I hope this newsletter finds you all well and having a wonderful summer. I was pleased to see so many book submissions in July, a month that typically has Alaskans running in all directions. It’s encouraging to see that through it all, a good many of you are still finding time to read.
So far this year we have 71 participants that have entered into the monthly drawings by submitting their books online or at the library. Some have already read fifteen or more from the list! In July there were 63 submissions and our monthly prize winner this time around is Dana Stabenow. Congratulations, Dana!
***Featured books for August:
All Over the Map: TransAtlantic by Colum McCann. This novel is a series of linked stories joined over time by a common thread of crossing the Atlantic between Ireland and the New World. An inspired Amazon reviewer stated, “It meanders and wanders, and yet it has a drive and pace that are compelling. It proposes that lives are connected in ways that may be important to history, or may not be, and it suggests that the connection matters much more than how important it is… Gorgeous writing, compelling characters, and the sweep of history across continents. What more could one want in literature?”
Animal Nature: Ordinary Wolves by Seth Kantner. In 2014, Alaska Public Media’s radio program “Talk of Alaska” put a call out to its listeners to tell them their favorite Alaska book. Ordinary Wolves came back in the number one slot. Here’s a link to the list, where you’ll find a great description of the book plus many others: http://www.alaskapublic.org/2014/06/2...
Creative Types: Still Life by Louise Penny. This is the introductory novel to the Chief Inspector Gamache series. If you love the books you can even take a guided tour of the sites the Inspector frequents in Quebec City. http://www.toursvoirquebec.com/en/tou... I’ve heard from fans that the books continue to get more compelling the further into the series you go.
Election Year: Team of Rivals by Doris Goodwin. This book is a biographical account of President Abraham Lincoln and a few of his cabinet members. President Obama stated that it would be the one book he’d want to have with him if he were stranded on a deserted island. The 2012 Steven Spielberg movie “Lincoln” was based off of this book and the Christian Science Monitor placed it on their list “11 Best Political Books of All Time.” http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/2013/0...
Isn’t it Romantic?: Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari & Eric Klineberg. You might recognize Aziz Ansari from the television show “Parks and Recreation,” but for this book his humor is paired with research. A reviewer at Bustle states, “Modern Romance gives an impressive overview of how the dating game has changed with the advent of cell phones and the Internet.” Fifteen in ’16 participant Catriona Reynolds left this comment: “I finally got around to reading this. It is very much hetero-normative and traditionally gendered, and Aziz Ansari acknowledges that is the case, mostly I could read past that. Otherwise it is funny and insightful.”
Laugh Out Loud: The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz. This is another first of a series. Anne Parker left this wonderful review on Amazon: “Is it a mystery? Well, not exactly, although it contains at least one genuine whodunit. A comedy? Again, not exactly, although the comic pacing is perfect. A coming of age tale? Hmmm, no, but several characters do come of age in the book. Drama? No, too funny, with lots of action and a minimal amount of reflecting on the meaning of events. The Spellmans are a family of private detectives who wiretap, tail, photograph and blackmail each other as an alternative to more conventional ways of showing love.”
North Country: Reykjavik Nights by Arnaldur Indridason. This prequel to a series is set in Reykjavik in the late 1960s and is the backstory of protagonist Erlendur Sveinsson. If you enjoy the book, you can always read more from the Inspector Erlendur series. And if the book makes you want to go to Iceland, you’re in luck! Direct flights between Anchorage and Reykjavik are only seven hours long.
Southern Flair: Deep South by Paul Theroux. The author of the acclaimed novel The Mosquito Coast uses his keen eye for detail in this nonfiction account of traveling around the Deep South of the United States. To learn more you can read this review by Bret Lott in the Boston Globe: https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/book...
Staff Picks: So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson. An Amazon review sums this book up well. “The tool of shaming someone publicly for breaking the law or violating the social contract in some other way is as old as time. But with the advent of the Internet, and specifically, the rise of tools like Twitter, shaming can go viral instantly. Instead of your immediate community knowing what you did wrong -- and deciding whether and when to forgive you, because they may have a sense of the broader context and of who you are as a person beyond that misstep -- the entire world now becomes aware, instantly, without any of that context. And the results, as Ronson shows, can be horrifying and potentially disproportionate.” I bet those of us who frequent the Internet can think of a few instances of when this has happened, and now there is a book to delve into the subject.
Wild West: The Perilous Journey of the Donner Party by Marian Calabro. In 1846 the Donner Party headed west from Illinois to California in a wagon train. Since almost half of the party was comprised of children and teens, it seems appropriate that the author chose to tell a great deal of the story through the eyes of 13-year old Virginia Reed. This book is a detailed account of their journey, all of their hardships and ultimately their arrival (at least those who survived) at their destination. If you’re interested in the history of the westward expansion of the United States, this young adult book is a fast and informative read.
I hope this newsletter finds you all well and having a wonderful summer. I was pleased to see so many book submissions in July, a month that typically has Alaskans running in all directions. It’s encouraging to see that through it all, a good many of you are still finding time to read.
So far this year we have 71 participants that have entered into the monthly drawings by submitting their books online or at the library. Some have already read fifteen or more from the list! In July there were 63 submissions and our monthly prize winner this time around is Dana Stabenow. Congratulations, Dana!
***Featured books for August:
All Over the Map: TransAtlantic by Colum McCann. This novel is a series of linked stories joined over time by a common thread of crossing the Atlantic between Ireland and the New World. An inspired Amazon reviewer stated, “It meanders and wanders, and yet it has a drive and pace that are compelling. It proposes that lives are connected in ways that may be important to history, or may not be, and it suggests that the connection matters much more than how important it is… Gorgeous writing, compelling characters, and the sweep of history across continents. What more could one want in literature?”
Animal Nature: Ordinary Wolves by Seth Kantner. In 2014, Alaska Public Media’s radio program “Talk of Alaska” put a call out to its listeners to tell them their favorite Alaska book. Ordinary Wolves came back in the number one slot. Here’s a link to the list, where you’ll find a great description of the book plus many others: http://www.alaskapublic.org/2014/06/2...
Creative Types: Still Life by Louise Penny. This is the introductory novel to the Chief Inspector Gamache series. If you love the books you can even take a guided tour of the sites the Inspector frequents in Quebec City. http://www.toursvoirquebec.com/en/tou... I’ve heard from fans that the books continue to get more compelling the further into the series you go.
Election Year: Team of Rivals by Doris Goodwin. This book is a biographical account of President Abraham Lincoln and a few of his cabinet members. President Obama stated that it would be the one book he’d want to have with him if he were stranded on a deserted island. The 2012 Steven Spielberg movie “Lincoln” was based off of this book and the Christian Science Monitor placed it on their list “11 Best Political Books of All Time.” http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/2013/0...
Isn’t it Romantic?: Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari & Eric Klineberg. You might recognize Aziz Ansari from the television show “Parks and Recreation,” but for this book his humor is paired with research. A reviewer at Bustle states, “Modern Romance gives an impressive overview of how the dating game has changed with the advent of cell phones and the Internet.” Fifteen in ’16 participant Catriona Reynolds left this comment: “I finally got around to reading this. It is very much hetero-normative and traditionally gendered, and Aziz Ansari acknowledges that is the case, mostly I could read past that. Otherwise it is funny and insightful.”
Laugh Out Loud: The Spellman Files by Lisa Lutz. This is another first of a series. Anne Parker left this wonderful review on Amazon: “Is it a mystery? Well, not exactly, although it contains at least one genuine whodunit. A comedy? Again, not exactly, although the comic pacing is perfect. A coming of age tale? Hmmm, no, but several characters do come of age in the book. Drama? No, too funny, with lots of action and a minimal amount of reflecting on the meaning of events. The Spellmans are a family of private detectives who wiretap, tail, photograph and blackmail each other as an alternative to more conventional ways of showing love.”
North Country: Reykjavik Nights by Arnaldur Indridason. This prequel to a series is set in Reykjavik in the late 1960s and is the backstory of protagonist Erlendur Sveinsson. If you enjoy the book, you can always read more from the Inspector Erlendur series. And if the book makes you want to go to Iceland, you’re in luck! Direct flights between Anchorage and Reykjavik are only seven hours long.
Southern Flair: Deep South by Paul Theroux. The author of the acclaimed novel The Mosquito Coast uses his keen eye for detail in this nonfiction account of traveling around the Deep South of the United States. To learn more you can read this review by Bret Lott in the Boston Globe: https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/book...
Staff Picks: So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson. An Amazon review sums this book up well. “The tool of shaming someone publicly for breaking the law or violating the social contract in some other way is as old as time. But with the advent of the Internet, and specifically, the rise of tools like Twitter, shaming can go viral instantly. Instead of your immediate community knowing what you did wrong -- and deciding whether and when to forgive you, because they may have a sense of the broader context and of who you are as a person beyond that misstep -- the entire world now becomes aware, instantly, without any of that context. And the results, as Ronson shows, can be horrifying and potentially disproportionate.” I bet those of us who frequent the Internet can think of a few instances of when this has happened, and now there is a book to delve into the subject.
Wild West: The Perilous Journey of the Donner Party by Marian Calabro. In 1846 the Donner Party headed west from Illinois to California in a wagon train. Since almost half of the party was comprised of children and teens, it seems appropriate that the author chose to tell a great deal of the story through the eyes of 13-year old Virginia Reed. This book is a detailed account of their journey, all of their hardships and ultimately their arrival (at least those who survived) at their destination. If you’re interested in the history of the westward expansion of the United States, this young adult book is a fast and informative read.