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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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