Never Go Back

Lee Child continues his Jack Reacher series with Never Go Back in his usual suspenseful fashion.  Here Jack finds himself accused of manslaughter and slapped with a paternity suit (neither of which things he remembers happening) and so must find out why this is occurring. 

Fans of the Reacher series will not be disappointed with this book.  Newcomers can easily enjoy this book without having to read earlier in the series – though I would encourage you to try the earlier books too.

Definitely a series to recommend to anyone with a taste for action & adventure.   

Arroyo Book Club pick for November….

The Arroyo Book club will be reading On the Beach by Nevil Shute.  This classic from the cold war era tells the tale of a group of survivors of a WWIII nuclear catastrophe awaiting their own death from drifting radioactive clouds.  Pick up a copy at the library and find out what happens.

We will be showing a related film on 11/16 at 3:00 and will be meeting to discuss the book (& film) on 11/23 also at 3:00.  Join us for both events. 

Trivia of the Week...

This week's question:  

Where was Hazard’s Pavilion located? 

Events for the Week of October 28…

Things going on at the library during this week include:

• Little Ones’ Storytime on Wednesday (10/30) at 10:30
• Introduction to Word Processing also on Wednesday at 12:00
• STAR Reader on Wednesday at 3:00
• Halloween Party & Stories with Grandma Silverlocks on Thursday (10/31) at 3:00
• Teens Decorate a Sugar Skull on Thursday at 4:00
• Drop in Computer Lab on Friday (11/01) at 3:30

You can always check the Branch Page (http://www.lapl.org/branches/arroyo-seco) on the LAPL website for upcoming events or check out the Master Calendar (http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/calendar) where you can search for something specific across multiple branches.

Mist

Mist by Susan Krinard is an urban fantasy tale.  The heroine, Mist, is a Valkyrie living in contemporary San Francisco when things start. We then embark on a traditional battle against the gods.  I will confess that I did not finish this book.  Our heroine’s boyfriend turned out to be the villain of the piece (the God Loki) within the first chapter & that whole scenario was way too “rapey” for my taste, so I put the book down.

The premise is interesting so if you can overlook the problematic beginning it might be worth a try.  I wouldn’t recommend it though.

Project Cain

The premise of Project Cain by Geoffrey Girard is that the government has secretly raised clones of notorious serial killers.  Now some of them have broken out the “facility” they were being held in and are on a rampage.  Our narrator is one such clone (Jeffrey Dahmer) who was raised by the lead scientist on the project.  He has just discovered the truth about his origins and is co-opted by a government agent type to help find his missing adoptive father and the other clones.

Exciting premise to be sure and as far as plot goes this book is quite interesting.  Unfortunately the author weaves a hell of a lot of pseudo-science & crackpot conspiracy stuff into the narrative.   Now some of this could be to establish the type of individual our narrator is but I’m left wondering how much of this the author actually believes.

All in all a good book for those willing to accept outrageous plots. 

TOW (& Answer)...

The question was what is meant by “nacelle”?  Nacelle comes from the French and means an enclosure for protecting an engine.

The question (& answer) were found on p. 215 of the Harper Dictionary of Foreign Terms.  The book was edited by Mawson and published by Harper & Row in 1987. 

Dexter’s Final Cut

Before there was the TV show Dexter there was a book series by Jeff Lindsay.  In Dexter’s Final Cut we follow our hero (anti-hero really) as actors studying for roles in a police procedural type TV show shadow him.  It’s difficult to say anything more about the plot without giving away spoilers, suffice it to say that Dexter is his usual self & a lot of things happen.  If you’ve been following the series you’ll want to pick this up.  If you haven’t, I would recommend starting at the beginning with Darkly Dreaming Dexter. 

Events for the Week of October 21…

Things going on at the library during this week include:

• Little Ones’ Storytime on Wednesday (10/23) at 10:30
• STAR Reader on Wednesday at 3:00
• STAR Reader on Thursday (10/124) at 3:00
• Computer Basics Class also on Thursday at 6:30
• Drop in Computer Lab on Friday (10/125) at 3:30
• Arroyo Book Club on Saturday (10/26) at 3:00

You can always check the Branch Page (http://www.lapl.org/branches/arroyo-seco) on the LAPL website for upcoming events or check out the Master Calendar (http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/calendar) where you can search for something specific across multiple branches.

History of Highland Park (library version)…

Here (http://dbase1.lapl.org/webpics/calindex/documents/11/520721.pdf) we have a 9-page list of people who donated for the original Carnegie branch library that stood where our library stands now.  This would have been about 100 years ago.  Do you recognize any of our generous original donors?

Trivia of the Week....

This week's question:

What is meant by “nacelle”?

The Bat

The Bat by Jo Nesbo is a mystery set in Australia, specifically Sydney and its environs.  In the book we follow Harry Hole (pronounced Holy) a detective from Norway who is in Sydney to help the local police solve the murder of a Norwegian woman.  As the story progresses we learn that she was only the latest in a string of murders & more people are killed.

I found this book fascinating at the beginning because it has a Norwegian author holding a lens up to the culture of Australia.  Then the book took a decided turn toward the bleak (dare I say typically Scandinavian) in the middle and I lost interest in it. 

This book is definitely for fans of the author and would be enjoyed by people who’d get a kick out of the culture on culture mirror thing it has going on.  Not for someone looking for a “cheerful” or “cosy” tale. 

Far From the Tree

In Far From the Tree Andrew Solomon explores the connection between parents & children when the children in question differ in unexpected and drastic ways from the parents.  He explores questions of defining identity in the children & parental love and determination in the parents.  In the course of this book he examines deafness, dwarfism, Down Syndrome, autism, schizophrenia, multiple disabilities, prodigies, children of rape, criminals, and the transgendered. 

This is a meaty work that raises many thorny questions.  I found the book a bit long in the end & a bit repetitive (granted the repetition was necessary to highlight situational similarities but it did make things drag on, at least for me).  In recommending this book then I might actually start by recommending it to someone in sections.  Refer an individual to a particular chapter rather then the whole book & then hope they are drawn to the whole book from that chapter.  It is a book that rewards reading even if it is not an easy read.

TOW (& Answer)...

The Rosenbergs and Sobell were charged with conspiracy to commit wartime espionage.  The Rosenbergs were sentenced to death and Sobell got 30 years.  To quote the source: 

The Rosenberg case, coming at the height of the anit-Communist hysteria in America produced the harshest possible result: the deaths of two defendants who, as U. S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter put it, “were tried for conspiracy and sentenced for treason.”

 The question & answer were taken from p. 452 of Great American Trials edited by Edward Knappman.  The book was published by Gale Research in 1994. 

Events for the Week of October 14…

Remember that the library will be closed on Monday for Columbus Day.  Things going on at the library during the rest of the week include:

• Teen Read Week Loteria event on Tuesday (10/15) at 4:00
• Little Ones’ Storytime on Wednesday (10/16) at 10:30
• STAR Reader on Wednesday at 3:00
• STAR Reader on Thursday (10/17) at 3:00
• Drop in Computer Lab on Friday (10/18) at 3:30

You can always check the Branch Page (http://www.lapl.org/branches/arroyo-seco) on the LAPL website for upcoming events or check out the Master Calendar (http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/calendar) where you can search for something specific across multiple branches.

History of Highland Park…

This typewritten report (http://dbase1.lapl.org/webpics/calindex/documents/11/520711.pdf), dated July 1936, provides a history of the Annandale Branch Library.  The report includes a number of photos & a newspaper clipping.  It provides an interesting look at how the library actually worked & includes staffing and circulation details.  Check it out for a peek behind the scenes.

Drunk Tank Pink

Drunk Tank Pink by Adam Alter takes a survey look (very broad with absolutely no depth) at phenomenon that shape how people think, feel, and behave. He examines the impact of color on emotion & behavior, the influence brought to bear by the presence (or absence) of other people on our behavior, how our name can influence our life outcomes and more. 

This book is for those interested in a layman’s look at social psychology & maybe a little bit of brain science.  Definitely not for the expert. 

Trivia of the Week...

What crime where Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and Morton Sobell charged with?

The Story of English

The Story of English by Philip Gooden is essentially a history of the English language.  It focuses on the people & places that have had an impact on the development of the language.  In terms of books we’ve discussed before it is similar to The Story of Spanish by Nadeu & Barlow (a similarity that is totally reflected in their near identical titles).  The book was quite interesting but it is definitely a survey and it is definitely an historical overview.  It is not technical in any sense & does not delve into questions of grammar or construction.

Recommended for those interested in “different” looks at history & those with an interest in the topic.

TOW (& Answer)...

This week’s question was what is peripeteia?  To answer... In Greek drama, the sudden and dramatic change of fortune for the protagonist is peripeteia also called peripety.

The question (and answer) were taken from p. 164 of NTC’s Dictionary of Literary Terms by Morner & Rausch.  The book was published by the National Textbook Company in 1991. 

Events for the Week of October 7…

Things going on at the library during this week include:

• Little Ones’ Storytime on Wednesday (10/9) at 10:30
• STAR Reader on Wednesday at 3:00
• STAR Reader on Thursday (10/10) at 3:00
• Drop in Computer Lab on Friday (10/11) at 3:30
• Introduction to Spreadsheets class on Saturday (10/12) at 3:00

You can always check the Branch Page (http://www.lapl.org/branches/arroyo-seco) on the LAPL website for upcoming events or check out the Master Calendar (http://www.lapl.org/whats-on/calendar) where you can search for something specific across multiple branches.

Slightly Scandalous

If you like a good regency romance Mary Balogh is always worth a try.  In Slightly Scandalous she continues a series that focuses on a family of six brothers and sisters by telling Freyja’s tale.  Freyja is headstrong and stubborn.  She meets Joshua Moore under unusual circumstances, becomes betrothed to him as a ruse, and grows to love him (it is a romance after all).  Of course there’s a lot of misunderstanding, pushy & downright evil interference from relatives, & a generally satisfying conclusion.

I would recommend the book to those who like a good romance that includes a little bit of spice.

Arroyo Book Club Pick for October….

The Arroyo Book Club will be reading Tracy Kidder’s Strength in What Remains for our October meeting.  This book tells the story of a man who came to America from Burundi in search of a new life.  Let me quote directly from the booklist review to give you a quick little book summary: 

Deo was a young medical student in 1994 when ethnic tensions between Hutu and Tutsi in Burundi elevated to the level of massacres. He spent six months on the run from the Hutu militia, saved by a Hutu woman who claimed he was her son, and later he made his way to New York, saved by a former nun who helped him find housing and other assistance. In the first half of the book, Kidder recalls Deo's struggles as an illegal immigrant, working for poverty wages and sleeping in abandoned buildings, crack houses, and Central Park, all the while recovering from severe trauma and longing for a university setting. Through benefactors, Deo goes on to graduate from Columbia University and to attend medical school at Dartmouth. Eventually working with a nonprofit organization that provides health care in impoverished nations, Deo returned to Burundi to build a clinic. The second half of the book is Kidder's recollections of accompanying Deo on his return trip home, a frightening journey of remembrances. Kidder uses Deo's experiences to deliver a very personal and harrowing account of the ethnic genocide in East Central Africa

Pick up a copy of the book at the library and join us on October 26 at 3:00 for a discussion.

Trivia of the Week...

This week’s question is: what is peripeteia?