This Week in Reading April 19 - 25

This Week in Reading

The Pulitzer Prizes were announced Monday, April 20 with many awards for journalism and one for music. Here are the literary awards this year:

Fiction - Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

Drama - Ruined (to be published) by Lynn Nottage

History - The Hemingses of Monticello: an American family by Annette Gordon-Reed

Biography - American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham

Poetry - The Shadow of Sirius by W.S. Merwin

General Nonfiction - Slavery by Another Name: the re-enslavement of black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A. Blackmon

Obituaries

Science Fiction novelist, story writer J. G. Ballard (1930 – 2009), was a strong influence on cyberpunk and music with particularly dystopian themes.

Authors Born This Week

Nobel Prize in Literature
Playwright Jose Echegaray (1904), Poet Carl Spitteler (1919), Novelist Halidor Laxness (1955)

Novelists and story writers Henry Fielding, Madame de Stael, Charlotte Bronte, Anthony Trollope, Ellen Glasgow, Vladimir Nabokov, Richard Hughes, Robert Penn Warren, Jan de Hartog, Ross Lockridge, Maurice Druon, J. P. Donleavey, Steve Erickson, Sebastian Faulks

Poets and Playwrights
Poets: Ted Kooser, Louise Gluck, James Fenton Playwrights William Shakespeare, Elaine May, Jason Miller, Eric Bogosian

Thinkers, Believers, Scientists, Historians, Biographers
Thinkers: Immanuel Kant, Max Weber Believers: Shirley MacLaine, James Dobson Scientists: John Muir, Otto Rank, J. Robert Oppenheimer Biographers::Patricia Bosworth

Humorists, Essayists, Editors, Journalists, Officials, and Others
Humorists: Artemus Ward Essayists: Helen Prejean, Phillip Longman, Dinesh D’Souza Editors Fiona Kelleghan Journalists: Edward R. Murrow, Andrew Tobias Others: Aaron Spellling, John Waters, Michael Moore

Mystery / Crime / Suspense Writers
Mystery Ngaio Marsh, John Mortimer, Sue Grafton

Fantasy / Science Fiction Writers
Fantasy: Peter S. Beagle, Avram Davidson Science Fiction: Steven Silver

Young People’s Writers
Children’s: Dinah Maria Mulock Craik


Events to Read About

It’s all about preservation this week. The Library of Congress exists to preserve the written word, and the Mosaic browser helped us preserve words and graphics on the Internet. We also need to preserve our memories of what did happen to a past generation in Armenia and we need to preserve the earth for future generations.

This Week’s Questions

There are old and new Globe Theatres, and there are many Shakespeare companies, of course, and Shakespeare Festivals, but can you name one theater named after William Shakespeare?

Who else born this week, has had a theatre named after them?

Answers to Last Week’s Questions

Anatole France was born in France and lived there all his life. There is no record in the biographies of these authors (in Biography Resource Center) of Samuel Beckett changing his Irish citizenship for French though he lived in France for the rest of his life after moving there for World War Two. J. M. G. le Clezio was born in France to parents who were still citizens of Mauritius and thus had two citizenships, French and Mauritian, though he called himself a Frenchman.

Beckett was born in the Republic of Ireland, and Seamus Heaney was born in the country of Northern Ireland, the two countries that now co-exist more or less peacefully on the Emerald Isle we call Ireland.

Beckett taught in French at the University of Dublin before moving to France for the remainder of his life; le Clezio has taught in the French language in several countries, including recent posts in the United States.

Heaney has not published novels (and we apologize profusely for having said so incorrectly on our this week list). Le Clezio does not yet write plays, nor poetry, but he has written books for children which may have elements of both. Beckett and France wrote all three. All four Nobel prizewinners wrote essays and nonfiction books as well.

The Index Liborum Prohibitorum (Index of Prohibited Books), was a list of books condemned by the Catholic Church. It existed in various forms from the sixteenth century until it was abolished by Pope Paul Vi in 1966. Its last edition was published in 1948 and included at least two works by Anatole France after he had won the Nobel Prize.

Recent Tempting Titles - 900s

Click on any image or title link to place a hold via the online catalog. You can also now see a full list of the books librarians have ordered in the last two months by clicking on the Coming Soon button on the left of any library web page or as a tab on the catalog page. (Not all are in the online catalog yet, as these few selections are, but they're on the way.)

The nonfiction books of Tempting Titles are arranged by Dewey Decimal order, just the way they would be arranged on the New Book Shelves. Here are today's offerings:

900s - Geography, Travel, History

A History of Histories: epics, chronicles, romances, and inquiries from Herodotus and Thucydides to the twentieth century by John Burrow

"This unprecedented book by one of Britain’s most admired historians describes the intellectual impact that the study and consideration of history has had in the Western world over the past 2,500 years. Treating the practice of history not as an isolated pursuit but as an aspect of human society and an essential part of the culture of Europe and America, John Burrow magnificently brings to life and explains the distinctive qualities found in the work of historians from the ancient Egyptians and Greeks to the present." (Publisher's description)

The Complete Travel Detective Bible: the consummate insider tells you what you need to know in an increasingly complex world! by Peter Greenberg

"This ultimate "physician’s desk reference" for travelers addresses the questions, anxieties, concerns, and desire for essential information that are common to seasoned and novice travelers alike." (Publisher's description)

Do Travel Writers Go to Hell? : a swashbuckling tale of high adventures, questionable ethics, and professional hedonism by Thomas B. Kohnstamm

"The colorful adventures of a budding travel writer in Brazil. After pursuing an advanced degree in Latin American studies, Kohnstamm reluctantly took a position as a researcher at a large Wall Street firm. The restless author quickly tired of the corporate drudgery and, after some hesitation, accepted an assignment to update Lonely Planet's guidebook on Brazil. - Readers will relish the countless stories of the author's misadventures, but Kohnstamm brings more than just anecdotes: He offers a solid understanding of the mechanics of the travel-writing industry and a unique ability to illuminate that world to readers. Notable for its spirited prose and insightful exploration of the less-romantic side of travel writing." (Kirkus Reviews)

Honorable Bandit: a walk across Corsica by Brian Bouldrey

"Bouldrey teaches creative writing at Northwestern University, and his own writing here certainly qualifies as creative. There are real gems as he describes his family life, his fellow travelers down Corsica’s GR20, and his blue passport 'outing' him as an American. His style is chatty, humorous, and self-deprecating, which makes for an enjoyable read." (Library Journal)

In Arabian Nights: a caravan of Moroccan dreams by Tahir Shah [No image available]

"Shah delves into Moroccan society and culture; his experiences will make readers want to trace his footsteps abroad. Although comparisons to Frances Mayes's Under the Tuscan Sun and Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence are obvious, this account is unforgettable because of its author's innate storytelling abilities." (Library Journal)

The Year of the Goat: 40,000 miles and the quest for the perfect cheese by Margaret Hathaway

"Back-to-the-land fantasies aren't new, but Hathaway gives theirs a modern twist by emphasizing 'terroir,' the idea that 'food is rooted in the land,' and of connecting 'the palate to the place.' Local-eating, slow-food activists will find much to chew on here." (Publisher Weekly)

Genealogy Online by Elizabeth Powell Crowe

"With years of experience online, Elizabeth Powell Crowe has become an authority on online genealogical research. She explains how to trace your family tree in an easy-to-understand way that anyone can follow." (AOL Genealogy Forum)

The Plot Against Pepys by James Long and Ben Long [No image available]

"Samuel Pepys is most famous for the diary he kept between 1660 and 1669, as well as his eyewitness accounts of the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London. As Secretary of the Admiralty, he played an important role in the development of the British navy. Yet in 1679, Pepys was imprisoned in the Tower of London on suspicion of treason, charged with being a secret Catholic and supporter of the Catholic Duke of York. [Authors] investigate the mystery behind this arrest." (Library Journal)

Metro Stop Paris: an underground history of the City of Light by Gregor Dallas

"Seasoned historian Dallas ... serves up exquisite slices of Parisian lore. Twelve Métro stops in the city of lights come blazing to life in this unusual tome. 'There are many histories of Paris,' the author writes, 'but they won't fit in a pocket or a traveling sack.' Instead he gives us 'little vignettes drawn from Paris's rich two-thousand year history.'" (Kirkus Reviews)

That Summer in Sicily by Marlena De Blasi

"In 1995, De Blasi and her Italian husband sought a place to stay in the Sicilian mountains and were directed to the Villa Donnafugata, a grand hunting lodge populated by widows, farmers and an imperious mistress: Tosca Brozzi. This book reads like a suspense novel complete with a surprise ending, and though Tosca's story is compelling, it's in De Blasi's telling of it that the true magic lies." (Publisher Weekly)

The Last Day: wrath, ruin, and reason in the great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 by Nicholas Shrady [No image available]

"Shrady takes a brief, brilliantly encapsulated look at the physical and spiritual damage wrought by a famous catastrophe. ... Shrady takes stock of a disaster second only to the destruction of Pompeii and pursues the city's gradual regeneration thanks to the tireless work of Portugal's secretary of state, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo. [who] attempted to silence the sermons of woe by the powerful Jesuit Gabriel Malagrida, among others, and encouraged scientifically minded thinkers to look into the earthquake's natural causes. Faced with the task of rebuilding, Carvalho embraced the Enlightenment's new spirit of urban planning, endorsing plans that reflected 'the kind of social and economic change that was necessary ...'"

The Imperial Capitals of China: a dynastic history of the Celestial Empire by Arthur Cotterell

"From British scholar Cotterell, a thoroughgoing history of China's ruling dynasties and their extraordinary achievements in architecture. Cotterell's work takes the traveler deep into the fascinating recesses of each dynasty." (Kirkus Reviews)

Basrayatha: the story of a city by Mohammed Khudayyir

"Basrayatha is a literary tribute by author Mohammed Khudayyir to the city of his birth, Basra, on the Shatt al-Arab waterway in southern Iraq. Just as a city’s inhabitants differ from outsiders through their knowledge of its streets as well as its stories, so Khudayyir distinguishes between the real city of Basra and Basrayatha, the imagined city he has created through stories, experiences, folklore, and insights." (International Publishers Market)

A Voyage Long and Strange: rediscovering the New World by Tony Horwitz

"What do Americans really know about the discovery of their continent? Visiting the sadly puny Plymouth Rock prompted this energetic, likable author to delve into the historic record and sniff out the real story behind America's creation myth, from one section of the country to the other." (Kirkus Reviews)

The Hudson: America’s river by Frances F. Dunwell

"Fifteen chapters trace the river's history, beginning with Henry Hudson's exploration and the Dutch who settled along its banks in the 17th century and moving on to the colonial wars between the English and the French and their Native American allies, the American Revolution, the Industrial age following the Civil War, and the 20th century, when the river was best known for its pollution. Dunwell also reveals how the river has inspired artists (the Hudson River school), writers (Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper), conservationists who worked to preserve the scenic vistas and historical sites, and environmentalists who worked to clean up the river." (Library Journal)