Summer reads 2012

Books of Elsewhere: Volume 1. The Shadows

By Jacqueline West

First-novelist West begins the Books of Elsewhere series with an old house and a curious girl. Eleven-year-old Olive had been living with her nerdy mathematician parents in a series of nondescript apartments, and the whole family is happy to move into a Victorian house, complete with furniture, that's for sale at a comfortable price. Once ensconced, Mr. and Mrs. Dunwoody become as obsessed with their math as ever, leaving Olive to her own devices. The devices, as it turns out, are odd paintings and a pair of glasses that allow her to venture inside the art to Elsewhere. And though they may not qualify as devices, there are several talking cats wandering about as well. The plot, as well as the character of Olive, will seem familiar to readers of light fantasy, but West does put her own nice spin on things. Most fun are the talking cats-Horatio, Leopold, and Harvey-whose commentary keeps things fresh. By book's end, Olive has made some inroads into the mysteries of her new home, but it's a very large house. Copyright 2010 Booklist Reviews.
Recommended by Robert Stoddard

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt: a novel

By Beth Hoffman

Momma always told CeeCee (short for Cecelia Rose) that "being in the North isn't living-it's absolute hell." Of course, having to live with Momma-Camille Sugarbaker Honeycutt, that is, Vidalia Onion Queen, 1951-doesn't make it any more heavenly, especially when Momma starts standing in the front yard blowing kisses to passersby. You know this is going to end badly, and so it does, when the erstwhile onion queen is run over by a speeding Happy Cow Ice Cream Truck. Before you can say "sweet magnolia blossoms," 12-year-old CeeCee is sent off to Savannah to live with her elderly great aunt, Tallulah Caldwell, and her wise African American housekeeper and cook, Oletta. It being 1967, you know there will be one dark episode of racial hatred, but it's quickly-and conveniently-resolved offstage, leaving all the characters free to continue being relentlessly eccentric, upbeat, sweet as molasses, and living, as CeeCee puts it with a straight face, "in a breezy, flower-scented fairy tale . . . a strange, perfumed world that . . . seemed to be run entirely by women." Light as air but thoroughly pleasant reading. Copyright 2009 Booklist Reviews.
Recommended by Camille Close

Arguably: essays by Christopher Hitchens

By Christopher Hitchens

The irrepressible Hitchens' substantial new essay collection (his fifth) gathers 107 pithy, astute, and forceful pieces on everything from America's Founding Fathers to an array of writers, including Dickens, Nabokov, Updike, and Rebecca West, to war, fanaticism, prejudice, and the f-word. Most of these essays appeared in the Atlantic, the Guardian, Newsweek, Slate, and Vanity Fair from 2004 forward-a time frame during which Hitchens hit the best-seller lists with both God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (2007) and Hitch-22 (2010) while battling cancer. A valiant public intellectual with an omnivorous literary sensibility and mettlesome wit, Hitchens argues dynamically and provocatively against every form of totalitarianism in this veritable mountain range of thought, knowledge, story, humor, and passion. Meshing art, history, ethics, and politics, he venomously critiques Washington while rejecting the idea of America being in decline and delivers stunning insights into such diverse subjects as ecocide, Benazir Bhutto, Iraqi Kurdistan, and why the elucidation of feelings matters. Goading, brilliant, funny, and caring, Hitchens is a voice of enlightenment in a wilderness of cant. Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews.
Recommended by Camille Close

Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand

By Helen Simonson

Change is threatening the little world of Edgecombe St. Mary. Lord Dagenham is about to sell off part of his ancestral estate to developers, and Pakistanis have taken over the village shop. Major Ernest Pettigrew is definitely old school, but he has been lonely since his wife died, and though he is is prey to various unattached ladies it is with shopkeeper Mrs. Ali that he forms a bond, nourished by their mutual interest in literature. Meanwhile, his ambitious son Roger comes to town with a sleek American girlfriend and starts renovating a nearby cottage. And the village ladies are busy hatching plans for the annual Golf Club dance, for which this year's theme is "An Evening at the Mughal Court." There is a great deal going on in these pages-sharply observed domestic comedy, late-life romance, culture clash, a dash of P. G. Wodehouse, and a pinch of religious fundamentalism. First novelist Simonson handles it all with great aplomb, and her Major, with his keen sense of both honor and absurdity, is the perfect lens through which to view contemporary England -- Mary Ellen Quinn. Booklist, published by the American Library Association.
Recommended by Carl Todd

Field Notes from the Northern Forest

By Curt Stager ; illustrated by Anne E. Lacy

Biologist Stager's collection of essays about plants, animals, insects, and physical phenomena in the forests of the northeastern U.S. and eastern Canada is based on a series of weekly radio programs he has cohosted since 1990. The region contains a patchwork of conifer, hardwood, and mixed forests--to say nothing of a large number of people. Following the course of the four seasons, Stager probes the lives of such animals and insects as bees, woodpeckers, snakes, fireflies, beavers, and bears. He discusses plant defenses (tannins, resins, alkaloid poison, etc.) and mosses, lichens, and bogs (a botanical paradise, he calls them). Chapters on conifers, princess pines, the woods in winter, the northern lights, bird feeder biology, snow fleas, and maple sap precede the glossary of scientific names, which includes English names and root words translated into English. Although Stager's abundant research included interviews with experts in various fields, the book is written for the layperson. Anne Lacy's appealing illustrations complement the informative and amusing text. ((Reviewed July 1998)) Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews
Recommended by Carl Todd

Before the Poison

By Peter Robinson

At the outset of this haunting stand-alone from Arthur Ellis Award-winner Robinson (No Cure for Love), British film composer Chris Lowndes, a recent widower, leaves California after more than 30 years for the peace and quiet of the Yorkshire countryside. He buys isolated Kilnsgate House, which the estate agent neglects to mention was the site of a sensational crime. Intercut are passages from a fictional true crime book, Famous Trials, depicting the 1953 case against Grace Fox, who was convicted of poisoning her husband, Dr. Ernest Fox, at Kilnsgate, and hanged. While Chris's initial interest is simple curiosity, the more he learns about Grace, the more his interest veers toward obsession. In piecing together the murder case and Grace's extraordinary life as a nurse during WWII, Chris discovers as much about himself as he does about her. Robinson manages a melancholy tone without veering into the maudlin, and the presence of Grace Fox permeates every page. Publishers Weekly Reviews.
Recommended by Daniele Stasky

Lost in Shangri-la : a true story of survival, adventure, and the most incredible rescue mission of World War II

By Mitchell Zuckoff

A survivors' story from WWII, the tale Zuckoff relays contains a story line seemingly lifted from Hollywood. In a land of cannibals who wear nothing but penis gourds, a damsel in distress hopes for salvation from intrepid heroes. This scenario of an American plane crash in New Guinea in 1945 provoked prodigious publicity at the time, but the entire, true drama has never before been as comprehensively presented as it is here. Using military files, the damsel's diary, interviews, and a visit to the region, Zuckoff integrates all the elements into a mesmerizing narrative. It begins at a backwater air base, where apparent discovery of a New Guinea tribe inspired excitement to see the Stone Age from the air. The flight, carrying 24 passengers, hit a mountain, and only 3 survived. Switching to the tribe's reception of these spirits from the sky, Zuckoff explains how the survivors fit into the tribe's legends, establishing a cultural-contact theme for Zuckoff's ensuing recounting of a remarkably unorthodox rescue operation. Energetic and empathetic, Zuckoff delivers a page-turner for WWII readers. Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews.
Recommended by Eileen Dwyer

The Night Circus

By Erin Morgenstern

This big and-no, not bulky-compelling first novel ushers in a menacing tone with its first sentence: The circus arrives without warning. Why would a circus arrive so quietly in town, and why would anyone need warning about this particular one? The time span here is 30 years, from 1873 to 1903, and the settings range from America to Europe. To a famous magician is delivered a little girl who, as it turns out, is his child, and fortunately for his future, she is possessed of magical powers. As it also happens, this magician has an archrival, who, in the face of the first magician's jackpot in the form of his little girl, seeks a young person for him to train to rival her. What the two magicians did not anticipate, as the years pass and the two young people, the girl and the boy whom the second magician found, are honed in their specialty for performance's sake and to outplay the other one, is that the young persons, when of an age, would meet and, surprising or not to the reader, fall in love. How will their destiny play out now? With appeal for readers not particularly geared to fantasy but who plainly enjoy an unusual and well-drawn story, this one will make a good crossover suggestion. Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews.
Recommended by Jennifer Adams

Ready Player One

By Ernest Cline

Young Wade Watts takes refuge in the OASIS, the "globally networked virtual reality" that nearly all of humanity relies on. It's 2044, the year before the Singularity futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts will inextricably unite humans and computers. Life on earth is bleak and sinister, thanks to failure to avert global warming and the oil crisis. An orphan, Wade lives in the Stacks, a vast slum comprising trailers piled in precarious towers, but keeps to his hideout, where he attends school online, plays video games, and sends his avatar, Parzival, to visit with Aech, his only friend. Fanboys (2009) screenwriter Cline brings his geeky ardor for 1980s pop culture to his first novel, an exuberantly realized, exciting, and sweet-natured cyberquest. Wade/Parzival, Aech, a droll blogger calling herself Art3mis, and two Japanese brothers embark on a grandly esoteric and potentially life-changing virtual Easter egg hunt and end up doing battle with a soulless corporation. Mind-twisting settings, nail-biting action, amusing banter, and unabashed sentiment make for a smart and charming Arthurian tale that will score high with gamers, fantasy and sf fans, and everyone else who loves stories of bumbling romance and unexpected valor. With a movie version in the works, Cline's imaginative, rollicking, coming-of-age geek saga has a smash-hit vibe. Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews.
Recommended by Jennifer Adams

Learning in Mrs. Towne's house : a teacher, her students, and the woman who inspired them

By Tzivia Gover

In this beautifully written memoir, Gover musters up the courage to love her students despite the often difficult differences between them. By having the pregnant and parenting teens in her classroom learn to read, write, and recite poetry, Gover exposes her students to a whole new world. By reading their poetry, Gover is exposed to a whole new world as well. [This book] is a testimony to the power of poetry.
Recommended by Joyce Tomlinson

Midnight rising: John Brown and the raid that sparked the Civil War

By Tony Horwitz

A portrait of John Brown and a blow-by-blow account of his 1859 attack on the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, Horwitz's work rapidly generates narrative momentum. Horwitz also stresses Brown's Northern financial supporters and, more pertinently, his recruits for an insurrection whose bizarre planning, which included the idea of issuing medieval pikes to slaves, augured near-certain failure. Frederick Douglass warned Brown of such failure in a secret meeting, but Douglass' companion at the conclave, escaped slave Shields Green, joined Brown. So did his sons, daughters, sons-in-law, and assorted free blacks and white abolitionists, eliciting Horwitz's explorations of their individual situations and reasons for loyalty to Brown. It is as a fierce-eyed image of wrath and retribution that Brown appears to novelists, painters, and lyricists, but the historical Brown whom Horwitz reconstructs was more complicated. A financially feckless but domineering father, Brown always silenced murmurs within his band. A riveting re-creation of Brown and his famous, or infamous, raid. Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews.
Recommended by Kathleen McDonough

Bossypants

By Tina Fey

Don't judge a book by its cover, or then again, maybe, in this case, do. Fey herself, hair gracefully blowing, perfectly made-up face resting on her . . . undeniably belonging-to-a-man arms. Of her many talents, perhaps the utmost is the ability to be funny both when condemning her morning breath (which, these days, she claims, "smells like a snail left in the sun") and slyly tapping hot-button political and feminist issues on the shoulder. This smartly written, satisfying compilation of essays is a delightful mishmash (a few stories have recently run in the New Yorker) of depictions of Fey as a child, on her honeymoon, as a chubby coed, and spending long days and nights in the real 30 Rock. Fey provides lots of script excerpts and insider info that TV fans will find interesting, such as the formerly unknown "male comedy writers pee in cups in their offices" phenomenon, but there isn't really a bad apple in the bunch. Fey presents an earnest showcase of praise for fellow writers and comedians and for Sarah Palin's hairstylist. Fey has fearlessly clambered her way up the ranks of a man's world. But sigh not! This famously normal and fabulously talented celebrity still puts on her bossypants one leg at a time. Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews.
Recommended by Sue Mulry

Bringing home the dharma: awakening right where you are

By Jack Kornfield ; foreword by Daniel J. Siegel

"If we want to find inner peace and wisdom, we needn't move to an ashram or monastery. Our buddha nature--our natural warmth and insight--can be discovered right where we are, in the context of our relationships, our family lives, and in our efforts helpand serve others. Popular spiritual teacher Jack Kornfield shares this and other key lessons gleaned from more than forty years of commited study and practice. A student of some of the most revered meditation masters of the twentieth century, Kornfield offers keen observations about the rise of mindfulness practice in the West and shares his insights on finding freedom right where we are. Topics include: How to cultivate loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Conscious parenting. Overcoming the common obstacles to awakening. Spirituality and sexuality. Commiting ourselves to easing the suffering in the world. The way of forgiveness, and much more"--
Recommended by Sue Mulry

The Accident

By Linwood Barclay

"Building contractor Glen Barber is shattered to learn that his wife, Sheila, has died in an automobile accident that she caused, apparently the result of drinking and driving. Desperately searching for answers (his wife, he knows, would never have driven if she had been drinking, and she was not a habitual drinker), he soon discovers that the mother of his young daughter was not the woman he believed she was. Thematically, the novel is similar to Barclay's Never Look Away (in which a man also discovers that his wife has a hidden past), but this one is not a retread but rather an exploration of the theme from a different angle. Fans of the author's previous novels will find The Accident just as tightly plotted and economically written as its predecessors. Barclay definitely belongs in the company of Harlan Coben, Lisa Gardner, and Gregg Hurwitz." Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews.
Recommended by Theresa Labato

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