BOOKS, MOVIES & MUSIC

Staff Recommends

More suggestions are available on Staff Recommends for Kids!

Recommendation for the Week of January 5, 2009

The Dark Lantern
by: Brightwell, Gerri
FIC BRI

Jane Willbred has forged a letter of recommendation and taken a job with the Bentley Family as the second maid. The forgery is a small indiscretion compared to the intrigue depicted downstairs in the servant quarters, with their petty grievances and endless pecking order for chores. Meanwhile life upstairs maintains a thin veil of propriety, but that all starts to unravel when revelations from Robert Bentley’s wife Mima’s past threatens their seemly calm homelife. Then the sudden death of Roberts’s older brother and the arrival of a woman who claims to be his widow add another element of surprise.

Dark Lantern is a combination of mystery and historical fiction that brings late Victorian London to life. Brightwell’s debut novel illustrates 19th century social history with an intricate and surprising plot, and the result is a compelling story to keep you reading and guessing. The author also hosts gardening programs on PBS and DIY Network and offers a terrific website (with pictures) at www.joegardener.com.

- recommended by Deborah Colter, Glendale Branch

Recommendation for the Week of December 29, 2008

Elder Care Made Easier: Doctor Marion's 10 Steps to Help You Care for an Aging Loved One
by: Somers, Marion
649.8 SOM

What will we do with mother? If you are in the position of caring for an elderly loved one, you may have pondered this question. Marian Somers provides advice based on her thirty years of experience. She breaks down her advice into ten steps, and these can be read in any order based upon your particular needs. Dr. Somers emphasizes the importance of open communication by making it the subject of the first chapter. She covers the gamut of elderly care issues that include safety, financial and legal matters, housing and adaptive equipment; and she concludes with Learn to Let Go which encourages communication to fulfill the wishes of your loved one and to plan for the end of life. The book includes an extensive list of resources, potential therapies and helpful forms to organize yourself to provide the best care for your loved one.

- recommended by Rod Burkett, East Washington Branch

Recommendation for the Week of December 22, 2008

Mosaic: Pieces of My Life So Far
by: Grant, Amy
780.91 Grant GRA

If you want to dance whenever “Baby Baby” is heard from your I-Pod or your radio, or if the lyrics of “Somewhere Down the Road” hold special meaning for you, you will appreciate this offering by Amy Grant. In Mosaic, Miss Grant shares honestly, poignant glimpses of her life’s journey.

Pull up your chair by the fireside. Crack this book. Listen to Miss Grant and be drawn into your own reminisces. . . loving your mother’s young hands, ordering for the children at the fast food drive up, the sense of being one with nature while walking in an Indiana woods, the beauty of days spent by the seaside.

These and other experiences inspired Miss Grant to pen lyrics and to write music that a generation has loved. Peek into the life of this woman who continues to draw crowds into concert halls as she has done for 30 years.

- recommended by Patricia Werle, Spades Park Branch

Recommendation for the Week of December 15, 2008

A Kiss of Shadows
by: Hamilton, Laurell K.
SF HAM

Merry Gentry is a private investigator living in L.A. But unbeknownst even to her closest friends, Merry is also a Faerie Princess of the Unseelie Court. Being part human, Merry has never been truly accepted as a member of the court, even by her family. Because of this cruel treatment, Merry decides to leave court and live her own life, free of her family. She has done a good job of keeping her two lives separate, until her past comes to find her. Merry’s aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness, needs an heir to the Unseelie throne; and either Merry or her cousin Cel will fill the role. Filled with the action and excitement for which Laurell K. Hamilton is known, Kiss of Shadows is a page turner that will not disappoint any of her fans.

- recommended by Aimee Bittle, Shelby Library

Recommendation for the Week of December 8, 2008

The Lost Painting
by: Harr, Jonathan
759.5 Caravaggio HAR

Harr, writer of the bestselling “A Civil Action”, describes the sensational discovery of a long lost painting by the sixteenth century artist Caravaggio. The story is told along two parallel tracts moving between Italy and Ireland.

In August of 1990 art restorer Sergio Benedetti inspects a painting at a Jesuit House in Dublin. After spending two years restoring the painting, Benedetti tries to prove that this is the original of the Caravaggio’s famous work the “Taking Of Christ,” which was known only through copies made by the Caravaggio’s followers. The painting found in Ireland had been ascribed to the Dutch painter Gerrit Van Honthorst. Was this the original “Taking Of Christ” and how did it get to Ireland? The other story is of an Italian art history student. Francesca Cappelletti was researching another painting by Caravaggio. In the ancient archives of the Mattei family she finds a record of the sale of the “Taking Of Christ” to an English collector in 1802. The Lost Painting reads more like a historical novel than book on art history.

- recommended by Harriet Cohen, Warren Branch

Recommendation for the Week of December 1, 2008

The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes—And Why
by: Ripley, Amanda
155.935 RIP

Did you know that most serious plane accidents are survivable? That, statistically, the determining factor in whether people evacuated before Katrina hit was not economic level, but age? That sometimes the best way to survive is to do nothing? Ripley, a senior writer for Time, wanted to know why “people in shipwrecks, plane crashes, and floodwaters all seemed to undergo a mysterious metamorphosis”. Why some people step over others to reach an exit, while others “become bizarrely courteous”. What made Roger Olian jump into ice-filled waters of the Potomac to attempt to rescue survivors of a plane crash while others stood on the bridge above and watched. What made Rick Rescorla almost obsessively force the employees of Morgan Stanley to practice evacuating from the World Trade Center for eight years, then stay behind as the tower collapsed. What makes a hero different from a coward? What part does evolution play in the way we respond when disaster strikes? Who has the best chance of surviving a disaster? The Unthinkable is a great way to begin considering the possibilities.

- recommended by Cheryl Holtsclaw, West Indianapolis Branch

Recommendation for the Week of November 24, 2008

Tough Choices: A Memoir
by: Fiorina, Carly
338.761004 FIO

“If change stalls, it fails. Once change is advanced, retreat is fatal. Sometimes you just have to burn the boats.”

Carly Fiorina was CEO and change agent of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005; and she leads the reader on a journey through her landmark career. She was a law school drop-out at 23. By 45, she was named Fortune Magazine’s “Most Powerful Woman in Business. She tells of 20 years of increasingly responsible leadership positions at AT&T and the spin-off of Lucent Technologies before being recruited to be the CEO of HP.

In Tough Choices, Fiorina reveals to the reader her successes and failures; how she led the transformation of a troubled HP through 5 ½ years, taking over when it seemed time had been standing still for its people. Her firing made news around the world; and she tells what it’s like for one ultimate outsider, the first CEO at HP not promoted from within.

- recommended by Kristi Schneider, Pike Branch

Recommendation for the Week of November 17, 2008

Creature
by: Zuckerman, Andrew
779.32 ZUC

Have you ever wished for a picture book just for adults but without the “adult” stigma? C’mon, you know you have!

Photographer Andrew Zuckerman has heard your plea. This collection of photographs, all on a non-distracting white background, is as much an exercise in graphic design as it is in image capture. And while it’s tempting to anthropomorphize some of the animal portraits (especially true with the “baby pictures”), it’s enough to allow the photos to enhance the animals’ own personalities. It is a testament to Zuckerman’s art that he has even made the hyena appealing.

For the compulsive animal-lover, there is a chart in the back with thumbnails of the critters and their place in the animal classification system.

- recommended by Gregg Jackson, Southport Library

Recommendation for the Week of November 10, 2008

Some Like It Hot-Buttered
by: Cohen, Jeffrey
MYS COH

Movies, mirth and mystery are cleverly combined in this very funny whodunit by Jeffrey Cohen. It all begins in New Jersey at Comedy Tonight, an all-comedy movie theatre owned and operated by one Elliot Freed. Elliot may not be the sharpest or most observant guy around, but when he spots a movie-goer not laughing during a showing of Young Frankenstein….well, something’s clearly amiss. In this assessment Elliot is 100 percent correct. The gentleman in Row S, Seat 18, is as dead as can be--and moreover, the cause is poisoned popcorn served from Elliot’s own concession stand. Until further notice, Comedy Tonight is closed…and that is positively no laughing matter to Elliot. A new amateur sleuth is born as Elliot determines to solve this crime, restore his beloved theatre’s reputation, and avenge the death of a fellow comedy-lover. Tremendously likeable in his witty, fumbling foray into the world of intrigue, Elliot Freed’s big adventure will please both mystery lovers and cinema buffs.

- recommended by Angie Lewis, Wayne Branch

Recommendation for the Week of November 3, 2008

Stop Clutter from Stealing Your Life: Discover Why You Clutter & How You Can Stop
by: Nelson, Mexico Mike
648.5 NEL 2008

As cooler weather starts to roll in and we begin to bring our winter wardrobes out of storage, it is the perfect time to think about de-cluttering our closets and our lives. Although there are several books available that provide starting points and strategies, Stop Clutter from Stealing Your Life is geared toward the serious hoarder. In this newly revised edition, Mexico Mike Nelson explores the underlying reasons why people allow clutter in their lives, from medical and emotional causes to learned behaviors. He then offers strategies for each type of clutter bug, including the compulsive shopper, the rainy day saver and those of us overwhelmed by OPC – Other People’s Clutter. If your life is ruled by stuff and you are ready to de-junk but confused about how to begin, Nelson can help.

- recommended by Melissa Wooton, Shelby Branch

Recommendation for the Week of October 27, 2008

The Prince of Frogtown
by: Bragg, Rick
B Bragg, Rick BRA

In his first two family memoirs (All Over But the Shoutin' and Ava's Man), Rick Bragg wrote about himself and about his mother's family. He ignored his late father, who left the family when Bragg was six, except as the person who had made his mother poor and miserable. He dismissed his father as “a mean drunk and a tragic figure.” But at the age of 40, Bragg finds himself in love and married to a woman with a 10-year-old son, who thinks he “hung the moon.” For him to be a father, he needs to learn who that shadowy figure really was. For the first time he asks his father’s family about the past, from the Alabama mountains where his father’s people were born to the mill town where they married, drank, and fought. Brilliantly written and deeply moving, this is one of the great American memoirs, the equal of McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes.

- recommended by Steve Bridge, Irvington Library, where, perhaps by coincidence, this book will be discussed on November 13th at 1:30 p.m.

Recommendation for the Week of October 20, 2008

The $64 Tomato
by: Alexander, William
635.097473 ALE

As I surveyed the garden, half the muskmelons and a third of the tomato crop were ruined by varmints. Visions of electric fences and shotguns appeared to me, but I came to my senses and thought: At least I am not over the edge like William Alexander. The $64 Tomato takes us down his garden path, proving that gardening is hope over experience. In this humorous account we meet squirrels that take one bite out of perfect tomatoes and deer that eat everything down to the ground. We discover there are no homegrown organic apples, despite the intentions of the gardener. Because of this book I have planted Brandywine tomatoes three years in a row, and each time I think that maybe this year they'll do better. Even if your gardening is limited to a tomato plant in the back yard, you will relate as the author struggles to create the garden he envisioned.

- recommended by Michelle Unrue, Central Library

Recommendation for the Week of October 13, 2008

Limiteds, Locals, and Expresses in Indiana 1838-1971
by: Sanders, Craig
385.2209772 S2152L 2003

A complete history of passenger trains in Indiana. The first chapter of this book chronicles their emergence, beginning with the first chartered railroad in 1832. It discusses the types of early passenger cars and the dangers of early railroad travel. The following chapters chronicle the mainline railroads that ran passenger service in Indiana, discussing their origins, the routes they took, and the eventual demise of each one--or its incorporation into Amtrak. The mainlines included in this book are Monon, Baltimore & Ohio, Chesapeake & Ohio, New York Central, Pennsylvania Railroad, Erie, Nickel Plate Road, Wabash, Grand Trunk Western, Chicago & Eastern Illinois, Louisville & Nashville, Illinois Central, Milwaukee Road, & Southern Railroad. The final chapter of the book discusses the many different short line railroads which provided passenger service in Indiana. All chapters contain maps and photographs of the railroads. This is a great read for anyone interested in railroads or Indiana history.

- recommended by Judy Clem, Nora Branch

Recommendation for the Week of October 6, 2008

The House at Riverton
by: Morton, Kate
FIC MOR

Bring out the silver and china, fire up the teakettle and settle in with Kate Morton’s first book. This is the fascinating story of Grace Bradley, a nonagenarian, looking back at her life as she is consulted on a film about the Ashbury sisters. At 14, Grace went to work at Riverton House, the Ashbury estate in England where her mother had worked. The grandchildren of her employer, David, Hannah and Emmeline, fascinate her; and she adjusts to her duties as a maid and to life in the servants’ quarter. WWI changes everything. Family and servant loyalty are put to the test after the war, and climax with the mysterious death of poet and family friend R.S. Hunter. Even after all these years, as the movie about the sisters is being made, Grace, the only witness, holds the key. Ms. Morton captures the atmosphere of the fading Edwardian period, the shock of WWI, and the Roaring 20s with an intriguing plot and characters.

- recommended by Ann Grilliot, Lawrence Branch

Recommendation for the Week of September 29, 2008

Mummy Dearest
by: Hess, Joan
MYS HES

Who but Claire Malloy can go on her honeymoon with her 17-year-old daughter, her daughter’s 17-year-old girlfriend and her sometimes there husband? To be sure, Luxor, Egypt, is far afield from hometown Farberville, Arkansas; but Claire can still get in trouble. While her husband, Peter, is trying to help the local police and national security locate a terrorist group, Claire and the girls are busy visiting tombs, going to in-process digs and shopping. There are mysterious things going on at one of the digs, and murder happens. Could any of their fellow tourists be involved? Could it be the man who has been following the girls, the English Baron and his guests who are anxious to find some more antiquities, the Baron’s playboy son, or one of their guides? And, why does the hotel staff always seem to be around? This is a fine addition to Hess’s Claire Malloy and Maggody series.

- recommended by Kay Smith, Spades Park Branch

Recommendation for the Week of September 22, 2008

The Green Gardener’s Guide: Simple, Significant Actions to Protect and Preserve Our Planet
by: Lamp'l, Joe
635.0484 LAM

This is not your typical gardening book - for one thing it has no pictures. But it is anything but dull. It is chock full of information and inspiration on improving your environment by gardening with ecologically sound methods. There are chapters devoted to conserving water, reducing energy use and cutting back chemicals in the garden. Each chapter features boxes highlighting tips and facts. You can learn a lot just by reading these. For example, did you know that suburban lawns and gardens use more pesticides per acre on average than agriculture? The last chapter “Taking it Over the Fence” is full of ideas for generating community involvement. This book will help you understand why change is needed as well as how to make it happen. The author also hosts gardening programs on PBS and DIY Network and offers a terrific website (with pictures) at www.joegardener.com.

- recommended by Sue Kennedy, Irvington Branch

Recommendation for the Week of September 15, 2008

World War Z: an Oral History of the Zombie War
by: Brooks, Max
FIC BRO

What would the world be like if the scariest disease on Earth actually existed? Not bird flu or SARS - I’m talking about zombies; the rotting, relentless living dead whose only purpose is to chew through every human on the planet. Sound terrifying? It is!

This novel is a frighteningly realistic account of a future in which zombies thrive. World War Z is set 12 years after the Zombie War, when a pathogen that turned humans into the living dead swept across the world. It covers the initial stages from Patient Zero to the height of the War, victory, and the continuing clean up. These stories are told in a series of “interviews” the author has with heroes (and villains) of the Z War. This gives the novel many voices, some chilling in their heartlessness and others poignant enough to bring tears to the eyes.

Perfect for anyone who enjoys war stories or loves a good scare!

- recommended by Emilie van Sloun, East 38th Street

Recommendation for the Week of September 8, 2008

House Lust: America’s Obsession with our Homes
by: McGinn, Daniel F.
155.94 MCG

Do you remember the Dot.Com bubble and its eventual burst? In House Lust Daniel McGinn traveled the country to take a look at the decline in the real estate market. His humorous take at the roots of the housing bubble exposes how our homes have become a measure of our self-worth rather than a sound financial investment. He points out that square footage of homes since the 1950's has tripled from 983 sq. ft. to today's norm of 2,434 sq. ft.

Even with the decline in real estate values Americans are still obsessed with dreams of trading up, adding on, or buying vacation property. Popular culture offers plenty of places to fuel dreams of new properties such as HGTV, a cable channel devoted to home buying and renovations, or websites like http://www.zillow.com/ and http://www.realtor.com/ where you can find your current home value (as well as your neighbor's). So even though the bubble has burst, Americans are likely to continue to feel lust for houses as signs of the social status they associate with achieving the American Dream.

- recommended by Deborah Colter, Glendale Branch

Recommendation for the Week of September 1, 2008

Death Comes for the Archbishop
by: Cather, Willa
FIC CAT

Willa Cather’s story of the faith and friendship of two Catholic bishops in the American Southwest of the mid-19^th-century is a small, exquisite jewel in the treasure-trove of American literature. Based closely upon the lives of Archbishop Lamy, the first Bishop of New Mexico, and his dear childhood friend Bishop Joseph Machebeuf, Cather combines experiences of her own living in New Mexico with those related by Father Machebeuf in letters he wrote to his sister in France. “What I got from Father Machebeuf’s letters,” she wrote, “ was the mood, the spirit in which they accepted the accidents and hardships of a desert country, the joyful energy that kept them going.” The stark beauty of a harsh and unforgiving landscape is the backdrop for the physical and spiritual journeys of two men whose character shaped the character of the land and people they served, and whose lives are legend to this day.

- recommended by Deborah Jones, Franklin Road Branch

Recommendation for the Week of August 25, 2008

The Long Walk; The True Story of a Trek to Freedom
by: Rawicz, Slavomir
940.5472 RAW

I stayed up late to read this book in one sitting. It left me astounded by the human will to endure and desire to live. This story is filled with unimaginable danger, hardship and adventure. Although some reports question the author’s veracity, it is a well-written and believable account.

A Polish officer in WWII, Slav was arrested by the Red Army and sentenced to 25 years in a Siberian gulag. With the fortuitous aid of the camp commander’s wife, he and six others escape. As they make their way along Lake Baikal, the men come across Kristina, a 17 year old Polish girl who fled from forced labor on a farm. She joins them on their trek.

So begins their astonishing journey on foot through Siberia, Mongolia, the Gobi dessert, the Himalayas and Tibet to safety in India. Four lives are claimed on this arduous journey. After traveling on foot for one year, the remaining three reach safety in India. After recuperating, they go their separate ways, never seeing or hearing from each other again.

- recommended by Nicole James, College Avenue Branch

Recommendation for the Week of August 18, 2008

Hurt Go Happy
by: Rorby, Ginny
TEEN FIC ROR

Joey Willis has been deaf since the age of six, but her mother will not let her learn sign language because that will make her "handicap" more noticeable. Instead, she insists that Joey learn to “read” lips. This only contributes to Joey’s sense of isolation. An accidental meeting with a neighbor and his chimpanzee opens the door to learning American Sign Language, and this gives Joey the opportunity to develop a strong bond with someone outside her family. The horror of animal testing is dramatically woven throughout the story. We are reminded that primates are genetically over 98% human, which is more human than people sometimes are.

- recommended by Roberta Ash, Infozone at the Children's Museum

Recommendation for the Week of August 11, 2008

The Forgotten Soldier
by: Sajer, Guy
940.5421 SAJ

This is a firsthand account of war on the Russian Front during World War II, by a German foot soldier who fought there from the fall of 1942 to the spring of 1945. His descriptions of the physical and mental strains of combat are terrifying.

After surviving endless battles, the author found himself deep in Russia. The German Army was in tatters, and Sajer was left with nothing to fight for but survival. Fear of the vengeful Russians was so great that surrender was not even considered. The only hope the Germans had was to try to fight their way back to the West and surrender to the English or Americans.

A must for World War II buffs, this book will help all readers gain insight into a pivotal chapter of World War II. The book portrays the horrors of war while eliciting sympathy for the men on all sides who endured it. This is a memorable story, equal in power and intensity to Remarque’s fictional All Quiet on the Western Front.

- recommended by Mark Kincaid, Decatur Branch

Recommendation for the Week of August 4, 2008

Mao's Last Dancer
by: Li, Cunxin
B Li, Cunxin LI

Mao's Last Dancer tells the story of the author's life in three phases - his childhood in a rural village in northern China; his adolescence in the Dance Academy of Beijing; and his career and life in the west. The story is honest, human and funny at times. It is well written, teeming with details of the daily village life, with the games the children play and the local customs. Then there is the serendipity of his being brought to the tryouts for the Dance Academy, the extensive rounds of auditions, and the anecdotes of his training at the school. The story culminates with Li's decision to defect in the USA. His action is provocative and readers will arrive at their own judgments as to whether the decision was sound. Throughout the book, the love of the family, especially that of Li and his mother, is uplifting, despite the poverty in the village, the loneliness in the dance academy and the excruciating uncertainty of ever seeing his family again after his defection. This book is a good read and well worth the time.

- recommended by Sailan Liang, Glendale Branch

Recommendation for the Week of July 28, 2008

King of the Mild Frontier: An Ill-Advised Autobiography
by: Crutcher, Chris
TEEN B Crutcher, Chris C9572k

Anyone who has ever been teased by an older brother or has yearned to be popular or to make the team will identify with this book. Chris Crutcher, the author of several critically-acclaimed young adult novels, shares memories of growing up in the small town of Cascade, Idaho. Chris struggles with his temper, his demanding father, girls, and Boy Scouts (not necessarily in that order). His honesty & sense of humor make the book nearly impossible to put down, and his insights into the complexities of growing up are heartfelt and moving. This is one of those rare books that feels like a long talk with a close friend. For an added treat, check out the book on CD and listen to the author reading his story.

- recommended by Brenda Whitmore, Spades Park Branch