Presidential poetry

I just learned that the poet, Elizabeth Alexander, has been chosen to compose a poem for Barack Obama's inauguration. I was unfamiliar with Ms. Alexander's works, so I took a look at her web site, www.elizabethalexander.net, and learned that she is a professor at Yale, was nominated for the Pulitzer prize in 2005, and has written several books of poetry for both adults and kids. The library owns two of her titles: Miss Crandall's School for Young Ladies & Little Misses of Color: Poems and The Black Interior: Essays. I'm sure that her involvement with the presidential inauguration will generate interest in her writing, so I plan to order more of her poetry for the library.

Young @ Heart

Recently I wrote about a DVD for the monthly report to the library's board of trustees. I am such a fan of this film that I'm going to repeat what I said to the board. If you were to hear that a group of senior citizens go around singing rock songs (and we're talking all types of rock), would you be a little intrigued? I was, and thanks to several FVRL staff who have watched "Young @ Heart" and become passionate advocates for it, I have become a "Young @ Heart" groupie. Inspirational, moving, funny, this documentary, produced by Fox Searchlight Pictures, follows the Young at Heart musical chorus based in Northampton, Massachusetts. With an average age of 80, members from all walks of life regularly meet to learn and perform atypical songs for this age group such as "Schizophrenia" by Sonic Youth, Talking Head's "Road to Nowhere," and "Fix You" by Coldplay. This film may sound quirky (which it is), but it is truly one of the most amazing stories I've ever watched, and by the end of the DVD, I was attached to each singer. Be prepared to laugh and cry as you watch "Young @ Heart," and please, please share it with your friends and loved ones.

Too close to the sun...

Brian Greene, one of my favorite nonfiction authors, has written a new book with a unique twist. Icarus at the Edge of Time is a retelling of the Greek myth, but this time Icarus is a boy who travels through space, confronting the nearly incomprehensible power of black holes. It's interesting that Mr. Greene has switched venues by choosing to write a fictional account, but the most interesting part is the format - a board book. At first it appears to be written for adults, but this beautiful book really holds appeal for all ages. Stunning photos from the Hubble telescope showcase the awesome nature of space, and the story, while familiar, offers adults the opportunity to ponder larger issues, and children the gift of seeing how images can enhance the beauty of the written word. One of the challenges for my department was deciding how to catalog such a title, but in the end, we decided to shelve it in the juvenile collection. It is truly what we call a "crossover" work - all ages will want to share in Mr. Greene's journey into fiction...and space.

Other titles by Brian Greene:

The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time and the Texture of Reality
The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory

ECHO PARK

Michael Connelly is quite a popular author here at the library. His books really fly off the shelves, but I had never read one of them until recently. I tend to read nonfiction most of the time, but I thought I should at least have a feel for this author since our patrons enjoy him so much. So I checked out a Book on CD version of Echo Park last week, and was it ever good! I would describe his style as more "hard boiled" although now I'm curious as to whether I feel this way because of the language in the text, or because of the tone of voice of the actor doing the reading on the Audio book. I'm not sure!

The setting is Los Angeles, and the detective is Harry Bosch, a seen-it-all older-but-wiser kind of guy. A case he worked 13 years earlier comes back to life when a serial killer admits to the murder. Harry must juggle cases, cops, and criminals to solve the crime.

TONY HILLERMAN, 1925-2008

I was looking at the New York Times online on Monday, and when I clicked on the "Books" section I found that Tony Hillerman had passed away over the weekend. He is most well-known for writing a series of mysteries set in the American Southwest and featuring Native American detectives. His 2 main characters are Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Each of these characters appears independently in several books, and then a few novels include both detectives working together to solve cases. The library owns many Hillerman novels, but here is a short selection:

The Shape Shifter

The Blessing Way

Skeleton Man

The Sinister Pig

Skinwalkers

SUPREME COURTSHIP

I was watching The Daily Show the other day, and the guest was Christopher Buckley. He is a well-known political satirist and has published several novels. I first became aware of his books when another staff member suggested No Way to Treat a First Lady, a novel about a First Lady who kills her cheating husband (who happens to be President at the time). His latest book is Supreme Courtship, a tale of what would happen if a popular reality tv judge made it to the Supreme Court.

David Foster Wallace

I am getting ready to read Consider the Lobster and Other Essays by David Foster Wallace. This is an author I was not familiar with until a colleague, who is a fan of his writing, described a few of his books. Then I heard the news that Mr. Wallace had hanged himself at his home (here is a link to a news story about his death). In reading several brief bios about his life, I became even more intrigued with his writing and decided to try one of his books. It sounds like the book world has suffered an incredible loss of a truly talented writer.

The library has quite a few of his titles, and in checking the catalog today, most are checked out.

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
Consider the Lobster and Other Essays
Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity
Girl with Curious Hair
Infinite Jest: A Novel
Oblivion: Stories
A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments

WORDY SHIPMATES

A new book by Sarah Vowell is coming out next week (Oct 7), and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm quite a fan of her work because she mixes intelligent wit, humor, and historical facts all together in a very entertaining package. Her last book, Assassination Vacation, described her trip to visit sites of presidential assassinations. Sure, it doesn't sound funny but trust me, it's a laughing learning experience!

The book that comes out next week is called The Wordy Shipmates. It covers early American religious groups, and the reviews indicate that it is more of the same...humor and history. How can you go wrong with that combination?! Here is also a bit of trivia for you in case her writing is not enough. Vowell was the voice of the daughter in the animated film "The Incredibles". She will be speaking in Portland on Oct 14th at the Bagdad Theater.

Going digital with Alexander McCall Smith

If you're a fan of Alexander McCall Smith's writing, you might want to pay a visit to the British web site, Telegraph.co.uk. Mr. McCall is writing his first online novel, Corduroy Mansions, adding a new chapter each weekday for 20 weeks. And there are several options for viewing or listening to this book: you can read the chapters directly on the web site, have the chapters emailed each day, receive the chapters through a feed, or (and I think this is the coolest part) you can listen to each chapter online. Andrew Sachs, who is best known for being on Fawlty Towers, narrates Mr. McCall's story.

In addition to the novel, the web site provides several interesting links to such things as character profiles (I believe my favorites are Berthea Snark and her son Oedipus - she's a psychoanalyst, of course), reader questions, locating Corduroy Mansions on a Google map, and interviews.

TOP 10 SPORTS BOOKS

The most recent issue of Booklist has a spotlight article on new sports books, and lists the "Top 10 Sports Books" from the past year (according to them, of course). FVRL has all ten and here they are with the sport they are about:

1. Carlisle vs. Army (Football) by Lars Anderson

2. The Driver (Road Rallies) by Alexander Roy

3. Falcon Fever (Falconry--of course!) by Tim Gallagher

4. The Great Swim (Swimming the English Channel) by Gavin Mortimer

5. The Last Great Fight (Boxing) by Joe Layden

6. Living on the Black (Baseball) by John Feinstein

7. Major (Cycling) by Todd Balf

8. The Match (Golf) by Mark Frost

9. Playing the Enemy (Rugby) by John Carlin

10. Preferred Lies (Golf) by Andrew Grieg

CAREER ROMANCES

I keep a dozen or so personal books at my desk at work. They are books that mean something to me and I like to keep them close by. One of those books is "Jinny Williams: Library Assistant" (A career romance for young moderns). Copyright 1962. I bought it about 20 years ago at a library booksale in Indiana, and I have always brought it along from job to job because I think it's funny. In 2008 the idea that women need "career romances" just seems strange to me. I thought I would look in our library catalog just for kicks to see if we had any remaining copies of this old series from the 60s. I was quite surprised to find that there is a current "career romance" series being published by Avalon Books.

The FVRL catalog actually lists 44 titles in this series owned by our library system. Here are a few selections of titles with the career involved: Tender Harvest (working in cranberry bogs), April Showers (a garden designer), Treasures of the Heart (antiques store owner), Captain of Hearts (teacher of university extension classes on a military base), and my favorite, Kaleidoscope (a kaleidoscope designer). I guess someone has to design kaleidoscopes, and why not add some romance to the process?!

Book Trailers

An interesting trend is happening in the world of book promotion - book trailers. I think readers have always appreciated watching interviews of authors (just see how many author podcasts are now available), so it makes sense to me that publishers and authors are trying other visual techniques to reach potential readers. If you've never seen a book trailer, here are a couple of links for the authors Brad Meltzer and Christine Feehan.
Both titles - The Book of Lies by Meltzer and The Dark Curse by Feehan - are on order at the library.

BAD MONKEYS

Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff is a really fun read. It is truly a "reading for fun" sort of book. It's the story of Jane Charlotte, and the book is told in flashback fashion as Jane is being interrogated by a psychiatrist after being arrested for murder. She tells the doctor that she is a member of a secret agency that fights evil and more specifically she belongs to the "Bad Monkeys" division. This is the group of people who actually assassinate those deemed evil and must be eliminated. Throughout the book the reader must decide if Jane is simply crazy, or maybe there is indeed such a secret agency operating invisibly among us.

The book is obviously absurd, but also intelligent, fun, and fast-paced. There are also humorous names for other divisions such as "Scary Clowns", and my favorite, "Catering". As a manager myself, I found it amusing that the management team is known as Catering. They make sure everyone is where they are supposed to be, and that they have all the proper supplies to do their jobs.

Other books by Matt Ruff include Set This House in Order, and Fool on the Hill.

HUMOR SAVES THE DAY

I really enjoy humor whether it be seeing a comedian live, or reading a humorous work in print. It's a real relief from the stresses of life to be able to laugh. Humorous memoirs, biographies of comedians, and witty sarcasm are among my favorites. One of the best in this category is David Sedaris. His new book, When you are engulfed in flames, is currently on the NY Times Nonfiction Best Seller list at number 4. Sedaris writes about his life in general, and his family in particular. Every Christmas I reread his essay about being an elf at Macy's one holiday season. It is truly funny, and is included in the book Holidays on Ice.

If someone enjoys David Sedaris, I usually also recommend that they try Augusten Burroughs whom I personally describe as "like David Sedaris only meaner." Burroughs is most famous for writing the memoir Running with Scissors which was made into a movie. He, too, has a new book out called A Wolf at the Table which is a memoir of his relationship with his father.

Other humorous books that I have enjoyed in the past year include: Ant Farm: and other desperate situations by Simon Rich, Don't Get too Comfortable by David Rakoff, and She got up off the couch: and other heroic acts from Mooreland, Indiana by Haven Kimmel.

SEATTLE-BASED MYSTERY NOVELS

I have always been a fan of mystery novels, especially ones that might be considered light reading. Just something fun and not too disturbing in the graphic-details department. I place authors like Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich, and Lillian Jackson Braun in this category (sorry for the pun if you know the series written by LJB). But even librarians can experience reading ruts, and need some prompting to branch out into reading a different series. I received just such prompting last week while assisting a patron. We were discussing mysteries and the topic of J.A. Jance came up. In helping this library patron identify a new series to read, I became interested myself in reading something by Jance, particularly her series set in Seattle. So now I am reading Justice Denied. The main character is a Seattle Homicide detective named JP Beaumont and he works in a division called the Special Homicide Investigation Team. It seems that someone is killing off recently released convicts in several western states, and Beaumont and his live-in-girlfriend, (and police detective) Mel Soames, must work together to uncover the person behind these murders.

Other detective novels based in Seattle include: Homicide My Own (by Anne Argula), We interrupt this Broadcast (by KK Beck), The Bookman's Wake (by John Dunning), and Old Scores (by Aaron Elkins). If you are looking for a new mystery series, give one a try!

Preview of coming attractions

One of the great things about my job at the library (I'm the collection development coordinator for the library district) is that I work in close proximity to the department that catalogs and processes all of the material ordered for the collection. When I'm selecting titles from a vendor's database, I can see the cover art ... if I'm lucky. Sometimes I am ordering far enough ahead that the book jacket hasn't been designed yet or it just may be unavailable for viewing. So, whenever I have a chance, I like to scan the recently arrived material to see it in the "flesh." This allows me to see all sorts of interesting items getting ready for the collection, and as I work on this blog, I will try to mention from time to time what's coming soon to a library near you.

Today I spotted a cart of Playaways waiting to be cataloged. Near the end of 2006, the library decided to try a new audio format - an audio player called a Playaway - and it has proven to be quite popular. If you aren't familiar with this product, it's very similar to an MP3 player. And one of the really neat things about a Playaway is that it's self-contained - no tapes or discs to insert. It's small enough to wear around your neck (each one comes with a lanyard) and flexible enough to allow for those inevitable interruptions when listening to a book (it remembers where you left off). The initial collection was around 100 childrens, young adult and adult titles, and since then, new titles continue to arrive.

I think they're very cool, so I strongly recommend giving one a try!

A few of the new titles heading out soon:

One for the Money - Janet Evanovich
The Sunday List of Dreams - Kris Radish
Dark Tort - Diane Mott Davidson
The Secret - Rhonda Byrne
The 6th Target - James Patterson

DEXTER ACTOR NOMINATED FOR EMMY....BUT IT WAS A BOOK FIRST!

Michael C. Hall was nominated for an Emmy last week for his performance as Dexter in the Showtime series of the same name. But....the book came first! On several occasions I have heard people discussing the show, and how much they enjoy it. Unfailingly they are surprised when I mention that it is based on a series of books by Jeff Lindsay.

The print series started in 2004 with Darkly Dreaming Dexter. Dexter Morgan is a blood spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department, and he is a serial killer. The twist here is that he is a serial killer who only kills OTHER serial killers. His sister, Deb, is a homicide detective with the same police department. Season One of the television series followed (more or less) the storyline of Darkly Dreaming Dexter. Season Two of the show was more "inspired by" the series than actually following anything that happened in the books. Book two is Dearly Devoted Dexter, and book three is Dexter in the Dark.

Dexter tries to live a normal life. He has a girlfriend with two small children. He brings doughnuts to work, and goes out for drinks with the guys. But deep down inside he is a sociopath without feelings or conscience. His adopted father (also a police officer) recognized his proclivities at a young age and taught Dexter how to fit-in, and how to avoid being caught when his dark desires became too strong. Try reading the Dexter series and judge for yourself which is better...the TV show or the book?!

Shadow Divers

My book group (Extreme Reads) just finished reading and discussing Shadow Divers: the true adventure of two Americans who risked everything to solve one of the last mysteries of World War II. It's a really interesting and absorbing account of a group of wreck divers from New Jersey and their discovery of a sunken U-boat. The first thing we noticed was that the subtitle seemed really excessively long! And yes, I would have to agree with that one, but once I started reading I was hooked on the story.

The author writes in a very narrative style using some traditional story arcs such as the two main characters being at odds at the beginning of the story, and growing into a solid team as time progresses. These two guys, John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, are real people and this is a true story, but the things the author choose to highlight make the story more interesting.

It took the team six years to finally identify the sub. The wreck was in such deep waters, and was so dangerous, that only the best deep sea divers could attempt it. They could only stay on the bottom for 15-20 minutes at a time because of the pressure and the nitrogen build-up in their blood. A story spanning six years, diving in 15 minute intervals in which nearly every dive reveals nothing could indeed seem like a pretty tedious read. In the hands of this author, though, this was a total page-turner.

Because the wreck was a World War II U-Boat the story also contains a lot of history, some of which I was not at all aware. For instance, I had no idea that during WWII the United States used blimps to drop bombs on German submarines! Checkout my one minute video of Shadow Divers on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeoUGOLyrY0

Up next for the Extreme Reads book group is Touching the void: the true story of one man's miraculous survival. We will be meeting on Tuesday Aug 12th at 7:30pm in Library Hall. Copies of the book are available at the Main Library Checkout desk if anyone is interested in participating!

A different life

Right now I'm reading Bar Flower: My Decadently Destructive Days and Nights as a Tokyo Nightclub Hostess by Lea Jacobson. I'm finding it to be quite fascinating. There have been many books written about geishas in Japan - Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden being one of the most famous - but there is another side of Japanese culture that also has to do with offering pleasure to others. The "rules" are very rigid - no touching, always smile, pour drinks for the customer and be sure to wipe off any condensation on the glasses, offer hot towels to the same customers as they exit the restroom. Physical relationships are not allowed, but a hostess is expected to make her customer feel as if he is sitting with his girlfriend. What is fascinating to me is that many foreign women get these jobs - and the Japanese love this. The author was one of the few Americans to become a bar hostess, so she was especially interesting to her Asian customers. It is the type of cultural phenomenon that many women will find disturbing because it illustrates an undeniable subservience to men.

Good ol' summertime

I had a lot of fun reading your last post, Captain Criticism. Like you, I don't change my reading patterns during the summer - except that I probably read outside more. And I, too, went through a Nancy Drew phase in my younger days. Usually I checked the series out from the library, but once in a great while, I actually got to buy one at a bookstore.

My "growing up" years were spent in the Southwest - New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada. The first thing my mom would do whenever we moved to a new town was to locate the library and get us signed up for library cards. My first library memory happened in Santa Fe where I was born. We had to go down a flight of stairs to get to the children's area (which I thought was so cool - my books were so special that I actually had to take stairs to get to them!), and one of the first books I remember checking out was an alphabet book titled "A Beastly Circus" by Peggy Parish. I loved that book so much that my mom went to a bookstore and had it special ordered so I could own my very own copy. I still have it, and whenever I look at one of the letters (the letter Y: Yodeling yak yogis yank yellow yams), I can still feel myself climbing down those stairs in the Santa Fe public library.

Summer reading lists always intrigue me. The NPR list is a great one, and I'm anxious to read the Ethan Canin book displayed in the last blog, America, America. Mr. Canin is one of my favorite authors, and I highly recommend two of his other books as good summer reads: Carry Me Across the Water and For Kings and Planets. When looking for other summer reading lists, I stumbled across one from the Bookslut web site. Of course it lists some books to read, but it also gives tips on how to choose good "beach" books, including the advice to not buy books at the airport (full of Mitch Albom and books about guys and their dogs, is the opinion offered). Instead, readers are advised to think about choosing books at truckstops (supposedly a better selection...hmm...) or even better, the library (wow, what great advice!)

SUMMER READS 2008

It's nearly summertime again, and NPR has published it's "Critics' List" of good summer reads. I'll get to their list in just a minute. Since I work with books every day, and reading is such an ingrained part of my life, I don't really notice a difference in my summer reading. I just read, read, read all the time. When I was a kid, though, summer was great. I grew up in the cornfields of Indiana and lived outside of the taxing district for our local library so I couldn't get a card without paying for it, and lived too far away to walk or bike to the library on my own. My grandmother was a hairdresser and she took Mondays off, and used that day to go to "the mall" in Terre Haute. I went with her quite often and would save any money I could get my hands on in order to buy a book at the bookstore in the mall.

My first book obsession was Nancy Drew. My great grandmother (the hairdresser's mother) gave me a copy of The sign of the twisted candles, and from then on I would buy another in the series when I went to the mall. Another fun summer series when I was a kid was the "Choose your own adventure" books. These have made a comeback recently, and FVRL has several titles in the series such as Journey under the sea. The books are old-school interactive. At the end of a section, the reader is given two (or more) choices and told to turn to a specific page to continue the story based on the choice that they have made for the characters. I really enjoyed them when I was a "tween" (8-12 year olds). I progressed from the Nancy Drew obsession, to an Agatha Christie obsession when I was 13. I spent my teenage years reading every book she ever wrote (more than 80!). And now that I think of it, this obsession was also started by hairdresser grandma who gave me two books that year, Agatha Christie's Peril at End House, and Danielle Steel's Palomino. Agatha stuck, but Danielle didn't! Hmm...actually both of these were kind of interesting choices for a thirteen year old.

Now back to the NPR list of good reads for Summer 2008. Their recommendations include Now you see him by Eli Gottlieb; Let the Northern Lights erase your name by Vendela Vida; Mudbound by Hillary Jordan; America America by Ethan Canin; Wrack & Ruin by Don Lee; and City of Thieves by David Benioff. (Click here to see the entire list at the NPR website.)

Indiana Jones returns!

I have to admit that I am a big fan of the Indiana Jones' movies, so it is quite exciting to be just a couple of days away from his latest adventure, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I can still remember when Raiders of the Lost Ark was released in June 1981 - I must have gone to the theater 3 or 4 times that summer to see it. Except for Star Wars, I had never been so enthralled with a movie that I wanted to pay to see it again....and again.

Some cool books are being published to help generate excitement over the newest Indy movie, and the library has quite a selection. Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide by James Luceno is a really fun book published by Dorling Kindersley. (If you're not familiar with this publisher, it's well worth checking them out. They publish a fantastic series called Eyewitness for children - the library has many, many titles.) The Ultimate Guide is packed with fun and interesting information about all four movies, and it has some great pictures.

Several novelizations of the movies are making appearances such as the omnibus edition, The Adventures of Indiana Jones by Campbell Black, James Kahn, and Rob MacGregor. If you're really more interested in the most recent film, try Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull by James Rollins. And I don't know about you, but a new movie from Steven Spielberg makes me think back on his other movies, so a new book available at the library sounds like the perfect choice: Empire of Dreams: The Science Fiction and Fantasy Films of Steven Spielberg by Andrew Gordon.

Now all I have to do is wait patiently for the May 22 premiere. I probably won't stand in line to see it on opening day (hey, I'm older now, and the fact that I'll probably be able to buy it on dvd within a relatively short time frame changes the whole experience), but I'll definitely go to the theater at some point so I can enjoy the action on a big screen. Wonder if Indy will have to face those darn snakes again?

Robert Ludlum: The cure for the common cold

Captain Criticism:
I've been out sick with a bad cold the past couple of days, and nothing makes me feel better than Robert Ludlum. Hmm...sounds strange, perhaps? But it's true. When I'm feeling ill (or "poorly" as we say in Indiana), I just like to curl up with my box of tissues, cup of hot tea, and any of the DVDs from the Jason Bourne series (Bourne Identity, Supremacy, and Ultimatum). Yes, I watched the movies, but they are based on books by Robert Ludlum.

The Spy Thriller is a very popular genre. Tom Clancy has the Jack Ryan series which includes The Hunt for Red October, and Patriot Games. (Okay, yes, those are movies also, what can I say?!) John Le Carre, a former British Secret Service agent, has written several books in this genre such as The Spy who came in from the cold, and The Constant Gardener. (Ah! That's a movie, too! Maybe I should just give up librarianship and become a movie critic!) And, well, I mustn't forget the James Bond novels written by Ian Fleming. Some of his novels include Casino Royale, For your eyes only, and You only live twice. (Yes, all movies. Spy thrillers make good movies! It must be true!).

There are many other wonderful authors writing in the Spy Thriller genre. The next time you are at the library, just ask one of our librarians and they will gladly assist you in finding a great spy novel!

May is the month for Speed Reading!

Captain Criticism:
Today is April 28 and May is so close I can taste it. It's been a long, gray winter in the Northwest and we are all ready for sunnier days, flowers blooming, and the switch to iced rather than hot coffee. I grew up in Central Indiana and for me May always meant the start of practice sessions at the Indianapolis 500.

The first week of May is rookie orientation, followed by a couple weeks of practice runs. Pole Day is the day when the fastest driver is awarded the pole position for the race. Bump Day gets the field down to 33 cars by eliminating the slowest drivers. Many employees in the Indianapolis area ask for the day off on Carb Day, which takes place on the Friday before the race and includes Pit Crew competitions. The race itself is run on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend with Memorial Day used as a backup in case of rain on Sunday. All across Central Indiana people gather for backyard barbeques (we call them cookouts or pitch-ins in Indiana) and listen to the race on the radio because we are blacked out from televison coverage due to our proximity to the race.

I grew up hearing names like Unser, Andretti, and Foyt (read Indy Racing Legends by Tony Sakkis.) Today's IndyCar stars include Tony Kanaan, Buddy Rice, Helio Castroneves, and Danica Patrick. Castroneves might sound familiar to many people not for his driving, but because he was recently on "Dancing with the Stars, " and Danica Patrick has been in the news for becoming the first woman to win an IndyCar race when she won the Indy Japan 300.

Here at the library we have several books on Auto Racing, including a biography of Patrick called Danica: crossing the line. Two other recent books about racing (although not specifically about IndyCars) are City of speed: Los Angeles and the rise of American racing, and The Driver: my dangerous pursuit of speed and truth in the outlaw racing world.

And then there is always NASCAR! We actually have far more books about NASCAR than IndyCar racing (Hmm...wonder why Cycle Jan?). NASCAR is a whole other ballgame! Think Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, and Tony Stewart. Checkout these books at the library: The physics of NASCAR : how to make steel + gas + rubber = speed, One helluva ride : how NASCAR swept the nation, and Speed, guts, & glory : 100 unforgettable moments in NASCAR history.

A book is born

Cycle Jan:
Last week I attended a library conference in Vancouver, and one of the sessions had three local authors speaking about their writing - how they came up with ideas, what the writing process is like, etc. One of the authors was Chelsea Cain who wrote the novel Heartsick (talked about in Captain Criticism's last posting). So, I have a question for you, Captain Criticism (aka CC) - what did you think about Ms. Cain's comments regarding the writing process for Heartsick? (for those who weren't at the conference, one of the reasons she gave for coming up with the idea of writing about a serial killer is that she had a rat problem at her house, so she and her husband adopted a cat, and the cat turned out to be a rat-killing machine. She would find rat parts - like a head! - strewn about her basement.) Since you read Heartsick, CC, what was it like hearing the author speak?

For anyone who is interested in reading novels by Northwest authors, I recommend checking out Chelsea Cain as well as Nicole Mones and Cai Emmons, the other two authors featured at the program. After listening to these authors, I really want to give Mones' The Last Chinese Chef and Emmons' The Stylist a try. I'm not sure I would have come across these novels on my own - which is not a negative comment about the subject matter...just too many things to read! But listening to an author explain why a particular book was created, well, that's better than any review I might come across.

Captain Criticism:
I attended this event as well, and thought Chelsea Cain was very entertaining. I really liked her comments about the writing process. She said that she didn't hold back, just put everything in the book that she thought was appropriate to the characters. She said that she just finished the followup to Heartsick, and took the same approach. There are a couple pretty graphic scenes in Heartsick so I wouldn't recommend it to someone looking for a "gentle read", but it would be great for anyone who enjoys thrillers.

Portland Oregon in Fiction

Captain Criticism:
I just finished reading a really great book by Chelsea Cain. It's called Heartsick, and it's set in Portland, OR. The main character is a Portland police detective named Archie Sheridan. He is recovering from being held prisoner by a female serial killer, and he just can't get her out of his head. It's a very well-written, somewhat dark, psychological thriller.

There are actually several books set in Portland. Try the new novel, The Shanghai Tunnel, by Sharan Newman, or True Faith by Alan Gold.

April is the cruellest month...

I wonder if T.S. Eliot had any idea how much April would forever be associated with a line from The Waste Land. It did feel a bit cruel to go from a sunny, 80 degree day on Saturday, to the inevitable rain and chill of today.

This time of year always makes me think of digging in the dirt (even though I don't do a lot of it...I just like to imagine myself "doin' the garden, diggin' the weeds" as the Beatles say.) Regardless of how you like to approach springtime gardening, the library offers a bounty of gardening books. If you're interested in organic gardening, try Organic Garden Basics: Five Easy Steps to Growing Organically by Bob Flowerdew. I understand that the author is a leading organic gardener in Britain, and with a name like his, surely he is.

Sometimes when a large expanse of dirt seems daunting, I like to focus my energies on container gardening. A new book to check out is Container Gardening for Washington and Oregon by Marianne Binetti.

And finally, if the urge to garden wanes a bit, and you just need to read a good book... about flowers, of course, try Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers by Amy Stewart. Turns out that it ain't all pretty in the floriculture industry.

ADVENTURE NONFICTION, EXTREME READS

When people read for fun, it's not always fiction that they are reading. I really enjoy reading what I like to call "Adventure Nonfiction." These are usually stories of travel, exploration, or survival. At my library we even have a Book Discussion Group dedicated to this topic. It's called Extreme Reads. (See a list of all FVRL book discussion groups at: http://www.fvrl.org/events/books.cfm )

The first book the group discussed is Adrift: seventy-six days lost at sea by Steven Callahan. The author was literally adrift at sea on a small life raft after his boat sank in the Atlantic. Ironically (and fortunately) he had a book called Sea Survival by Dougal Robertson in his raft. He used this book as a manual and inspiration to survive. The book Survive the savage sea, also by Robertson, tells the story of his family's 38 day survival after their boat sank. In his case, there were seven people surviving in a small dinghy. Check out my one minute video about "Adift" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NKBna9ZXUU.

Other books that fit in this category are Touching the Void, Into the Wild, The Perfect Storm, and The last river.