In a previous post, I wrote about the recent onslaught of fabulously funny picture books featuring peas. As we stand on the cusp on 2009, I am prepared to make a bold prediction: Wolves are the new peas!
Forget the big bad wolf from the Three Little Pigs, don’t even mention that meanie from Little Red Riding Hood. This new breed of wolves is kinder, gentler- and hilarious.
Check out these recent additions to our collection.
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Every once in awhile, a book comes along when you need it most. For me, The Suicide Index: Putting My Father’s Death In Order was that book.
A 2008 National Book Award finalist, author Joan Wickersham poetically tries to make sense of the death of her beloved father by a self-inflicted gunshot wound on a cold February day in 1991. Using the index format found in the back of nonfiction books as chapter titles (Suicide: act of, Suicide: anger about, Suicide: attitude toward), Wickersham attempts to impose order on an intensely chaotic, personal experience.
Julia Glass, author of The Whole World Over, says it best:
“The Suicide Index is just astonishing. Having endured the suicide of a close family member, I opened this book with dread and longing; fearful of revisiting so much pain yet keenly wanting, as I always will, to understand why. No one can ever fully answer the devastating question that suicide remains for those left behind, yet here, in Joan Wickersham’s exquisitely straightforward story, I found surprising consolation.”
The Teen historical novel Newes from the Dead (2008) by Mary Hooper is absolutely fascinating. It carries the flavor of life in 1650 England, retelling the true story of Ann Greene, a young woman who was hung as a murderess for killing her newborn (actually stillborn).
The story starts with Ann gradually waking in her coffin, which is sitting in a medical dissection laboratory. She is unable to move and feels neither terror nor joy. She does not realize where she is, at first believing herself to be in bed and then, remembering her execution, believing herself to be in purgatory. Ann muses on her past, observes "angels", and hears distant voices.
Hooper interweaves Ann's past with her present in a fascinating can't-put-it-down read. The compassion of the doctors and the heartless cruelty of prison are both brought to life through Ann's story. Contemporary pamphlets were printed telling about Ann's "miracle", one of which is reprinted in the back of the book.
As we enter the New Year with an uncertain economy, it seems likely that many of us will be scaling back during 2009. It follows, then, that looking for enjoyment in "the simple things" will become more important, and I say that chocolate is one of those simple pleasures that can work wonders. A simple event for friends on a winter evening: a Chocolate Tasting. From a basic bar of chocolate to an elaborate dessert, somehow it seems to make things a little brighter.
The Library's cookbook collection includes these recent books that are all about chocolate:
The Golden Book of Chocolate by Carla Bardi, 2008
Deep, Dark Chocolate: Decadent Recipes for the Serious Chocolate Lover by Sara Perry, 2008
Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard, 2008
The Hershey, Pennsylvania Cookbook by Marilyn Odesser-Torpey, 2007
The Ghirardelli Chocolate Cookbook, 2007
The Essence of Chocolate by John Scharffenberger, 2006
Chocolate Therapy: Indulgent Recipes to Lift Your Spirits by Kathy Farrell-Kingsley, 2006
Marking the centenary year of the birth of the legendary Ohio football coach, Paul Brown, two new biographies of the gridiron icon have hit libraries and bookstores: Paul Brown: The Rise and Fall and Rise again of Football's Most Innovative Coach by Andrew O'Toole (Clerisy Press); and Paul Brown: The Man Who Invented Modern Football by George Cantor (Triumph Books).
Both examine Brown's life in football beginning with his days as a high school quarterback at Massillon Washington. Following a solid career at Miami University, Brown returned to Massillon as head coach and directed the Tigers to consecutive state championships. He was subsequently hired as head coach at Ohio State, the school he was deemed to small to play for, and led the team to a college national championship.
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It seems like a good time of year for feel-good books about dogs. Hollywood thinks so, anyway, since the movie version of Marley and Me, John Grogan’s bestselling memoir of life with his very unusual Labrador, premieres on Christmas. Here are a couple more to try.
I just finished listening to the audio version of The Art of Racing in the Rain, Garth Stein’s popular novel. Enzo, its narrator, is another irresistible canine. He’s a rather more philosophical creature than Marley. From a TV documentary about Mongolia, he has learned of a belief that dogs are reincarnated as humans, and he feels that he is ready for this step—certainly the ability to speak is something he looks forward to. The inability to communicate to and for his beloved master, racecar driver Denny Swift, is a frustration to him. Denny’s life is going through some terrible turns, with the illness of his wife and the potential loss of his daughter.
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December is a great month to receive book publications. EVERYONE has a best books list. I just can’t get enough. I argue with the list editors; I email the lists to friends and family; I get outraged at books left off the lists.
So, in the spirit of the season, here are my picks (in no particular order) for the Best Picture Books of 2008!
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