Have Book, Will Travel: England

I have been fortunate to travel to England several times in the last two years to visit my daughter. Now that I’ve taken in the history, charm and beauty of London and the English countryside, I find I am drawn to books that bring me back to my fun adventures.

The Queen

When you are in England, you can’t escape news about the royal family. The last time I was in London, Queen Elizabeth had come down with a stomach bug which required hospitalization. The television stations were beside themselves with hourly coverage about how yes, the Queen was STILL in the hospital. I’ve grown fond of the Queen over the years and find her determination and devotion inspiring. At 87 years old, she is still always on the go. I enjoyed two lovely books that show different sides of the Queen:  An Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett and Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn.

When Queen Elizabeth accidently visits a mobile library outside Buckingham Palace in An Uncommon Reader, her discovery triggers a love of reading. I read this charming novella in an afternoon, and especially love this quote, from the queen to her personal secretary (who hails from New Zealand), when he questions the queen's book obsession:  “Pass the time?’’ said the Queen. “Books are not about passing time. They’re about other lives. Other worlds. Far from wanting time to pass, Sir Kevin, one just wishes one had more of it. If one wanted to pass the time one could go to New Zealand.’’  The queen eventually thinks about writing her own book. Wouldn't that be marvelous?

In Mrs. Queen Takes the Train, the author imagines what happens when the Queen decides to take off on her own from Buckingham Palace to Scotland without telling anyone. Of course, pandemonium ensues at Buckingham Palace, with a loyal staff trying to keep the Queen’s disappearance a secret. The Queen ends up getting assistance of a female stable hand and a fellow who works in a cheese shop. Her interactions with the common folk on her train ride are priceless.

World War II

Reminders of the Second World War and its devastation are abundant when you visit London, from the many excellent museums to the HMS Belfast docked on the Thames. Two books helped me capture those grueling times for the English: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson and Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.

 Life After Life is filled with great insights about what it was like to live in England before and during World War II. Atkinson really gave me a feeling for what Brits lived through during the horrific bombing blitz by the Germans. But this is much more than historical fiction. Atkinson makes us wonder what it would be like to have a complete do-over with our lives, not just once, but many times. What an original, thoughtful book that shows how our lives can go so many different ways, depending on chance and the choices we make.

I love historical fiction, especially books about feisty young women who are forced to handle difficult circumstances. Code Name Verity is such a book. Elizabeth Wein tells the story of two young women who are best friends during the height of World War II. Julie works as an undercover agent and Maddie is a young pilot. When their British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France, their lives are forever changed. The narration of the book at first can be confusing, but don’t let that put you off.  Hang in there, and it will all make sense. Just remember that the person narrating the first part of the book is the voice of Julie, or “Verity.’’ Code Name Verity is cataloged as Young Adult, but I think this book belongs in the adult fiction section. So if you enjoy historical fiction, give this book a go.

Bath

When my sister heard I was going to her favorite place in the world, Bath, England, she recommended that I read two books set there:  The Last Detective by Peter Lovesey and Persuasion by Jane Austen.

The Last Detective'' is the first book in the Peter Diamond mystery series. I had so much fun recognizing the places in the story, but you don't have to be familiar with the delights of Bath to enjoy the book. I also appreciated how the author threw in references to Jane Austen, who lived in Bath for several years. The mystery series generally is located in Bath, but the second book, Diamond Solitaire, is set in London, with the opening scene at Harrods Department Store.

Persuasion was the last novel Jane Austen wrote before she died. Anne Elliot, at the age of 27, is Austen's most grown-up heroine. When Anne walks away from the love of her life because her family and friends don’t think he is good enough for her, she is filled with remorse. Her long-lost love comes back into her life eight years later as a successful naval captain, constantly reminding Anne of her painful choices. I had so much fun imagining Jane Austen and her characters walking the streets of cosmopolitan Bath, where the smart set liked to be seen at the Pump Room and live in the Royal Crescent.

I still have many books I want to tackle. Next on the list is Hillary Mantel’s award-winning novels about Henry VIII, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. After visiting Henry’s Hampton Court Palace and walking around the Tower of London, these books are must reads for me.

What British books have you enjoyed?

--Jo Hansen,  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

May Displays at the Library

Come and check out the new displays we have up at the library!

At Cook Park:

It's almost Mother's Day, so we're offering books and movies about all kinds of moms.

May is Latino Books Month.  Come find a terrific book that reflects Latino culture and heritage.

On our lower level, we've put out some beautiful blooming romances just in time for spring.

Here are some jaw-dropping non-fiction tales.

At Aspen Drive, find books that were so good they got made into movies.  Check out the movies too!

Where Are You Going to Read About Today?

In my two previous entries,  I’ve talked about two of Readers’ Advisor guru  Nancy Pearl’s Doorways into fiction,  Story and Character. Pearl believes that readers will often seek out books according to their preferred Doorway. Those who prefer story often look for fast-paced stories or books they  just cannot put down. Readers who are drawn to character as their Doorway like well-drawn characters who they feel as if they get to know them as they read the book.

Pearl’s third Doorway is setting. Readers who seek out books in which setting is dominant often enjoy reading about the daily activities of their characters or details about the places where the books takes place. Readers of science fiction, fantasy and historical fiction like to get lost in worlds and times that are completey foreign to them.  Readers whose main doorway is Setting enjoy the feeling of traveling to new places from the comfort of their own armchair. Patrons who are about to travel to a new place often come to the FMM desk  for help finding fiction set in that country. Recently, a patron asked us to help  find her books about Turkey, in advance of her trip to that country because she wanted to know more about the place than she could learn from reading travel books and maps. I have a friend who is reading everything she can find about England during WWI---she’s also a big fan of Downton Abbey.  Another patron always comes to our desk for help finding books set in the American South because she grew up there and reading about it seems to assuage her homesickness a bit. I love reading books about small towns because I grew up in one and can identify with many of the issues that face those living in this sort of community. If you like to read books that take place in a specific place or time-frame, your preferred Doorway is setting.

Here are some authors for whom setting is an important part of their novels:

1. Carl Hiaasen (Florida)

2. Pat Conroy (South Carolina)

3. James Michener (varies by book)

4. Louise Penny (Quebec and environs)

5. Alexander McCall Smith (Botswana and Scotland)

6. Sara Paretsky and Jim Butcher (Chicago)

7. Khaled Hosseini (Afghanistan)

8. Charles Dickens (19th century London)

9. Kent Haruf (Colorado)

10. Louise Erdrich (North Dakota)

11. Tana French and Maeve Binchy (Ireland)

12. Ron Rash (North Carolina)

13. Barbara Kingsolver (Appalachia region)

14. Nevada Barr (American national parks)

15. Jacqueline Winspear (WWI, London)

16. Erin Morgenstern (The Night Circus, fantasy world)

17. David Wroblewski (The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, Wisconsin)

18. Pete Hamill (Manhattan)

19. Stieg Larsson (Sweden)

20. Fannie Flagg (American South)

Come see us at the FMM desk!

Ellen J.

Imagining the Lives of Famous Better Halves

We all know the saying “behind every great man there’s a great woman.”  Lately, a number of fiction titles have taken their inspiration from that feminist adage, reimagining the lives of the women behind famous men: Zelda Fitzgerald and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, among others.  And it’s fascinating stuff.  I’ve read a number of these books, and each time, I’ve found myself wanting to learn more about the real circumstances surrounding these couples.  Seeing the lives of these acclaimed men through their spouses’ eyes offers such an intriguing perspective on the men themselves.  More often than not, it seems that the men's accomplishments came at the expense of their wives and families.  Here are some titles in this mini-genre that I’d recommend, along with photos of the famous couples.  To check on a book's availability in our catalog, click on the book title.

The Paris Wife by Paula McLean  

Many of you have probably already read this one in your book clubs, so you know that the book chronicles the life of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley, living in Paris in the 1920’s and hobnobbing with the likes of the Fitzgeralds, Gertrude Stein, and Ezra Pound.  However, you might not have seen Random House’s excellent web site about the book, which includes photographs of the Hemingways and the spots where they lived in Paris.  It also delves more into the history of their marriage.  Check out http://www.randomhouse.com/rhpg/features/paula_mclain/index.php.

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler   

This book is next on my list.  Here is the starred Kirkus review of this recently-released book.   “Fowler’s Zelda is all we would expect and more…once she meets the handsome Scott, her life takes off on an arc of indulgence and decadence that still causes us to shake our heads in wonder… Scott’s friendship with Hemingway verges on a love affair—at least it’s close enough to one to make Zelda jealous. Ultimately, both of these tragic, pathetic and grand characters are torn apart by their inability to love or leave each other. Fowler has given us a lovely, sad and compulsively readable book.”

Above All Things by Tanis Rideout  

I love Everest stories (Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air is a favorite), so I was initially drawn to this novel because I wanted to read about George Mallory’s ill-fated final attempt to summit the mountain in 1924.  However, once I began reading the book, what kept my interest was the story of Mallory’s wife, Ruth.  The author moves back and forth between Mallory’s long and excruciating trek up the mountain and Ruth’s equally excruciating wait for news of her husband.  Although we know what the final result of the expedition will be, Rideout manages to create a suspenseful adventure story, as well as a deeply emotional one. 

The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin 

Ms. Benjamin paid a visit to our library as part of our Authors Out Loud program and did a wonderful presentation on the lives of Charles Lindbergh and his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the subject of this book.  Of all the women chronicled in these novels, perhaps most has been published about Mrs. Lindbergh – her own writings, as well as those of her daughter, Reeve.  A cold, driven man who dedicated his life to exploration and flight, Charles Lindbergh was not an easy man to live with.  Anne’s struggle to come out from under his shadow as an aviator and author in her own right is beautifully chronicled in this book. 

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan 

Chicagoans always love stories about local hero Frank Lloyd Wright, and this book isn’t about his relationship with his wife, but with his longtime lover, Mamah Cheney.  It offers a nuanced, thoughtful portrayal of Cheney, whose feminist ideals were well ahead of her time, and of the difficult choices she had to make in following her passion and choosing to be with Wright.  This is also a wonderful book club book, and part of our book club collection at Cook. 

 - Andrea Larson, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.