Beyond the Best Sellers

stardustThese books did not make the Best Seller list but they are still good reads!

The Promise of Stardust by Priscille Sibley
This is Priscille Sibley’s first novel. The novel opens on the aftermath of a tragic accident that leaves astronaut, Elle Beaulieu brain dead and the families at odds about life support once they learn that she is pregnant. The story is told from Matt’s point of view. Sibley does a good job of weaving their back story with the present scenes of medial and courtroom drama. A good read alike of fans of Jodi Picoult.

The Bughouse Affair by Marcia Muller
On a lighter note Marcia Muller has written a new series. Two former Pinkerton detective form forces and set up their own detective agency in San Francisco. This first novel in the series has the detectives trying to solve several burglaries with the help of “Sherlock Holmes”. Takes place in late 1880′s

The Good Dream </a>by Donna VanLiere
The setting is 1950 in a small Tennessee town, and Ivorie Walker finds herself lonely after the death of her elderly mother. When she discovers a boy stealing from her garden, she reaches out to uncover where he comes from and seeks to help him, only to face fierce resistance from the town who wants to keep certain secrets. This is a character driven novel with strong women, mystery and inspiration.

Love Anthony by Lisa Genova
While dealing with her husband’s infidelity, Beth tries to recapture the independent, creative spirit she used to be through writing. What emerges is a startling new voice, one that will help her heal. Newly separated Olivia Donatelli is struggling to understand the unraveling of her marriage, and to make sense of her eight-year-old autistic son Anthony’s short life and accidental death. A chance encounter between these two women develops into an unexpected and meaningful friendship, giving one writer the opportunity to find her voice and a grieving mother a chance to finally understand her son. The characters are flat and the stories of the broken marriages really aren’t developed and didn’t need to be there. I only included this book because I thought the author’s portrayal of autism and its misunderstandings and effect on the family were well done.

In Sunlight and in Shadow by Mark Helprin
Leisurely paced and intrically plotted this novel is about Harry, a Jewish special-ops WWII paratrooper (we learn all the throttling details in sustained flashbacks) who has just returned home from the front to find his family’s top-of-the-line leather goods company failing and his father dying. Harry is determined to rescue. When he spies a beautiful woman on the Staten Island Ferry he seeks to learn her identity and to marry her. Catherine turns out to be a level-headed, musical, blue-blooded heiress. With the backdrop of 1940s mobster rule and Harry’s business woes their love grows against all odds.

Yoga: It does a Body Good

yogaWhenever I think of yoga, I always picture the movie “Star Wars” and the little green guy in those movies named Yoda. I’m not really sure why but it sticks with me. Yoda is, of course, the master of finding inner peace and is amazingly agile and flexible for a nine-hundred-year-old being. So when I found out one of my friends was opening a yoga studio in the Cincinnati area, I had to try it. I mean, I always wanted to be as cool as Yoda.
As many of you may or may not know, I took on the endeavor of a couple of 5k runs with my friend last year. So this year, I have decided to take on Yoda, I mean yoga. (I don’t think I could take Yoda.) Having a friend that I trust sure helped in taking the first step to a nice Vinyasa Flow (that’s a yoga term or so I’m told). Many of you might think that running a 5k would be much tougher than yoga, but I am here to tell you that is not true. I used to be an athlete, so I know a good workout when I am forced to do one, and yoga is the best workout. I had my first class on a Thursday at the Fort Thomas Yoga Den and was still sore into the next week. But it was a good sore, an accomplished sore. A sore you go back for the next week, which is what I did and am still doing.
But taking a class is not the only way to get into yoga. There are several instructional videos out there that are super helpful in getting you started. You can certainly check them out at the library and save yourself some bucks. Here are a few of my favorites:
The Trainer’s Edge. Long and Lean Yoga:  This one is good because it helps with flexibility and toning.
Kathryn Budig. Aim True Yoga: The yoga flow that is incorporated here is most similar to the class I’m taking. I haven’t gotten into the poses yet.
Yoga for Inflexible People:  It has 35 workouts that range from 15 minutes to over an hour. If you have only 15 minutes for a workout, you can do that with this video.
There are many more videos that may be more suited to your skill level or to what you want out of a yoga workout, like flexibility, inner peace or core strength. I say the library is a good place to test out these things.
If a video or a class is not your style, the library also has books on yoga. These will also help you get into the yoga lifestyle. Yoga books are an excellent way to see the poses step-by-step through each progression; they are good for setting your own pace and teaching yourself. They will also let you know what the poses will help you accomplish in your workout.
Everybody has different goals that they want to accomplish in their yoga workout. My goal was to become more flexible and increase my lung capacity for running. But what I found was a lot more. You should TRY it and see what you can get out of yoga for yourself. But if you do start, make sure you are mentally and physically ready. You may want to consult a physician and/or start with a trained professional to reduce risk. WebMD has some helpful insights into the health benefits and risks of practicing yoga.

Books with Buzz

Check out these recent releases that are generating buzz in the book world.

Jacket.aspxAlone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story in the History of Exploration by David Roberts: Describes the epic journey undertaken by Douglas Mawson, who suffered starvation, the loss of his team, and a crippling foot injury as he resorted to crawling back to base camp during the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1913.

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg: Sheryl Sandberg — Facebook COO and one of “Fortune” magazine’s most powerful women in business — looks at what women can do to help themselves, and make the small changes in their life that can effect change on a more universal scale. She draws on her own experiences working in some of the world’s most successful businesses, as well as academic research, to find practical answers to the problems facing women in the workplace.

A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan: Follows the tale of a bookish young woman whose passion for learning leads to revolutionary new understandings about dragons and defies the stifling conventions of her world.

Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss: Traces the rise of the processed food industry and how addictive salt, sugar, and fat have enabled its dominance in the past half century, revealing deliberate corporate practices behind current trends in obesity, diabetes, and other health challenges.

The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore: Odette, Clarice, and Barbara Jean meet regularly at the first diner owned by black proprietors in their Indiana city and are watched throughout the years by a big-hearted man who observes their struggles with school, marriage, and parenthood.

The Vatican Diaries: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Power, Personalities, and Politics at the Heart of the Catholic Church by John Thavis: Presents a behind-the-scenes perspective on the Vatican’s inner workings that challenges popular perceptions, revealing the personal conflicts, authority-undermining scandals, and modern considerations that are challenging the Vatican’s daily business. 

Wool by Hugh Howey: In a ruined and toxic landscape, a community exists in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep. There, men and women live in a society full of regulations they believe are meant to protect them. Sheriff Holston, who has unwaveringly upheld the silo’s rules for years, unexpectedly breaks the greatest taboo of all: He asks to go outside.

 

Mad Men Reading List

Jacket.aspxI’m sure many of us have been eagerly awaiting the return of Mad Men on Sunday, April 7.  Somewhat of a rarity on television, Mad Men characters are frequently shown reading.  Why not flesh out your 6th season experience by giving some of those books a try?  Check out the incredibly comprehensive Mad Men book list curated by New York Public Library, or a shorter, greatest hits-style list from Flavorwire.  If you run into trouble finding some of the older books in CCPL’s catalog, most likely you can locate them using the MORE system, which allows you to borrow materials from other libraries in Ohio.  Strike out there?  Check with the reference staff at your local branch; often we can obtain materials through Interlibrary Loan, even from other states!

More interested in the show itself than in the books featured on it?  Then check out some of these Mad Men-inspired items from our collection:

Analyzing Mad Men: Critical Essays on the Television Series edited by Scott F. Stoddart:  The 12 critical essays in this collection offer a broad, interdisciplinary approach to this highly relevant television show, examining Mad Men as a cultural barometer for contemporary concerns with consumerism, capitalism and sexism.  A detailed cast list and episode guide are included

The Fashion File: Advice, Tips, and Inspiration from the Costume Designer of Mad Menby Janie Bryant with Monica Corcoran Harel: Offers readers a peek into the dressing room of the hit television show “Mad Men,” revealing the design process behind the characters’ looks and showing every woman how to find her own leading lady style.

Mad Men and Philosophy: Nothing is as it Seems edited by Rod Carveth and James B. South: This collection of essays takes an unprecedented look at the philosophical issues and themes behind AMC’s Emmy Award-winning show, Mad Men, exploring issues ranging from identity to authenticity to feminism, and more.

Mad Women: The Other Side of Life on Madison Avenue in the ’60s and Beyond by Jane Maas:  Mad Women is a tell-all account of life in the New York advertising world of the 1960s and 70s from Jane Maas, a female copywriter who succeeded in the primarily male environment portrayed by the hit TV show Mad Men.

The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook: Inside the Kitchens, Bars, and Restaurants of Mad Men by Judy Gelman and Peter Zheutlin:  Dine like Draper and drink like Sterling with more than 70 recipes from the kitchens, bars, and restaurants seen on Mad Men.

Never watched Man Men?  Wondering what all the fuss is about?  Feeling the need to catch up on previous seasons?  We’ve got you covered!  Borrow the first five seasons from the library, available on DVD.

Ready Player One

ready Ever read a book that was so good that you immediately want to recommend it to all your friends?  For me, that book was “Ready Player One” by Ernest Cline.

The story features Wade, a high school senior in the year 2044, who like most of the people in the world has retreated to a life spent mostly online in the world of the “Oasis” Oasis is a virtual game where your Avatar can seem almost human to you and everyone else in the virtual world.

When the multimillionaire that designed the “Oasis” dies, he leaves his entire fortune to the first individual who solves the puzzle of the game. Wade and thousands of others start the quest, to find the “Easter Egg” hidden somewhere in the many worlds of the game.  Wade becomes a front-runner in the game and soon learns that not only his game Avatar is in danger of “game over” but that people are searching for and wanting to kill his real self.

Fast paced and exciting, Ready Player One is so much fun.  Even if you are not normally a science fiction reader, I think you might enjoy this book.

 

Latest Urban Fantasy by Patricia Briggs

frost While there is certainly more urban fantasy on the shelves now than a few years ago, it isn’t always better (I’m looking at you Laurell K. Hamilton) and some authors are ending their long standing series like Charlaine Harris’s Sookie books and Kelley Armstrong’s Otherworld. So if you’re looking for something new, try Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson books. Mercy is a coyote shifter who was raised with werewolves; she lives in a world similar to ours but for her humans coexist with fairies, vampires, and shapeshifters.

In Frost Burned, the latest in the series, Mercy’s mate and his pack have been abducted. Knowing she’s outmatched, Mercy is forced to seek help from whomever she can.

Stephenie Meyer’s Alien Love Story

host After her wildly popular Twilight series had teen fans crowding bookstores and theaters, Stephenie Meyer tried her hand at writing for adults with The Host, first published in 2008. Now The Host, a sci-fi thriller featuring a love triangle with only two humans involved (it’s complicated) comes to theaters on March 29 in a film adaptation written and directed by Andrew Niccol (The Truman Show). This story is vampire-free but it does have aliens–”souls” who have taken over Earth and captured humans to serve as host bodies for their occupation. Check out all the action–romantic and otherwise–in Meyer’s novel before the movie opens on the big screen later this m

Warm Up With a Good Cozy!

cupcakeA cozy mystery is just the thing when I’m looking for a fun, light read.  Cozy mysteries usually omit graphic violence and generally take place in a small community with likable characters.  Many of the cozy mysteries I enjoy are ones in a series of mysteries.  After reading a couple you feel like you know the recurring characters and they feel like old friends.

Elaine Viets has a couple of enjoyable series.  “Dead-End Job Mysteries” and “Josie Marcus Mystery Shopper”.  The author always combines a sense of humor and engaging characters into her mystery stories.

Think food and murder make a good combination?  Diane Mott Davidson, Joanne Fluke, Isis Crawford, and Sammi Carter are authors who include recipes in their stories

Do you have a soft spot in your heart for animals?  Give “The Cat Who Series” by Lillian Jackson Braun a try.  This is a series featuring KoKo, a delightful Siamese Cat. The human characters in this series are as endearing as the cat.  Miranda James’ “Cat in the Stacks” mysteries feature Diesel, a fantastic Maine Coon cat and his librarian owner. “Midnight Louie Mysteries” by Carole Nelson Douglas, “Dixie Hemingway, Cat Sitter Mysteries,” by Blaize Clement, and “Death on Demand Series” by Carolyn Hart all feature cats.

There are cozy mysteries for just about any interest;  gardening, crossword puzzles, quilting, pet stores, diners,  historical themes, and travel themes, to name a few.  So, next time you are looking to curl up with a book, a Cozy Mystery might be just the read you want.

Books about Popes – Past and Present

popeWhile you are waiting for the selection of the new pope check out these fact and fiction books about the popes and the history of the Vatican:

Nonfiction

The Popes: Histories and Secrets by English Papi

Absolute Monarchs: A History of the Papacy by John Julius Norwich
A comprehensive history of the papacy describes the defining relevance of papal authority to the Church, chronicling the unexpectedly violent and colorful historical events that have indelibly shaped the Pope’s authority and station.

Papal Sin by Gary Wills
An exploration of the papacy challenges the culture of deceit that surrounds the Vatican in modern times, which prevents the church from facing its own history.

Pontiff by Gordon Thomas
This book focuses on the period from 1978 (the year which saw the death of Pope Paul VI, the election and death 33 days later of John Paul 1, and the election of John Paul II) through to the assassination attempt of 1981, in which John Paul II survived four bullet wounds.

Mistress of the Vatican: the true story of Olimpia Maidalchini: the secret female pope by Eleanor Herman
Traces the story of a seventeenth-century mistress who significantly influenced the Catholic church and international policy in Rome during the reign of her lover and brother-in-law, Pope Innocent X.

Lives of the Popes: the pontiffs from St. Peter to John Paul II

All the Pope’s Men by John Allen
A guide to the inner workings of the Vatican reveals the beliefs and bureaucracies behind its decision-making processes, offering insight into the career path of the Roman Curia and challenging myths about the institution’s agendas.

Fiction

Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross
Berated for being intelligent and scholarly, Joan dons her dead brother’s clothes, assumes a man’s identity, and gains respect and authority as well as the title of pope.

White Smoke by Andrew Greeley
As the cardinals of the Church gather in Rome for the election of a new pope, Bishop John Blackwood Ryan, reporter Dennis Mulloy, and CNN correspondent and Mulloy’s ex-wife Patricia investigate a Vatican banking scandal and an assassin out to destroy the next pope.

The Secret Cardinal by Tom Grace
Called in by the Vatican to examine the workings of the Vatican Library, former Navy SEAL Nolan Kilkenny soon discovers that Pope Leo has another mission in mind–to rescue a “secret” cardinal, a Chinese bishop imprisoned by the Chinese for some thirty years.

The Confessor by Daniel Silva
In the wake of a Munich writer’s assassination, Mossad agent Gabriel Allon and Vatican priest Pietro embark on dangerous journeys that reveal long-buried secrets affecting the fates of millions of people.

DVD

Shoes of the Fisherman
Based on the novel by Morris L. West. The Shoes of the Fisherman describes the election and career of a Slavic Pope, a Russian cardinal who is also the youngest in the conclave. This was 15 years before the election of the relatively young Pole Karol Wojtyla as Pope John Paul II.

(information from BookBrowse and Novelist)

Books with Buzz

Check out these recent releases that are generating buzz in the book world.

aviatorThe Aviator’s Wife by Melane Benjamin: Despite her own major achievements–she becomes the first licensed female glider pilot in the United States–Anne Morrow Lindbergh is viewed merely as Charles Lindbergh’s wife. The fairy-tale life she once longed for will bring heartbreak and hardships, ultimately pushing her to reconcile her need for love and her desire for independence, and to embrace, at last, life’s infinite possibilities for change and happiness.

Cover of Snow by Jenny Milchman: In the wake of her husband’s suicide in their otherwise peaceful Adirondack village, house restorer Nora Hamilton notices strange inconsistencies in her husband’s past and in the behaviors of his police force co-workers before stumbling on deadly local secrets.

The Dinner by Herman Koch: Meeting at an Amsterdam restaurant for dinner, two couples move from small talk to the wrenching shared challenge of their teenage sons’ act of violence that has triggered a police investigation and revealed the extent to which each family will go to protect those they love.

Ghostman by Roger Hobbs: A casino robbery gone wrong compels its orchestrator to call in a favor from a master criminal known only as “Jack,” who must test the limits of his considerable skills in order to protect his anonymity from a closely pursuing FBI.

The House Girl by Tara Conklin: A novel of love, family, and justice follows Lina Sparrow, an ambitious first-year associate in a Manhattan law firm, as she searches for the “perfect plaintiff” to lead a historic class-action lawsuit worth trillions of dollars in reparations for descendants of American slaves.

The Soundtrack of My Life by Clive Davis: The chief creative officer of Sony Music presents a candid assessment of his life and the past half-century of popular music from an insider’s perspective, tracing his work with a wide array of stars and personalities.

Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell: A collection of stories features a pair of centuries-old vampires whose relationship is tested by a sudden fear of flying, a dejected teen who communicates with the universe, and a massage therapist who heals a tattooed veteran by manipulating the images on his body.