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?