Book of the Day Archive
-Date:Monday, November 02, 2009
Forgotten Voices of the Great War
Book of the Day:
Forgotten Voices of the Great War: A History of World War I in the Words of the Men and Women Who Were There
Author: Max Arthur
Library Location: 940.4 FORGOTTEN
From the inside flap:
In 1972 the British Imperial War Museum set about the momentous task of tracing ordinary veterans of World War I and interviewing them in detail about their experiences. The Imperial War Museum Sound Archive. . . has since grown to be the most important collection of its kind in the world. . . .
These recordings, many of which have remained unheard for decades, contain the forgotten voices of a generation no longer with us. Only a small fraction of the material has been used by historians. Now, thirty years later, after hundreds of hours in the archive and unlimited access to the complete World War I audiotapes, acclaimed author Max Arthur and his team of researchers have created this remarkable landmark history of the Great War—told in the words of the ordinary men and women who experienced it in the raw.
Excerpt:
Private Reginald Leonard Haine
1st Battalion, Honourable Artillery Company
So I went right up to the front, where I was met by a sergeant-major at a desk. My friend introduced me to the sergeant, who said, ‘Are you willing to join?’ I said, ‘Yes Sir.’ He said, ‘Well, how old are you?’ I said, ‘I am eighteen and one month.’ He said, ‘Do you mean nineteen and one month?’ So I thought a moment and said, ‘Yes Sir.’ He said, ‘Right-ho, well sign here please.’ He said, ‘You realize you can go overseas?’ So that was my introduction to the Army.
-Date: Fri, 30 Oct 2009
Book of the Day:
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Authors: Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Library Location: FIC GRAHAME-SMITH
This parody of the beloved Austen classic is a hoot! A lot of the original story is still there, although the liberties taken by Mr. Grahame-Smith do alter the plot details somewhat. . .
Synopsis from the back of the book:
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”
So begins Price and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield. Can Elizabeth vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you’d actually want to read.
Excerpt:
When they were but three miles from London, and Sir William was prattling on about the particulars of his knighthood for the second time in as many hours, the chaise lurched to a halt. The suddenness of this was enough to send Maria flying from one side of the carriage to the other, and was promptly followed by frightened shouts and the crack of powder outside. Had Elizabeth not been graced with steady nerves and the fortitude of years of combat, she might have gasped upon pulling back one of the curtains—for there were no less than one hundred unmentionables surrounding them on all sides. One of the young musket men had been dragged off the chaise and was being devoured, while the other two living men fired clumsily into the crowd as the hands of the dead pulled at their pant legs. Elizabeth grabbed her Brown Bess and Katana sword and told Sir William and Maria to remain as they were.
-Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2009
Book of the Day:
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
Author: Max Brooks
Library Location: FIC BROOKS
As the title indicates, this book is an oral history of the Zombie War, as told through the personal recollections of survivors from all over the globe. With the current popularity of zombie stories, this book is flying off the library shelves.
The first paragraph of the book reads:
It goes by many names: “The Crisis,” “The Dark Years,” “The Walking Plague,” as well as newer and more “hip” titles such as “World War Z” or “Z War One.” I personally dislike this last moniker as it implies an inevitable “Z War Two.” For me, it will always be “The Zombie War,” and while many may protest the scientific accuracy of the word zombie, they will be hard-pressed to discover a more globally accepted term for the creatures that almost caused our extinction. Zombie remains a devastating word, unrivaled in its power to conjure up so many memories or emotions, and it is these memories, and emotions, that are the subject of this book.
-Date: Wed, 28 Oct 2009
Book of the Day:
Evernight
Author: Claudia Gray
Library Location: FIC GRAY
AR Information: IL:UG BL:5.2 Pts:12
Bianca feels totally out of place at Evernight Academy until she meets Lucas Ross. But Lucas is harboring a dangerous secret. . .
Excerpt:
The other students clustered together in circles too tight for a newcomer to enter, their eyes dark and quick as they darted over me. It was as though they could see down into the panicked fluttering of my heart. To me, it seemed that they all looked alike—not in any obvious way but in their shared perfection. Every girl’s hair shone, whether worn down in a cascade past her shoulders or tied back in a prim, sleek bun. Every guy looked self-assured and strong, with smiles that served as masks. Everybody wore the uniform, with the sweaters and skirts and blazers and trousers in all the acceptable variations: gray, red, plaid, black. The raven crest marked them all, and they wore the symbol as though they owned it. Confidence radiated from them, and superiority, and disdain. I could feel the heat leaching from me as I stood on the outskirts of the room, shifting from foot to foot.
Nobody said hello.
-Date: Tue, 27 Oct 2009
Book of the Day:
The Forest of Hands and Teeth
Author: Carrie Ryan
Library Location: FIC RYAN
AR Information: IL:MG BL:5.8 Pts:14
A small enclave of human survivors eeks out a precarious existence within a fenced compound surrounded by the Unconsecrated—zombie-like creatures that hunger for human flesh. Most are resigned to their existence there, but Mary has heard stories of an ocean beyond the surrounding forest, and she longs to see it.
Excerpt:
Often, my mother stands next to me holding her hand up over her eyes to block the sun and looking out past the fences and into the trees and brush, waiting to see if her husband will come home to her.
She is the only one who believes that he has not turned—that he might come home the same man he was when he left. I gave up on my father months ago and buried the pain of losing him as deeply as possible so that I could continue with my daily life. Now I sometimes fear coming to the edge of the Forest and looking past the fence. I am afraid I will see him there with the others: tattered clothes, sagging skin, the horrible pleading moan and the fingers scraped raw from pulling at the metal fences.
That no one has seen him gives my mother hope. At night she prays to God that he has found some sort of enclave similar to our village. That somewhere in the dense Forest he has found safety. But no one else has any hope. The Sisters tell us that ours is the only village left in the world.
Note: This book is beautifully written, interesting, and involving. But as you can probably tell from the paragraph above, it is not a cheerful read. I almost quit in the middle for that reason, but the dang thing had me hooked—I had to finish it. Ultimately, I was glad I did.
-Date: Mon, 26 Oct 2009
In honor of Halloween, I intend to look at some of our newer fiction books this week. As you probably know, vampire/werewolf/zombie fiction reigns supreme right now. So here goes!
Book of the Day:
Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side
Author: Beth Fantaskey
Library Location: FIC FANTASKEY
AR Information: IL:UG BL:4.9 Pts:14
Jessica Packwood, normal American teenager, is horrified to learn that she is really a vampire princess spirited away from Romania after the murder of her parents. As if that isn’t bad enough, she learns that she was betrothed at birth to Lucius Vladescu—vampire prince from a warlike rival family.
Excerpt: (Lucius has come to America to meet his future bride and ends up attending her high school while he waits for her to adjust to the idea of her eventual destiny. In this excerpt he is writing home to his uncle about his adjustment to life in America and about the progress of his courtship)
As you know, I have always been curious about our immortality. . . how it will feel to live on and on through time (assuming one avoids the stake, as I intend). I need speculate no longer. I have sampled eternity in Miss Campbell’s fifth period “social studies” class. Three days on the concept of “manifest destiny,” Vasile. THREE DAYS. I yearned to stand up, rip her lecture notes from her pallid hands, and scream, “Yes, America expanded westward! Is that not logical, given that Europeans settled on the eastern shore? What else were they to do? Advance vainly into the sea?
But I must not rant. . .
-Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2009
Book of the Day:
Earth Abides
Author: George R. Stewart
Library Location: FIC STEWART
This book was recommended to me years ago by my 11th grade history teacher, and now I am passing the word along.
The book was written back in 1949, but the subject matter is timely. A grad student (“Ish”) from UC Berkeley falls ill while in a remote area working on his thesis. He recovers and returns to civilization, only to find that most of humanity has been wiped out by a deadly new plague. In order to keep his sanity and give himself purpose, he appoints himself to the task of observing a world without man. The first section of the book deals with Ish’s discovery of the disaster and his initial adjustment to the new reality. The central section of the book deals with the small community of survivors which eventually forms, and the third examines the questions of ultimate survival: How long can the surviving humans live off of the remains of the old civilization? When everything that was left has been used up or rotted away, how will life go on? How do parents teach the values of the old civilization to children who have never known the old world? Does one try to pass on the old skills related to education and technology, or let it all go and just teach them to survive?
Excerpt:
At the Flatiron Building he turned into Broadway, and followed it clear to Wall Street. There they both got out, and Princess showed interest in some kind of trail which ran along the sidewalk. Wall Street! He enjoyed walking along its empty length. With a little observation he discovered that there was some grass, weeds rather, showing green here and there in the cracks of the gutter. He remembered the family story that an early Dutch settler, one of their ancestors, had owned a good farm in this vicinity. His, father, when the bills were high, used to say, “Well, I wish we had held on to that farm on Manhattan Island.” Now Ish could take the land back for all that anybody cared. Yet this wilderness of concrete and steel and asphalt was the last place where anybody would really care to live now. He would trade that Wall Street farm for any ten acres in Napa Valley, or even for a small corner of Central Park.
He walked back to his car, and drove south on Broadway still, the little distance to the Battery. There he gazed across the expanse of the lower Bay toward the ocean. This was the end of the road.
There might be communities left in Europe or South America or on some of the islands, but he could not go to find out. Right here, doubtless, his Dutch ancestor had come ashore some three hundred years ago. Now he, Ish, had rounded the full circle.
-Date: Thu, 22 Oct 2009
Book of the Day:
In Harm’s Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of It’s Survivors
Author: Doug Stanton
Library Location: 940.54 STANTON
AR Information: IL: UG BL: 8.3 Pts: 14
This is the harrowing story of a U.S. Naval disaster during World War II. Due to a mix-up in its orders, the USS Indianapolis ended up alone in the hostile waters of the South Pacific with the Navy believing it was in another location entirely. When the ship was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine, it was days before the Navy even realized it was missing. In the meanwhile, there were almost 900 men in the water. . .
Excerpt:
Within fifteen seconds, the entire bulk of the ship disappeared. All that remained was a wide swath of debris, about half the length of a football field, boiling with foam. The foam itself hissed, like an immense swarm of bees.
There were no birds in the sky, no wind; only the lapping of the noxious stew of seawater and fuel oil against kapok life vests. There were no stars; just the occasional flash of a crescent moon, like a needle of bone threading its way through a flying curtain of cloud. At times, the exhausted boys floated in complete darkness, unable to discern any horizon at all, the sea rising and falling in heavy swells. At other moments, the boys were lit by a ghostly silver light. The living prayed out loud while the dying screamed.
Note: This book is not for the squeamish. Contains descriptions of shark attacks, etc.
-Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2009
Book of the Day:
Petey
Author: Ben Mikaelsen
Library Location: FIC MIKAELSEN
AR Information: IL: MG BL: 4.8 Pts: 6.0
This sad but heartwarming story is based on real events. The author fictionalized the story for a variety of reasons, but says that it is 90% accurate.
A child born in 1920 with cerebral palsy is misdiagnosed as an “Idiot” and locked away in a mental institution for 55 years before being moved to a nursing home in 1977. When he is attacked by bullies outside the nursing home facility, he is rescued by a compassionate teen who becomes his friend and helps him reconnect to important people from his past.
Excerpt from the scene where Petey is transferred from the infants ward to the adult ward:
A light breeze greeted them with the smell of fresh cut grass, lilacs, and honeysuckle. The smells could almost be tasted. Releasing each breath reluctantly, Petey quickly gulped more. He’d felt the wind before, but only for brief moments as he passed an open window going to his weekly bath. Not since the day Petey had arrived at Warm Springs nine years ago had he been outside. Now shivers rushed over him. The air flowed across his entire body, tugging at the white sheet covering his legs. It tickled. The sun, long limited to poking only thin beams of light into the ward, bathed the whole world. Even with his head forced forward, Petey squinted and blinked against the dazzling brightness. He smiled, and his eyes watered.
-Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009
Subject: Yesterday's Book of the Day
Yesterday’s book of the day, Life As We Knew It, is on the AR list.
IL: MG BL: 4.7 Pts: 14
-Date: Tue, 20 Oct 2009
Book of the Day:
The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream
Authors: Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt with Lisa Frazier Page
Library Location: 610.92 DAVIS
AR info: IL: UG BL: 6.8 Pts: 11.0
From the introduction:
We grew up in poor, broken homes in New Jersey neighborhoods riddled with crime, drugs, and death, and came of age in the 1980s at the height of a crack epidemic that ravaged communities like ours throughout the nation. There were no doctors or lawyers walking the streets of our communities. Where we lived, hustlers reigned, and it was easy to follow their example. Two of us landed in juvenile-detention centers before our eighteenth birthdays. But inspired early by caring and imaginative role models, one of us in childhood latched onto a dream of becoming a dentist, steered clear of trouble, and in his senior year of high school persuaded his two best friends to apply to a college program for minority students interested in becoming doctors. We knew we’d never survive if we went after it alone. And so we made a pact: we’d help one another through, no matter what.
They made it. This book is their story.
The book listed above is not a difficult read, but it is written more for adults and older teens. There is a companion volume, which we also have, targeted to a younger crowd. It is entitled We Beat the Streets, and it reads more like a novel although it is still nonfiction. AR info: IL: UG BL: 5.8 Pts: 7.0
The doctors also wrote The Bond: Three Young Men Learn to Forgive and Reconnect with Their Fathers. Underscoring the importance of fathers, the three doctors tell their stories again, specifically focusing on their relationships with their fathers and on the profound ways in which the good and bad in those relationships affected them. AR info: IL: UG BL: 6.7 Pts: 15.0
-Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2009
Book of the Day:
Life As We Knew It
Author: Susan Pfeffer
Library Location: FIC PFEFFER
Life on our planet changes dramatically when an asteroid pushes the moon closer to the earth. Tidal waves and earthquakes kill millions, but that is only the beginning. . . .
This is a fascinating read. The novel follows one teenage girl and her family as they struggle to survive on the outskirts of an unspecified town in the eastern portion of the United States. The low-key way in which the various waves of hardship begin to wash over the family, along with the way the smallest factors eventually make the difference between life and death, brought a sense of realism to the story. I couldn’t put this one down.
Excerpt:
“I went to the bank this morning,” Mom said. “And I filled the gas tank and gas was already at five dollars a gallon. I went to the supermarket and the electricity went out and there was chaos there, so they just said a hundred dollars for each wagon no matter what was in it. I had a lot of cash on me, so I filled a wagon and then went back and got Mrs. Nesbitt and then Johnny and you so we could each get wagons to fill.”
“You don’t really think we’re going to need this stuff?” I asked. “Everything’s going to get back to normal soon, isn’t it?
“Not in my lifetime,” Mrs. Nesbitt said.
“We don’t know,” Mom said. “But kitty litter doesn’t go bad. If it turns out I’m wrong and I’ve wasted all this money, fine. I’d just as soon the world gets back to normal. But in case it takes a while, we might as well have toilet paper. Miranda, you’re going to canned vegetables and fruits. You know what we like.”
“Mom, we don’t eat canned vegetables,” I said.
“We do now,” she said.
-Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2009
Book of the Day:
Lydia Bennet’s Story: The continuing adventures of Mrs. Darcy’s youngest sister
Author: Jane Odiwe
Library Location: FIC ODIWE
This sequel to Pride and Prejudice addresses all of the lingering questions Jane Austen fans may have about Lydia Bennett. How did she come to know George Wickham well enough to run off with him? How did he persuade her to do so? What happened when Mr. Darcy found them? How did the marriage work out? Did Lydia ever grow up and develop any common sense?
The book is written in a style reminiscent of Austen, but is modern enough that a 21st century reader with a good vocabulary can easily follow the story.
Here is an excerpt describing Lydia’s wedding day:
“The bride was all beaming smiles and could not stop giggling at Wickham, who looked the very picture of solemnity, his face the same ashen shade as the statues who guarded their loved ones in the graveyard. Lydia let go her uncle’s arm as soon as she could to stand at George’s side. She smiled up at him. “I shall laugh out loud, Georgie, if you wear that expression much longer. Do not tease me so on my wedding day,” she whispered before giggling into her prayer book. He bit his lip, his brow furrowing as though the weight of the world had been laid upon him.”
-Thursday, October 15, 2009
Book of the Day:
Child of the Revolution: Growing Up In Castro’s Cuba
Author: Luis M. Garcia
Library Location: 920 GARCIA
This inside look at Cuban life during the 1960’s is a fascinating peek inside a closed culture. The information imparted is interesting, but it is the way the book is written in a child’s voice that makes it readable and compelling.
Excerpt:
“When you apply for permission to leave Cuba—when you fill in the application form that will change your life forever—you get a visit from the police. Sometimes accompanied by someone from the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution, they set about taking written stock of everything in the house. It’s called pasar balance. A stocktake for gusanos. They note down every single thing in your house—the number and style of plates, the number of cups and saucers in the pantry, the television set in the lounge room (we should be so lucky!), the ironing board, your jewellery, if you have any. Everything, regardless of monetary or sentimental value. It’s all noted down in great detail because these goods no longer belong to you. They are the property of the People. They belong to the Revolution. You can use them between now and the day you get the telegram saying you can leave Cuba, but you cannot sell them or barter them or do anything with them. Because when the telegram arrives, the police will come again with their clipboards and pencils and make sure every single item listed on the forms remains behind in Cuba. It’s the property of the People. If anything is missing, who knows what will happen?”
Since applying to leave Cuba, we have been extra careful with the plates and the glasses and the big American-made radio in the dining room. When a plate smashed in the kitchen many months ago, my mother picked up the pieces, carefully wrapped them up in newspaper and put the package at the back of the cupboard for safekeeping. Same with the glasses. Same with everything. Now, I see her unwrap the yellowing pages of the papers, one by one, showing the broken china to these two policemen, making sure they know it’s all there. I think she cries as she does this. I am not sure. I know she is dead scared that one of the milicianos will pause and then place a cross instead of a tick on his list. Just like that. A cross instead of a tick, and then we will have to stay in Cuba.”
-Date: Wed, 14 Oct 2009
Book of the Day:
Last Chance to See
Authors: Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine
Library Location: 578.68 ADAMS
Douglas Adams, best known for his Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, turns his quirky focus onto the serious problem of species loss in this travelogue focusing on endangered species. Adams traveled the world with zoologist Mark Carwardine in the late 1980s, looking for rare animals on the endangered list. The giant Komodo dragon of Indonesia, the Kakapo of New Zealand, the blind river dolphins of China, the white rhinos of Zaire and the rare birds of Mauritius island in the Indian Ocean were their quarries. The seriousness of the subject matter combined with the British humor makes this a unique read.
Excerpt:
Not only was the forest thick, it was also cold, wet, and full of large black ants that bit all of us except for Helmut and Kurt, who were wearing special antproof socks which they had brought with them from Latvia.
We complimented them on their foresight and they shrugged and said it was nothing. Latvians were always well prepared. They looked at our recording equipment and said they were surprised that we thought it was adequate. They had much better tape recorders than that in Latvia. We said that that might very well be so, but that we were very happy with it and that the BBC seemed to think it was fine for the job. Helmut (or was it Kurt?) explained that they had much better broadcasting corporations in Latvia.
The outbreak of outright hostilities was happily averted at this moment by a signal from our guides to keep quiet. We were near the gorillas.
Note: The subtle, sophisticated nature of the humor in this book, along with the occasional passing references to mature topics, make this book most appropriate for mature teens.
-Date: Tue, 13 Oct 2009
Dismal out, isn’t it? The idea of curling up with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book is pretty appealing to me right now. Maybe it is to you as well—and to some of your students. With that in mind, I am going to start an e-mail communication called “Book of the Day.” I probably won’t get an e-mail out every day, but as I have the time I want to let you know about some of the great reads available right here in your Foothill Library. Remember, as staff members, you have library privileges too—and the more familiar you are with what we have to offer, the more able you will be to make recommendations to your students. So here goes. . .
Book of the Day:
The Captain’s Wife
Author: Douglas Kelley
Library Location: FIC KELLY
Today’s weather inspired this choice. A fiction book based upon actual events, The Captain’s Wife tells the story of a clipper ship voyage gone terribly wrong.
From the book jacket:
“The trip is marked by dark signs early on. The first mate shows signs of treason that soon erupt into a plot of mutiny. Upon reaching the equator, the Captain falls ill. With no other choice, Mary [the captain’s wife] takes command of the ship. Her command reigns throughout not only the most treacherous passage, Cape Horn, but during the most devastating weather in years. Having learned to navigate on a previous voyage with her husband, she now must utilize all her skills as she demands respect from an unstable crew, nurses her husband day and night, keeps the mutinous first mate at bay, and finds as she becomes a captain, she will also become a mother.”
Note: If any of you have toured the Star of India in the San Diego Harbor, the physical descriptions in this novel are based on the layout of that ship. Also, the descriptions of the passage through Cape Horn will make your hair stand on end!