AHML Staff Choices

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This small book is based on the commencement address Ann Patchett gave at her alma mater, Sarah Lawrence College.

I sat down and read this during the celebration of New Year’s Eve, 2009.  What a perfect choice for that moment.  I hope I can remember to revisit this piece from time to time in the future.

100 pages. Worth it.

Ann Patchett is the author of several notable books, including Bel Canto, Run, and The Patron Saint Of Liars.

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Another culture, on the fringes of our own.

In a small village on Alaska’s coast, peopled mostly by the native Inupiat (who we commonly call Eskimos) an Alaskan State Trooper is  faced with unusual deaths.  Suicide is not unknown in this struggling backwater.  But can these be suicides?  As he investigates, Trooper Nathan Active is also deciding how his own Inupiat heritage fits into his life.

Altogether, a sharp image of a community I knew nothing about.  A mystery that will grab you, with strong characters and a real feel for a region and a way of life that are striking.

This kept me up most of the night; I didn’t want to stop.  Fortunately, it’s the first in a series, and I’ll be following up on the other Nathan Active stories.

If you enjoy a taste of other cultures and a feel for other lives, you might really enjoy White Sky, Black Ice.  (Some adult content but little graphic violence.)

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How do you define a “great book”?

Technically, this is science fiction.  It’s a story of time travel, a contrast between the years 2048 and the 1300’s;  between a time proficient in science, particularly medical science, and a time of  horrifying physical want and disease.  Between future scholarly Oxford and a medieval rural community struggling to be self-sufficient miles outside ancient Oxford.

But at it’s core, this is a study of people trying to survive, and human relationships.  What happens when history stops being an academic study and becomes a personal experience?  When names carved in stone become living, breathing individuals?

I think I’ve mentioned in other reviews that I am coming to understand that a “great book”, to me, is a book that changes the way I see or understand the world.  The Doomsday Book did that.

It doesn’t surprise me that this book won the Nebula and the Hugo Awards, the top awards in the sci-fi field.

I have also read Connie Willis’ Bellwether.  I enjoyed it very much.  I’m beginning to feel that if I see her name on the spine of a book, I want to pick that book up and jump in.  Wanna join me?  We might have some great discussions!

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Ya’ know all those news segments and newspaper columns titled “Someone You Should Know!” ?  Well have I got an introduction for you!

Alan Bradley has just written his first novel- a mystery involving a dead jack snipe (a kind of bird), a Penny Black (a kind of postage stamp- which, by the by, is curiously orange), and a most remarkable heroine, Flavia de Luce.  Believe me, Flavia is the most interesting item on that list.

I’m glad I tripped over Ms de Luce… quite a windfall!  I think we’ll all be looking forward to meeting her again- and again.

Mr. Bradley won the Crime Writers’ Association Debut Dagger Award for this first mystery, and the mystery is not the most perfect part of this book.  Personally, I’m looking forward to future visits  to Ms de Luce’s Sanctum Sanctorum; curious things are sure to be bubbling…

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Remarkable.  A mystery taunt with psychological suspense, unusual events, interesting locales, and very distinct characters.  All this wrapped in skillful, eloquent writing.  Don’t let anyone know this might be literature.

When a body is found at an archeological dig in a small community in Ireland,  Detectives Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox of the Dublin Murder Squad  are assigned to the investigation.  But Detective Ryan has some history of his own.

This is Ms French’s first novel.  Her second,  The Likeness, is already out.  We all have great things to look forward to.

And… a great discussion in our future!  This novel will be our Mystery Group’s subject on December 7.  Make plans!

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Do you know the story of Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick (Cheney)?  I didn’t… and it’s quite a story.  Nancy Horan has written this novel recreating what she thinks might have been the growing relationship between these two historical characters: the famous architect, and the wife of one of his clients.  In real life, their romance created a tremendous scandal, and Ms Horan has delineated, in fiction, how two complex and powerful personalities might have connected and- created controversy.

This novel has been incredibly popular- and is a favorite choice for book groups.  We are going to discuss it in our Novel Experience group!

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This is a beautiful book.  In fact, you might mistake it for just another big, beautiful coffeetable book.  But  gardeners will discover a wealth of information.

Did you know that almost every type of stone used in one of these courtyard gardens has a name, and that garden connoisseurs in Japan would recognize each type and know it’s geographic source?  That water basins and stone lanterns come in several distinct styles- and each may have it’s own specific name and proper use?  Every illustration has descriptive text that details the classic design principles built into that garden.  And the (few) pages devoted to text cover details on materials and construction that you will find very useful if you decide to add a bit of Japan to your own yard… or balcony.

There is so much here.  It has taken me more time to read through this book, and inspect and consider each of the (spectacular) illustrations, than I spend on some novels.   And it’s a great investment of time.

Much to see.  Much to think about. 

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Many lives intersect in Virginia’s fictional Manchester County before the Civil War.  Blacks, whites, and Native Americans,  from every level of society and every kind of family background.  Edward P. Jones introduces a multitude of remarkably distinct individuals.

Particularly interesting: some are free blacks who own black slaves.

This remarkable book changed the way I see people.  A Finalist for the 2003 National Book Award for Fiction.  It won the 2003 National Book Critics Circle Award- and the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

A great book for discussion- your group may find a wide range of subjects to probe!

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Do you like your mysteries with a twist of humor?

Plus a dash of terror?

Joe Konrath mixes up an unusual cocktail of mystery,  humor, and galvanizing terror in his series tracking Lieutenant Jacqueline Daniels of the Chicago Police Department.

(Yes, she is “Jack” Daniels.)

This book has a winning collection of remarkable characters, in Chicagoland locations you may recognize.

But do be warned: Konrath is a gifted and effective writer.  His humorous characters, situations, and dialogue are very funny.  And when he switches to terror, you will feel fear.  Lots and lots of fear.

Whiskey Sour is the first in Konrath’s “Jack Daniels” series, soon to have it’s sixth entry.  Mr. Konrath also edited the anthology These Guns For Hire. Like your terror ’straight up’?  Try Afraid written under the pseudonym “Jack Kilborn”.  No humor: just unrelenting adrenaline from what I hear.

Most of our Mystery Discussion Group enjoyed Whiskey Sour very much.  The rest of us are recovering from serious goosebumps.

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“To see a world in a grain of sand…”

William Blake – Auguries of Innocence

Could you be captured by another world?

Robin Wall Kimmerer may capture you with her observations, insights and enthusiasm for the realm of mosses.  She sees universal connections between these small lives and our larger world.

Dr. Kimmerer is a Plant Biologist, a mother of two daughters, a Potawatomi Native American (well grounded in her heritage), an Associate Professor of Environmental and Forest Biology- and an engaging writer.  She views the world of mosses through all these facets of her life, and provides great reflections on how even small parts of our ecosystem bind us all into a whole.  You’ll learn about the sharply defined striations of life on cliffsides beside streams, how mosses influence the lives of Dr. Kimmerer’s teenage daughters, and uncover the tiny wildlife communities that inhabit these ancient lifeforms.  Dr. Kimmerer’s understanding of the diversity and variety of these small plants informs her understanding of our planet, and our species’ place within the network of life.  And- how we live our daily lives and interact with one another.  This book helped me see my yard and garden in a new way, and I now include mosses as a weclome and featured component.

This book won Dr. Kimmerer the John Burroughs Medal, awarded each year to a distinguished book of natural history.

This is a lovely book…. like the miniature forests that mosses create: lovely, dark, and deep.