Week Twenty One, Book Twenty Nine

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

by Mohsin Hamid

"EXCUSE ME, SIR, but may I be of assistance? Ah, I see I have alarmed you. Do not be frightened by my beard: I am a lover of America. I noticed that you were looking for something; more than looking, in fact you seemed to be on a mission, and since I am both a native of this city and a speaker of your language, I thought I might offer you my services."

Review:
The novel centers around Changez, a young Pakistani who tells his story (a single monologue) to a nameless, mysterious American who sits across from him at a Lahore cafe. The conversation has him reminiscing an immigrant’s dream of America in the wake of September 11th. He was at the top of his class at Princeton, snapped up by the elite valuation firm of Underwood Samson and has started a romance with elegant, beautiful Erica. What more could you ask for? Once again I was captivated by "a day in the life of" story and was pleasantly pleased. This story is the extreme, since it only revolves around an encounter in a restaurant. I persevered and made it out alive in two sittings. I started early evening Saturday and finished late night Sunday. I definitely recommend this to anyone who isn't sick of the Middle East, 911 and such in this time of war.

Week Twenty One, Book Twenty Eight

Survivor: A Novel

by Chuck Palahniuk
"And so here is my confession..."

Review:

What a crazy book! I couldn't walk away from this story, but found it hard to get through in a short period of time. It took me most of the week to read and I thankfully was in the middle of the McEwan book. I love the author and had to finish it just to see where it was going. I felt like I was witnessing a car crash with no choice to look away. It starts at chapter 47 and screaming toward ground zero, Palahniuk hurls the reader back to the beginning in a breathless search for where it all went wrong. The protagonist is self-made, self-ruined mogul-messiah Tender Branson, the sole passenger of a jet moments away from slamming first into the Australian outback and then into oblivion. If you like cults and suspense, then you will love this book. Warning, very weird.

Week Twenty One, Book Twenty Seven

Saturday

by Ian McEwan

"Some hours before dawn Henry Perowne, a neurosurgeon, wakes to find himself already in motion, pushing back the covers from a sitting position, and then..."

Review:

Aside from the fact that this was a read for my book club, I have been meaning to tackle this book ever since I was turned on to McEwan through his novel Atonement. Our club decided to read this particular title because we are going to see McEwan in two weeks at the 92nd Street Y in NYC. He is releasing a new novel and will probably be reading from it that night. I am very excited to see him there and anticipating the clubs discussion of Saturday. I loved this book! I actually hate books that take place over the course of one day, but I was able to get over it real quick once I finished this masterpiece. The story takes place on a Saturday in the life of Henry Perowne, a reflective neurosurgeon whose comfortable life is shaken following a run-in with a street thug. Outside the hospital, the world is not so easy or predictable. There is an impending war against Iraq, and a general darkening and gathering pessimism since the New York and Washington attacks two years before and his children are now grown and making their way into this world as adults. On this particular Saturday morning, his day moves through the ordinary to the extraordinary: from an unusual sighting in the early morning sky to his usual squash game, and from trying to avoid the hundreds of thousands of war protesters filling the streets of London, to a seemingly minor car accident. This was a substantial work of literature by one of Britain’s greatest minds and a powerful piece of post-9/11 fiction.

Monica Holloway

Driving with Dead People

by Monica Holloway

This looks like a great summer

Excerpt: Chapter One
It changed everything: a school picture printed on the front page of the Elk Grove Courier, the newspaper my father was reading. I was eight. Sitting across the breakfast table from Dad, I pointed. "Who is she?"
"She's dead."
He kept reading.
"What happened?" I asked.
No answer.

Who is Oakley Hall?

I recently read a review for the novel Love and War in California: A Novel by Oakley Hall and thought that the name rang a bell, so I did a little research.

Who is Oakley Hall?

Oakley Hall is the author of more than twenty works of fiction, including Warlock, Separations, and the Ambrose Bierce mystery series. Hall is best known for The Downhill Racer, basis for the 1969 Robert Redford film of the same name. Hall was the Director of Programs in Writing at the University of California at Irvine for twenty years. He is also director of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers and, in 1998, received a PEN Center USA/West Award for lifetime literary achievement. He lives in San Francisco.



Oakley Hall is an American folk rock band based in Brooklyn, New York. The group was founded in 2002 and is named for Oakley Hall, an American novelist. The group's songs combine elements of rock, bluegrass, and old-time music, prominently featuring the male-female vocal harmonies of lead vocalists Patrick Sullivan and Rachel Cox.

I actually had the privilege of seeing them open for two amazing bands
(Shooter Jennings and the Watson Twins) this past Fall @ Irving Plaza in NYC.
http://www.oakleyhall.net/site/

Andrew O'Hagan

GÜNTER GRASS & NORMAN MAILER

in conversation with Andrew O’Hagan:

The 20th Century on Trial

Wednesday, June 27, 2007 at 7:00 PM

Celeste Bartos Forum

Humanities and Social Sciences Library

5th Avenue and 42nd Street

Miranda July

No One Belongs Here More Than You: Stories

by Miranda July

Miranda July is a filmmaker, performing artist and writer. http://mirandajuly.com/

Friday, May 25: New York City 7 PM
LIVE from the NYPL
with special guests
David Byrne and
Becky Stark
(Lavendar Diamond)
Humanities and Social Sciences Library
5th Avenue and 42nd Street

Week Twenty, Book Twenty Six

Gary Benchley, Rock Star

by Paul Ford

Review:
Gary Benchley is a hip indie scenester stuck doing data entry in upstate NY. His fictional memoir opens as he moves to New York city with dreams of becoming an indie rock star. This was one of those books that starts off with a lot of laugh out loud moments and ends with you realizing this wasn't really a comedy after all. One might think this is a love story, coming of age novel or a tome to rock music. I think it is all of the above and more. I love the constant band references and the NYC music venues and bars that Gary visited. I could totally picture "the scene" that Ford was painting. I would recommend this to anyone who 1.thinks there life can be made into a music soundtrack 2.has been in a band and/or aspires to be 3.loves the NYC music scene. Rock on Gary!

Paul Ford sites to check out:

www.ftrain.com/

Gothamist: Paul Ford, Writer/Programmer

www.garybenchleyrockstar.com/glossary.html

See also: Harper's Magazine; NPR's All Things Considered; The Morning News.

Joe Strummer

Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer

by Chris Salewicz

A profile of Joe Strummer, front man for the Clash, one of rock music's most important bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s, draws on interviews with friends, family, and musical colleagues to capture the late musician's ongoing cultural significance.

Rocklouder: Competitions:

Win! The Ballad Of Joe Strummer Book

My Top 12 Favorite Clash songs:

(no particular order)

1. Rudie Can't Fail

2. Jimmy Jazz

3. London Calling

4. Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

5. Rock The Casbah

6. Stay Free

7. Guns On The Roof

8. Train In Vain

9. Lost In The Supermarket

10. Fingerpoppin'

11. This Is Radio Clash

12. White Riot

Choose-Your-Own-Ending

Pretty Little Mistakes : A Do-Over Novel
by

Mcelhatton, Heather

Heather McElhatton’s singularly-original debut novel has more than 150 possible endings. From your first choice – where to go after school - you decide which of your dreams to chase. Should you travel abroad or get a masters degree? Marry or stay single? Become an artist, an entrepreneur, a homemaker, a doctor, or a drug dealer? There are hundreds of lives sewn inside one book, some end fabulously and others in total disaster.
www.heathermcelhatton.com/
MPR: Heather McElhatton revels in her "Pretty Little Mistakes"
View full tour for Heather McElhatton»

Get Your Lighter Ready!

The Boy Who Cried Freebird:

Rock & Roll Fables and Sonic Storytelling

by Mitch Myers

Mitch Myers is a writer, journalist, and storyteller whose work has been featured in publications such as Rolling Stone and The Village Voice and on NPR's All Things Considered.This is a collection of essays about popular music and American culture.

check out parts of the book:
www.myspace.com/theboywhocriedfreebird

The End of the World as We Know It
Scenes from a Life
By Robert Goolrick

About the book
In the tradition of Mary Karr's The Liars' Club and Rick Bragg's All Over but the Shoutin', Robert Goolrick has crafted a classic memoir of childhood and the secrets hidden in a heart that can't forget. In the Goolrick home there was a law: Never talk about the family in the outside world, never reveal the slightest crack in the facade. In The End of the World as We Know It, the author takes us back to the seemingly idyllic world his father and mother created in their home in a small Southern college town, a world of gentle men and lovely ladies and cocktails and party dresses—a world being eroded by a family history of alcoholism. As Goolrick grew to be a man, his childhood held memories that would not let go, memories that held a secret that followed him wherever he went, defining and directing his days. Over time, the secret grew so big it threatened to rip the world apart. And then it did.
Robert Goolrick worked for many years in advertising.He lives in New York City. This is his first book.

Nathan Englander

The Ministry of Special Cases: A Novel
by Nathan Englander
"It was always something like this for Kaddish Poznan, always something gone wrong."

The long-awaited novel from Nathan Englander, author of For the Relief of Unbearable Urges. Englander's wondrous and much-heralded collection of stories won the 2000 Pen/Malamud Award and was translated into more than a dozen languages.

Read posts by Nathan Englander on the
Powells.com blog

Go Indie!

www.BookSense.com

is a family of independent-bookseller websites

I think this is a unique and helpful site that is worth checking out. Enjoy!

Read the Fine Print!

Miniature Books

The Grolier Club is pleased to present a pioneering exhibition devoted to the marvelous art and fascinating history of miniature books.

On view from May 16 - July 28, 2007,

Miniature Books: 4,000 Years of Tiny Treasures is curated by Julian I. Edison, noted collector and Vice-President of the Miniature Book Society.

For more information call the Grolier Club at (212) 838-6690.

Week Nineteen, Book Twenty Five

Housekeeping vs. the Dirt

by Nick Hornby

Review:

In this latest collection of essays following The Polysyllabic Spree, critic and author Nick Hornby tackles fourteen months of massively witty adventures in reading. Printed monthly in the Believer, Hornby's book reviews are downright hysterical and his choices are unpredictable. You cannot run a thread through his genre selections and he is as adamant about the experience of reading a book as he is about the importance of the book itself. I read this book last night in two sittings, with only a one hour break to watch "Survivor" and a mini break to eat dinner. This is the third nonfiction book I have read by Hornby in the past eight months and I plan on trying out a few from his fiction collection as well. If you love reading book reviews and are looking for book suggestions, look no further and dive into this book.

Genocide

Not on Our Watch:

A Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond

by

Don Cheadle, John Prendergast, John Prendergast

An excerpt from Chapter 1, Challenges and Choices
It was sometime round midnight in a little village in southern Sudan, and the only link to the rest of the world within a five-hundred-mile radius was one satellite phone, so when it rang it was a bit of a shock to everyone. www.notonourwatchbook.com

other sites to check out:
www.enoughproject.org.
www.crisisgroup.org
www.hrw.org
www.amnesty.org
www.refugeesinternational.org

Rare Books

Rare Books 101
06/27/07
2:15- 3:15 PM
Classroom B

Humanities and Social Sciences Library
5th Avenue and 42nd Street

New York, NY 10018-2788

Description:
For bibliophiles and the intellectually curious, this class offers an inside look into the world of rare book libraries. How are collections formed? What kinds of materials do modern rare book libraries collect? How are these rare and sometimes priceless materials cared for? Using the collections of the Rare Book Division as a backdrop, you will explore topics of interest in the field of rare and antiquarian books. You will investigate some of the latest electronic information resources for conducting rare book–related research.

Manga!

Manga! Manga! Manga!

05/24/07

3:15 -4:15 pm
Classroom B
Humanities and Social Sciences Library

5th Avenue and 42nd Street

New York, NY 10018-2788

Description:
Manga is the Japanese word for printed comics and cartoons. They are now read everywhere, and one can find a manga on every topic and for every age group. There are history manga, animal manga, yakuza manga, culinary manga, Sci-Fi manga, and music manga. Come and learn about the different types of manga and why manga has become such a popular medium of communication, education, and entertainment in Japanese culture.

Week Nineteen, Book Twenty Four

The Outsiders

by S. E. Hinton

Review:

This book, which was written in the 1960's, may have well been written today. It describes the many conflicts between gangs, social groups, family violence, and friends. My 7th graders are reading this in class, so I had to reread it this week. I listened to it on tape last week in the car and read the text this week. I think this is the perfect book for young teens and I am so happy I had the pleasure of teaching it this year. The kids love the storyline and there are so many themes that they can relate to, which makes it a breeze to teach. If you haven't read this book and are looking for an upbeat look at teen life, look no further. In a few weeks I plan on showing the movie, which is really going to be a major flashback for me. I remember being at sleep over parties and looking forward to watching "The Outsiders" with friends and gushing over the male stars. This was during the time when we hung pictures of celebrities on our bedroom walls and school lockers and begged our parents to take us to the mall. Oh, those were the days!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday, Wanda June

by Kurt Vonnegut

A couple of weeks ago Kurt Vonnegut passed away and I posted that the one book of his missing from my collection is out of print. Well, an unexpected early birthday gift was given to me by a friend and I now own a used paperback copy of Happy Birthday, Wanda June! So, I thought I would do a little research on the play and found out that once again a Vonnegut book was turned into a movie.

Here is the run down of the film:

Based on Kurt Vonnegut's off-Broadway play, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WANDA JUNE,is essentially about Susannah York's character Penelope Ryan and the men that dominate her life, including a phenomenal Rod Steiger as ultra-macho big game hunter Harold. The story also occasionally jumps to heaven (yes, really), where Wanda June, the victim of a drunk driving incident, plays shuffleboard for all eternity.

Check out this review of the play:

KURT VONNEGUT: NY Times Review of 'Happy Birthday Wanda June'

Don DeLillo

Falling Man

by Don DeLillo
I just picked up a used copy of White Noise, by DeLillo at the library roughly two weeks ago and have been debating on whether I should reread it. I think after I get through my book club selection for our June meeting I may tackle it again. I read a lot of DeLillo in college and haven't picked him up since. He is releasing in hardcover the above book on May 15th, so if you haven't read anything by him, I suggest you do not start with this one and seek out some of his earlier work. You can reserve a copy today and read more about DeLillo at: http://www.bordersstores.com/.

Description:
There is September 11 and then there are the days after, and finally the years.

An Excerpt from Chapter One:
It was not a street anymore but a world, a time and space of falling ash and near night. He was walking north through rubble and mud and there were people running past holding towels to their faces or jackets over their heads. They had handkerchiefs pressed to their mouths. They had shoes in their hands, a woman with a shoe in each hand, running past him. They ran and fell, some of them, confused and ungainly, with debris coming down around them, and there were people taking shelter under cars.

Audio Recordings

New to the collection of audio recordings on :

www.poets.org/audio

recordings of readings
by

Henri Cole, Rae Armantrout, Tom Sleigh, Andrew Hudgins,

Laure-Anne Bosselaar, and Claudia Rankine.

Week Eighteen, Book Twenty Three

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

by Brian Selznick

Paris in the 1930's, a thief, a broken machine, a strange girl, a mean old man, and the secrets that tie them all together... Welcome to The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

Review: I am not usually a fan of historical fiction, but this story was beyond your typical h.f. novel. Calling this story historical fiction is really selling it short. In my opinion, I think it can also be considered fantasy. I am not one to read fantasy either and for me to love this book from start to finish, it must be worth a read for the fantasy lover too. After I read one nights worth of this book, I ran into my librarian at school and recommended she buy a copy for our collection. I think my students will love this style of storytelling. The illustrations alone are reason enough for picking up this book. Selznick intricately places drawings throughout the book to help move the story along, not to accent the written text. I felt like I was reading two books in one. A definite page turner and a must read for all. I read this book in three sittings and probably could have finished it in one. My reason for trying out this book was due to all the reviews I recently have seen and found out that sometimes the reviews are right. You will not be disappointed.

sites to check out after you read this book:
The Story of the Automaton: http://fi.edu/pieces/knox/automaton/
The Missing Link: http://www.missinglinkclassichorror.co.uk/index.htm

Week Eighteen, Book Twenty Two

Museum of the Missing:

A History of Art Theft
by Simon Houpt and Julian Radcliffe

Edward Munch's masterpiece "The Scream" was recently returned. Its two-year absence caused an upsurge in attendance.
Review: This book is a glimpse into the world of art theft. It is so amazing how many famous paintings have been stolen and the manner in which they are taken is even more intriguing. I adore art, so this book was a real pleasure to read. A few weeks ago I was sharing with my students the story of the missing Mona Lisa and wish I would have had this book then to display. My favorite chapter dealt with theft in the time of war. There was a whole World War II section that I found very shocking. This book is filled with beautiful paintings, and rare photographs that really "paints" (pun intended) a vibrant history of art and the art world at large. A must read for art enthusiasts!

Week Eighteen, Book Twenty One

Mortician Diaries:

The Dead-Honest Truth from a Life Spent with Death

by June Nadle

“I wish I had kissed him on the morning he had the accident.”

After 50 years in the funeral business, 80-year-old grandmother/undertaker June Knights Nadle has seen it all — at least all of what goes on before, during, and after life’s ultimate challenge.
Review: If you need to feel good about life, look no further. Based on the title of this book one would think they would feel sad, but instead I walked away refreshed and happy. Nadle does such an amazing job at putting things into perspective that you sense a real feeling of compassion from her and understanding of the grieving process. I recommend this to anyone and everyone, I caution you if you have recently lost a loved one, that this book will life your spirits!