Tuesday, October 27, 2015

The Other Daughter by Lauren Willig

Set in 1920’s London, Willig gives a behind-the-curtain peek at the world of the Bright Young Things of the time. Rachel Woodley has rushed home from her governess position near Paris to reach her very ill mother’s side. Unfortunately, she is too late and now is left to clean out their cottage and try to get on with her life. When she discovers a recent newspaper photo in her mother’s papers, she is shocked to discover that her father, whom she believed long dead, is not only alive but an earl with a wife and two children. Once she confirms that he truly is her father and that her mother had been lying to her for years, Rachel decides to find a way into her half-sister’s world and ultimately expose her father.
With the aid of a new acquaintance with his own agenda but the right connections, Rachel enters into a complex charade; but once in, she finds this new world is not as simple and lighthearted as it appears. Her motives become muddied as she gets to know Olivia and realizes her sister is not the enemy.

TheOther Daughter is more than a story about secrets kept and a longing for revenge, it’s about a young woman finding her true self and realizing she can choose who she really is and whom she wishes to become.
CAS 




Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Most Likely to Succeed by Tony Wagner and Ted Dintersmith



In Most Likely to Succeed, Wagner and Dintersmith explore the idea that even though everyone always seems to be talking about education reform it's almost always in regards to helping boost student performance (and, depending on the reform, school and teacher accountability) in our current system. However, they posit that the system itself is the actual problem; education is preparing 21st century children for a 20th century society. Students still memorize facts, dates, and equations when most of this information can be looked up on the computers, smartphones, and tablets they have at their disposal; and memorizing an equation doesn't necessarily mean they understand what the equation does (I can still sing, because that's how my teacher taught it, the quadratic equation, but I can't tell you how the information I get from it is useful) and in today's world understanding how something works and can be used and manipulated is far more marketable than being able to rattle off something that anyone can google.

While the focus is education it can also put a new perspective on who to hire (what does an excellent GPA from a good university really say about someone?) and what would make for a good employee or colleague.

This book offers an intriguing look at the education system, why it is set up the way it is, why that way should possibly be dismantled, and ways certain programs and schools are working on doing that.

Lisa

Monday, October 19, 2015

David Bowie: Starman by Paul Trynka



David Bowie has often been viewed, and sometimes criticized, as a musician who needs to collaborate with other more cutting edge musical artists in order to produce his best work. In David Bowie: Starman, his thorough biography of the rock chameleon, Paul Trynka does not try to dispute this claim. He looks at it more as one of Bowie’s gifts. With The Man Who Sold the World, Bowie’s first artistically if not commercially successful album, Bowie relied heavily on gifted guitarist Mick Ronson to create the album’s hard rock, often improvised sound. He continued to work with collaborators throughout the seventies and into the eighties with Let’s Dance, his most commercially successful album. Trynka argues that many of these collaborators never achieved on their own what they achieved while working with Bowie. He also credits Bowie’s unusual and sometimes cryptic ways in the studio, which are well documented in the book, with bringing out the best in musicians as diverse as Luther Vandross and Robert Fripp.

David Bowie hasn’t been willing to grant many interviews in recent decades. This lack of access to his subject is one of the biography’s weaknesses, but Trynka compensates by interviewing countless people who crossed paths with Bowie from his childhood to recent years. David Bowie: Starman seems to be the definitive biography of David Bowie.

John

Eight Hundred Grapes: A Novel by Laura Dave

The best way to describe Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave - interesting. Interesting characters, interesting location, interesting plot line, etc. Even the title is interesting - eight hundred grapes (according to the author) is the number of grapes needed to make a bottle of wine.

This is the story of thirty-year-old Georgia Ford, a woman who has just found out that her fiance has been keeping a huge secret from her. So what does Georgia do when she realizes her world is falling apart - she returns home. And for Georgia, home is Sonoma California and her family's winery.

However, things aren't so great at home either. Her parent's marriage seems to be in trouble, and her twin brothers are at odds. On top of all that, everyone seems to know what is best for Georgia - her mother, her best friend, her fiance. Even the young winemaker that is trying to buy her family's vineyard. Everyone, of course, except for Georgia. She obviously has some serious decisions to make. Not just for herself and her future, but for the future of her family and their vineyard as well.

If you enjoy a novel with lots of interesting facts and in particular, if you are interested in how wine is made, then you will truly find this a great read.

Karen

Saturday, October 17, 2015

BookLite: Well-Loved Books



BookLite meets offsite at The Still in Bartlett on the 3rd Thursday of each month. 

Last month during our book discussion, we didn't just talk about our featured book, The Man in the High Castle by Phillip K. Dick. We also talked about books and authors that we really love. Here are those books and authors (in no particular order). I've included links to the library catalog for those books that we own.

Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle
Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis
Marriage of Opposites by Alice Hoffman 
Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith 
The cat who series by Lilian Jackson Braun 
Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larsson 
To Kill aMockingbird by Harper Lee
Wishin' and Hopin' by Wally Lamb 
I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb 
She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb 
Thunder Dog by Michael Hingson

Authors:

Friday, October 16, 2015

Cookbook Club - The Chew



At Sunday's Cookbook Club meeting members reviewed recipes they tried out from The Chew: Food, Life, Fun. While, many enjoy watching the show on ABC, this was not a favorite among the cookbooks selected. All the foods came out tasting good, but many found that times were longer (in some cases much longer) than times estimated in the book and there were quite a few recipes listed at the easy level, however several of them were a bit more complicated than easy. Another issue some had was a lack of pictures in the book; it can be nice to know what your final product should look like. On the other hand each host gave a little opening to their recipes, which added some fun personality to each one.

From this book the group enjoyed:
Fresh Frozen Fruit Sorbet - The book called for honey instead of agave and a mix of frozen mangoes, strawberries and peaches were used.
Whoopie Pies - 2 different cooks
Skillet Irish Soda Bread
Coconut Pound Cake - We tried a less sweetened version with powdered sugar on top rather than glaze.
Warrior Salad
Holiday Mac & Cheese Casserole
Wine-Stained Pasta

Next Month's Book: Bake it, Don't Fake it! by Heather Bertinelli









Copies can be picked up at the reference desk.
Next Meeting: Sunday, November 15th at 1:00pm

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Tiny Little Thing by Beatriz Williams

If you are a fan of all things Kennedy and/or the 1960s in general, then Tiny Little Thing will simply delight you.

Christina "Tiny" Hardcastle is all set to finally cash in on her dreams for the perfect future. Her attractive, wealthy, well-connected husband Frank is running (and will probable win) a Senate seat, and she has been groomed her whole life to be the perfect wife. And it hasn't been easy. After all, everyone has secrets. So when Frank's Vietnam veteran/hero cousin Caspian comes into town to help Frank win the election, Tiny's worst fears are realized.

Because cousin Caspian is Tiny's secret.

Karen

Read-alike title: The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel for the feel of the time.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande



In Being Mortal, Gawande looks at how medicine treats dying, both in terms of the old and the terminally ill. Through interviews and personal stories he discusses how medicine's (and by extension nursing homes') approach to dying is to put it off for as long as possible, but in countless situations this can run counter to a person's quality of life. While points in this book are emotional and poignant its ideas are also thoughtfully and logically presented. A thought provoking read about a time of life that many people avoid thinking about until they, or someone they care about, are in it.

Lisa