Tempting Titles: New Nonfiction 600 - 799

Our trip through the Dewey Decimal system continues with the 600s and 700s. More tomorrow.

600 Health, Technology, Business

The Skinny: how to fit into your little black dress forever: the eat-what-you-want way to lose weight and keep it off by Melissa Clark and Robin Aronson

The brilliance of this fun-to-read munching manifesto is its ability to adapt itself to the vagaries of real-world eating; the writer-editor authors understand the temptations of workaday life and lazy weekends and provide practical tips that allow even dieting dropouts a bit of the leeway they crave. PW Annex Reviews

Final exam: a surgeon’s reflections on mortality by Pauline Chen

Numerous articles and books have shown that many physicians do not know how to treat terminally ill patients appropriately and humanely. Some physicians, in fact, use extreme and futile medical interventions to treat dying patients, with little regard to their costs, the pain and suffering they cause, or even the patients' own wishes. Chen, a young Asian American transplant surgeon, further addresses this profound paradox of medicine—a profession premised on caring for the ill that systematically depersonalizes the dying—by compiling her own experiences dealing with death and dying. Library Journal 9/1/06.

Unstrange Minds: remapping the world of autism by Roy Richard Grinker

... a book that ranks with Uta Frith's Autism: Explaining the Enigma as one of the great general books on autism. Library Journal, January 2007 #1.

The boy who was raised as a dog: and other stories from a child psychiatrist’s notebook: what traumatized children can teach us about loss, love, and healing by Bruce D. Perry and Maia Szalavitz

In beautifully written, fascinating accounts of experiences working with emotionally stunted and traumatized children, child psychiatrist Perry educates readers about how early-life stress and violence affects the developing brain. He learns that to facilitate recovery, the loss of control and powerlessness felt by a child during a traumatic experience must be counteracted. Publishers Weekly, January

A Twist of the Wrist: quick flavorful meals with ingredients from jars, cans, bags, and boxes by Nancy Silverton.

Silverton was one of the first of the new generation of artisan bakers, and her La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles has a national reputation. She…began to discover the range of high-quality prepared products increasingly available even in supermarkets, and she embarked on a mission to develop sophisticated but quick and easy recipes that take advantage of them. Highly recommended. Library Journal, February 2007

“They Call Me Naughty Lola”: personal ads from the London Review of Books edited by David Rose

See how other book lovers describe themselves. From the summary in the catalog: "this collection of personal ads from the young, old, fat, bald, healthy, ill, rich, and poor hoping they can find true love, or at the very least, someone to call them Naughty Lola." Like many recent books in the library online catalog, there are first chapter excerpts. Don't miss them.

Mommy millionaire: how I turned my kitchen table idea into a million dollars and how you can, too by Kim Lavine

Founder and president of Green Daisy Inc., she tells how she converted a comfy pillow she invented into a successful company, sharing poignant insights about her challenges and growth. Lavine seamlessly weaves her journey of discovery with checklists, links, resources and how-tos drawn from her experience. Starred Review Publishers Weekly, December 2006)

700 - Art, architecture, entertainment, sports

Taj Mahal: passion and genius at the heart of the Moghul empire, by Diana and Michael Preston.

The Taj Mahal (1631), one of the Seven Wonders of the World, has been beautifully exalted in the hands of the Prestons. a reliable source for readers wanting to understand the splendor of the Taj Mahal in historical context. Library Journal

Photo by Sammy Davis, Jr., by Burt Boyar.

Boyar, (who co-wrote with his wife, Jane, three autobiographies with Davis), now offers these beautiful archival snapshots that Davis took of his friends, family and acquaintances. The photos… are rare shots of his father dancing onstage as part of the Will Mastin Trio; fun, candid snapshots as only a close friend can take of Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, James Dean, Nat "King" Cole and Marilyn Monroe; of politicians he associated with, like Robert Kennedy, Jackie Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr.; and photos of his one-time wife May Britt and their three children, Tracey, Jeff and Mark. Publishers Weekly, February

Opening Day: the story of Jackie Robinson's first season by Jonathan Eig.

An entertaining and equitable examination of Jackie Robinson’s groundbreaking rookie season. Baseball fans will delight in a detailed account of the ’47 Dodgers-Yankees World Series and revel in the portraits of some of baseball’s more interesting characters

Tempting Titles - New Nonfiction 300 - 599

Today’s Tempting Titles include the 300s, 400s, and 500s. More tomorrow.
Click on a title or a picture to find it in the catalog. On order if not already in GPL.

300 Social Sciences

Babyproofing Your Marriage: How to Laugh More, Argue Less, and Communicate Better as Your Family Grows by Cockrell, Stacie / O'Neill, Cathy / Stone, Julia / Martin, Larry (ILT)

Though their admittedly 'pseudo-scientific' research seems to have come mainly from interviewing friends, family and people on the street, they arrive at some reasonable solutions to how couples can keep their marriages fresh and stimulating amid armloads of dirty diapers and screeching babies. Publishers Weekly (Dec. 2006)

Grave Matters: a journey through the modern funeral industry to a natural way of burial by Mark Harris

Harris's case for an eco-friendly burial is also an argument for a graceful and productive afterlife...this practical, powerful and affirming book succeeds as a survey of burial methods, a collection of true stories and a resource guide. Publishers Weekly (Jan. 2007)

Excuse Me, but I Was Next: how to handle 100 manners dilemmas by Peggy Post
Here are solutions for the art of small talk, retorts to the top ten nosy questions, ways of finessing 'name amnesia,' and adoption etiquette, in concise Q&A format...the focus on universal real-life situations makes this book a classic. Library Journal (November 2006)

400 Language

Sister Bernadette’s Barking Dog: the quirky history and lost art of diagramming sentences by Kitty Burns Florey.

Taz, the blog dog, says: It comes down to this: If you don’t think someone can sniff out the meaning in a sentence then don’t bark it out. If you want to spend all that time figuring out how to make a diagram of what that nun’s dog was trying to say without knowing what the dog was really communicating then why call "Hawrf! Hawrf!" just “barking”? (See Emotional Lives of Animals below.)

And, this from Florey's essay of the same title in Harper’s, December, 2004, available with a library card through the Glendale Public Library database, Infotrac: "Mostly we diagrammed sentences out of a grammar book, but sometimes we were assigned the task of making up our own, taking pleasure in coming up with wild Proustian wanderings that--kicking and screaming--had to be corralled, harnessed, and made to trot into the barn in neat rows."

So you see then, diagramming sentences is a lot like herding. Reading how to do either is fun if you’re a working, herding reader or writer. Good book. You liked Eats, Shoots, and Leaves? You may also like this charming work of a former copy editor and novelist. The title doesn’t say it all. It’s even funnier than you’d expect

500 Science

The Emotional Lives of Animals: a leading scientist explores animal joy, sorrow, and empathy – and why they matter by Marc Bekoff and Jane Goodall.

Demonstrating the far-reaching implications for readers’ relationships with any number of living beings, Bekoff’s book is profound, thought-provoking and even touching. Publisher's Weekly.

Taz, the blog dog says: What I’ve been telling you. Hawrf! Hawrf!

Plutonium: a history of the world's most dangerous element, by Jeremy Bernstein

Running through a spectrum of Nobel prize winners, [Bernstein] grippingly portrays the race to develop the first nuclear weapon during World War II as well as the interplay among the global personalities involved. Library Journal.

Tempting Titles: New Nonfiction 000 - 299

Here, in Dewey Decimal order as they would be on the shelves, are recent titles new to the collection, highlighted by the librarians who selected them.

000 – Computers, Generalities

Microsoft Windows Vista simplified by Paul McFedries

This updated version of one of the bestselling Visual books of all time…serves as a gentle introduction to Windows Vista that caters to readers whose learning style makes them more comfortable being shown rather than told. (catalog summary)

MySpace unraveled : a parent's guide to teen social networking from the directors of BlogSafety.com by Larry Magid and Anne Collier.

To help you understand MySpace, the authors step you through how to set up and personalize a MySpace account and how to manage an online social life. Then they look at how young people are changing the Internet and how to guide them as they navigate the social Web. (Back cover)

100 Philosophy, Psychology

Everything I need to know, I learned from a chick flick by Kimberly Potts

In this quick, absorbing tongue-in-cheek reference, Potts draws important life lessons ("family is where the heart is," "living well is the only revenge") from more than 60 Hollywood "chick flicks," a term she uses loosely enough to include Clueless, Coal Miner's Daughter and Carrie. PW Annex Reviews, 2007.

200 Religion

The Dalai Lama: man, monk mystic by Mayank, Chhaya

This… authorized biography by an Indian journalist who did his research homework and had access to the Dalai Lama…provides valuable information about a man whose human character is not nearly as well known as his exotic spiritual image. Publishers Weekly Reviews, November 2006, #2

The Talking Book: African Americans and the Bible by Allen Dwight Callahan

…this informative …volume… examines how the music and literature of black Americans are shot through with biblical images. [The author] also traces the theme of exile through the plays of August Wilson and the novels of James Baldwin, and he considers the central place of the name of Jesus in black folklore, belles lettres, and hip-hop. From W. E. B. Du Bois to Toni Morrison, black writers have invoked Jesus to signify "the suffering of black people." Callahan's investigations will doubtless interest students of African-American religion. PW Annex Reviews

Tomorrow 300-599, the next day 600 – 799, and finally 800 – 999 and Biographies.

The Private Lives of the Impressionists

Did you ever wonder which famous artist drank too much champagne in the lively cabaret clubs of the Montmartre district, or which artist’s family went to elaborate efforts to hide the existence of his illegitimate son? If yes, then The Private Lives of the Impressionists is for you!

British author Sue Roe’s intimate, colorful, and superbly researched account takes us into the homes and studios of Monet, Cezanne, Degas, Renoir, Morisot and others, describing their unconventional, volatile and precarious lives, as well as the stories behind the paintings we know and love.

This title is both educational and a pleasure to read and will be of interest to Francophiles, art lovers, history buffs, and just about anyone else.

If you like this book, visit us at the Brand Library; with hundreds of titles about French Impressionism we are your source for material on this topic!

2007 Pulitzer Prizes Announced

Special Citation to Ray Bradbury for "his distinguished, prolific and deeply influential career as an unmatched author of science fiction and fantasy."

Fiction - Cormac McCarthy for The Road.

Drama - David Lindsay-Abaire for The Rabbit Hole. (To be ordered.)

History - Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff for The Race Beat: the press, the civil rights struggle and the awakening of a nation

Biography - Debby Applegate for The Most Famous Man in America: the biography of Henry Ward Beecher

Poetry - Natasha Trethewey for Native Guard (To be ordered.)

General Nonfiction - Lawrence Wright for The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the road to 9/11

http://www.pulitzer.org/

This Week in Reading April 15 - 21

This is National Library Week and the reading is pleasing. We can celebrate the birthdays of the creators of some of the most conflicted women in literature, Jane Eyre and Isabel Archer. There are also remarkable women among the authors this week, along with a couple of important Midwestern voices who spoke to and for their peers.

This Week's Question: Which of this week's authors said, "As long as the world shall last there will be wrongs, and if no man objected and no man rebelled, those wrongs would last forever"?

Answer to Last Week's Question: The War of Jenkins' Ear lasted nine years between Britain and Spain, 1739 - 1748, and resulted in not much more than a horrific drain on the economy and manpower of both sides. The drumbeat for the war between the two sea powers received its loudest boom when Robert Jenkins, a sailor, exhibited in Parliament what he claimed to be his own ear which he said had been cut off by Spanish coast guarders seven years previous when they boarded his British ship. Like many such reasons for unnecessary wars, its legitimacy has been long disputed.

Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born

After finishing Birth: The Surprising History of How We are Born, I feel disturbed, facinated, nauseated and in wonder. This book, by Tina Cassidy, gives the reader a tour de force ride through the history of the human birth process, and more specifically, women's unique experience of giving birth.

Starting with some anthropology and decriptions of the female human body and how it has adapted through time to accomodate a human child, the book goes on to highlight birth customs and fads throughout Western culture. There are many cringe-worthy passages that give the reader insight into the often horrific ways women were treated as they labored to give birth. From shackles and stirrups to c-sections without anesthesia to poor hygienic conditions and forcep mishaps, the author provides many examples of a process that has evolved greatly over time.

There are also many uplifting and gratifying tales of women who have had stress and pain free births, depending on the doctor, doula, midwife or birth partner present. Ultimately, the more women come to believe that birth is a natural process that is only hindered by fear, the more problems and complications seem to diminish. Some women, in such a comfortable state, report having orgasms during vaginal birth--a most interesting fact indeed!

I highly recommend this book to both women and the men who care about them, to check this book out. You'll never look at birth the same way again.

Strange Book Titles R Us

What's the strangest book title you've ever seen? Let us know and we'll post them on Book Talk! Here are a few titles from the library catalog to whet your appetite and perhaps pique your interest in these curious titles. Thanks to the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library blog Papercuts for giving me this idea!

Toothworms and Spider Juice: An Illustrated History of Dentistry by Loretta Frances Ichord

For the Love of Enzymes: The Odyssey of a Biochemist by Arthur Kornburg

Get Your Tongue Out of My Mouth, I'm Kissing You Goodbye by Cynthia Heimel

Sock Monkey Boogie Woogie: a friend is made by Cece Bell

Get Out of My Life, But First Can You Drive Me and Cheryl to the Mall? A Parent's Guide to the New Teenager by Anthony E. Wolf

The Clue of the Linoleum Leiderhosen by M.T. Anderson

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

Attention Book Lovers! Start planning now and get your tickets to the upcoming Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on April 28-29. The tickets are FREE but you must obtain them in advance.

What is it? The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books began in 1996 with a simple goal: to bring together the people who create books with the people who love to read them. The Festival was an immediate success and has become the largest and most prestigious book festival in the country, attracting more than 130,000 book lovers and quite a few authors each year. It is held on the UCLA campus.

Want to learn more?
Visit http://www.latimes.com/extras/festivalofbooks/

Cage of Stars by Jacquelyn Mitchard

At age twelve Ronnie Swan witnesses the brutal killing of her younger sisters in the backyard of their rural Utah home. Strong faith provides Ronnie’s parents with the strength to forgive the killer of these two girls, but Ronnie cannot. Years pass and eventually she discovers that her sisters’ killer has moved with his family to San Diego. Still angry, Ronnie follows him there and begins a new life, determined to get revenge on this man.

The compelling plot, realistic characters and comfortable writing style make Mitchard's latest book a worthy read.

Taz, the Library Blog Dog, Recommends:

Herding Dogs: progressive training by Virgil S. Holland

As a proud owner of a pair of humans, I can tell you I love it when my parents take me to do something fun. My dad often takes me hiking in nearby Griffith Park, and my mom regularly takes me to herd sheep out in Shadow Hills on her day off. This book really helped Mom understand skills that I (a born-to-run, pre-human educated herding dog) already understand instinctually. One of these things is, work is fun. Just like it is for Mom in the library. Now we can work better as a team when we head pastureside to play with what Mom calls those "adorable woolies!" I don't care what you call them, just so long as they move where and when I tell 'em. Harwf, harwf!

Vonnegut on Libraries

From A Man Without a Country: A Memoir of Life in George W Bush's America

"I want to congratulate librarians, not famous for their physical strength, who, all over this country (the United States), have staunchly resisted anti-democratic bullies who have tried to remove certain books from their shelves, and destroyed records rather than have to reveal to thought police the names of persons who have checked out those titles.So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House, the Supreme Court, the Senate, the House of Representatives, or the media. The America I loved still exists at the front desks of our public libraries."

Kurt Vonnegut 1922 - 2007

Kurt Vonnegut, called in his Los Angeles Times three page obituary, an "American cultural hero," and "one of the last of a generation of great American novelists of World War Two" died yesterday at the age of eighty-four.

Author Tom Wolfe, quoted in the obituary, said "... he was the closest thing we had to a Voltaire." Novelist Jay McInerny called him "a satirist with a heart, a moralist with a whoopee cushion."

Most, if not all, of his books can be found in Glendale Public Library shelves, as well as books about him and some he wrote about himself like The Man Without a Country.

A list of the best of Vonnegut must begin with the first novel he wrote, Player Piano, however the story of man mechanized by the oppressions of corporate 'efficiency' was not well known until his later books became popular. You may also enjoy the satire of Cat's Cradle, Slaughterhouse Five, based on his own experiences witnessing the horrors of "useless bombing," The Sirens of Titan, Mother Night, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, and Welcome to the Monkey House, a collection of short works.

Classics of the genre, pt. 4

While Edgar Rice Burroughs can be credited with the creation of the fantasy genre through his character Conan's exploits, after Tolkien wrote Lord of the Rings, fantasy writers had to come up with more than just swordplay and raw, near-minimalist storytelling techniques to capture the suddenly more sophisticated audience. Tolkien's emphasis on world creation, detailed narrative, and subtle characterizations (at least, by comparison to what had come before) forced writers to develop intricate backstories and motivations for their characters and histories/cosmologies for their settings if they wanted to attract readers whetted on LOTR.

Michael Moorcock became one of the most original purveyors of what came to be known as "sword and sorcery" fantasy following Tolkien's re-imagining of the genre. His notion of an "Eternal Champion", forever battling forces far more powerful than s/he in order to achieve both internal and external peace, allowed Moorcock to play with many different time periods and settings throughout his career. Even though most of Moorcock's protagonists are indeed male, as have been the vast majority of fantasy main characters, he did make room for the occasional strong female as well.

Although Tolkien populated his near-Christian world with many types of beings, the main emphasis of conflict in his Middle-earth was that between good and evil. In Moorcock's books, set in an infinite number of universes--essentially alternate histories and futures of our earth--he termed the "multiverse", the overarching conceptual struggle is instead that of Law against Chaos, with gods and men fighting for one, the other, or for the "Cosmic Balance" that requires both (or neither) to exist in equal measure. Too much Chaos and you get a virtually psychedelic instability to the landscape; too much Law and you get a permanent and unceasing sterility.

Of all the characters Moorcock used over the decades, one stands pre-eminent: Elric of Melniboné, and it has been his fight to destroy both the Lords of Law and Chaos for the Balance that has endured in the literature. Moorcock is still living, but he has stated publicly that he has retired from writing Eternal Champion books. All of his work, however, rewards reading, as almost all of his writing includes the concept of the Eternal Champion woven somewhere in the plot. The high drama of a character slated to struggle forever just to find peace--in whichever incarnation Moorcock uses--arouses both our interest and our sympathy, since it is only in the briefest moments that it is glimpsed by the Champion.

The publisher, White Wolf, gathered most of the Eternal Champion stories in a series of reprints in the 1990s. Start at the beginning to see how the Champion caused his own condemnation.

Library Cat Gets Book Deal Worth $1.25 Million

Dewey Readmore Books, the library cat of the Spencer Public Library in Spencer, Iowa, has just sold the rights to his story, (through his human agents and librarian biographers) to a publishing company that hopes to replicate the success of Marley and Me: life and love with the world's worst dog by James Grogan.

Besides becoming accustomed to being a media star, Dewey Readmore Books sometimes supervises the library staff.

A celebrity we have here at Glendale Public Library is Taz, the Blog Dog, a blue Australian cattle dog, often accompanied on his rounds by Lora, our Reference Manager. A skilled herder, he also supervises every chance he gets.

He often likes to curl up by the fire with a good book. So, look for his book recommendations from time to time here on Book Talk.

Tempting Titles: Fresh Fiction - April

FICTION:

Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy

"When a new highway threatens to bypass the town of Rossmore and cut through Whitethorn Woods, everyone has a passionate opinion about whether the town will benefit or suffer. But young Father Flynn is most concerned with the fate of St. Ann's Well, which is set at the edge of the woods and slated for destruction. People have been coming to St. Ann's for generations to share their dreams and fears, and to speak their prayers. Some believe it to be a place of true spiritual power, demanding protection; others think it's a mere magnet for superstitions, easily sacrificed. Not knowing which faction to favor, Father Flynn listens to all those caught up in the conflict, and these are the voices we hear in the stories of Whitethorn Woods - men and women deciding between the traditions of the past and the promises of the future, ordinary people brought vividly to life by Binchy."--BOOK JACKET.

MYSTERY:

What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman

Starred Review. A driver who flees a car accident on a Maryland highway breathes new life into a 30-year-old mystery—the disappearance of the young Bethany sisters at a shopping mall—after she later tells the police she's one of the missing girls. As soon as the mystery woman drops that bombshell, she clams up, placing the new lead detective, Kevin Infante, in a bind, as he struggles to gain her trust while exploring the odd holes in her story. Deftly moving between past and present, Lippman presents the last day both sisters, Sunny and Heather, were seen alive from a variety of perspectives. Subtle clues point to the surprising but plausible solution of the crime and the identity of the mystery woman. (Publisher Weekly Review)

FANTASY:

Odalisque by Fiona McIntosh

"Captured by slave traders in the inhospitable desert, Lazar fought his way to freedom, earning the coveted position of Spur of Percheron. Charged with protecting his adopted city from enemies on both sides of its walls, he has led a charmed life as confidant to and protector of Zar Joreb for many years. But now Joreb is dead. Though Joreb's well-intentioned fifteen-year-old heir, Boaz, will take the title of Zar, the balance of power lies in the hands of his beautiful and cruelly ambitious mother, a former harem slave who rose to power by the Zar's favor. Aside from Lazar, whom Boaz trusts and respects, the young Zar's only friend is Pez, the court jester, a misshapen dwarf whose tricks and diversions are accepted only because he is know to be mad. When a stunning young girl is brought to the palace to fill a space in Boaz's harem, both Boaz and Lazar are surprised by their unexpectedly strong reactions to her. But Ana, the odalisque, finds the closeted world of the harem stifling and unbearable. And unbeknownst to all, the gods themselves are beginning to rise in a cyclical battle that is just the beginning, and will enmesh everyone in the palace in a struggle for the very soul of Percheron."--BOOK JACKET.

New Selections Feature - Tempting Titles

Tempting Titles: Fresh Fiction
Tempting Titles: New Nonfiction

On a regular basis now the library's book selectors will choose a few interesting new books from their recent book orders and post reviews here. You can click on the book title or image and read more about the book in the library online catalog. If you have a library card and know your PIN, you can place a hold if the book is labeled "coming soon" or is already in the Glendale or Pasadena collections.

Look for Tempting Titles. It starts today.

This Week in Reading April 8-14

We just had Passover last week and this week not only Easter is celebrated in both Christian and Orthodox societies but so is the birthday of Buddha. There are more events to read about this week than authors. Don't risk fate; stay home and read on Friday the Thirteenth.


This week's question: What, indeed, is the War of Jenkins' ear? Who fought it?

Answer to last week's question: For Poetry Month I asked for help:

If I began a poem this way,
You would finish it how?
Hoist way up on my own petard,
No one wrote to cause a wow.

But if I asked for more from you,
And tried again to give the cue,
Would you write a verse or two,
And keep it tasteful, fresh and new?

Or would you rather verse it free?

This Week in Reading April 1 - 7

April is national Poetry Month. Read a poem, or two, or three this month and keep reading poems as long as you can. If not, there are plenty of other types of reading to select from authors born this week, more so than from any other week yet.


This Week's Question: If I began a poem this way / You would finish it how? (keep under 10-12 lines to see it posted here.)

Answer to Last Week's Question: Maxim Gorky was the "most bitter" Russian founder of the socialist realism literary movement. His real name was Aleksei Maksimovich Peskhov.

The Modern Girl's Guide to Life by Jane Buckingham

Hey girls! If you're looking for a fun read with practical advice about being a "Modern Girl", take a look at this book. Inside you'll find information relating to decorating, cleaning, diet and health, finances, car maintenance, sewing, recipes and so much more. You're almost guaranteed to learn something new from this enjoyable, easy-to-follow primer and will wish you had checked it out earlier!

The author is the host of the TV series Modern Girl's Guide to Life on the Style Network and a contributor to Cosmopolitan, the New York Times Syndicate and Good Morning America.

This Week in Reading March 25 - 31

This week's authors are strong on realistic drama, poetic realism, and very realistic global and philosophical insight.

This week's question: Whose name this week means "most bitter"?

Answer to last week's question: Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

Classics of the genre, pt. 3

While there were earlier authors who mined the ground of what we now call "fantasy", easily the most influential and most innovative was J.R.R. Tolkien. Previous writers indulging in the wildest flights of imagination, such as Lewis Carroll, A. A. Milne, or L. Frank Baum, wrote books that either were designed for or primarily appealed to children, as was the case with Tolkien's first major work The Hobbit.

Tolkien, however, had been assiduously working on creating an entire mythology for England's past decades before penning The Hobbit, and indeed, he continued working this hidden vein for his entire life. The Hobbit, though, was such a runaway best seller that his publisher demanded some sort of sequel, and Tolkien responded (eventually) by producing what many have called the "Book of the Century".

I am speaking, of course, of Tolkien's masterpiece Lord of the Rings. I realize everyone reading this has already heard of LOTR, either because of the books themselves (originally published in three parts, although Tolkien did not design LOTR as such) or the wildly successful and lucrative movie trilogy, so I won't go into detail on it. Suffice it to say that the completeness of the vision presented by Tolkien in his imagined world as seen in LOTR created a new standard for fantasy. Never again would mere plotting or characterization be enough to sate the audience for this genre; writers would now be expected to create whole and consistent settings as well.

Tolkien's exhaustively rich (he created at least 3 whole languages with their own syntaxes, grammars, and vocabularies!) unpublished history of Middle-Earth lay behind LOTR (and through a revision, The Hobbit as well), even though we only get the slightest glimpses of it in those works.

Tolkien's obsessive perfectionism in thinking (and rethinking, in an endlessly deepening pool of his own imaginary world's history and lore) and writing about the earlier history of his Middle-Earth made it impossible to publish any other completed works to complement The Hobbit and LOTR.

One of his sons took on the task of sifting through Tolkien's voluminous notes in order to present some sort of coherent narrative to an audience ravenous for more. Christopher Tolkien's first stab at editing his father's legacy, The Silmarillion, received rapturously by Tolkien's fans, proved so tantalizing that he began to release ever more fragmentary pieces of his father's work, culminating in his massive 12-volume History of Middle-Earth--most of which can be found here. Christopher Tolkien realized that his father had left too many unconnected dots for the entire mythology to be written down as a single story. So, despite the success of The Silmarillion with fans, its omissions and lack of fidelity to the source materials frustrated its editor. Instead, Tolkien presented us with the most detailed analysis possible of his father's life work as a work of literary criticism.

While the majority of J.R.R. Tolkien's audience will never want to tackle the History of Middle-Earth, (or worse, will get bored by its repetitions and alternate narratives), it stands as a fascinating and rigorous document recording one man's obsession. That such an analysis was warranted is testament to Tolkien's peculiar genius; that each volume sold well enough for the work to be published in its entirety decades after Tolkien's death is evidence of his lasting appeal.

Next up: Michael Moorcock works just one aspect of Tolkien's legacy.

LA Artland

LA Artland is a survey of the vibrant and influential art scene in Los Angeles, now a rival of art capital New York City. This publication is an extensive visual documentation of 100 Los Angeles based contemporary artists working in various media. Visit the Brand Library Art Galleries to see Southern California-based artists in the current exhibition Signs + Symbols on view through April 20th.

Overbooked

Attention all book lovers! Overbooked.org is a great website for matching your reading interests to titles and genres. Get lots of tips and suggestions to help you navigate the sea of books out there. It's an ambitious project by a collection management librarian from Virginia.

http://www.overbooked.org/

Lamenting the Library

The March 15th, 2007 issue of the Wall Street Journal discusses the relationship (or lack thereof) between today's young people and libraries. Are libraries still relevant? What is the future of libraries? Can everything be found on the Internet? What is your opinion?

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB117391084682537392-qNtwMyrV5hF6_OvdZJdpIjRiplo_20080313.html

Looking for a Good Book?

The Glendale Public Library is happy to provide our community of readers with a new and exciting service—a customized reading list, tailored to your personal reading tastes and interests called "Looking for a Good Book?".

Here's how it works:
Come into the Glendale Central Library or any of the Glendale branches to pick up a blank form. Fill in as much of this reader profile as you wish. The more information you provide, the more likely it is that we can suggest books you will like. Leave areas blank when you have no preference. Librarians at the Glendale Public Library will use your answers to create a customized reading list for you. Please return the completed form to any Glendale Public Library reference desk. We will get back to you within two weeks with your list.

Sounds great, doesn't it?

This Week in Reading March 18 - 24

Art, theatre, music, poetry, politics, psychology, mythology, even cookery of all things, done famously. From intense drama to biting characterization and comedic sagas there are thrills of many kinds among the writers born this week.

This week's question: Which of them wrote this? "Constantly risking absurdity and death whenever he performs above the heads of his audience the poet like an acrobat climbs on rime to a high wire of his own making."

Answer to last week’s question: As it turns out, the American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom gave its James Madison Award to the founder of the National Freedom of Information Act Hall of Fame, Paul K. McMasters.

Author Events - Civil War historian Ed Bearss

Smithsonian Magazine celebrated its 35th year in 2005 with an issue that profiled "35 Who Made A Difference." The Authors, Artists & Friends lecture series will feature a second member of those thirty-five illustrious difference makers. One of those people, John Dobson, the father of sidewalk astronomy and the designer of a portable mount that supports his large, inexpensive telescopes, and perhaps astronomy's greatest cheerleader, spoke at the Library in January. Our next lecture will feature historian Ed Bearss (pronounced bars) on Monday, April 16, to help kick off National Library Week.

After serving in the Marines and earning degrees at Georgetown and Indiana universities, Bearss joined the National Park Service (where he is now chief historian emeritus) and devoted himself to the study of the American past, particularly the struggle between the blue and the gray. When he compares contemporary America to the 1860s, his allegiance is clear, as he stated in Smithsonian Magazine (November 2005), "We're in an age of Teflon people now. People then were more original, more individual."

Yet when he has to, Bearss can stand squarely in the present, as he has proved rather often of late, enmeshed in one 21st-century battle after another—over the suburban development that has threatened to engulf Civil War battlefields.

At Gettysburg, for instance, an "idyllic vista is broken by a water tower that went up a few years ago, part of a new industrial park. Just to the right of it, investors want to build a casino with 3,000 slot machines. He remembers visiting Manassas in 1941, when it was a sleepy rural area; now, when he leads bus tours there, they often end up stalled in shopping center traffic. At Petersburg in the early 1960s, he saw where an 1864 fort was bulldozed to make way for a mall; now the mall itself is nearly derelict. 'The development is advancing more irresistibly than Grant's army did on Richmond," Bearss grumbles.'" (Smithsonian Magazine, November 2005)

For more information about authors at the Library see our website,
http://www.ci.glendale.ca.us/library/authors_artists_friends.asp

Night Swimming by Robin Schwartz

Overweight Charlotte Clapp is told she only has one more year to live. Stunned by the tragic news, she robs $2 million from the bank where she works and escapes from New Hampshire to Los Angeles. While in hiding, Charlotte manages to buy a posh apartment in the Hills, unexpectedly lose weight and make a few good friends.

This first novel by Robin Schwartz is a fun and worthwhile read. It's not perfect, and you may not believe every scenario that's described in the story, but you will have an enjoyable time reading it.

Jean Baudrillard 1929 - 2007

Jean Baudrillard, called "the guru of postmodern thought", (LA Times 3/11/2007), passed away this weekend. He postulated that "history has become its own dustbin" because people are unable to discern electronically reproduced "simulacra" from reality. McLuhan's global village did not come to be; the copy, reconstructed, becomes the reality. For more accessible thoughts read The Matrix and Philosophy, welcome to the desert of the real.

Book review: The End of Iraq

Anyone interested in learning about what's going on in Iraq should read The End of Iraq. Peter Galbraith is one of the few people who has been involved in that hapless country from before the current Administration took over and has continued his involvement there.

Galbraith, therefore, has a fairly unique insider's viewpoint, and his insights, gleaned from his years of service, are quite starkly presented in this book.

Galbraith minces no words, whether regarding Saddam Hussein's intransigence and genocidal tendencies, or our government's short-sightedness and failures. Galbraith outlines, in a concise and quite readable manner, how Iraq's 3 ethnic and religious groups are ill-equipped to sustain a stable government, let alone behave as the first "democratic domino" for the region.

Galbraith's frank appraisal of Iraq's current instability is buttressed by his knowledge of the country's history, but more grippingly by his conversations and interviews of the Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis he has interacted with over the years. His conclusions are so commonsensical as to beg the question: why would anyone think anything different could have happened once the US stepped in? (Galbraith answers that with conviction as well.)

This Week in Reading March 11 - 17

If you're suddenly running out of energy but have more light in the evening to read by this week it's because Daylight Savings Time has kicked in. Nothing to do but curl up with your pet and read any of the authors, events, or ideas presented in our list. Click on, read on.

Answer to last week's question: Mickey Spillane, of course.

This week's question is unusual but, we hope, interesting: Who is going to win this year's American Library Association James Madison award for Freedom of Information? We have guesses. Do you?

Shell Scott Author Dies

Richard S. Prather, writer of the Shell Scott mysteries series, has passed away. His mysteries were escapist 1950s pulp centered in Southern California with titles like Take a Murder, Darling, The Trojan Hearse, and Over Her Dead Body. The last began with "We were dancing, my client and I. But it was much more than just a dance. It was like doing the fox trot and getting your pants pressed at the same time."

Few libraries have his books anymore but you can always request that we look for a copy from other libraries using InterLibrary Loan. Information on his life and career: Biography Resource Center.

This Week in Reading March 4 - 10

This week's authors include everything from a Nobel prizewinner to a pulp mystery writer but the biggest theme is biography.

Answer to last week's questions: John Steinbeck. The Grapes of Wrath was the first book chosen for California in 2004 for the Library of Congress One Book program. He married his first wife, Carol, at the Glendale Courthouse as they lived in Eagle Rock. In 1932-1933 they rented a home in Montrose briefly as he lectured at Occidental.

This Week's Question: Who said, "Those big shot writers could never dig the fact that there are more salted peanuts consumed than caviar"?

Haven't Read It? Fake It!

Recommending a book about not reading books has a rather ironic twist to it. But this article from the New York Times offers just that--ways to skim books and still manage to sound erudite and informed. It's a bit tongue in cheek and cheeky!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/24/books/24read.html?ex=1172984400&en=0802e0816931625c&ei=5070&emc=eta1

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. 1917-2007

Twice Pulitzer prizewinning American historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr, best known for his books about the presidency, died yesterday. His obituary can be read in the Los Angeles Times and will remain accessible through Glendale Public Library's Online Resources which you can access remotely with your library card number. Biographies about him can be read also through Biography Resource Center on the same page, under "General Resources."