A Word from...YOUR Library What a terrific response from faculty and staff for this issue of Bookwatch! Welcome to our first-time contributors--many thanks to you and to our repeat contributors for your continued support. There are a lot of wonderful choices for your upcoming reading—so take a few minutes to re-view the varied selection of titles. Congratulations to the winner of the Learned Owl gift certificate drawing …

Dan Dyer.

Have a Wonderful Winter Break and Read a Good Book!

Winter 2007 ISSUE 22

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FACULTY AND STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS Sherry Chlysta recommends: The Indian Clerk by David Leavit “Eventually becoming one of the greatest mathematicians of his era, Srinvasa Ramanujan was only a 23-year-old bank clerk in the Indian city of Madras when, in 1913, he wrote a letter to the highly esteemed British mathematician G. H. Hardy, who was seated at Cambridge. The letter suggests to Hardy that the writer is a math genius, and Hardy embarks on a campaign to bring him from India to England.” (Booklist) Sue Strauss and Sherry Chlysta recommend: The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeanette Walls “Walls, who spent years trying to hide her childhood experiences, allows the story to spill out in this remarkable recollection of growing up.” (Booklist Starred Review)

Gerald Manoli recommends: The Cure by Athol Dickson “Dickson focuses on a missionary, Riley Keep, who becomes an alcoholic after a devastating experience in the mission field. Blending science fiction and suspense, Dickson sets his novel in the small fishing town of Dublin, Maine.” (Booklist)

Jill Evans recommends: The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri “This is a fantastic book written by Jhumpa Lahiri who won the Pulitzer Prize for her first collection of short stories, Interpreter of Maladies. This novel explores the life of an Indian-American boy as he comes to terms with both his life in America and his roots in India. It is funny and endearing and a very quick read!” Stephanie White recommends: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman Welcome to a parallel universe in this first novel of the acclaimed fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials. Movie adaptation now out in theaters.

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Jeannie Kidera recommends Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos “The compelling story highlights the losses and disjoint-edness of life and the many paths back to healing for those who seek the way. Margaret Hughes lives alone in a Seattle mansion, divorced from her husband after the death of their son...[and] Wanda Schultz, aban-doned as a child by her parents, cannot accept the re-jection of her lover, Peter, whose solitary postcard brings her across the country in search of him.” (Booklist Starred Review) Three Irish Poets This anthology features the works of three important contemporary Irish poets: Eavan Boland, Mary O’Mal-ley, and Paula Meehan. Lisabeth Robinson recommends: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver “Kingsolver resolves to spend a year eating only local, in-season foods with her family on their Virginia farm. Her experiment causes her to examine the way we eat, buy and socialize as a culture and how we can benefit from rethinking our priorities and habits for the betterment of ourselves and our environment.” Christine Borrmann recommends: Iran Awakening: One Woman's Journey to Reclaim Her Life and Country by Shirin Ebadi “It is non-fiction and fascinating, providing a real insight to the situation in Iran--and it is especially interesting for women.” Dan Dyer recommends: The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher by Debby Applegate “Yankee preacher Henry Ward Beecher (1813-87) knew everybody who was anybody, and his Plymouth Church in Brooklyn was a popular tourist attraction. If he was the most famous American, he was also a po-larizing figure because of the abolitionism that made him ‘most hated’ in the antebellum South… Applegate sympathetically portrays this larger-than-life figure as appealingly human.” (Booklist)

Dan Dyer recommends: Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo “Following a trio of best friends who grew up in upstate Thomaston, New York, over 50 years, the novel cap-tures some of the essential mysteries of life, including the unanticipated moments of childhood that will for-ever define one's adulthood.” (Booklist Starred Review) Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America by Eric Jay Dolin “Dolin, who has written extensively on the marine world, has crafted a survey of the whaling industry over the past four centuries… Dolin provides wonderful, ex-hilarating accounts of whaling expeditions and illus-trates just how dangerous the profession could be… Even those adamantly opposed to the industry will find this to be a finely written account of a once-burgeoning industry.” (Booklist) John Paul Jones: Sailor, Hero, Father of the Ameri-can Navy by Evan Thomas “Thomas chronicles the short, but glorious, life of a bril-liant, but frustratingly difficult man, who was the first American naval hero.” (Booklist) Cherie Thomas recommends: The Baby Farm by Karen Harper This book is set in the Appalachian Mountains where old medicine (midwifery) meets modern medicine (Medical Center). The main characters join forces to uncover a baby sealing/black market adoption opera-tion.

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FACULTY AND STAFF REOMMENDATIONS continued

FACULTY AND STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS continued:

Rich Hoffman recommends: Wildly Romantic: The English Romantic Poets: The Mad, the Bad, and the Dangerous by Catherine M. Andronik “A great look at the lives of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley (both), Byron and Keats.” Carlisle vs. Army: Jim Thorpe, Dwight Eisenhower, Pop Warner, and the Forgotten Story of Football’s Greatest Battle by Lars Anderson “Retraces the paths that led to the 1912 clash between Thorpe’s Carlisle Indians and Eisenhower’s Army Ca-dets. Shows the convergence of two of the early 20th century’s real heroes, who took such different paths to gain (inter)national prominence.” Non-Fiction Reviews: King, Kaiser, Tsar: Three Royal Cousins Who Led the World to War by Catrina Clay An absorbing account of three cousins, their interconnecting lives, and that of their respective countries as events move inexorably toward the outbreak of World War I. The cousins are George V of England, Wilhelm II of Germany, and Nicholas II of Russia, and their story is enhanced by the dramatic use of family correspondence (and diaries) only re-cently released from various national archives. (Review by Tom Vince) Rainbow’s End: A Memoir of Childhood, War and an African Farm by Lauren St. John This is a fascinating memoir of Lauren St. John’s childhood in war-torn Rhodesia. Lauren moves with her family to Rain-bow’s End, a wild and beautiful game reserve on the banks of a river in Rhodesia. It had been the scene of a savage guerilla attack on the previous occupants, leaving several dead; nevertheless, Lauren’s father thinks it is the place he wants to settle. Lauren and her whole family were born and raised in Rhodesia while it was under British rule. Lauren’s carefree childhood in the wilds of Africa are overshadowed by the civil war, strife and frequent guerilla attacks. After Rhodesian independence, Lauren realizes that, though she loves her native country, she can never truly be African be-cause she is white. A beautifully written story about a time and area of the world that is very interesting and reveal-ing. (Review by Melissa Slager) When No One Understands: Letters to a Teenager on Life, Loss, and the Hard Road to Adulthood by Brad Sachs Brad Sachs is a family psychologist who shares the insightful letters he has written to one of his patients, a suicidal teenage girl. Each chapter revolves around a specific topic with which she is struggling. Some of the topics included are dealing with drugs and alcohol, teenagers’ relationships with friends, boys, parents, and family dynamics. This book is an excellent resource for teens, parents and anyone who has the opportunity to spend time with teens. (Review by Kim Barsella)

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Non-Fiction reviews continued: The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman This account chronicles the lives of Polish Christian zookeeper, Jan Zabinski, and his fam-ily who resided at the Warsaw Zoo immediately before, during and after World War II. Ex-tensively researched using primary sources including the diary of the zookeeper’s wife, An-tonina, this book is a quirky, somber, yet in some ways delightful, description of life at the zoo. As might be expected, the animals play an extensive part in this account, and the de-scriptions of animal behavior (as well as human) are compelling. The vivid description of Warsaw during this time period as well as the activities of the Polish resistance underscore the work of the zookeeper, a Resistance member, and his family as they “hosted” over 300 Jews facing death, using the zoo grounds as hiding places. Another interesting aspect of the book is the discussion of the Nazi preoccupation with genetic testing of animals to “re-create” extinct animals considered pure Aryan breeds. (Review by Jacque Miller)

Prisoner of Tehran: A Memoir by Marina Nemat This is a wonderful book about an Iranian teenage girl who struggles to keep her family safe, hold onto her religious faith and express her political beliefs while going to school and being a normal young person in Iran. She finds out that her actions and words have changed her life permanently when she is arrested, tortured, and sent to Evin, a prison in Tehran. For two and a half years she and some of her classmates live with the constant threat of being executed for what would be normal behavior here in the U.S. Marina is saved from execution by, Ali, an interrogator who falls in love with her and threatens to kill her family and friends if she doesn’t marry him and change her religion from Christian to Islam. The book presents a picture of life in Iran during the Islamic Revolution of the late 70’s and early 80’s and should be given 5 stars and put on the recommended reading list. It is well written, expresses admira-ble values and gives the reader an inside look into what it must have been like to live in Iran during the rise to power of Ayatollah Khomenini and the brutality of the Islamic Revolution. (Review by Sue Donnelly)

FICTION REVIEWS: The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer It is 1979, and the Shah of Iran has been deposed and left Iran. The Ayatollahs and the Revolutionary Guard are determined to eliminate all western influences. As an atmosphere of fear settles over the country, those who thrived under the Shah’s regime are detained and subjected to brutal interrogations to force confessions of wrong-doing. Those who can try to escape from the country anyway possible. This is the story of Jewish gem-dealer Isaac Amin and his family’s experiences during this difficult time… A well-written, heart-rending, thoughtful tale by the author who fled Iran with her family when she was ten years old. (Review by Jacque Miller)

The Ghost at the Table by Suzanne Berne Here’s a sharp and engaging novel that brings together a couple of sisters, their very ill father from whom they have been long estranged, as well as the daughters and friends of the one sister who has planned a Thanksgiving reunion at her idyllic New England home. But things are not what they seem, and tension builds to a final act once the holiday dishes have been cleared from the table. (Review by Tom Vince)

Heartsick by Chelsea Cain This novel opens with the background story of Detective Archie Sheridan who ended up being caught in the web of a beautiful serial killer, Gretchen Lowell. She tortured Sheridan for ten days before unaccountably turning herself into the police. Two years have past since Lowell was incarcerated, and Sheridan is being offered his first chance to lead a team of detectives on a very challenging case. This is a great thriller that reminds me of Patricia Cornwell when she was at the top of her game with the Kay Scarpetta novels. (Review by Holly Bunt)

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini I was curious to find out if the author’s second book could live up to his first book, Kite Runner. I am happy to report that it went beyond my expectations. The book flows with Hosseini’s beautiful but sorrowful prose weaving the tale of Mariam and Laila, two Afghanistan women, and the trials and tribulations they endure over 3 decades in their war-torn country. It is a story of pain, loss and, in the end, the ability to overcome. Even though this is a fictional ac-count, it offers a fascinating perspective into the history of Afghanistan. (Review by Holly Bunt) Austenland by Shannon Hale Any female who has seen Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy will be totally enthralled with this book. Jane Hayes is obsessed with finding her Mr. Darcy. Her great aunt dies and, knowing of her obses-sion, bequeaths Jane a vacation of three weeks in “Austenland.” Jane takes a leave from her job and flies to England where she becomes the character of “Jane Erstwhile” in Regency England and starts her quest for Mr. Darcy. A sweet, funny and delightful story. (Review by Melissa Slager) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie In this semi-autobiographical novel, Sherman Alexie tells the loose story of his own life. On the first day of high school on his Spokane reservation, Ar-nold Spirit Jr. opens his geometry book and sees his mother's name written inside the cover. It's the same text she studied -- three decades earlier. If a fit of rage, he throws the book at his teacher, breaking the guy's nose. Arnold knows it’s time for him to leave the protection (and hopeless poverty) of the rez. He enrolls at an all-white high school and begins what becomes a some-times hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking and always riveting journey of self-discovery. Winner of the 2007 National Book Award. (Review by Paula Campanelli)

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"One kind word can warm three winter months."- Japanese Proverb