Monday, August 18, 2008

Community of Readers Summer 2008

Community of Readers for Summer 2008 has ended. Thank you to all of the participants who made our second year a success. We hope to see you all again in Summer 2009!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Aimee and Jaguar: A Love Story, Berlin 1943 by Erica Fischer

What makes Aimee and Jaguar an interesting story is that it examines a different perspective during the Holocaust than people are generally familiar with. Aimee is a young housewife with four children married to a Nazi official who finds herself falling in love with a Jewish woman living underground in Berlin. Unfortunately, the author's frequent and somewhat long-winded history lessons diminish the strength of this bittersweet love story. Nevertheless, Aimee and Jaguar is worth checking out it you are interested in learning about a lesser known set of Holocaust experiences and don't mind tragic endings.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: DD857.W87 F713 1998
th Floor Holocaust Library (Library use only)
Review submitted by: Ashley Bloomfield, Program Assistant, Rodgers Center
Rating: Somewhat Recommended

Paris 1919 by Margaret MacMillan

Margaret MacMillan has done a fine job describing the people and events surrounding the peace conference following the first world war. Her book is mightily researched and masterfully presented. I would have done better to have known at least a little something about that period of history before I plunged in; this is not an introductory text.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: D644 .M32 2003x
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Nancy Stenerson Gonzales, Cataloger, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

Person of Interest by Theresa Schwegel

This is a book about Craig, a cop trying to solve a case, and about his wife Leslie, a woman trying to save her marriage and her family. Summarized like that one might expect a piece of fluff, but this crime novel is anything but. The author (she has an MFA from Chapman) paints a very disturbing picture of the tangled webs of big-city gang crime, police procedure, and the dangers of misunderstanding and misplaced desire. An exhausting and satisfying book.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Nancy Stenerson Gonzales, Cataloger, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Lucy by Jamaica Kincaid

Lucy is narrated from the point of view of a 19-year-old woman just having moved to the U.S. to go to school and work as a nanny after growing up on an island in the West Indies. Lucy's voice starkly and poetically captures her inner turmoil resulting from the pressure of social expectations put upon women as well as the obstacles she faces adapting to a different culture and lifestyle.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR9275.A583 L83 1991
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Annie Knight, CUC Librarian, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (review #2)

As a cynical parody of the traditional romance novel and clever critique of the American middle class, the novel works. Like Conrad before him, Nabokov's use of his adopted language is very impressive and is what really drives the unsavory story. It is a work that is obviously of its time (post-war middle-class disillusionment masked by hypocrisy) which goes far in explaining its popularity. For all that, I found it difficult to enjoy a novel where the narrator was so obviously self-delusional and in spite of his feigned insistence that he found his own actions repugnant he still obviously reveled in his destruction of the people around him. It reminded me too much of criminals I have had contact with in the past and the patter is always the same with them, regardless of their education (or lack there of). Read it because Nabokov was a clever wordsmith who enjoyed literary puns, but don't kid yourself that it is anything more than that.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3527.A15 L6 1989
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Randolph Boyd, Gift Acquisitions, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Somewhat Recommended

The Measure of a Mountain by Bruce Barcott

This insightful book describes "beauty and terror on Mount Rainier," the largest and most dangerous volcano in the United States. Barcott describes this iconic mountain and its environs in a personal, meaningful way, intertwining narration of his treks throughout the park with natural and cultural history and a bit of philosophy. He describes everything from glaciers to forests, from little marmots to the weird and interesting people who associate themselves with "The Mountain." Since Mount Rainier is the destination of my upcoming vacation, I was happy to come across this book that is part of the library's newly acquired gift of mountaineering books.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: F897.R2 B23 1998
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Andrew Tessandori, Cataloging Assistant, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

Flight by Sherman Alexie (review #2)

As a fan of the film Smoke Signals, I was looking forward to this new novel by Alexie. It's a quick read (two hours or so) about a boy nicknamed Zits and his time-travelling, body-shifting journey to find his place in the world. This is a great book for discussion groups because Alexie poses many thoughtful questions about identity and morality. It's not for people who want a linear storyline or need to know how - it's not important how he was able to undertake the journey; it's just important that he did.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3551.L35774 F57 2007
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Jessica Cioffi, Holocaust Education Coordinator, Rodgers Center
Rating: Recommended

Surfacing by Margaret Atwood

This amazing novel is for those who enjoy complex writing that is poetically charged and full of metaphors. Atwood places her characters in a remote and wild Canadian island where an artist has traveled in search of her missing father. The artist, who is never given a name, is accompanied by her lover and a troubled married couple. As she begins a descent into madness (or is it simply an awakening?), the tone becomes more poetic. The meaning of this novel is not handed to the reader, but the work required is worth it, because the language is so beautiful.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR9199.3.A8 S87 1996
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Stacy Russo, Instruction Librarian, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Nothing to Lose by Lee Child

Jack Reacher is a man with no ties and nothing to lose. However, when the town of Despair declares him a vagrant and escorts him out of town, he figures they are hiding something. Together with the beautiful female cop from the neighboring city of Hope, they set out to solve the mystery.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Cathy Elliott, Business & Financial Technician, Law Library
Rating: Highly Recommended

Stupid Black Men: How to Play the Race Card and Lose by Larry Elder

Well, Larry Elder really lays it on the table with this book. It is a well written book and entertaining to read. His positive message urges the American public to put aside racism and work together to make this country great. If you don't have time to read the book you can always catch him on the radio.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: James McCulloch, Carpenter, Facilities
Rating: Highly Recommended

50 Years of Silence by Jan Ruff-O'Herne

Ruff-O'Herne's account of her experiences in Japanese prison camps and subsequent sexual enslavement is a heart-wrenching read that gives a voice to the silent victims of forced prostitution during World War II. The memoir begins with an insight into Ruff-O'Herne's idyllic childhood in Dutch colonial Java (Indonesia). What follows is a tragic account of the brutality of war and a woman's journey toward healing and forgiveness.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: D810.C698 R84 1997
4th Floor Holocaust Library (Library use only)
Review submitted by: Ashley Bloomfield, Program Assistant, Rodgers Center
Rating: Recommended

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible by Adam Nicolson

This is an accessible account of the creation of the King James Bible. Nicholson excels in describing personalities, and his portrait of the confusing Jacobean age is entertaining. I was less impressed with his defense of the translation itself. This book should not be read as literary commentary, but as a guide to an earlier time.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: BS186 .N53 2004
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Nancy Stenerson Gonzales, Cataloger, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Intellectual Memoirs: New York 1936-1938 by Mary McCarthy

The title of McCarthy's autobiography of her early political, social, and writing life, Intellectual Memoirs, provides insight into the type of writing found here. This slim volume, which is her final work before her death in 1989, reads much like a report. As someone with a strong interest in women's studies and memoirs, I wanted to enjoy this more, but only found myself engaged near the end (I know many critics would disagree with me). This book is primarily recommended for its significance to women's history and literature.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3525.A1435 Z47 1992
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Stacy Russo, Instruction Librarian, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

The Cloud Atlas by Liam Callanan

Callanan writes a hauntingly beautiful tale, part fact and part fiction, of a young bomb disposal soldier sent to Alaska during World War II to locate Japanese bomb balloons. Callanan takes a piece of little-known history and weaves it into a story of faith, first love and the paths we follow to become who we are. If the story of hot-air balloon bombs doesn't catch your interest, read it for the dynamic characters and the breathtaking scenic descriptions of wild Alaska.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3603.A445 C35 2004
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Jessica Cioffi, Holocaust Education Coordinator, Rodgers Center
Rating: Highly Recommended

Shakespeare: The World as Stage by Bill Bryson

Reading this book was like being in a really good class with a professor who just loves what he's talking about. Bryson's delivery is straightforward and his commentary droll. This is not a scholarly tome about Shakespeare (enough of those exist), but an accessible and tantalizing account of a life in Elizabethan/Jacobean England.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Nancy Stenerson Gonzales, Cataloger, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Montana 1948 by Larry Watson

David Hayden's twelfth summer introduces him unmercifully into adulthood. He has to deal with questions of family, friendship, justice, racism, and death all at once. It seems to be too much for such a small book (fewer than 200 pages), but Watson delivers a powerful novel and a good story.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3573.A853 M66 1995
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Nancy Stenerson Gonzales, Cataloger, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Holy Land by D. J. Waldie

Holy Land is one odd book. It is subtitled A Suburban Memoir and I guess it is that, though it is more like poetry than anything else. Waldie's life is reflected in the history of Lakewood, the town he grew up in (and is still a public information officer for).

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: F869.L217 W35 1997
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Nancy Stenerson Gonzales, Cataloger, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill

O'Neill is a master of words and, through puns, rhyme, and many double-entendre, his novel of Ireland during the Great War is quite possibly a modern masterpiece. I don't want to say that the book is about two boys who go swimming because it's not - swimming is only the way in which O'Neill brings his characters together. It's a story about class struggles, about identity as a citizen, religious parishioner and individual person, and about the capacity of love. O'Neill's language and purposeful broken grammar takes some getting used to, but it's entirely worth it. A must read and now, for me at least, a new favorite.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR6065.N4194 A92 2002
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Jessica Cioffi, Holocaust Education Coordinator, Rodgers Center
Rating: Highly Recommended

Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert

This is a very funny, and sometimes serious, book about one man's perspective of working in the library system. I found myself laughing when I didn't expect it and also feeling very sad at the kind of events and activities taking place in some libraries. Interesting read.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Linda Greeley, Assistant to Director, Anderson Center for Economic Research
Rating: Recommended

Nuts!: Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success by Kevin Freiberg and Jackie Freiberg

This book was invaluable to me as I studied for my MA in Organizational Leadership. If I taught an OL class, this would be on the recommended reading list, if not required! My area of interest is airline and airport management, but this book speaks to much more than just the business of running a successful airline (though there's plenty of insight into that included in the book as well). Through friendly and accessible anecdotes with Southwest employees, the authors outline sensible practices in goal-setting, rewarding employees, and creating a corporate culture where people 'LUV' to come to work every day. Southwest has turned a profit year after year for a reason, and this book is a completely unstuffy behind-the-scenes look at the Southwest phenomenon. I for one would love to see an updated version for the post-9/11 culture at Southwest.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: HE9803.S68 F74 1998
3rd Floor Business Library
Review submitted by: Melissa McCook, Faculty Services Specialist, Santa Maria Campus
Rating: Highly Recommended

Monday, August 11, 2008

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

In this book about a frightening (and possible) future, we hear the story of Offred, a woman who is enslaved as a 'handmaid' or surrogate mother for a childless government official and his wife. She describes her daily life, where she shops for groceries by picture (women of her class are not allowed to read or write) and endures being both revered as an instrument of divine favor and ridiculed as a slave. Offred (lit. 'of Fred', denoting who she belongs to) dreams of things she used to take for granted, such as earning her own money, going to college, and sharing her life with her husband and daughter. The most chilling moment is when she looks back and realizes that all of the changes in society happened slowly, over time, until all of her freedoms were gone. This was a fascinating read, full of vivid images and suspense (will Offred give the couple the child they want, or will she be executed? Will she be reunited with her family?). Very thought provoking as well.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR9199.3.A8 H3 1986
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Melissa McCook, Faculty Services Specialist, Santa Maria Campus
Rating: Recommended

Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan

Full of culture and history, this is an outstanding "riches to rags" story that follows young Esperanza as a series of tragic events forces her to flee her upper class home in Mexico to live in California. Working in a Mexican farm labor camp near Arvin at the beginning of the Great Depression, she faces the struggles typical of life in the 1930s Central Valley. Despite many challenges and heartbreaks, she eventually realizes that what matters most is family and community and that she must rise above life's difficulties and find esperanza -- hope. Reading this was part of my quest to familiarize myself with contemporary juvenile fiction, and this powerful, emotional book is one of the best I have read in the genre.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3568.Y3926 E8747 2000
3rd Floor Education Muth Library
Review submitted by: Andrew Tessandori, Cataloging Assistant, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer

Just prior to sweeps week in November, newspaper report Riley Spartz investigates two stories. One is a scam involving pet cremation, and the other an old murder case involving women named Susan who were all killed on November 19th of different years. Kramer does an excellent job of keeping the reader on the edge of her seat.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Cathy Elliott, Business & Financial Technician, Law Library
Rating: Highly Recommended

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson

A somewhat autobiographical account of Hunter S. Thompson's drug-addled travels to Las Vegas, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the story of a journalist and his attorney who make their way to Sin City with a trunk full of every intoxicating substance imaginable in order to cover various magazine assignments. Thompson, the founding father of Gonzo journalism, takes the reader on a psychedelic trip down the rabbit hole in order to uncover the very essence of the American Dream. Although the plot was not entirely cohesive, I enjoyed the detours which gave me more insight into the changing culture of the 1970s.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PN4874.T444 A3 1998
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Ashley Bloomfield, Program Assistant, Rodgers Center
Rating: Recommended

Shadow Music by Julie Garwood

I stepped out of my boundaries when I read this book! Shadow Music is set in medieval Scotland and is a gripping story of love, mystery, and conflict. Princess Gabrielle, later by marriage she becomes Lady Gabrielle, is the main character in this story. Very interesting and highly recommended.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Marilyn Potts, Executive Assistant, CUC
Rating: Highly Recommended

Her Last Death: A Memoir by Susanna Sonnenberg

This memoir begins with an adult Sonnenberg, married with two children in Montana, receiving news that her mother was in an accident and will likely die. Instead of traveling to her mother’s bedside in Barbados, she makes the decision to stay home, and then sets out with the remainder of the book to explain why. We discover Sonnenberg’s mother lies, abuses drugs, is sexually compulsive, and, quite honestly, is crazed, but we also read about Sonnenberg’s often magical and luxurious upbringing that included boarding schools, life in New York City, and adventures that most could not afford. In the realm of women’s memoirs, this one has more spectacle than depth.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Stacy Russo, Instruction Librarian, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Somewhat Recommended

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway's classic "man versus nature" work tells the story of Santiago's solitary struggle to bring in a large fish from the open ocean. While it may be increasingly difficult for us in our modern society to relate to the cultural and geographic context, this is really much more a story about the human spirit than it is about fishing. It is about relationships (between humans, humans and animals, and humans and nature); individualism and interdependence; and striving for what we deeply desire only to have it taken away from us. While I do not completely understand where all of the allegorical interpretations of this book come from, I enjoyed reading it, especially much more as an adult than I did when I read it in junior high.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3515.E37 O5 1952
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Andrew Tessandori, Cataloging Assistant, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Friday, August 1, 2008

Smokescreen by Dick Francis

A detective story that is told from the viewpoint of a movie star. The man is a "regular guy," a family man who hates publicity. He goes to South Africa to investigate the sad condition of a dying friend's horses and finds more than he bargains for. A simple, entertaining read.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR6056.R27 .T7 1975
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Isa Lang, Head of Information Services, Law Library
Rating: Recommended

Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson

Several aging sisters who live on a secluded island decide to kidnap children in order to gain their assistance in caring for many unique sea creatures. The children encounter selkies, mermaids, giant birds, and even a wingless dragon that looks like a huge worm. As the great kraken comes along on his journey for healing the ocean, he asks the children to care for his son, but danger is inevitable as people who are looking for the children are bound to discover the location of the island. This is an enjoyable story for those who love sea legends.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR6059.B3 I75 2001
3rd Floor Education Muth Library
Review submitted by: Andrew Tessandori, Cataloging Assistant, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

Thursday, July 31, 2008

The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

I wasn't going to read another book I'd already read; but, I saw Holden in his backward, red hunting cap and couldn't resist a visit with one of my favorite fictional characters. Holden's wry and often cynical commentary of the world around him, as experienced in a few short days after being kicked out of school, is honest and even charming. He's the most honest self-proclaimed liar I've ever had the pleasure to know. To steal some of Holden's thunder, this book "kills me. It really does."

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3537.A426 1968
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Jessica Cioffi, Holocaust Education Coordinator, Rodgers Center
Rating: Highly Recommended

Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari

This is the simple story of a courageous young man, Daoud Hari. He risked his life to work as a translator for international journalists so that the story of genocide in Darfur could be made public.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Cathy Elliott, Business & Financial Technician, Law Library
Rating: Highly Recommended

Passing for Normal: A Memoir of Compulsion by Amy S. Wilensky

In this autobiography of a woman with Tourette's and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Amy Wilensky discusses how her childhood and subsequent adult years were shaped by her irrational behaviors and tics. By learning about her own dysfunction, Amy embarks on a journey of self acceptance and discovery that helps her to lead a fulfilling life while coping with the compulsions that held her hostage for so long. Relying heavily on personal experiences rather than scientific research or psychiatric jargon, Amy's memoir is an easy introduction to the diagnosis and treatment of Tourette's and OCD.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: RC533.W54 A3 2000
3rd Floor Science & Technology Library
Review submitted by: Ashley Bloomfield, Program Assistant, Rodgers Center
Rating: Recommended

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

A Wrongful Death by Kate Wilhelm

As a result of trying to be a Good Samaritan, Barbara Holloway finds herself involved in a murder and kidnapping investigation. Wealth, intrigue, family squabbles, and a billion dollar stock deal add to the suspense.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Cathy Elliott, Business & Financial Technician, Law Library
Rating: Recommended

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid

In this short book, Kincaid describes her childhood home: Antigua, a nine-by-twelve mile island in the West Indies. Written with an intensely poetic and often sarcastic tone, she begins by describing the Antigua that tourists see and the Antigua of the natives within the context of the tragedies that linger, and may forever linger, from colonialism. This is not the first time I have read Kincaid (I especially recommend her My Brother). Her writing is always beautiful and stunning.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: F2035 .K56 1989
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Stacy Russo, Instruction Librarian, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

This lyrical, achingly beautiful book transcends the controversial nature of its pedophilic subject matter in order to make a statement about the postwar dynamics between European and American culture and about the very nature of love itself. Humbert Humbert, a middle-aged European sophisticate, travels to America where he encounters Lolita, a pubescent nymphet, whose coarse, juvenile mannerisms instantly capture his attention. Told from Humbert Humbert's perspective, what follows is a man's descent into madness as his obsession with Lolita threatens to consume him. Nabokov is a master storyteller whose brilliant use of imagery hooked me within the first chapter; I could not put this down and actually finished it in two days.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3527.A15 L6 1989
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Ashley Bloomfield, Program Assistant, Rodgers Center
Rating: Highly Recommended

Monday, July 28, 2008

My Secret Life on the McJob by Jerry Newman

This book gave a nice and easy to read account of an HR professor working and interacting with seven different fast food locations in the Northeast, Midwest, and Southeast. Newman does his best to understand the "McJob" worker and put faces to the people who make those wonderful fast food sandwiches. All in all, reading this book will have you thinking about the people behind the counter and realize that the McJob is anything but easy.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: HD31 .N49 2007
3rd Floor Business Library
Review submitted by: Zach Vickery, Circulation Assistant, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

The Game by Jack London

Known for such classics as Call of the Wild and White Fang, Jack London demonstrates his breadth of writing ability in The Game. Both a love story and an analysis of the viciousness of prize fighting, London spins a brief yarn that entrances with its depth of detail and description. Torn between two passions, a woman and boxing, Joe Fleming tragically and rather unexpectedly loses both in this work written at the start of the 20th century.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3523.O46 G36 2001
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Kevin Ross, Associate Dean, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Annapurna: A Woman's Place by Arlene Blum

This amazing book tells the true, exhilarating, and tragic story of the thirteen members of the 1978 American Women’s Himalayan Expedition. The team made history by being the first Americans (and the first women) to climb Annapurna I, a peak with an altitude of 26,504 feet. Told by the expedition leader, the book chronicles the women’s journey on the treacherous mountain where they experienced severe weather and frequent avalanches. Photographs of the expedition complement the text.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: GV199.44.N462 A563 1983
2nd Floor Social Science Library
Review submitted by: Stacy Russo, Instruction Librarian, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Friday, July 25, 2008

Slayride by Dick Francis

Unknown to me until this summer, Dick Francis will be a favorite. His action packed detective novels relate to horses and the racetrack, but also focus on interesting unrelated topics. This one is set in Norway (unusual) and involves secret oil drilling maps and plans. The investigator is a sympathetic and sensible person.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR6056.R27 .T7 1975
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Isa Lang, Head of Information Services, Law Library
Rating: Highly Recommended

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh

The desire to learn more about the psychology of drug addiction compelled me to pick up this gut wrenching, nausea inducing trip into the dark underbelly of the Scottish heroin scene. The book, which is actually a series of vignettes narrated by different characters who engage in self-destructive behaviors, is filled with incomprehensible Scottish vernacular that makes reading this a challenge in itself. While no doubt an accurate, unflinching examination of drug addiction; the constant use of slang is a distraction. Heed my warning and steer clear of this one. I wish I had!

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR6073.E47 T73 1996
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Ashley Bloomfield, Program Assistant, Rodgers Center
Rating: Not Recommended

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Set in the near distant future, Ishiguro's dystopian novel describes a world where clones are created for the sole purpose of organ donation. Kathy, a clone transitioning to become a donor, struggles to discover the mysteries behind Hailsham, the boarding school where she and other cloned children were raised. Although the book was an enjoyable read overall, the ending came as no surprise and seemed a bit disappointing after Kathy's long emotional journey. I would rate this somewhere between Recommended and Highly Recommended.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR6059.S5 N48 2005
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Ashley Bloomfield, Program Assistant, Rodgers Center
Rating: Recommended

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Trail To Wounded Knee: The Last Stand of the Plains Indians, 1860-1890 by Herman J. Viola

This book captures the essence of the demise of the Great Plains Indians throughout the last 30 years of the 20th century. Faced with an all out military, political, and economic attack on their culture, the Plains Indians seek spiritual strength to guide them, but to no avail. Representative examples from Sand Creek, the Battle of the Little Big Horn, and others illustrate the injustices Native Americans faced at the hands of the white settlers, and which ultimately led to the massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: E78.G73 V56 2003
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Kevin Ross, Associate Dean, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Monday, July 21, 2008

Flight: A Novel by Sherman Alexie

In poet and writer Sherman Alexie's Flight, we're transported into the mind and time-bending misadventures of Zits, a troubled Native American teenager. You may recall the film Smoke Signals; Alexie's screenplay won a Sundance Film Festival award. Here, Alexie's prose narrative moves into raw poetic vengeance as we follow Zits' journey to self identity and self determination. Chapman's First-Year Program is reading this summer, too. Note: contains graphic violence and language; adult situations

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3551.L35774 F57 2007
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Julie Artman, Chair, Public Services, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

Animal Farm by George Orwell

A true classic, Orwell's novel explores the dynamics of communism after a workers' revolution (in this case, animals on a farm). Seven commandments are adopted in the newly named "Animal Farm" and, as the leaders gain more control, the animals find that their memories of the rules are no longer accurate. Memory versus government-controlled documentation and the power to control history (thereby the present), is an idea so compelling that it is repeated in Orwell's 1984. This novel is a quick read and is very engaging.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3503.O4286 A8 1964
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Jessica Cioffi, Holocaust Education Coordinator, Rodgers Center
Rating: Highly Recommended

Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell

Orwell's classic novel is set in a dystopian world where not only deeds, but also thoughts, can be criminal. I found this book a little more difficult to get through than Huxley's "Brave New World" simply because it was all bad news - Huxley injected a little humor (and a lot of sarcasm) in his similarly-themed novel. Definitely worth reading, but don't look to this title if you're searching for a "feel good" read.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR6029.R8 N49 1984
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Jessica Cioffi, Holocaust Education Coordinator, Rodgers Center
Rating: Recommended

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

I want to say that this book is different from other Gaiman books; however, anyone familiar with his works knows that all of Gaiman's books (of which there are about a bazillion) are different from each other. This book tells the story of Tristran Thorn and his adventures through Faerie to find a fallen star for his "true love." Gaiman's wit makes this story quite charming and I think I may have startled a few passengers when I laughed out loud on the train. If you saw the movie, read the book - there's so much more to the story than you've seen.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR6057.A319 S73 1999
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Jessica Cioffi, Holocaust Education Coordinator, Rodgers Center
Rating: Highly Recommended

Careless in Red by Elizabeth George

"Perhaps it was something that got into one's blood: the intellectual excitement of the puzzle of the crime and the physical excitement of the chase." Inspector Lynley creator Elizabeth George picks up the series after a horrific tragedy has devastated the inspector. Lynley has left the force and taken up a different path--literally. He has walked miles of the Cornwall coast only to discover the body of a young man. Layers of sons and fathers; mothers and daughters; lovers and avengers tangle and untangle Lynley's fractured psyche. A lengthy, involving read--and imagining PBS Lynley incarnate Nathaniel Parker moving through this complicated ruse is half the fun! Hopefully, the television adaptation is on the way...

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Julie Artman, Chair, Public Services, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Friday, July 18, 2008

Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. & Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

This book tells of the Gilbreth family: Dad, the world-renowned efficiency expert, Mom, the psychologist/lecturer, and their twelve children. The descriptions of specific escapades are entertaining, and the reader gets a good picture of Frank Gilbreth, Sr., but I would have enjoyed getting to know Mrs. Gilbreth better. The book is certainly better than the Steve Martin movie of the same name; I hear the Myrna Loy film is enjoyable.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: T40.G5 G5 1948
3rd Floor Science & Technology Library
Review submitted by: Nancy Stenerson Gonzales, Cataloger, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

The Man Who Could Not Shudder by John Dickson Carr

A masterpiece of technical investigation, as is John Dickson Carr's bent as a mystery writer. I felt a bit cheated, though, as much could be explained by a simple but hidden fact. He did not develop the answer in steps, which is something I expect from the greatest mystery writers. Nonetheless, it was a good story.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3505.A77 M3 1940
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Isa Lang, Head of Information Services, Law Library
Rating: Somewhat Recommended

Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing by May Sarton

Nearly all the action in this unique novel takes place in one day. Mrs. Stevens, a poet in her seventies, is being interviewed about poetic inspiration by two journalists. Dialogue is intermingled with Mrs. Stevens' memories of encounters with the Muse. This work also investigates what it means to be both a woman and a writer, the impact of relationships, and the need for solitude.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3537.A832 M5 1993
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Stacy Russo, Instruction Librarian, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Hunting Badger by Tony Hillerman

Who pulled off the robbery of the Ute casino and killed a couple of security guards in the middle of the night? Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn pool their knowledge of local folklore to try to solve the case. Unfortunately, the FBI doesn't appreciate the local lawmen's involvement. I always enjoy spending time with these characters in Indian country. A quick and easy read.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3558.I45 H86 2001
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Pam Ames, Purchasing Director
Rating: Somewhat Recommended

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III

When April, an exotic dancer, is caught without a babysitter, she chooses to bring her 3 yr. old to work with her at the Puma Club for Men. At closing she realizes her daughter is missing. Mix in with this April's big spending foreign client and the events of September 11 and Andre Dubus III, author of House of Sand and Fog, has created another riveting novel.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Cathy Elliott, Business & Financial Technician, Law Library
Rating: Highly Recommended

Horse Heaven by Jane Smiley

Very long, but very satisfying. I read this for the second time, keeping pace with my best friend from Maine, who was reading it for the first time. Interwoven stories of racehorses, racetracks, and the people related to them that mirror human issues and dilemmas.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3569.M39 H67 2000
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Isa Lang, Head of Information Services, Law Library
Rating: Highly Recommended

Monday, July 14, 2008

Stickeen by John Muir

Stickeen was a mongrel dog that befriended John Muir during his explorations of Alaska's glaciers, and this book recounts their exciting adventure one stormy day in 1880. Even in its simplicity, this story leads us to consider the interconnectedness and sanctity of all living things. It was life changing for Muir and one of his most memorable stories. One of the best things about this book is that it is shorter than his other works, and one can experience Muir's exquisite writing without having to read through some of his more serious tomes.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: QL795.D6 M85 1990
3rd Floor Education Muth Library
Review submitted by: Andrew Tessandori, Cataloging Assistant, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Phantom Prey by John Sandford

With this book, I hope I have reached my fill of murder mysteries. Sandford's books are based in Minnesota and occasionally he drops down into Iowa. This is classic Sandford with a couple of separate murders that need to be solved. The dialogue and storyline are believable, fast paced and sometimes funny. If you're into goths, this is the one for you.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Linda Greeley, Assistant to Director, Anderson Center for Economic Research
Rating: Somewhat Recommended

Colors of the Mountain by Da Chen

What a great book about life in Communist China. It is amazing what dreams and goals can do for you. After reading this book, I can appreciate and respect the freedoms, liberties and choices we have in the United States.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: CT1828.C5214 A3 1999
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: James McCulloch, Carpenter, Facilities
Rating: Highly Recommended

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Adventures in Alaska and Along the Trail by Wendell Endicott

This book is a collection of stories focusing on the author's explorations of Alaska and other adventuresome places in North America (my favorite was the Pendleton Roundup in Oregon). Some of the book is great early twentieth century nature/adventure writing, almost like one was sitting around a campfire exchanging stories. But other parts are hunting stories, which were distracting and not what I wanted to get out of the book. Several neat old photographs are included.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: F909.E58 1928
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Andrew Tessandori, Cataloging Assistant, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Somewhat Recommended

Monday, July 7, 2008

Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert

Humorous account of mayhem and absurdity by an employee in a public branch library. Gives the reader a better appreciation of what librarians have to deal with on a day-to-day basis and it's not just books! A quick read and would be good for that Metrolink commuter.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Pam Ames, Purchasing Director
Rating: Somewhat Recommended

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Going the Distance: Library Instruction for Remote Users by Susan J. Clayton (editor)

Not only is Going the Distance a highly informative read for distance education librarians, but it could also provide great insight for distance educators in general as far as the library services and modes of outreach possible for their remote library users. Especially informative are the sections of the book which address library services assessment, faculty/librarian collaboration, and models of virtual library instruction. Examples of how other academic libraries implement services to their distance education users are provided as well. The reference listed at the end of each chapter lead to many useful resources.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: Z718.85 .G65 2007
2nd Floor Social Science Library
Review submitted by: Annie Knight, Coordinator of CUC Library Services, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Where Are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark (review #2)

Where Are You Now? follows Carolyn MacKenzie's search for her missing brother, Charles (Mack) McKenzie, who disappeared 10 years ago. Did he simply choose to disappear? Why? This book is spellbinding and hard to put down.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Marilyn Potts, Executive Assistant, CUC
Rating: Highly Recommended

The Problem of the Wire Cage by John Dickson Carr

The best John Dickson Carr yet--way cool the way there are no footprints on the tennis court and the body is in the middle. It is a funny one, too, with vaudevillian caricatures -- not to speak of the romance between two potentially guilty (and naively truth-avoiding) suspects.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3505.A774 1959
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Isa Lang, Head of Information Services, Law Library
Rating: Highly Recommended

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

The Royal Family by William T. Vollmann

This is a great novel that took me forever to read. I spent many, many evenings lingering poolside with the weight of this tome in my hands and on my chest. Vollmann does so many things well (intimacy, bio-power, familial psychotics, street-grit, sex-funk, self-consciousness/doubt/identity, prismed characterizations, metaphor) that The Royal Family incessantly delights, even as it collapses to singular density with an over-awning and excrescent despair that aggregates through the pages with vascularized malignancy. If you decide to get intimate with this book, prepare to feel terrible. Our hero doesn't plummet so much as seep through the San Franciscan Tenderloin to an event horizon of despondency and mental illness, where, as seen from earth, he appears to become frozen in time. There is no vanishing point. Our fall is infinite.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3572.O395 R6 2001
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Chris Rynd, Development Writer, University Advancement
Rating: Highly Recommended

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This is the first of my current "Books I Should Have Read in High School" list and I can see why it is required reading in many secondary schools. Harper Lee does a remarkable job of describing the confusing world of a small southern town in the thirties through the eyes of a precocious girl. Imagine High Noon meets Inherit the Wind as told by one of the Waltons.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3562.E33 T6 1995
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Nancy Stenerson Gonzales, Cataloger, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Monday, June 30, 2008

The Burning Court by John Dickson Carr

A terrific detective puzzler with a "witchy" twist. Be sure to read the epilogue--AFTER you have gone through the story. It is a shocker, but worth the wait!!!

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3505.A774 1959
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Isa Lang, Head of Information Services, Law Library
Rating: Highly Recommended

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez

Florentino Ariza loved Fermina Daza with a passion that weathered all storms. When she married someone else, he waited and when she became a widow, he courted her all over again. This is true love at its best. Translated from the Spanish by Edith Grossman.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PQ8180.17.A73 A813 1988
2nd Floor Social Science Library
Review submitted by: Cathy Elliott, Business & Financial Technician, Law Library
Rating: Highly Recommended

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold by John Le Carre

Originally written and published due to the popularity that the early James Bond novels and movies generated in the early 1950s, this novel, like a few other contemporary stories, was meant as an intentional jab at the pulpy fiction of the Bond stories. The main character, Alec Leamas, is a deeply burned-out civil servant/spy who drinks too much, smokes too much and doesn't care who wins anymore. He is used by his superiors for one last desperate gambit against the Soviet Union that deftly shows how people are used up by the system and casually tossed aside when they are wrung dry. The novel is almost completely plot driven with Leamas' character the only properly fleshed-out one and it is firmly set in the early days of the Cold War. For all that, it has aged very well and is as applicable now as it was then. The novel is an absolute corker (as they used to say) and reads very quickly (I finished it in one sitting). So pour yourself a nice sherry, find yourself an overstuffed chair and let yourself glide back into the shadowy days of the early Cold War when people are never quite what they seem...or maybe they are...

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR6062.E33 S6 1963
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Randolph Boyd, Gift Acquisitions, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Black Rednecks and White Liberals by Thomas Sowell

This book is a collection of six essays on racism and social issues in the world. Each gives a different perspective on how we view racial and ethnic issues in world history. It shed light on many myths and ideas that I myself had about racism.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: HM1096 .S683 2005
2nd Floor Friedman Collection
Review submitted by: James McCulloch, Carpenter, Facilities
Rating: Recommended

Friday, June 27, 2008

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

I hope never to answer the question "where do babies come from?" with any reference to the first chapter of Huxley's book. In this satirical novel, Ford's assembly line theory for mass production has been extended to include the production of humans. The civilized world is no longer burdened by art or literature, people no longer suffer the pains of personal attachments and Ford is a god, if Gd was allowed to exist. Unlike other dystopian novels, Huxley's isn't dark and gloomy but is, instead, told with brevity and more than a little "snark."

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR6015.U9 B65 1998
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Jessica Cioffi, Holocaust Education Coordinator, Rodgers Center
Rating: Highly Recommended

Destination: Questionmark by Curt Lowens

Curt Lowens' self-published book may not be the most polished example of writing available, but it is a remarkable account of his experiences during World War II. Lowens was a German-born, Jewish boy when the war began and found his identity in constant flux as he escaped to Holland, went into hiding and joined the resistance, and ended up working with the British Army. Told with honesty (and even humor), his story is quite extraordinary.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: D810.J4 L69 2002
4th Floor Holocaust Library (Book is for library use only)
Review submitted by: Jessica Cioffi, Holocaust Education Coordinator, Rodgers Center
Rating: Recommended

Stories from Life by Horace Bristol

This collection of photographs and essays examines the life and work of Horace Bristol, a photojournalist who documented such social conditions as those of migrant farm workers in the Great Depression, World War II, and the reconstruction of post-war Japan. It is interesting to note his often unacknowledged or underappreciated role in working with John Steinbeck and influencing the initial ideas for The Grapes of Wrath. While he socialized with members of a circle of photographers known as Group f/64, he never joined based on philosophical differences, but today his work could be seen as important as his colleagues, such as Dorothea Lange (and if you like Lange's work, I would definitely recommend checking out Bristol's work). So while Bristol's photographs did not follow the artistic practices of his day, they are very much the "social documents" he intended them to be.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: TR820 .B7424 1995
3rd Floor Science & Technology Library (Oversize Books)
Review submitted by: Andrew Tessandori, Cataloging Assistant, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

The Writing Life by Ellen Gilchrist

This is a highly enjoyable book for anyone interested in the craft of writing and teaching creative writing. Through dozens of short essays and journal entries, Gilchrist discusses how reading and writing have been central elements to her life. In “The Shakespeare Group,” she tells how a group has met at her home almost every Sunday for fourteen years to read Shakespeare’s plays out loud. Some of my favorite sections reveal Gilchrist’s struggles as a creative writing teacher, something she did not begin until she was approaching age 70. She writes with honesty and humility.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3557.I34258 Z477 2005
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Stacy Russo, Instruction Librarian, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Pearl S. Buck: A Cultural Biography by Peter Conn

Well researched and informative bio of the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. She grew up in China and worked with Hollywood as a consultant in getting her Good Earth book made into a movie. Eleanor Roosevelt and Margaret Sanger were in her social circle. She was pursued and fell for an Authur Murray dance instructor thirty years her junior in her later years. Not a quick read, but I learned a lot about this very fascinating person.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3503.U198 Z624 1996
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Pam Ames, Purchasing Director
Rating: Somewhat Recommended

Good-bye To All That by Robert Graves

One of the definitive memoirs of the Great War, Graves applies his poetic sensibilities to his experiences as an infantry officer on the Western Front and how those experiences smashed his psyche and those of his compatriots (as well as their bodies). Read his war poetry at the same time to get a very intimate look at the reality of industrial war.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR6013.R35 Z5 1957
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Randolph Boyd, Gift Acquisitions, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

7th Heaven by James Patterson

This book was classic Patterson...enjoyable, easy to read and he offers up a couple of crime plots to follow. The verbiage used by Patterson is believable, so I find his books fun to read.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Linda Greeley, Assistant to Director, Anderson Center for Economic Research
Rating: Somewhat Recommended

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson (review #2)

The book cover says it all: "What if your imaginary friend from childhood was your one true love?" Jane is a lonely little girl and Michael is her imaginary friend who helps her cope with the pain of growing up. When she is nine he leaves, only to reappear when she is thirty to help her through another difficult period. Together they discover the magic of love.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Cathy Elliott, Business & Financial Technician, Law Library
Rating: Recommended

Sundays At Tiffany's by James Patterson

Sunday at Tiffany's is the touching story of young Jane Margaux and her imaginary friend, Michael. Unexpectedly, Michael informs Jane that he must leave. Years later, Michael returns in the most unpredictable way and now seeks to find Jane, whom he has never forgotten. Told from the perspective of both Jane and Michael, this heart-warming book reiterates the importance of friendship and finding true love.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Nadia Arriaga, Administrative Assistant, Political Science Department
Rating: Highly Recommended

What Matters Most by Luanne Rice

Great story of love and the value of life. The trials and tribulations of two people are detailed in a fun and invigorating and inspiring way. Luanne Rice is one of my favorite authors. There is nothing better than a good love story!

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Marilyn Potts, Executive Assistant, CUC
Rating: Highly Recommended

Monday, June 23, 2008

The Arabian Nights Murder by John Dickson Carr

John Dickson Carr is the author for diehard classic mystery readers. He is technically detailed and flawless, but requires the reader's focus and concentration to unravel the puzzle along with him. In this one, there are 8 suspects acting in concert, with the real killer materializing only in theory.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3505.A774 1959
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Isa Lang, Head of Information Services, Law Library
Rating: Recommended

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (review #2)

I must agree wholeheartedly with Jessica Cioffi's review of this book (see below under June 19). Christopher, an autistic teenager, narrates the story and frequently interjects random asides about his compulsions, his difficulties interpreting social cues, and his mathematical genius. Even though Christopher is a savant and excels in the field of mathematics, his autism makes it hard for him to relate to others and interact on an emotional level. Anyone interested in learning more about autism or searching for an engaging, amusing story need look no further.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR6058.A245 C87 2003
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Ashley Bloomfield, Program Assistant, Rodgers Center
Rating: Highly Recommended

Sacred Stacks by Nancy Kalikow Maxwell

This interesting book looks at librarianship from a religious (primarily Judeo-Christian) point of view. Focusing on the idea of the library as both a sacred and secular institution, Maxell discusses how librarians and libraries perform sacred functions, organize chaos, impart immortality, uplift individuals and society, provide sacred space, support community, and pass on culture. The ideas presented in this book describe the significant meaning of unique roles that libraries play in society and the special services that are not provided by other societal institutions (thus, our libraries should not strive to be like Barnes and Noble or Borders and our catalogs should never strive to be like Amazon or Google). While it can be difficult and redundant in places, I would recommend this book to anyone involved in libraryland (at any level, not just librarians) as well as those interested in religious studies.

Leatherby Libraires Call Number: Z716.4 .M37 2006
2nd Floor Social Science Library
Review submitted by: Andrew Tessandori, Cataloging Assistant, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Recommended

The Luck of the Bodkins by P.G. Wodehouse

Having never read Wodehouse before (astonishing, I know, but there you are), I had no idea what to expect. Monty Bodkins loves Gertrude, who thinks Monty loves Lottie, who loves Ambrose (the Wrong Tennyson) whose brother Reggie (who, along with Ambrose are Gertrude's cousins) loves Mabel, the sister-in-law of a Hollywood magnate. These three couples populate this perfect farce full of misdirection, misinformation, and a Mickey Mouse. I can't believe this isn't a movie.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR6045.O53 L8 2002
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Nancy Stenerson Gonzales, Cataloger, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson

This book reads like a blending of a murder mystery and literary novel with a large cast of characters. Atkinson opens the novel with three cases: 1) a missing child from 1970, 2) the workplace murder of a young woman in 1994, and 3) the murder of a husband by his wife in 1979. Private detective Jackson Brodie is the element that weaves the stories together. Atkinson often inserts humor into dark subjects, a style that will appeal to some readers.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR6051.T56 C37 2004
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Stacy Russo, Instruction Librarian, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Somewhat Recommended

Friday, June 20, 2008

Longitude by Dava Sobel

If you've ever seen The Deadliest Catch, you know that ships at sea can be a bit dangerous. But imagine having no good idea how far east or west you are on the planet. That is what sailors dealt with before the invention of timekeepers that could keep reliable time in all weather and under unreliable (read high seas) conditions. John Harrison spent nearly all his life creating such a timepiece, and Dava Sobel tells the story in a sprightly and personal way.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: QB 225 .S64 1995
3rd Floor Science & Technology Library
Review submitted by: Nancy Stenerson Gonzales, Cataloger, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Thursday, June 19, 2008

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

Haddon's debut novel, at first glance, seems to be a murder mystery revolving around a dead dog and a would-be Sherlock Holmes named Christopher, a 15-year-old boy with autism. In order to learn who killed the neighbor's dog, Christopher uncovers the truth about goings-on in his own life. Told from Christopher's perspective, the narration is charming, clever and fascinating - beware of random mathematical equations! Is there a rating above "Highly Recommended"?

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PR6058.A245 C87 2003
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Jessica Cioffi, Holocaust Education Coordinator
Rating: Highly Recommended

Monday, June 16, 2008

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

After witnessing the atrocities of World War II, Billy Pilgrim is convinced that he has come "unstuck" in time thanks to a race of aliens called the Tralfamadorians. Billy's spastic travels back and forth through time alter his perception of life and death which helps him cope with the transient nature of human existence. Although the non-linear storytelling takes some getting used to, Vonnegut effectively poses the question of whether or not free will truly exists.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3572.O5 S6 1969
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Ashley Bloomfield, Program Assistant, Rodgers Center
Rating: Recommended

Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

This book is a collection of essays written in the 1960s by the masterful Didion. There are three sections: 1) "Life Styles in the Golden Land," 2) "Personals," and 3) "Seven Places of the Mind." I found the first section, with a focus on California, the most interesting. The essay "Slouching Towards Bethlemen," which chronicles Didion's time spent with hippies in the Haight-Ashbury district, is the centerpiece. Other topics include a notorious murder case in the San Bernardino Valley ("Some Dreamers of the Golden Dream") and Joan Baez's Institute for the Study of Nonviolence in the Carmel Valley ("Where the Kissing Never Stops").

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3554.I33 S55 1968
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Stacy Russo, Instruction Librarian, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Friday, June 13, 2008

Where Are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark

Ten years ago, Carolyn's brother Mack disappeared. The only contact is a phone call to their mother every Mother's Day. Determined to end the mystery, Carolyn starts asking questions that eventually lead the police to believe her brother is involved with the deaths of several young women. Is Mack still alive? Is he capable of murder?

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Cathy Elliott, Business & Financial Technician, Law Library
Rating: Recommended

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir by Clarence Thomas

This is a great autobiography about how one man was able to pull himself up from uncommon circumstances to a position with the Supreme Court. It wasn't an easy road for him and he shared the struggles he had along the way. What an inspiration to read how he was able to achieve the things he did through honesty and hard work.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: KF8745.T48 A3 2007
2nd Floor Social Science Library
Review submitted by: James McCulloch, Carpenter, Facilities
Rating: Highly Recommended

Monday, June 9, 2008

Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card

Bean, a three-year-old orphan living on the violent streets of Rotterdam, finds his life turned upside down when he is sent to Battle School, a space station designed to train gifted children to fight an approaching alien invasion. Orson Scott Card challenges us to reevaluate the way we perceive warfare as the constructs of what is "right" and "wrong" blur under difficult circumstances. Are the aliens really the enemies or are we the ones destined to destroy ourselves?

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3553.A655 E58 1999
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Ashley Bloomfield, Program Assistant, Rodgers Center
Rating: Highly Recommended

Making a Literary Life: Advice for Writers and Other Dreamers by Carolyn See

This is the most interesting and inspiring, but still practical, book on writing I have read. Although several sections relate to fiction with chapters on character; plot; point of view; geography, time, and space; and building a scene, See’s advice through most of the book can apply to almost any kind of writing (essays, non-fiction, magazine articles). Even if you are not currently a writer, you may feel like you are after reading Making a Literary Life.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: PS3569.E33 Z47 2002
2nd Floor Humanities Library
Review submitted by: Stacy Russo, Instruction Librarian, Leatherby Libraries
Rating: Highly Recommended

Friday, June 6, 2008

L. A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker

In his latest novel, two time Edgar winner, T. Jefferson Parker tells the story of high school teacher, Suzanne Jones, whose alter ego is the dazzling and daring thief, Allison Murietta. Hot on her trail is Charlie Hood, a rookie deputy with the LAPD. Will he convince her to change her ways? Read and find out.

Leatherby Libraries Call Number: McNaughton
1st Floor McNaughton Collection
Review submitted by: Cathy Elliott, Business & Financial Technician, Law Library
Rating: Recommended