4 Books to Take to (Insert Your Dream Vacation)

By the time you read this post I will probably be on my way to my summer vacation… I know, I know… you are pretty envious right now. You are imagining me lounging around, slacking off and reading to my little heart’s content on some far away beach…but alas, don’t get too worked up because in reality my summer vacation is going to take place in the labor and delivery ward. I am currently (as I am writing this on June 12th) 37 weeks pregnant  and, as you may know, that translates into street talk as, “lady you’re about to pop…are you sure you should be walking around out here in public like that?” But having already done this whole ‘bring a new life into the world thing’  before, well… to be honest, the novelty has kind of warn off.

My eldest daughter circa 2009

I am looking forward to my stay at the hospital, not just because it will end with me bringing home a cute little newborn to mold into an evil genius, but also (actually mostly) because it means I am going to get a couple days off! While in labor and then for a few days afterwards I will get treated like a princess…nurses will do my bidding, people will bring me food, no one will ask me, for the zillionth time, to watch Frozen or clean up something sticky they spilled (and if they do, so help me, I am having them forcibly removed from the premises). I seriously cannot wait for my little mini-vacation and like all good bookworms looking forward to a vacation I have picked out a few titles to take with me to the spa…er, I mean hospital. Let’s face it, there will be a lot of downtime in between contractions and all that other stuff, and all moms know that you grab those few precious ‘me’ moments whenever and whereever you can, even if it means you have to get yourself admitted to do so. If you are searching for some titles to take on your own vacation this summer, whether it be to a tropical island or to the 7th floor of your nearest hospital, look no further:

American Spring: Lexington, Concord and the Road to Revolution by Walter Borneman: I am student of history, it has always been my favorite subject and I love a good story. This book focuses on, in my opinion, one of the best stories of American history; the spring of 1775 and the events leading up to the American Revolution. But it gets us there in an interesting way. Borneman asks you to step back from history and remember that, while the outcome may seem preordained to us, that for the men and women living through the spring of 1775 – much like our contemporaries all over the world today – the events of that season held only uncertainty and confusion. I cannot wait to finish this book even though I already know the story; it is interesting to look at it from a fresh perspective.

The Library Lovers Mystery Series by Jenn McKinlay: Recently I was looking around for a fun mystery series and stumbled on to Jenn McKinlay’s Library Lovers Series. I sped through the first three books and am now moving on to the 4th in the series, Read it and Weep. These books are great little mysteries. They are current, which I love because sometimes it can be hard to read a mystery written 25 years ago before the wide spread use of cellphones and google. They also do a great job of balancing the love we library workers have for our jobs with a healthy dose of humor about the not-so-pleasant aspects of our duties. If you love your local library, love books, or just love a fun little mystery. this series will give you something to do on your down time during your vacation, or before the IV drip kicks in.

You Are Not Special and Other Encouragements by David McCullough, Jr.: I am really looking forward to reading this book, which is based on a Boston area high school commencement speech from 2012. Being in my early 30’s I grew up at the beginning of the “you are so awesome” movement but my default slacker personality meant that I never really took those sentiments to heart, I would much rather just be than excel at anything. I do, however, know lots of friends and family members who are struggling in a world that doesn’t automatically give them a trophy for just showing up (“You want me to, like, work overtime? Because it’s part of my job responsibilities? What? I don’t understand”).

Dodger by Terry Pratchett: I love me some Terry Pratchett and I love re-imaginings of classic characters and stories so this is right up my alley. Here we have the story of 17-year old Artful Dodger who sees a girl jump from a carriage in an attempt to escape her captors and ends up on a wild ride that introduces him to Sweeney Todd, Charles Dickens and Benjamin Disraeli. I can’t wait to sink my teeth into this one since it includes other well-known characters and some real-life people from history.

At some point I also might also pack clothes and my camera and stuff like for the hospital, but let’s be honest, the books are the most important part.

-Natalie (a/k/a baby mama)

 

 

 

 

The Tale of A Tribute: Remembering Dr. Margaret Mary Kimmel

Once upon a time there was a city of steel and glass, nestled into the crook of three rivers, that was known for its commitment to song and story. One fateful day in June, the city lost its master storyteller, a woman of wit, skill, and passion, described by one of her students as “a cross between Katharine Hepburn and an extremely forceful tornado.”

Or, as the scribes did tell it:

Dr. Margaret Mary Kimmel died on Tuesday, June 10, 2014,  after a brief illness. Her impact on Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh as well as on the profession as a whole can hardly be overestimated. During her tenure at the School of Library and Information Services at the University of Pittsburgh, where she served as Chair for nine years, she taught, advised and mentored numerous current and past CLP staff members.

Active in the Association for Library Services to Children, she was both a past president and a recipient of the ALSC Distinguished Service Award. Locally, Dr. Kimmel was one of the founding members of Beginning with Books and also served as an advisor to her good friend Fred Rogers.

Dr. Kimmel’s active service to the Library took place between 1994 and 2001, when she served on the Board of Trustees. As a tribute to her contributions and to create a lasting legacy in her honor, a scholarship was funded in her name in 1995 by a Life Trustee of the CLP board.

This scholarship is available to employees of the Library and ensures that her impact will continue well into the future. Over the years dozens of CLP staff have been able to meet Dr. Kimmel during the scholarship application process with 19 being chosen as scholarship recipients thus far*.

Dr. Margaret Mary Kimmel. Photo obtained via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Click through to read the full obituary.

 

Her loss was keenly felt by the other members of her guild, many of whom had learned their art directly from her, and they were sorrowful. But they were joyful, too, for the sake of the gifts in her teachings and example. And therefore, they determined, they would assemble their memories of the learned storyteller on pieces of invisible paper, and fashion them into a vessel of air that could travel the known worlds with news of her passing, and her legacy.

Some spoke of her capacity for kindness and compassion:

I first met Maggie Kimmel not long after I’d been hired at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, some 23 years ago. It was something of a tumultuous time for me — a new city, a new job at a large organization, accompanied by a somewhat chilly reception from a number of quarters.

Those were different times and this was a different place.

I went to one of the first meetings I was assigned to and, on entering the room, I introduced myself to those I didn’t know. Maggie was one. In our initial exchange, she asked if I was the new head of the Humanities Department.

Needless to say, though the answer was no, we liked each other right away.

Throughout the years, Maggie would act as an informal sounding board and frequently gave the most grounded, cogent advice on how to deal with things, day-to-day. Her humor was quick, sharp and generous, and how very much she cared about the Carnegie Library, in flush times and in lean, was never far from her mind and our conversation.

Though we were not real friends, we were colleagues, which was apparent from the very moment I met her, and I will be forever grateful for that.

A smile, a nod and a few words of encouragement — so rare, so treasured and so helpful. Thank you so much, Maggie.

I’ll be sure to pass it on.

~ Don Wentworth
Reference Services
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Main

I have a some very vivid memories of Dr. Kimmel from my time in library school. Even though I wasn’t in the school media or children’s librarian track, I did get a chance to take a storytelling class with her while I was there. She had an amazing talent for storytelling, and I learned some valuable lessons from that class. She was also chair of the school when I was going through, and at the time my father was dying of cancer (and so I was missing a bit of school time with trips to Cleveland). She was extremely supportive and understanding, especially when I had to miss classes for his funeral, and provided a shoulder to cry on upon my return.
I feel sorry for those librarians who didn’t have a chance to have her, either as a professor or a mentor in this field.

~ Maria Joseph
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – LYNCS

Dr. Kimmel rode by on the sidewalk, as my 6-year-old daughter and I stood in line to enter the blow-up “Very Hungry Catepillar” at the 1st Extravaganza (2000). I said to my daughter, “Look — you know her. She told the story of ‘Stone Soup’ on Mr. Roger’s.” Dr. Kimmel overheard this, turned around and came back to meet my daughter and shake her hand.

While standing by the elevators in the parking garage at Main, Dr. Kimmel parked in the handicap spot & rode her cart out of her van. “Hello Dr. Kimmel,” I said. She looked at me with that glint in her eye and said, “To you, Jackie, it’s Maggie!”

Having been the Chair of SLIS during my graduate days, I found Maggie to be down-to-earth, approachable and the master of all storytellers. Rest in peace.

~ Jackie Mignogna
Coordinator of Conservation, Preservation and Access
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Main

Others testified specifically to her gifts as a teacher and storyteller:

Maggie Kimmel was my instructor for most of my classes on the Children’s Librarianship track at SIS from 1998 to 1999. She was a powerful storyteller. Her recollections, heart-rending or humorous, of her experiences providing library service to inner city children were inspiring. I’ve had many teachers over the years but only a few whose image and voice I carry with me; Maggie Kimmel was one of those. Her vehement condemnation of flannel boards and the word “cute” when used to describe a children’s book still resonate. Her passion and commitment to providing all children with the best books and best library service will be sorely missed.

~ Patte Kelley
Department Head, Children’s
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Main

I thought of Dr. Kimmel as one of Sleeping Beauty’s three good fairies. She was little, round in a cozy kind of way and topped with a lovely, white, whipped cream fluff of hair. She drove a motor-powered wheelchair, fast. I never saw her out of it. It seemed as if it and she were all of a kind.

Dr. Kimmel told a story once about a time she traveled to a school as a storyteller. She said it happened long ago, to a place in the Midwest, perhaps, a school, a poor one. She said she told a story to a classroom of kids about a boy in a jungle who was scared, so scared to be alone in the dark in such a wild place. The birds were loud, the shadows were long, the dark pressed in. The jungle cats eyes glowed green through the vines, and the little boy could hear them sneaking, sneaking closer. Their talons against the jungle floor…hairy-legged spiders watching with their hundred eyes, snakes sniffing him with their tongues outstretched, uncurling toward him, the mist settling sticky on his back and arms…. So the little boy did something his Ayah, his nurse, had told him to do. He grabbed a stick, and in the sand under his feet, he drew a circle all around himself. And the little boy could sense the jungle cats draw back, the spiders and snakes recoiling, and the darkness turning from a scary, mean vapor to a comfortable black blanket. Inside his circle, the little boy fell asleep, safe under the stars, twinkling down through the vines and red flowers.

It was the kind of story that Dr. Kimmel had told a lot of times, she said. I forget the name of the story, but that particular one wasn’t the point. What followed was. After Dr. Kimmel returned from her visit to the school, she got a call. A little boy who had sat in front of her in that school had heard her story that day and gone home. Later that night, his baby-sitter had a heart attack. The little boy found a piece of chalk in the house, drew a circle around the babysitter, and sat, holding her hand, for two days, before they were found.

Dr. Kimmel told us that the school called her and told her what happened to their student. She flew back to the school and talked to the boy. The little boy’s belief in hope and magic and protection from fear helped him to persevere through a frightening and horrific experience. The power of story carried him through.

In 2007, we were learning html and gaining “competencies” for state education processes in the school library program at SLIS. Dr. Kimmel was old-school. Her little blue eyes behind those glasses snapped ferociously when we had to confess we hadn’t read a book on her syllabus. She never felt that she could emphasize enough the power of story, and she expected us to read until our eyes bled.

I’ll always remember trying to get closer to her in that long rectangular space — that space that didn’t fit her. She belonged in a round griot’s hut, where those lucky enough to get physically close to her could fully experience her voice, her face, the golden alchemy of her words. She brought me to tears in class so many times she called me her “Crier.” Thank you, Dr. Kimmel, for your old-school artistry. Thank you for the grace with which you kept the ancient art of storytelling a part of training librarians. Thank you for bringing us into your magic circle, holding us there and teaching us how to go forth, draw children in, and draw our own.

~ Sheila May-Stein
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Hill District

Dr. Kimmel was a force. Having her for storytelling could be intimidating, with her national reputation and way with words — it was like having John Kennedy or Barack Obama for oratory. When I presented my story I couldn’t look at her. I just couldn’t. But then I had my interview for children’s librarian at the Beechview location of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. I told “A Small God,” and I saw a knowing look pass between her and the others judging my mettle.

She always seemed so stern, although I’m sure it was with a twinkle in her eye. As a student I was convinced that Maggie never liked me (and I could never call her that to her face — it was always Dr. Kimmel), but when I talked to some of my fellow students, some that I was sure she favored, they all said the same thing.

I was honored to be included at her retirement party and doubly so when she told me she was interested in reading the reviews I did for The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and School Library Journal.

I’m in awe of the boards she was on, the work she did for children and the disabled throughout our region and the car/truck/whatever she drove out of the parking garage when I’d pull out before or after her.

I’m sure Maggie is telling the angels about the rowdy boy who asked her how the puppet knew his name when it told him to sit down during her performance and about the statue of baby Jesus that perfectly arched across the stage when it was forgotten during a Christmas performance, as well as her many other fascinating and comforting stories. Their luck.

I saw her last at a Best Book for Babies committee meeting this spring. She was her usual robust and very gracious self — she laughed a lot, offered strong opinions and left all the other committee members believing – hoping – she’d be here forever. And in a way, through her stories, her influences, her — force —, she always will be.

~ Tina Zubak
Children’s Department
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Main

One well-told tale conveyed not only the scope of what she had done and who she had been, but also offered the key to keeping her legacy alive:

Maggie Kimmel loved books. As a founding member of the now defunct non-profit Beginning with Books, she worked tirelessly to get good books into the hands of young children, and chaired a committee that annually identified the Best Books for Babies.

As a professor at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Library and Information Sciences, she taught her students over the years about the rich history of children’s literature, how to tell a story so that listeners would hang on every word, and how to evaluate children’s materials (including her vehement opinion that “cute” was not a viable assessment of a book’s worth).

Personally, she had a distinct fondness for romantic suspense authors like Nora Roberts, Iris Johansen and Elizabeth Lowell, among many others, though of course she also kept up with new titles for children and shared her opinions on the good, the bad and the ugly with great enthusiasm.

Maggie even wrote a couple of books herself — Magic in the Mist and For Reading Out Loud. But for all of her love of literature, what Maggie really cared about was people. Whether improving the lives of countless kids by training children’s librarians or advocating for improved medical services for the disabled, Maggie used her considerable personal power and charisma to make the world a better place.

Carrying on that work in her memory may be cold comfort to those who will miss her, but it’s the finest tribute we could offer. Just don’t forget to slip the occasional light reading into your schedule too.

~ Lisa Dennis
Coordinator, Children’s Collections
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

And so, with hopeful hearts, the storytellers released their tribute to the four winds and returned to their work, determined to not only remember what they had learned, but also to honor their teacher and friend by following her example, both audibly, in song and story, and silently, in the work of heart and hand.

We will resume our regular publication schedule on Monday, June 30th. Friends, colleagues, and others who have personal or professional memories of Dr. Kimmel to share are invited to their own stories and recollections in the comments section.

*Many thanks to Lisa Dennis for allowing us to reprint this passage, which originally appeared elsewhere.

 

Contingency Table Analysis What?

“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned
lies and statistics.”
-Mark Twain*

I established in another post that I hate school. It partly stems from my dismal mathematical abilities. I wanted to understand calculus. I wanted to understand chemistry formulas. In college, I even took Basic Applied Statistics. After three minutes of lecture I wanted to puke on my shoes. I had no idea what was happening. Yet, I persist in reading books about math and physics and economics, even if I don’t always understand them.

Thankfully, the rockstar economists (Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner) who brought you the ground-breaking Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything and Superfreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance (as well as the movie and weekly podcast) have come out with a new book that will retrain your brain to think about economics and statistics creatively, productively, and sans math skills.

For example: remember the “Year of the Shark” in 2001? During that entire year, there were 68 shark attacks, 4 of which were fatal. Four in a world of 6 BILLION people. Elephants kill at least 200 people every year, but we never hear about the “Year of the Elephant” (International Shark Attack File  if you’re really that interested in shark attacks).

Vicious killer.

Or see the math that proves drunk walking is far more dangerous than drunk driving. In one of my favorite chapters, find out why a “street prostitute is like a department store santa” (hint: it involves spikes in demand).

Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics are about recognizing the tricks in statistics and economics. Yes, elephants kill more people yearly but elephants don’t have an image problem. Unless you consider Dumbo or Babar “too” cute. And, yes, on a per mile basis, drunk walking is more dangerous. Does that mean the next time you drink too much whiskey you should go on a joyride or become a seasonal prostitute? Probably not. So the first two books focused on the magic behind the numbers. Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain instead wants you to recognize your attitude toward these numbers, in a local and global context. Some advice from the book includes:

• Think like a child.
• Never be afraid to say “I don’t know.”
• Be prepared for a really, really simple answer.
• Get rid of your moral compass.
• And, seriously, never forget incentives. Ever. It’s a thing in economics.

Along the way, you’ll learn about hot dog eating competitions (Kobayashi!) and why those pesky Nigerian scammers will never, ever give up. Learn when to break up and discover that David Lee Roth isn’t being a diva when he wants his brown M&Ms removed.

Finally, find out here why there is no such thing as a free appetizer and why Americans just aren’t into soccer (Be prepared to waste some serious time on this website. The questions are better than Dear Abby!).

happy mathing!

suzy

*Mark Twain is maybe the author. Or Benjamin Disraeli.

 

Walking Between Worlds

Sci-Fi and Fantasy often provide new worlds for readers to explore. A purer form of escapism would be hard to find. In many cases a book immediately immerses you in a new world. If you read Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, you start in the far future with dudes in powered armor nuking hostile aliens. A Game Of Thrones opens in a fantastic land with three desperate Nights Watchmen encountering the undead.

Of late I seem to be gravitating toward a slightly subtler brand of escape in my sci-fi and fantasy reading. Maybe it comes from my own interest in parallel and alternate worlds, but the idea of a character from our world discovering and crossing into a new one fascinates me. This is a sub-genre that in my experience has  no real name. So I’ll call it “threshold sci-fi,” as the characters involved often do pass through or cross some physical, or metaphysical line into another world. I’ll talk about one I’m reading now, and a few of my other favorites, and maybe folks who read this can add a few more titles that fit the label.

  The Skin Map by Steven Lawhead.  The first book in the Bright Empires series features the protagonist, Kit, a twenty-something Londoner with a largely unfulfilled life, meeting his 125-year-old great grandfather after taking an ill advised short cut in a dirty alleyway. Actually a ley-line bridging multiple “Earths” and time periods, the alley leads Kit to his long missing and presumed dead great grandfather, and opens  whole new worlds of danger and adventure to him. Sinister forces move through these worlds, and heroes and villains find themselves seeking a map etched on pieces of human skin. Finding the map will unlock the pathways to power and control of this amazing multiverse. After showing the usual befuddlement one would assume comes when everything you thought you knew about the universe proves untrue, Kit rises to the occasion and embarks on a grand adventure. This one is really hitting the “threshold sci-fi” sweet spot for me, and I cannot wait to finish it and move on to the next book in the series.

 

  Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.  This one might be more “urban fantasy” than “threshold sci-fi,” but it still fits my newly minted category, I think. Modern Londoner Richard Mayhew makes a fateful decision to aid a homeless woman in distress, but finds more than he bargains for when she turns out to be a member of a heretofore unknown society of magical subterraneans. Torn from the safety of his humdrum life, Richard struggles to survive in a London Underground of magic and mystery. While Richard winds up a bit wimpy for my taste, Gaiman’s awesome world building abilities shine through and make you believe the magical realm beneath London really could exist. In the end Richard has to choose between worlds; he cannot live in both. This choice is often a feature of “threshold sci-fi.” Once a character crosses that line, he undergoes a transformation of some kind. Sometimes it’s physical, but often it represents a changed world view that makes returning to his old life impossible.

 

   Imajica by Clive Barker.  I’ve written about this one in other posts, but I love it so much, I am going to talk about it again here! London artist John Furie Zacharias, also known as “Gentle”, becomes embroiled in strange events that lead him to revelations of other worlds connected to Earth by a strange void called the “In Ovo.”  While mind blowing in itself, Gentle quickly learns that beings from these other worlds want his girlfriend dead, and that he himself is part of a grander destiny that will force him to cross the In Ovo and accept his heretofore unknown powers. Another Londoner? Is this a pattern? I promise it’s not!  You don’t have to be a Londoner to become embroiled in a “threshold sci-fi” story, but author Clive Barker is British, and his almost lyrical ability to write both about London and the strange environs beyond the In Ovo make this massive tome of a tale worth the ride.

 

  The Gates To Witch World by Andre Norton.  I’ve written about this one before too, but the first book in this collection, Witch World, is quintessential “threshold sci-fi,” and bears mentioning again here.  Simon Tregarth (not a Londoner) is a desperate, war-haunted man hunted by assassins and forced to choose escape by the most desperate of measures, the Siege Perilous. In passing through it the person incurs its judgment and travels to another place worthy of his or her character and standing.  Tregarth gets the Witch World.  Norton takes the Siege Perilous from Arthurian legend and makes it the ultimate threshold of no return.

Plenty of other books and series feature threshold themes, mixing them with urban fantasy or straight-up fantasy trappings. The key for me remains the element of choice. Every good threshold story features a moment where the protagonist crosses over, and his or her life changes forever because of it.

Still, if you know of the location of any such threshold in our own world, Siege Perilous or not, let me know! While I am not a Londoner, I’d certainly be up for trying my luck! In the meantime, share any titles you might know of that fit into this tiny corner of the sci-fi genre.

Thanks!

–Scott

Back in the kitchen with Suzi

Since we last met, some of you have told me that my last post made you want to cook again, and some of the books mentioned have made it onto your library accounts.

I won’t lie: as a writer and a librarian, these words make my heart sing.

I’ve been busy and lazy for the past month. Busy and lazy, you ask? Well, when you work a job from 9:30 to 6, sometimes you just want to spend the evening reading. So I’ve worked my way through Devil Bones, Bones to Ashes, and Fatal Voyage, all by my favorite forensic anthropologist turned bestselling author, Kathy Reichs. As a children’s librarian, I know that children read two reading levels below their optimal reading level for recreation, nothing wrong with that. Summer is a children’s librarian’s busiest season, so I doubt I’ll start reading Anna Karenina anytime soon. I’ve re-read both Devil Bones and Fatal Voyage. In fact, I’ve probably read Devil Bones more than twice, since I own it and it often lives in my car. I require a book when I eat out alone, and more than once, Devil Bones been my dinner companion.

 

 

 

 

 

While I like a good mystery, I read the Temperance Brennan books by Kathy Reichs for character, not plot. Our love interest is usually Andrew Ryan, a Canadian detective, but sometimes Pete Brennan, an American lawyer and Tempe’s estranged husband. Temperance is a recovering alcoholic, mostly comfortable with the crazy life she leads, living sometimes in Charlotte, North Carolina and sometimes in Quebec. I enjoy learning about the geographical particulars of these two locations. I keep reading the books to keep up with where Tempe is in her life. Will she and Ryan get together for good? Will she and Pete finalize their divorce? I’ve also grown attached to Tempe’s pets, a cat named Birdie and a bird named Charlie.

Besides lazing around with books, I’ve increased my kitchen repertoire. I now make a decent vinaigrette (the secret is the olive oil/vinegar ratio) on a weekly basis, and I bought a fancy (read: expensive) chef’s knife at Sur la Table. I used it last night for the first time and it cuts like a dream. It cuts so well that I didn’t even mind the humid heat in my third floor walkup as I boiled water for pasta and cut peppers, celery, radishes and onions.

I picked up some cookbooks and books on budgeting on a recent visit to the Carnegie Library — Squirrel Hill, where I picked up Poor Girl Gourmet. The author, Amy McCoy, worked as a freelance broadcast producer until the economy tanked in 2008. After an introduction to cooking and how to save money buying house brands (but good house brands, like Whole Food’s 365 Everyday Value), Amy starts you off with instructions for making 8 cups of vegetable stock for soup, which you can then freeze. Amy clearly has not seen my apartment-size freezer. But I’m determined to change my eating and cooking ways, so I’m sure I’ll try my hand at vegetable stock soon. I started my collection of vegetable scraps last night.

In another effort to work in the kitchen and economize, I have started making coffee in a French Press. I was going to buy an Aeropress, which was featured on CBSThisMorning last Monday morning, but as I was flipping through books (again, at Squirrel Hill), the author of Bitches on a Budget recommended buying a French Press.

 

 

 

 

 

My first cup was, well, strong. But I got the hang of it, after watching many YouTube videos.

 

Suzi’s Summer Pasta Salad

(based on Betty Crocker’s boxed Suddenly Salads, but with fewer chemicals.)

 

1 pepper (yellow, red, orange)

1 stalk of celery

1 small onion

1 radish

1 cup vinaigrette

Salt/pepper to taste

1 ½ cups Greek yogurt (1 single serve container)

1 can tuna (optional)

½ lb. Fusilli pasta

Start the water for the pasta. Follow the directions on the box, which will probably read something like this: in a big pot, boil lots of water to a rolling boil. Then add the pasta, cover, cook until the pot almost boils over, and then uncover, cooking for about 11 more minutes. Drain.

While this is happening: cut the vegetables into small pieces.

The pasta takes the longest, so while you are in the kitchen, do a load of dishes in your sink, or recycle some junk mail.

Once you’ve drained the pasta, pour some cold water on it. You don’t technically want to rinse the pasta, but you do want it to be cold, since you are adding cold ingredients. Put everything in a bowl and mix. Don’t add the vinaigrette all at once; once you add the yogurt, there is a point where you’re adding too much liquid. However, if you are not eating this right away, it’s okay to add a little more vinaigrette, as the vinaigrette will soak into the pasta while being stored in the refrigerator.

I packed this for lunch today and cut up a radish for garnish and some additional crunch.

–Suzi

Summer Reading!

The summer solstice, which for those of us in Pittsburgh occurs tomorrow morning at 6:51 a.m., is the official kickoff of my favorite season. I love just about everything summer related. It can never be too hot or steamy for my tastes — maybe because I was born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the snake – once the temperatures climb above 70 degrees, I immediately crawl out from under the dark and cold of winter and spring, and head out to bask upon my summer rock — preferably with a good book.

For me, summer means fresh fruit, popsicles, sunshine, an explosion of vegetables in the garden, trips to a local watering hole (pool or pond or Great Lake), but mostly the leisure to read in a lounge chair in the sun of the backyard or the shade of the front porch. Summer reading has always been a big part of my life, ever since I was a young girl participating in the various summer reading programs at the (now closed) Caledonia branch of the East Cleveland Public Library. I would race to the new book display every time I visited that library, grabbing hungrily at as many of the fresh titles I could carry and hurrying to the circulation desk with cardboard library card in hand. I can still sense the cool and quiet of that library on a summer day, and I can even still smell those books that I used to bring home. Nancy Drew, Henry Huggins, The Great Brain, Betsy, Tacy & Tib, Harriet the Spy, and Lois Lenski’s cast of characters — all became my new found friends during those lazy days of my childhood summers.

Caledonia Library Circulation Clerk, Ms. Debrah Smith, c1978, courtesy of the  East Cleveland Public Library

From those early days of beloved chapter books, to the later years in which I had summer reading lists to attack for high school and college, to having my own children participate in our suburban Pittsburgh summer reading programs — libraries and summers have always gone hand in hand for me,  just like kick-the-can and ice-cream trucks.

In the world of books and reading, summertime also means that there’s no end to the “summer reading guides” on just about every website, in every magazine, newspaper and blog post — those lists that suggest “good beach reads” or your favorite author’s summer vacation reading choices. Thus, I feel it my duty as a librarian and bibliophile that I add to those lists, because as is the mantra in our house, you can never have, nor read, too many books! So I thought I’d share with you the “Maria J.’s Family” summer reading list. You might see some old favorites or discover new loves from this list. It’s not meant to be exceptional in any way — it’s just what’s happening in our household this summer, reading-wise. So, get out to your favorite neighborhood library, grab a few titles and pull up your favorite rock or lounge chair to enjoy your summer reads!

 

W.J. – age 13 — Agatha Christie’s The A.B.C. Murder’s, and Murder on the Orient Express; Anthony Horowitz’s Stormbreaker.

A.J. — age 17 — Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring; Laura Hillebrand’s Unbroken:  A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption; Robert Dallek’s Camelot’s Court: Inside the Kennedy Whitehouse.

Mr. J. — Jack Kerouac’s On the Road; Page duBois’ A Million and One Gods: the Persistence of Polytheism; Christopher Moore’s Coyote Blue ; Roger Housden’s Ten Poems to Change Your Life.

Maria J. — Dan Jones’ The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England; Dan Barber’s The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food; Jane Goodall’s Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants.

 

– Maria J.

Red Rising (and rising)

YA lit easily makes up 40% of my reading choices  — don’t get me started on that Slate piece. For the past few years, a number of those books have been of the dystopian variety, most of which has been really interesting (please check out Marie Lu’s Legend trilogy or Neal Schusterman’s Unwind series for some underrated selections), but I had finally hit the wall when it came to scary prospective futures.

Or so I thought. Let us welcome a new contender to the arena, Pierce Brown and the start of his Red Rising trilogy. I was knocked a bit sideways by this one and have made it my duty to spread the good word.

Our hero is a sixteen year old Helldiver (a skilled driller who works deep under the surface of Mars) named Darrow. In the Mars caste system, he and his family are Reds. They believe that generations of dangerous work to mill precious elements is all to make Mars livable.  After an act of defiance, Darrow finds that everything he knows is a big old lie. Mars was terraformed years ago, with a whole society riding on the slave labor of the Reds.

Darrow is recruited to infiltrate the Golds, the peak of society, at the Institute — a Hunger Games/Battle Royale-style “school” that filters out the best of the best to be future leaders. While some of the elements here are a bit derivative of other books, it all works, and you really don’t care because the book is so engrossing. You completely forget that these are supposed to be kids between the age of 16 and 18. They quickly become fierce warriors, working to literally conquer each other and eliminate their opponents. Brown fills his book with tons of fascinating characters (Sevro will be your favorite, I promise) and forces those characters to come to terms with some hard questions.

The second book, Golden Son, is out early next year. Which is entirely too far away.

Have any books taken you by surprise lately?

– Jess

If Hellboy’s There, Hell Is Going to Be Awesome

Last year, Hellboy turned 20, and this year, he went to Hell.

Although the library doesn’t yet have a copy of Hellboy: The First 20 Years, a collection of art celebrating Mike Mignola’s comic creation, you can start placing your holds on Hellboy in Hell: The Descent, the first collection in Hellboy’s new story cycle, out this month from Dark Horse Comics.

So what has Hellboy been doing the past 20 years? How exactly did he wind up in hell? Why should you care?

If you’re only familiar with Hellboy through Guillermo del Toro’s two blockbuster movies, Hellboy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, I should warn you that the comics are completely different–but each incarnation has its charms.

If you’d like to start at the beginning, I suggest reading the collected hardback library editions instead of the individual trade paperback volumes. Volume One might seem vaguely familiar if you’ve seen the Hellboy film, as it tells the red demon’s origin story and introduces most of the recurring characters in the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, B.P.R.D. for short.

The main two differences between the movies and the comics is that there’s no love interest between Hellboy and Liz Sherman in the comics, and no civilians freak out when they see Hellboy or the other members of the B.P.R.D. People act totally normal when the big crimefighter shows up at the scene of a haunted house, supernatural carnage, or other strange happening. I prefer it this way–the freak trope is pretty over-used in comic books and Hollywood movies, and dispensing with it allows Mignola to get right down to the meat of the story.

After you read Hellboy’s first two hardback collections, you’ll want to pick up the first hardback volume of the spin-off series B.P.R.D., entitled Plague of Frogs 1 (see this website for a full reading order, and this page of the Hellboy Wiki for what material is collected in which volume). Fire-starter Liz Sherman, fish-man Abe Sapien, ecto-plasmic being Johann Krauss, homunculus Roger, and the other members of the BPRD make do without Hellboy and work toward solving the world’s growing frog problem. Although there’s lots of icky gore, funny hijinks, and paranormal investigative goodness, the best part of B.P.R.D. is the way the characters develop over the course of the series.

By now you’ve probably realized I’m not actually going to tell you how Hellboy winds up in hell. If you want to find out, you’ll have to read the series (there are only five hardback volumes–trust me, you’ll be itching for more when you close the cover on the last one). If you’re not sure you want to commit to 20 years worth of material, try one of the off-beat collections or shorter spin-off series, like Hellboy: Weird Tales, Abe Sapien, or Lobster Johnson–a series about a supremely bizarre crime fighter.

–Kelly

5 Held in Plot to Bug Democrats’ Office Here

By Alfred E. Lewis

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, June 18, 1972

And so began Watergate, 42 years ago tomorrow. I was in my early teens during the last year of Richard Nixon’s first term, 15 when he resigned on a hot & humid August 9, 1974. I was certainly politically aware and had followed the course of the investigation during the two years from break-in to resignation; but I have to admit that at the time I don’t think I fully appreciated Watergate’s significance.  From my POV, Watergate and the doings of CREEP – that’s right, CREEP – the Committee to Re–elect the President – were a string of related events and reactions, but not something that could be isolated as a singular historic event like an assassination or landing on the moon.

So, what is Watergate? It’s kind of like manna from heaven, it can be many things;

• the Washington DC apartment complex that housed the headquarters of the DNC – the Democratic National Committee
• the burglary and bugging of the DNC offices at the Watergate (twice actually)
• the denials and cover-up that followed after investigators connected the burglars to CREEP
• the discovery and exposure (Woodward, Bernstein, Rather, etc.) of the roles prominent members of the cabinet and advisers to the President played in investigating opposition to the President and how they used the executive branch for illegal partisan political purposes.

Finally Watergate is the President of the United States caught up in his own fears, insisting he’d done nothing wrong, but not being able to convince anyone outside of his most partisan supporters.  Much of what Richard Nixon did wasn’t unique or pioneering in terms of political wrongdoing, stretching the bounds of credibility and abusing Executive Privilege, but as the expression goes; he got caught.

If such a thing is possible, I’m reminiscing here about the Watergate era because it all came back to me after watching Frost Nixon a few weeks ago; it was a memory tripwire.  It wasn’t abstract history like watching a documentary or infotainment about McCarthy or Truman; I read and heard about Watergate (in all its guises) almost everyday as a teen (no need to add impressionable as a qualifier, it should be assumed.)  The memories stuck. In the days before C-Span or CNN, we watched Sam Ervin preside over the televised proceedings of the  Senate Watergate Committee on network TV while in school; ringside seats for Civics and US Government without needing a textbook.  For all its low-points and revelations, we wanted to believe Watergate also had a lesson; that the system worked. That the independent branches of government worked, that the Press plays an important role in informing and examining, and that the interests of the public will be represented and discharged by elected public servants regardless of party and affiliation as exemplified by Senators Ervin and Baker.

The legacy of Watergate is political and cultural. For those of you too young to have observed it, you have Watergate to thank for the ubiquitous -gate suffix for any and all snafus and wrongdoings that have occurred since the mid 70s.  There is also a legacy of film and literature that capture the timelines and complexities of the episode / era.

Frost Nixon [DVD]
Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) is the disgraced president with a legacy to save. David Frost (Michael Sheen) is a jet-setting television personality with a name to make. This is the legendary battle between the two men and the historic encounter that changed both their lives.

Frost/Nixon the original Watergate interviews [DVD]
“Includes in-depth interviews of U.S. President Richard Nixon by Sir David Frost in May, 1977 regarding the infamous Watergate scandal, followed by a segment, “Behind the scenes.” That final segment features footage from 2007 of Frost discussing “clinching the interviews, Nixon’s advisors, ground rules, on location, Nixon’s reaction, and the final meeting” he had with Nixon at San Clemente.”

All the president’s men / Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward
The two young “Washington Post” reporters whose investigative journalism smashed the Watergate scandal wide open tell the whole behind-the-scenes drama the way it really happened. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were assigned to cover the breakin at the Watergate. The two men soon learned that this was not a simple burglary. Woodward and Bernstein picked up a trail of money, secrecy and high-level pressure that implicated the men closest to Richard Nixon and then the President himself.
Over the months, Woodward met secretly with Deep Throat, now perhaps America’s most famous still-anonymous source. 

All the President’s Men [DVD]
Based on the book by Carl Bernstein and Bod Woodward whose roles are played by Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford.

The Palace guard / Dan Rather
The first Watergate book I picked up. Rather, the CBS News White House correspondent covering the Nixon White House, starts his recitation with an introduction to who was behind who in the administration.  Not the Secretary of Defense or Head of the NSA (Henry Kissinger BTW,) but rather the men who controlled access to the President, set agendas, and (important to keep in mind in this case) provide the President plausible deniability; keep him officially out of the decision-making loop when the decisions are ethically (or legally) questionable.  This was my first exposure to the likes of White House Chief of Staff H.R. Bob Haldemann, John Erlichman, Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs, and of course Henry Kissinger the President’s National Security Adviser.  At the time they were euphemistically referred to as the Berlin Wall.  Given his role in formulating international policy to the exclusion of all domestic politics, Dr. Kissinger seems to have avoided any taint by Watergate.

Washington Journal / Elizabeth Drew
“Forty years after the tumultuous events that led to Richard Nixon’s historic downfall, a new edition of Elizabeth Drew’s Washington Journal,
featuring a brilliant new afterword. Originally published soon
after Richard Nixon’s resignation, Elizabeth Drew’s Washington Journal is a landmark work of political journalism. Keenly observed and hugely insightful, Washington Journal opens in 1973 and follows the deterioration of Richard Nixon’s presidency in real time.”

Just a note. The Doonebury strip above appeared on May 29, 1973. In several newspapers Doonesbury was either dropped for a time, or moved from the Comics section to the editorial pages. The Washington Post didn’t show it at all, until last year.

– Richard

What’s New in Austenland 2014

Surprises are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable.

Emma (1815)

Greetings! It’s time once again for my annual update–this is the fourth!–about the new publications in scholarship and biography on my favorite author, Jane Austen. Despite studying her for over twenty years, the sheer volume of new books and articles that are published on her works and life continues to astound (and delight) me. Here are some of the newest acquisitions at the library:

The List Lover’s Guide to Jane Austen by Joan Strasbaugh

A treasure trove of every list you can possibly imagine (and more!) about Jane Austen, her life, and her works: of suitors, first lines, places she lived and traveled, literary references in her novels, books she owned, characters in her novels, hearts she broke, and balls and dances she attended to name but a few. This is a handy little guide for scholars and students as well as a great introduction to the esteemed authoress.

The Annotated Northanger Abbey, edited by David Shapard

English professor Shapard has a clear and concise way of making Jane Austen’s works approachable and enjoyable for both students new to Austen as well as for scholars and fans; this is his fifth publication of Austen’s novels. There are period maps of England and Bath, fashion plates, vocabulary and context of the time period, remarks on questionable content pertaining to grammar or sentence structure from the original edition, and much more.  One of its best features–yes, the librarian is speaking–is the exhaustive list of works referenced on every topic imaginable: from the history of the post office, the study of the picturesque, to the architecture of abbeys in England.

Jane Austen’s England by Roy and Lesley Adkins

Many critics have lambasted Austen over the years for excluding mention of historical events of her time in her works choosing instead to describe minutely the daily lives of everyday people in a country village. This book describes life daily life during Austen’s lifetime, from the dangers of childbirth and illness to the necessities of hygiene and the practicalities (or not) of fashion.

Matters of Fact in Jane Austen: History, Location, and Celebrity by Janine Barchas

Did you know that the generally accepted scholarship on Jane Austen has been that she didn’t base her stories and/or characters on real events or people she knew? But all writers are influenced in some way and Barchas’ intriguing thesis explores this in detailed and fascinating depth. The names of Wentworth (Persuasion), Woodhouse (Emma), Vernon (Lady Susan), Allen, and Tilney (Northanger Abbey) were all well-known surnames of great and landed families in eighteenth century England, suggesting that Austen did indeed borrow from celebrity and events from her day. For the devoted Jane Austen fan and scholar, this book is a treat of fun discoveries.

Northanger Abbey: An Annotated Edition, edited by Susan J. Wolfson

Like the title below, this book is a big and beautiful gift book edition of one of Jane Austen’s lesser-known novels, a spoof of the gothic novel, made popular by Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolfo. The works cited list at the end of the book highlights further information and readings.

Sense and Sensiblity: An Annotated Edition, edited by Patricia Meyer Spacks

This is the fourth gorgeous coffee-table edition of Jane Austen’s six novels to be published by the Belknap Press of Harvard University. The perfect gift for the Jane Austen fan in your life, there are beautiful illustrations and images of fashions, furniture, paintings, and maps from the late eighteenth/early nineteenth century relating to the novels. And for a student, the enlightening introduction as well as the copious annotations about vocabulary and language, word use and definitions in the context of their time, commentary on scholarly opinions of critical analysis, and references to different editions make this a veritable cornucopia of helpful information.

Until next year!

-Maria A., who finally wore out her old Modern Library copy of the Complete Novels and recently purchased the lovely Everyman’s Library editions to replace it.