AHML Staff Choices

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The abundant rumors about Isabella Medici, a supposed unnatural relationship with her father and brother, are put to rest in this new biography. Isabella did have an unnatural relationship with her father, but only in the sense that most fathers of the time period gave little attention to daughters. Isabella was the apple of her father’s eye and a tomboy who loved to go riding and hunting and fishing. Her father found her great company.

When she married a rather lowlife member of the esteemed Orsini family her father was worried that her husband would spend all her money and leave Isabella, a Medici, in poor straits. So he made the husband come to Florence to see Isabella rather than the tradition of having the wife go to her husband’s family in Rome. Her father also felt that Rome was the place of criminal and low activity. He did not want his daughter to live there. And while this was also because her father liked having her around and knew he could take care of her–the real reason was to keep control of Isabella’s dowry from her spendthrift husband.

Her brother Giovanni was 13 months younger than Isabella and they grew up very close. When her brother was made Cardinal at 16!!! as a favor to the father, the newly married Isabella had a lot of time on her hands since she did not go to Rome with her husband. Giovanni was completely out of his league with the appointment and spent a lot of time with the equally unhappy Isabella. Murphy can find no information that the relationship was anything other than a close brother and sister. The rumors seem to have sprung up because of Isabella’s great grief at the death of Giovanni when he was 21.

Although there is ample evidence of Isabella’s murder, the title suggests that the investigation into the murder will consume a lot of the biography. It actualy is one chapter at the end. But before that happens this is an interesting story of a woman who lived  an unconventional life for her time.

Great book for anyone wanting to read about Florence–Isabella’s father built the Uffizi among other buildings. Also for anyone who enjoys reading about women of noble birth and women leading unconventional lives.

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For me “summer reading” means “light, fun” books - nothing suitable for book club discussions - that are perfect for “beach” or “back yard” reading.  Which is exactly where I devoured (yes, devoured) the three books in Julie Kenner’s series about Kate Connell, “Demon Hunting Soccer Mom”.  Orphaned as a child, Kate grew up in a Catholic orphanage in Rome, and was recruited as a teen-ager to study the art and strategy of demon hunting (and eradication.)  Twenty years later, retired from the demon biz, and living in a quiet, California coastal town with her second husband, 2 kids and a cat - she abruptly becomes “un-retired” when a demon comes knocking at her door.  (Well - technically - it came crashing through her picture window.)  Each book in this (short) series finds Kate more and more committed to the life she thought she’d left behind.  The books are well written (in a humorous light way) and once started - read very quickly.  Imagine “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” meets “Desperate Housewives”; sit back and prepare to be entertained.

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Together, these books tell the gripping and emotional tale of Nic Sheff’s decent into drug addiction and the impact his addiction has on the entire Sheff family.  While both books artfully chronicle Nic’s drug addiction and the ups and downs of addiction and recovery, each book is told from the author’s own point of view and personal experience.   

BEAUTIFUL BOY:  A FATHERS JOURNEY THROUGH HIS SONS ADDICTION

From the parental perspective, David Sheff masterfully provides insight as to what it was like for him to helplessly watch his son fall into the grips of drug addiction.  The author details the nights he lay awake wondering if his son was alive and days of driving through the streets of San Francisco looking for his son.  As a reader you begin to understand that as a father David Sheff must learn to seperate his son from his addiction and you absolutely feel the love he has for his son, despite his addictions.  Ultimately, this book is an amazing and engaging tale of the struggles many parents face in our society as they lose their kids to drug addiction.  Beautiful Boy  was written as a result of a New Yorks Times Magazine article that David Sheff wrote about his sons addiction and the impact on the family.  After the article appeared, the author was inundated with questions and comments from readers.  Expanding on the magazine article David Sheff then wrote this New York Times Best Seller book. 

TWEAK: GROWING UP ON METHAMPHETAMINES

From the addicts perspective,  David’s son, Nic honestly and heartbreakingly describes his addictions and struggles for recovery.  I read this book immediately after Beautiful Boy.  As a reader, I found it very enlightening to read about the exact same person’s drug addiction, but this time from the addict himself.  Nic describes how he turned to drugs as an escape as a teenager and quickly found himself neglecting all of the activities and people in his life.  Just as I could empathize with a father’s struggle with his son’s addiction, I found myself caring deeply about Nic and rooting for him to overcome this addiction that has taken so much of his life.

Check the catalog for this item.   An interesting look at the rise of China, India, Brazil and the rest of the worlds developing countries and their impact on America. I thought at first it might be a bit depressing but rather than being a doomsday scenario for America it’s really how the success of the emerging nations will also benefit America. The author writing is very informational and still easy to read.

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Warning!  After reading this book you might never use a charge/debit card again.  Identity theft is quite the topic these days.  Deaver’s latest book in his Lincoln Rhyme series is about this subject, only on a grand scale.  When we think of identity theft, we tend to internalize.  What if this happens to me?  Deaver takes this to the next level.  Picture about 400,000,000 Americans; each having a 500-page dossier that contains all of their personal/professional/private information, and all this info is stored on a super-computer.  This privately owned and managed computer system is not subject to federal laws and/or guidelines.  To confuse things further, most federal and state government agencies including police forces, rely on the data this company supplies.  The founder and owner of the company’s motto:  “Information is power”.  Deaver’s plot is diabolical.  A serial-killer has found a way to commit murder and have all the evidence point toward an innocent bystander of his preconceived choice.  The killer cannot only plant evidence but manipulate the investigations and investigators.  As usual, Deaver has many characters for his reader’s to choose from that might be the killer.  I guessed wrong and was not pleased.  Author’s note:  The non-fiction book that Deaver got a lot of ideas from is No Place to Hide by Robert O’Harrow, Jr., which is in our collection (303.4833/O’HARROW,R).    �

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This book is a hybrid of humorous memoir and green living guidebook with a few recipes thrown in. Kingsolver’s family of four pledged to live for one year eating only seasonal, local foods. What their small farm couldn’t produce was bought from the closest sources with the least amount of processing involved. Kingsolver’s accounts of their surprises and challenges are both charming and occasionally hilarious. Her husband, Steven L. Hopp, adds thought-provoking scientific data about agricultural oil consumption and other issues relevant to organic and local, versus conventional and imported. Their 19-year old daughter, Camille, weighs in with a collection of her own recipes and a young person’s perspective. It’s an entertaining and practical guide to making significant changes in our buying habits.

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Paulo Coelho has written a fable about life, taking chances, love, growing up, and finding your own personal destiny.

Santiago, a simple shephard, moves his flock from field to meadow across the countryside. But his life is not without tension: he has seen a girl and fallen in love. And he has had a dream- more than once- and is caught up in what the dream might mean. What should he do in response to that dream?

Across lands, cultures, and through enough time for a boy to become a man, this story advances and speaks to some of the inner questions that confront us all. Originally published in Brazil in 1988, this fable has been translated into 56 languages; people in more than 150 countries have purchased 65 million copies of this tale (per Wikipedia). There is enough here to spark serious thought in all of us- and there is enough to engender some great discussions in that Book Group you have been meaning to start. (!)

Is this the perfect book? What a great question for discussion! For myself, I’ll only say that this novel grew out of the culture of South America- and I look forward to reading how a certain young lady begins her own quest.

I’d say it’s definitely worth investigating… What do you think?

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Finding Nouf is the story of a man in Saudi Arabia trying to find out what happened to the sister of a friend. Everyone thinks 16 year old Nouf ran away to the desert to avoid an arranged marriage. Nayir, who is a desert guide and friend of her brother is asked to track her down. When her body is found, it appears that she may have been murdered.

Nayir, a working class traditional man in his thirties, can’t understand why a 16 year old who comes from a good family that is extremely rich would try to escape from this lush, rich life. When he comes to pick up the corpse from the morgue he meets a 28 year old female medical examiner who suggests that there may be more to what happened than all he has heard.

This is really the story of Nayir, a lonely man in his thirties who has only an uncle living and therefore, no one to really find a woman for him. When he meets the untraditional medical examiner he is both repelled and fascinated by her. However, the story is not a romance.

Ferraris writes wonderfully making us feel what it must be like to live in Jeddah City. She captures the villas of the rich, the HEAT, and the limted access for both men and women especially with the fears of the religious police who walk around and control inappropriate behavior or dress.

This book will appeal to those who like mysteries in other lands and especially other cultures.

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Richard Montanari is my new favorite mystery author.  Merciless is his 6th novel.  His books are about two homicide detective partners from Philadelphia:  Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano.  I like the bond that is between both of these characters.  Very supportive and caring.  Both are descendants of cop families.  Byrne is divorced with a deaf-mute teenage daughter that he adores.  Jessica is part-time pro boxer who is married to a pretty-boy vice cop, who once strayed from his wedding vows, and is trying to save their marriage.  They have a precocious 5-year old daughter.   Montanari’s books are always quick-paced and I usually read them at one or two sittings.   Merciless is set in Philadelphia; which can be rough city with a high crime rate.  At times there is a lot of irony in it being known as the City of Brotherly Love.  Merciless is about a serial killer with a Hans Christian Andersen fetish.  If you like mysteries with good character development and a lot of suspense, you enjoy this book.    �

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Eat, Pray, Love is more than just a travelogue of Italy, India and Indonesia.  Author Elizabeth Gilbert takes the reader on an adventure of culinary delights for four months in Italy, relishing the world’s best pizza, gelato to die for, free-flowing vino, while learning to speak Italian with hunky young conversation partners.  In India, Gilbert lives for six months at the sacred ashram of her spiritual Guru, engaged in disciplined, grueling hours of meditation to seek divine enlightenment, peace and love.  In Bali, Indonesia, the author lives for another four months, seeking to learn the art of balancing pleasure and spirituality in her life.  She studies there with a merry medicine man, makes many good friends of International ex-patriots living in the small village where she resides, and even helps buy a house for a struggling Indonesian woman, her daughter and two little homeless orphans.

Elizabeth Gilbert, a thirty-something Connecticut native, is no ordinary travel writer.  Her journey of soul-searching and self-discovery was self-imposed after suffering serious depression as result of a messy divorce.  She tells her tale with great humor and touching candor, weaving a beautiful cultural and emotional tapestry.

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