters & Glazes, Steven Raichlen's BBQ USA with recipes from across the country, and the offbeat and fun Beer-Can Chicken. The Culinary Institute of America?s expansive Grilling covers everything from meats to breads and desserts. The Big Book of Outdoor Cooking and Entertaining provides outdoor party planning tips, complete menus, and moves beyond the grill including instructions and recipes for cooking outdoors with smokers and big pot cookers. Those who prefer meatless fare should check out The Complete Book of Vegetarian Grilling or Grilling from the Garden. Even those who lack a place to cook outside aren?t prohibited from preparing great grilled food with Raichlen's Indoor! Grilling. Check out our online catalog for additional barbequing titles.

Tell Me A Story

Posted June 12, 2008

At a recent conference in Los Angeles, the Audiobook Publishers Associations handed out their awards for the best audiobooks of the year, the Audies. Audiobooks continue to be a hot area in libraries (especially downloadable audiobooks), and the Chicago Public Library can be a great place to feed your audiobook habit. Whether you listen in the car, on the 'L', while in the garden or doing chores, audiobooks can be a boon to those who feel like they don't have as much time for reading. Think of it this way - why should kids be the only ones who have stories read to them? If you've never listened to an audiobook CPL has an audiobook to get you started, from collections of short stories, to the latest bestselling novels, to classics, to new nonfiction.

Why not start with one of these Audie-winning titles?

Tree of Smoke by Dennis Johnson (Winner, literary fiction, 2008) - Available on CD and downloadable
Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke (Winner, Mystery, 2008) - Available on CD
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill (Winner, Suspense/Thriller, 2008) - Available on CD
Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (Winner, Romance, 2008) - Available on CD
Dune by Frank Herbert (Winner, Science Fiction, 2008) - Available on CD
Roots by Alex Haley (Winner, Nonfiction, 2008) - Available on CD
Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walker Isaacson (Winner, Biography/Memoir, 2008) - Available on CD
20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill (Winner, Short Stories, 2008) - Available on CD and downloadable
Malinche by Laura Esquivel (winner, Spanish language, 2008) - Available on CD

Adopt-A-Cat Month

Posted June 10, 2008

June is Adopt-A-Cat Month. According to the American Humane Association shelters see an increase of kittens needing new homes at this time of year. No doubt you've heard cat owners attest to the joys of having a cat, but cats aren't for everyone. Not sure you're ready to be a cat owner? We have books on everything you'll need to know before you adopt. You can start by consulting The Humane Society of the United States Complete Guide to Cat Care . Or you might need something a little more specific. Say for instance you decide to bypass those little bundles of energy for a more laid-back, mature cat. You might consider checking out, Complete Care for Your Aging Cat. Does that sound like crazy talk 'cause you can't resist all things small, cute and fluffy? Then check out, Kitten Care, for all you need to know from training to visiting the vet and kitten safety. Or are you a cat lover but have allergy concerns? You may want to take a look at The Sneeze-free Cat Owner to learn which breeds work better for you and how to manage your allergies. If you decide to take the plunge and find your new pet is having some trouble settling in you might check out some books that get into your kitty's head like The Cat Behavior Answer Book, Outwitting Cats or Cat Be Good. Still got questions? The titles listed below should satisfy that curiosity and the American Humane Association has some useful guides to help you decide if adoption is right for you and how you go about the process when you're ready to adopt.

The Cat Fanciers' Association Complete Cat Book by CFA and its associates ; edited by Mordecai Siegal
Your cat : Simple New Secrets to a Longer, Stronger Life by Elizabeth M. Hodgkins
The Cat Owner's Manual : Operating Instructions, Troubleshooting Tips, and Advice on Lifetime Maintenance by David Brunner and Sam Stall ; illustrated by Paul Kepple and Jude Buffum

Chicago Blues Festival

Posted June 5, 2008

Today is first day of the 25th annual Chicago Blues Fest! This free event runs Thursday through Sunday, from 11 am until 9:30 pm each day, and features music on six stages. Some highlights this year include performances by blues guitarist Johnny Winter (who played at the inaugural fest in 1984), Chicago's own Queen of the Blues, Koko Taylor, legendary B.B. King (making his first appearance at the fest in over 20 years), and many others. Visit the City of Chicago Mayor's Office of Special events for a complete schedule. If you need a primer on Chicago's storied blues history, check out the Chicago Office of Tourism's History of Chicago Blues audio tour narrated by Buddy Guy. You can also explore the blues on Chicago Public Library's Chicago Blues webpage or download recordings from Chicago's independent blues record label, Alligator, available on our downloadable media collection, or check out our large collection of circulating blues compact discs, many of which can be found through searching on Chicago Blues in our online catalog.

Lambda Awards

Posted June 3, 2008

Just in time for Pride Month (and for the "Out and Proud in Chicago" special premiering tonight), the major awards recognizing excellence in the field of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender literature have all been announced. There are several categories from the Lambda Awards that readers can explore, but the top winner in Women's Fiction was The IHOP Papers by Ali Liebegott. In Men's Fiction the big winner was Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman. The IHOP Papers also took the top prize for women's fiction in the Publishing Triangle's Ferro-Grumley Awards, as well as an honor from the Stonewall Book Awards. The Ferro-Grumley Award for men's fiction went to Peter Cameron for Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You, and the winner of the Stonewall award for literature was The Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery. The Stonewall award for nonfiction went to Mark Doty for his memoir Dog Years. Congratulations to the winners as well as the many finalists and honorees.

(B)read and Circuses

May 29 2008 12:00 AM GMT

Posted May 29, 2008

Not many animals have received the full biography treatment over the years, but one large exception has recently been made for Jumbo the Elephant, for whom the adjective "big" just wasn't adequate. The new biography Jumbo: The Greatest Elephant in the World by Paul Chambers tells the full story. Born in Africa, the world's most famous pachyderm spent years in Paris at the Jardin des Plantes and later at the London Zoo before P.T. Barnum transported him to America where he delighted children by the thousands as the star of The Greatest Show on Earth. Of course, Jumbo inspired the story that became Disney's Dumbo, which continues to delight children to this day. Jumbo's life was not without its hardships, however, ending tragically during a railroad accident while the circus was touring Canada, and Chambers raises important questions about the treatment of animals.

Still, Jumbo was one of the great celebrities of his day. His epic story brings to mind the many fine circus stories in the library's collection. Here's a sampling:

The Circus in Winter by Cathy Day
A Cabinet of Wonders by Renee Dodd
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
The Final Confession of Mabel Stark by Robert Hough
A Son of the Circus by John Irving
The Circus Fire by Stewart O'Nan
The Aerialist by Richard Schmitt
Chang and Eng by Darin Strauss

The Thin Man

Posted May 27, 2008

Here at Chicago Public Library we spent April celebrating Raymond Chandler and crime fiction, but if you missed those events or haven't had your fill, today provides a reason to revisit the genre as we celebrate the birth of another hard-boiled master, Dashiell Hammett (May 27, 1894). If you know and love Chandler's Marlowe, you'll no doubt want to acquaint yourself with Hammett's Sam Spade. This tough guy, featured in one of Hammett's best known works, The Maltese Falcon, was brought to life by Humphrey Bogart in the 1941 film adaptation of the same name. But Hammett is not just a Chandler wannabe. He's the real deal. Before he began his writing career Hammett worked as an operative for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. He became disillusioned with the agency and quit, but not before gathering much inspiration for his detective stories. Many, including Chandler, have given Hammett his due for his contribution to the crime fiction genre. The New York Times went so far as to anoint him the "dean of the?'hard-boiled' school of detective fiction" upon his death in 1961. Follow the links below for more books by and about Hammett.

The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett (also available: the film adaptation starring William Powell and Myrna Loy)
Complete Novels by Dashiell Hammett
Selected letters of Dashiell Hammett 1921-1960
Dashiell Hammett: A Daughter Remembers by Jo Hammett
Hellman and Hammett: the Legendary Passion of Lillian Hellman and Dashiell Hammett by Joan Mellen

Happy Birthday, Jimmy!

Posted May 22, 2008

Over one hundred years ago, James Stewart was born in a small town near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Elizabeth and Alexander Stewart. An American icon, Stewart starred in over fifty films covering nearly every genre and worked with some of the finest directors including Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Billy Wilder, and Frank Capra. He was nominated five times for an Academy Award and ten of his films are preserved in the United States Film Registry. He was a close friend of fellow actor Henry Fonda, whom he met in the summer of 1932 while both were working with the University Players acting troupe. His first prominent role was in 1936?s After the Thin Man starring Myrna Loy and William Powell (which can be found in The Complete Thin Man Collection). He was awarded his only Academy Award for his performance as a tabloid reporter in the comedy The Philadelphia Story (1940). Perhaps Stewart is remembered best as George Bailey in Capra?s It?s a Wonderful Life (1946), which flopped at the box office but is now considered a Christmas classic as well as one of the most popular films of all time. Stewart began working with Hitchcock, making some of the best films of his career, including the iconic and suspenseful Rear Window and Vertigo. Later in his career he starred in many westerns, including John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Stewart?s final Academy Award nomination was for his work in Otto Preminger?s Anatomy of Murder (1959). Stewart continued acting until the 1980s. He died on July 2, 1997 in his Hollywood home.

Any of the above would make a great DIY film fest, but if you need more Jimmy Stewart (and who doesn't?) why not try:

You Can't Take It With You
The Shop Around the Corner
Rope
Harvey
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Call Northside 777

Caught Reading on the CTA

Posted May 15, 2008

What are other people reading? Isn't that the question that sends us scurrying to the bestseller lists, asking friends for recommendations or - yes, we've seen you do it - peeking at the shelving carts at the local library? Of course, in Chicago the traditional place to snoop on your fellow readers is on the CTA. For all of the hassles of public transit (and don't get us wrong, we're happy to see all the construction projects), one of its joys is that the commuter can spend that time blissfully reading instead of brimming with road rage behind a steering wheel. (Just don't get us started on cellphone abuse.)

So we've been snooping on you, Chicago, checking out what you've been reading on the Red line, and we have to say, we're impressed. We've spotted you reading King Lear by William Shakespeare, The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, and One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, not to mention American Pastoral by Philip Roth, Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson and recent megabestseller Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Here are some of the more surprising books we spotted:
Death Masks by Jim Butcher
River of Gods by Ian McDonald
Random family: love, drugs, trouble, and coming of age in the Bronx by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
Mayflower: a Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick
Earthly Joys by Philippa Gregory

Who knows where we'll snoop next?

Indie Rocker's Reads

Posted May 13, 2008

Over at Found In The Margins they do a terrific job of tracking what various creative types like to read. Recently they featured Brendan Canning of Broken Social Scene. He shared some of his favorites including Mr. Vertigo by Paul Auster, Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck, and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. He also talked about what he looks for in a book. He's a plot man, and when he's touring he likes to take along some fairly heavy stuff judging by his recent picks, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah and What is the What by Dave Eggers. But Canning isn't without a sense of humor or a taste for some intrigue. He's currently enjoying David Sedaris's Me Talk Pretty One Day and Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal by Ben Macintyre. The guy certainly likes to change things up.

DIY Film Fest: Mothers (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly)

Posted May 8, 2008

Sunday is Mother?s Day! After showering your mother with affection and gifts this Sunday, settle in and enjoy one of these films with mom.

Freaky Friday
Jodie Foster stars as Annabel Andrews and Barbara Harris as her mother in this 1976 comedy film (based on the 1972 book by Mary Rodgers) in which a mother and daughter switch bodies and get to walk in the other's shoes one Friday. The experience of struggling through one another?s day leads them to appreciate each other more. This film was also remade in 2003 with Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Mommie Dearest
Faye Dunaway stars as Joan Crawford in this 1981 film based on a memoir by Christina Crawford, her adopted daughter. A very unflattering portrait of her mother as neurotic and abusive, the movie was panned by critics but became a cult classic. This 1996 version contains the added bonus of a commentary by filmmaker John Waters.

Mildred Pierce
Based on a novel by James M. Cain, Joan Crawford stars as Mildred Pierce, a newly divorced housewife with two beloved daughters,Vera and Kay. Mildred goes to great lengths to provide a comfortable lifestyle for them, but spoiled Vera never seems satisfied. Finally, the increasingly ungrateful daughter commits a terrible crime which her mother cannot cover up.

Imitation of Life
This 1959 film is an adaptation of the 1933 novel by Fanny Hurst. Lana Turner stars as Lora Meredith, a widowed mother with dreams of stardom, who hires Annie Johnson, also a widowed mother, as a nanny for her daughter. Meredith becomes a famous Broadway star, but her relationship with her daughter suffers, and Johnson deals with her own heartbreak as her light-skinned daughter attempts to pass as white. The DVD also includes the 1934 version starring Claudette Colbert.

Little Women
Susan Sarandon stars as Marmee March, the strong-willed, loving mother of four adolescent girls, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, as they share joy and struggle while their father is off fighting in the American Civil War in this 1994 adaptation of the popular book by Louisa May Alcott.

Monster-in-Law
A successful television journalist, Vera (Jane Fonda) has just been fired from her job and is now faced with the possibility of losing her son to his new fianc�e, Charlotte (Jennifer Lopez). Determined to scare away the bride to be, Vera sets out to be a monstrous mother-in-law, but Charlotte isn't quick to walk away from the man of her dreams.

Steel Magnolias
This film revolves around the lives of a group of female friends who regularly congregate at a beauty salon in a small town in Louisiana. At the center of the group are M'Lynn (Sally Field) and her diabetic daughter, Shelby (Julia Roberts). When Shelby's health begins to decline, the women come together to comfort and support one another.

Edgar and Nebula Awards Announced

Posted May 6, 2008

There are dozens of literary awards given out each year, with lots of press and prestige (and sales) flowing to winners of the Pulitzer Prize or the National Book Award. But in the world of genre fiction, there are also a large number of awards given out for outstanding writing in a particular field; awards that make people even outside the genre sit up and take notice. For the mystery genre, the big award is the Edgar, named after Edgar Allan Poe (whom some consider the father of the modern mystery), and it is presented annually by the Mystery Writers of America. This year the top prize, Best Novel, went to Down River by John Hart. This novel, set in small-town North Carolina, is about a man who returns to his hometown after a long absence. Five years earlier, he had been accused of murdering a family friend, and although a jury acquitted him, his family and friends did not. So he stayed away until a mysterious call from an old friend draws him back. The other books nominated in this category are:

Christine Falls by Benjamin Black
Priest by Ken Bruen
The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
Soul Patch by Reed Farrel Coleman

Another award given out at the same ceremony is the Edgar for best first novel. This award is worth watching, as some of the most respected names in the genre first appeared on this nomination ballot (James Patterson, Michael Connelly, and Patricia Cornwell all won this award for their first novels). This year's winner was In the Woods by Tana French.

But the Edgars weren't the only important genre award given out recently. The Nebula Award, given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, is one of the biggest awards in the speculative fiction genres. This year's winner was a bit of a surprise, as it had been marketed outside of the genre and was written by an author more known for his literary fiction. But The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon does qualify as speculative fiction, set as it is in an imaginary alternate history where the Jewish homeland was set up in Alaska, not Israel. This whimsical setting allows Chabon to play with a lot of "what ifs?" as well as telling an intriguing hardboiled mystery story. It is worth noting that this novel was also nominated for the Edgar this year, the first time the same novel was nominated for both awards. The other nominees for the Best Novel Nebula Award were:

Odyssey by Jack McDevitt
The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman
The New Moon's Arms by Nalo Hopkinson
Ragamuffin by Tobias Buckell

To see previous winners of both the Edgar and the Nebula, as well as many other literary awards, visit our Books Movies and More page.

Knit One, Read Two

Posted May 1, 2008

Knitting has had a resurgence in popularity over the past several years, and it's not just your grandmother's hobby anymore; a younger generation of both women and men are toting their yarn and needles around town. In part, the 2003 book Stitch 'n Bitch: A Knitter's Handbook by Deborah Stoller, with its irreverent tone and stylish projects, prompted the trend. Stoller has published several books, including one on crochet, The Happy Hooker: Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet, and her most recent, Son of Stitch and Bitch: 45 Projects to Knit and Crochet for Men. Stitch 'n Bitch groups, social groups that meet to knit, have been around since at least WWII and have also regained popularity. The Museum of Contemporary Art holds a popular Stitch 'n Bitch group.

The trend has also inspired novelists. The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs and The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood have both connected with knitting fans. And in the world of cozy mysteries, knitters solve crimes. Maggie Sefton's Knitting Mysteries began with Knit One, Kill Two, and her most recent novel is A Killer Stitch. Author Mary Kruger kicked off her knitting mystery series with Died in the Wool.

Want to learn to knit? The Chicago Public Library has materials for new as well as seasoned knitters. Start by checking out some of the new and classic knitting books in our collection.

Aria Ready?

April 29 2008 12:00 AM GMT

Posted April 29, 2008

Lyric Opera of Chicago recently announced its 2008/09 season, and Chicago Opera Theater's 2008 season kicks off this week. Looking to shake up your routine with a night at the opera but not sure which show is for you? Prep for your big night out (or just spend a night at home on the couch) with music from the library.

Lyric Opera of Chicago 2008/2009 Season:

Manon by Massenet - Available on dvd and cd
The Pearl Fishers by Bizet - Available on cd
Lulu by Berg - Available on dvd and cd
Porgy and Bess by Gershwin - Available on cd (alternate cd)
Madama Butterfly by Puccini - Available on dvd, cd, and downloadable format
Tristan und Isolde by Wagner - Available on dvd, cd, and downloadable format
Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni and Pagliacci by Leoncavallo - Available on dvd and cd (Cavalleria, Pagliacci)
The Abduction from the Seraglio by Mozart - Available on dvd and cd

Chicago Opera Theater 2008 season:

Don Giovanni by Mozart - Available on dvd in many editions and also on cd
A Flowering Tree by Adams - New opera, not available as a recording
Orlando by Handel - Available on cd

Opera Guides

The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Opera
Opera: a Critic's Guide to the 100 Most Important Works and the Best Recordings
The Rough Guide to Opera

April is National Poetry Month

Posted April 24, 2008

Come celebrate National Poetry Month at the Chicago Public Library! Join us this Saturday, April 26th, 2008 for our 9th annual Poetry Fest, a free festival of poetry readings, workshops, performances and discussions at Harold Washington Library Center. This year we are very excited to welcome Charles Simic, Poet Laureate of the United States, for a reading co-sponsored with the Poetry Foundation in the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium at 12:00 noon. Charles Simic immigrated to the U.S. from Yugoslavia as a teen and lived in and around Chicago during the 1950's. He's published 18 books of poetry and has received many awards from the Pulitzer to a MacArthur Fellowship. A book sale and signing will follow the reading. Other Poetry Fest events include:

Dear World: The Lively Art of Writing Letter Poems with Alice George
Poetry Cram: An Open Mic hosted by C.J. Laity
Poetry Wheel: A Demonstration and Open Mic with the Poets' Club of Chicago
Performance of Poetry: A Workshop with Coya Paz
The Book of Green: a poetry video by Mary Russell and Gerard Wozek
Pre-Teen Book Club: A Don't Bump the Glump! Shelebration
The Poetry Center of Chicago's 14th Annual Juried Reading

Also, check out databases and websites specializing in poetry, and upcoming poetry events at Chicago Public Library featured on our Poetry Resources webpage.

The Fair of the Book and the Rose

Posted April 23, 2008

In Spain each spring, mostly in and around the city of Barcelona, they celebrate the feast day of St. George on April 23rd with a festival known as "The Fair of the Book and the Rose". St. George (Jordi in Catalan) is mostly known for the mythical story of slaying a dragon, but he is also the patron saint of Catalonia, a region in Northeastern Spain. While most of the world's lovers give roses on St. Valentine's Day, since the 15th century they have been exchanging them on St.Jordi's day in Barcelona, apparently due to a part of the dragon-slaying legend that says that blood from the slain dragon splashed on the ground and sprouted into a rosebush. St. George then plucked a rose and gave it to the fair damsel that he had just saved from being dragon dinner. The Catalans, with a love of literature and a good party, have mashed together the Saint's day with a celebration of books due to the death on April 23, 1616 of two of world's most beloved authors: Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare. Barcelonans stroll the hundreds of bookstalls that spring up along their city's beautiful streets, buying books and roses to bestow on their loves. According to Unesco, over 400,000 books are purchased in Barcelona on St. Jordi's Day, along with 6 million roses. Traditionally, a woman would give a book to a man, and he will in turn give her a rose. In recent years, Catalan women decided the men were getting the better end of the deal, and now both partners exchange books. The women still get the roses, though.

National Library Week Videos

Posted April 17, 2008

It's not too late to put on a party hat and celebrate National Library Week! Go to your local library and take a minute to savor the very fact that this institution exists. Where else can you imagine you would be able to find shiny new bestsellers, action-packed DVDs, volumes of love poetry, a CD of your favorite band, an audiobook version of a new thriller, and a book on how to train your poodle? And all for free! Not to mention that the library is a great place to hang out, check your email, ask a reference question and read the latest issue of People magazine. On this 50th anniversary of National Library Week, we would like to share a couple of videos from the website of American Libraries (the magazine of the American Library Association). We think they are a unique, not to mention entertaining, salute to libraries.

National Library Week: Super Sized

National Library Week: Reference Desk

DIY Film Fest: Raymond Chandler

Posted April 15, 2008

Continuing our salute to One Book One Chicago author Raymond Chandler, we suggest that you settle onto a comfy couch for your own Chandler film fest. Most of the movies listed would fall into the film noir category: dark, gritty crime dramas with femmes fatales and conflicted heroes. Chandler's writing works well on film, due to his iconic characters, moody settings and slick hand with dialogue. His novels and those of contemporary Dashiell Hammett set the tone for virtually every private eye in print or on celluloid that followed. A famous quote by Chandler on the subject of writing gives a good idea of what to expect: "When in doubt, have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand."

Movies based on Chandler's books:
The Long Goodbye
This 1970s update of our One Book selection was directed by Robert Altman and takes a LOT of liberties with the novel. More of a movie about the detective genre, this is not a film for noir purists, but it's still of interest for Chandler fans.

The Big Sleep
Arguably the best of the Chandler adaptations, this is also one of the best of the noirs, period. Humphrey Bogart plays PI Philip Marlowe to perfection, and the chemistry between him and Lauren Bacall crackles.

Murder, My Sweet
Based on Chandler's Farewell My Lovely, this film finds Marlowe working for a thug named Moose Malloy who is looking for his girlfriend. Dick Powell was a surprising choice for this role, as he was known mostly for musicals before this, but he is a very convincing Marlowe.

Chandler screenplays:
Double Indemnity
Although he didn't write the book, Chandler owns the movie version of the noir classic about a woman who suckers an insurance agent into taking care of her husband. Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck both turn in stellar performances.

Strangers on a Train
Working from the excellent source material of Patricia Highsmith's twisty novel, and directed by the unparalleled Alfred Hitchcock, Chandler worked on the screenplay of this story about two men who meet on a train and hatch the plans for a couple of perfect murders.

Harold Washington's Legacy

Posted April 10, 2008

April marks two occasions for us to celebrate Harold Washington. April 15th we can remember the late Mayor on what would have been his 86th birthday. But first we'll commemorate the 25th anniversary of his election as Mayor on Saturday, April 12th. In honor of the historic date, the Chicago Public Library will hold a symposium moderated by CBS2 reporter Derrick Blakely and featuring keynote speaker Gary Rivlin, author of Fire on the Prairie: Chicago's Harold Washington and the Politics of Race. The event, co-sponsored by the Harold Washington Commemorative Year, will feature a panel of Washington era "insiders." They will be sharing some of their favorite memories as well as discussing Washington's legacy. Sounds like a terrific way to honor the memory of a man who left a lasting impression on our city. Many Chicagoans will surely remember what an exciting and tumultuous era that was, but for those who don't we have some suggestions to help you brush up on your Chicago history:

Bashing Chicago Traditions: Harold Washington's Last Campaign, Chicago, 1987 by Melvin G. Holli and Paul M. Green

The Making of the Mayor, Chicago, 1983 by Melvin G. Holli and Paul M. Green

"Harold": the People's Mayor: an Authorized Biography of Mayor Harold Washington by Dempsey J. Travis

Harold!: Photographs from the Harold Washington Years photographs by Antonio Dickey and Marc PoKempner; text by Salim Muwakkil

Pulitzer Prizes 2008

Posted April 8, 2008

The Pulitzer Prize winners have been announced. (That's pronounced "PULL it sir," if you were wondering, according to the official Pulitzer site.) The Fiction Prize was awarded to Junot Diaz for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, a novel that has previously garnered much acclaim, including an award from the National Book Critics Circle. The other finalists for fiction were Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson and Shakespeare's Kitchen by Lore Segal.

Of local interest, Chicago playwright and actor Tracy Letts has won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play August: Osage County (as predicted by the Chicago Sun-Times). The play had a smash run at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago before going to Broadway, where it has become a huge hit. Also, the Chicago Tribune nabbed a Prize for Investigative Reporting "for its exposure of faulty governmental regulation of toys, car seats and cribs, resulting in the extensive recall of hazardous products and congressional action to tighten supervision."

In what may be a first, two Poetry Prizes were awarded: Time and Materials by Robert Hass and Failure by Philip Schultz. Also, a Special Citation was awarded to Bob Dylan "for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power." Some highlights of the rest of the awards:

General Nonfiction
The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945 by Saul Friedlander

History
What Hath God Wrought: the Transformation of America, 1815-1848 by Daniel Walker Howe

Biography
Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father by John Matteson

Previous Pulitzer winners in Fiction and Nonfiction.

Baseball is Back!

Posted April 1, 2008

Opening Day is the real first day of spring for baseball fans, who start to long for a trip to the ballpark, despite the temperatures outside. If you can't brave the cold bleachers, or just plain can't get tickets, the library has some great baseball books and movies to tide you over. One of our favorite baseball films, Bull Durham, stars Kevin Costner as a nearly washed-up minor league catcher and Susan Sarandon as a woman who takes a special interest in young ball players. Their romance is so tied up with their romance with the game, that it's hard to see where one ends and the other begins. Another baseball picture starring Costner is the sentimental Field of Dreams, about a man who hears voices that tell him to build a ballpark in the middle of the cornfields in Iowa. This field is a special, magical place for second chances, and dead ballplayers from the past walk through the corn to have another chance to play the game they love. Finally, on the movie front, a classic choice might be the tearjerker Pride of the Yankees, starring Gary Cooper as legendary hitter Lou Gehrig, who was tragically lost to the game when he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

If you want to read about baseball, the library has put together a list of fiction and nonfiction books about the game. One good place to start might be any of the terrific short story collections of W.P. Kinsella, most of which revolve around the great American pastime.

Ladies Represent

March 27 2008 12:00 AM GMT

Posted March 27, 2008

It's still March, so that means there's time still to celebrate Women's History Month. Why not check out some graphic novels and comics featuring strong women? CPL has many titles to get you started. Persepolis, the highly praised graphic memoir by Marjane Satrapi recounts her childhood in Iran and was recently made into a full-length animated film. Another lady sure to get you amped is the stake-wielding powerhouse Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The first volume of the Omnibus collects an adaptation of Joss Whedon's original screenplay and leads into season one of the wildly popular TV series. And let's not forget the classic comics superheroine, Wonder Woman. Her latest adventure, Love and Murder, has best selling author Jodi Picoult trying her hand at the comics genre. Looking for more women who inspire? Check out these titles which not only feature female protagonists, but are also illustrated and written by women:

La Perdida by Jessica Abel
Cancer Vixen by Marisa Acocella Marchetto
Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of...Melancholy?

Posted March 25, 2008

"No human being can really understand another, and no one can arrange another's happiness." - Graham Greene, Heart of the Matter

Can happiness be found in the pages of a book? The debate seems to have shifted into high gear of late. Of course, advice books that promise happiness are as prevalent as ever. Notable recent examples include: The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky, Happiness Is an Inside Job by Sylvia Boorstein, Be Happy Without Being Perfect by Alice D. Domar, and Happy for No Reason by Marci Shimoff. Lately, however, there seems to be a glut of books claiming to look at the whole business in new ways.

In The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World, Eric Weiner comes to some surprising and not always pleasant conclusions about why some areas of the world rank high in measures of happiness. Jennifer Michael Hecht scrutinizes historical notions of happiness (such as those found in advice books published by the thousands) in The Happiness Myth: Why What We Think Is Right Is Wrong. In Stumbling on Happiness, Harvard professor Daniel Gilbert draws on modern psychology, philosophy and neuroscience to discuss where we go wrong in our pursuit of happiness. Finally, in Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy, Eric G. Wilson questions the whole enterprise of consciously striving for happiness. Watch out for paper cuts.

Legendary Science Fiction Writer Arthur C. Clarke Dies

Posted March 20, 2008

2001 seemed like a long time in the future when Arthur C. Clarke collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on his most famous work: 2001: A Space Odyssey. The film and the book that accompanied it were groundbreaking when they came out in the late 60s. But author Clarke lived to see the date most associated with his name come and go, passing away this week in Sri Lanka, where he lived for many years. Although his name might be forever linked to 2001, Clarke had a long career and was one of the most respected writers in science fiction. Early classics include the chilling Childhood's End, where an alien race arrive to rescue Earth from disease and poverty, but at a cost. His popular Rama series kicks off with Rendezvous with Rama, a classic space story of a group of humans who intercept a spaceship, the Rama, passing through our solar system and attempt to unlock its secrets. In later years, Clarke had several successful collaborations with fellow SF writer Stephen Baxter, including The Light of Other Days which explores the concept of wormholes through time. A brilliant scientific thinker (his science writing anticipated satellite networks by decades) as well as a writer of great prose, Clarke's body of work is his greatest legacy.

DIY Film Festival - Anthony Minghella

Posted March 18, 2008

Trying to decide on a good movie to check out from the thousands available in the collections of the Chicago Public Library? It can be a daunting task! When trying to pick what film you might be in the mood for, CPL can offer a few suggestions about how to create a do-it-yourself film festival. On a regular basis, we will suggest a small selection of films that we think would make for a great exploration of a director, actor, or theme. Try one film from the list for an enjoyable evening's entertainment, or try a few for a more extended stay on the couch. This week, due to the far-too-early passing of British director Anthony Minghella (who died this week at the age of 54), we suggest three of his best films:

The English Patient
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Cold Mountain

One Book Gets Hard Boiled

Posted March 14, 2008

The Chicago Public Library has chosen a new title for the twice-yearly One Book, One Chicago program, and it is a masterpiece of crime fiction. The Long Goodbye is Raymond Chandler's last book to feature the iconic private eye Philip Marlowe, and surely ranks as one of his very best. This is also the first crime novel (or genre fiction book of any kind) to be chosen as part of the citywide reading initiative. Visit the One Book, One Chicago site to find the resource guide for The Long Goodbye and to see the many exciting One Book events that we have planned.

The Long Goodbye is a truly wonderful introduction to hard-boiled or noir crime fiction. This novel features Marlowe's wise-cracking hard-drinking detective sharing his cynical views of society as he tries to help a friend in trouble. In Marlowe's world trouble is almost always accompanied by dead bodies, guns, blondes and, inevitably, the cops. Enjoy The Long Goodbye for its twisty plot, its beautifully flawed characters, and for the sheer love that Chandler has for language.

We will be celebrating The Long Goodbye through April here at Beyond Words, sharing our favorite hard-boiled novels both old and new, as well as some of the film noir of the period that were influenced by and in turn influenced crime writers then and now.

We'll leave you now with the words of Philip Marlowe, Private Detective:
"So passed a day in the life of a P.I. Not exactly a typical day but not totally untypical either. What makes a man stay with it nobody knows. You don?t get rich, you don?t often have much fun. Sometimes you get beaten up or shot at or tossed into the jailhouse. Once in a long while you get dead. Every other month you decide to give it up and find some sensible occupation while you can still walk without shaking your head. Then the door buzzer rings and you open the inner door to the waiting room and there stands a new face with a new problem, a new load of grief, and a small piece of money." - The Long Goodbye, Raymond Chandler

Happy Birthday, Jack!

Posted March 12, 2008

Jack Kerouac's birthday is as good a time as any to pick up one of the books commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of On the Road, a novel which (according to a recent Chicago Tribune article) still sells 100,000 copies a year. In addition to the classic version, Viking recently published Kerouac's original first draft of the novel. Written as a single long paragraph, the draft formed a single 120-foot scroll, and so this version is known as On the Road: The Original Scroll. As published in this edition, the novel is said to be a little longer, a little more raw and somewhat more like a memoir in tone. Characters are identified by the real names of friends who inspired Kerouac's story. If you're ready to delve deeper, consider the novel's place in American culture by reading Why Kerouac Matters: The Lessons of On the Road (They're Not What You Think) by John Leland, or soak up the ambience captured in the photos of The Beats: From Kerouac to Kesey, an Illustrated Journey Through the Beat Generation by Mike Evans.

Barbie, Pushing 50

Posted March 10, 2008

Barbie was first unveiled at the International American Toy Fair in New York City on March 9th 1959. Over the years, the pint-sized doll has undoubtedly brought joy to many, but she has also inspired her share of controversy. Critics have accused the tiny blonde bombshell of promoting an unhealthy body image. How many times have Barbie's measurements been recited to denounce the doll? In case you've missed the numbers, here's the rundown. If Barbie were real, her measurements would be somewhere in the ballpark of 36-18-33, and she would stand about 5' 9'' tall. Furthermore, she would lack sufficient body fat to menstruate. That certainly sounds both unhealthy and unrealistic. In 1998 Mattel issued a new model Barbie with a wider waist and a "less graduated profile." While this appeared to be a move to appease critics, the toy manufacturer insisted that was not their motivation. Judging by Mattel's web presence, they continue to be mindful of their critics. They have set up a site devoted to addressing parents' concerns, www.webelieveingirls.com. It includes discussions on hot button issues such as body image, bullying, and internet safety. Whatever your position is on the much talked-about cultural icon, you have to agree the gal has provoked some necessary debates about body image and unrealistic standards of beauty. The Chicago Public Library carries many books that discuss issues related to body image as well as the cultural impact of Barbie.

Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll by M.G. Lord
The Barbie Chronicles: A Living Doll Turns Forty ed. by Yona Zeldis McDonough
Adi�s, Barbie: Young Women Write about Body Image and Identity ed. by Ophira Edut
Beauty Junkies: Inside our $15 Billion Obsession with Cosmetic Surgery by Alex Kuczynski
More Than Skin Deep: Exploring the Real Reasons Why Women Go Under the Knife by Loren Eskenazi
Barbie's Queer Accessories by Erica Rand

The Critics Pick

Posted March 7, 2008

The National Book Critics Circle, an organization of those who professionally review books, gave out their prestigious awards last night. Their pick for best fiction was quite a staff favorite around here, but we also own many of the other award winners.

Best Criticism
The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross

Best Poetry
Elegy by Mary Jo Bang

Best Biography
Stanley : The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer by Jim Teal

Best Autobiography
Brother, I'm Dying by Edwidge Dandicat

Best General Nonfiction
Medical Apartheid : The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present by Harriet Washington

Best Fiction
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Fiction Finalists
Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra
In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar
The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates
The Shadow Catcher by Marianne Wiggins

Past winners of the National Book Critics Circle award for Best Fiction

Daylight Savings Time Begins

Posted March 6, 2008

Don?t forget to change your clocks and watches this weekend, as Daylight Saving Time starts early again this year, at 2am on Sunday, March 9, 2008. Last year, the date was pushed back a month from its usual start time of the second Sunday in April to the second Sunday in March. We will stay on Daylight Savings Time until the first Sunday in November. Although initially introduced during WWI, Daylight Savings Time as we know it did not really begin until the late 60s and 70s, a response to the energy crisis. If you want to read more about this curious tradition, you could try Seize the Daylight: the Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time by David Prerau.

Can't remember which way to turn the clock? The easy way to remember is "spring forward, fall back" which means that you lose an hour of sleep but gain some much needed daylight. If you need some ideas about what to do with that extra hour of daylight, why not read a really short book? All of these titles are under 180 pages!

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
Everyman by Philip Roth
Pobby and Dingan by Ben Rice
The Clothes They Stood Up In by Alan Bennett
The Mystery Guest by Gregoire Bouiller

Women's History Month

Posted on March 4, 2008

National Women's History Month celebrates the achievements of women throughout history. Early movements to recognize the importance of women's contributions date back to 1911 with the first International Women's Day, March 8th. Interest waned in post-war years and the cause was not taken up again until the women's movement of the 1960s. Still, women continued to be under-represented in history books and in 1978 a California school board began a week-long program on the week of March 8th to spotlight women's history in schools. This spurred others around the country to promote similar programs. The initiative took off and in 1981 there was a Congressional Resolution declaring a National Women's History Week and the program finally reached its pinnacle in 1987 when Congress passed a resolution to expand the celebration to the entire month of March.

The Chicago Public Library has many books in our collections celebrating the contributions of women to society. Sample some of these books on our Women's History Popular Topic page.

Happy Pulaski Day!

Posted March 3, 2008

Newcomers to Chicago may be forgiven for wondering what occasions the celebration of Pulaski Day. A Polish nobleman, Casimir Pulaski gained fame as a hero of the American Revolutionary War, sustaining a mortal wound in battle near Savannah. (A fort in Georgia, named in his honor, was the site of an important Civil War battle.) Although generally Americans observe Pulaski Day on October 11 if they observe it at all, in Illinois by law Pulaski Day is the first Monday in March, with several public institutions (including the Chicago Public Library) closed for the holiday. His name also graces several places in Chicago, including a road, a park and several 'L' stops. The General also inspired one of the songs on the Sufjan Stevens album Come on Feel the Illinoise. Those interested in a book length biography might consult Casimir Pulaski: a Hero of the American Revolution by Leszek Szymanski.

The Other Boleyn Girl

February 29 2008 12:00 AM GMT

Posted February 29, 2008

The Other Boleyn Girl starring Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, and Eric Bana opened this weekend. The film is an adaptation of the 2002 historical novel of the same title by Philippa Gregory. A dramatic retelling of romantic intrigue in King Henry's court, two beautiful sisters vie for the affection of King Henry VIII. Mary becomes King Henry's mistress at the young age of 14 and remains so for many years until her calculating younger sister, Anne, starts a determined campaign to replace Katherine of Aragon as queen. Author Gregory has written several other historical novels set in the era, including The Queen's Fool, The Virgin's Lover, The Constant Princess, and The Boleyn Inheritance. Gregory takes enormous liberties in The Other Boleyn Girl as there is actually very little known about Mary Boleyn, but it still makes for an entertaining novel; full of political maneuverings, sisterly rivalry and sexual intrigue. For those interested in reading a historically accurate account of Anne Boleyn's life as Henry's wife, check out The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII.

Before Sudoku there was the Crossword

Posted February 27, 2008

This weekend, crossword enthusiasts gather for the 31st American Crossword Puzzle Tournament started by Will Shortz and featured in the film Wordplay, a documentary about crossword constructers and solvers. The crossword puzzle has a long history. Crossword solvers can thank Liverpool journalist Arthur Wynn, who published the first "word-cross" puzzle in the New York World on December 21, 1913. In 1924 when Simon and Schuster printed the first book of crosswords it started a national craze. Today many newspapers print a crossword puzzle daily, the New York Times puzzle being the most prestigious. Those intrigued by the history and culture of the puzzle should check out Crossworld: One Man?s Journey into America's Crossword Obsession by Marc Romano.

Oscar winning films at CPL

Posted February 25, 2008

Well, Sunday night was another long Oscar awards ceremony. As usual, it had a few moments of genuine excitement and a lot of filler, but there remains something thrilling about seeing the happiness on the winners' faces as the hard work they did to create a perfect moment on film are recognized and celebrated. Although many of the winners and nominees, including the Best Picture winner No Country for Old Men, are not yet available on DVD, CPL owns many of the films honored at this year's ceremony. Here are a small sampling of titles in our collections right now:

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose

Best Supporting Actress
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

Best Animated Feature Film
Ratatouille

Best Actor nominee
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

Best Spporting Actor nominee
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Best Documentary nominee
No End in Sight

And if you want to catch up on all the Best Picture Oscar winners, CPL has a list called Academy Awards on our Books, Movies, and More page that should keep even an avid moviewatcher busy for a while.

George Pullman and the Pullman Porters

Posted February 21, 2008

Riding a modern-day Amtrak train, it is hard to imagine that train travel was ever glamorous, but apparently travelers used to enjoy both style and luxury on their cross-country journeys. One of the key figures in creating this golden age of train travel was George Pullman (born March 3, 1881), the inventor of the Pullman "Palace" sleeper cars. His luxury cars were advertised as being the ultimate in comfort and service. The service was provided by thousands of former African-American slaves who became the porters, valets, and waiters of the Pullman cars. Pullman, in fact, became the largest single employer of African-Americans after the end of the Civil War. He set up one of his factories on the South Side of Chicago, and built a town around this factory for the employees. This planned community was a marvel of its day, and was even an attraction at the World?s Columbian Exhibition of 1893. It all came tumbling down, however, when the Pullman workers went on strike in 1894, protesting the cuts in their wages made by the company. This strike, put down brutally by Pullman with the help of the U.S. government, was one of the largest in history; stopping all train traffic into Chicago and crippling train travel nationwide. After the strike, the Pullman company was ordered to divest itself of all land owned, marking the end of the company town. But even though the neighborhood of Pullman has long since been absorbed into the city of Chicago, it remains quite proud of its history. Read more about the workers who made George Pullman's empire what it was, the Pullman Porters:

Rising from the Rails: Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class by Larry Tye

Those Pullman Blues: an Oral History of the African American Railroad Attendant by David D. Perata.

An Anthology of Respect: the Pullman Porters National Historic Registry of African American Railroad Employees by Lyn Hughes

A. Philip Randolph: a Life in the Vanguard by Andrew Edmund Kersten