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Science Fiction & FantasyFictionYA FictionYAMemoir

The Hold List: October 2019

Feature by the editors of BookPage

It’s the time of year when pumpkin spice suddenly flavors everything. But what if autumn were distilled into a book? The mixture of crispness and warmth, the thrill of possibility, the bittersweetness of change—these books are pure pumpkin spice.

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
Lake Michigan on a cool morning, a well-worn copy of Moby-Dick, a lazily draped scarf worn to a beloved college class—this is pumpkin spice latte territory. Chad Harbach’s debut novel is a philosopher’s playhouse, a literature student’s carnival and a baseball fan’s last hurrah of the season. It’s the story of shortstop star Henry Skrimshander and the many intellectuals in his orbit at Wisconsin’s small Westish College. Cute literary jokes abound (Henry’s last name is an obvious nod to Melville and scrimshaw), and meandering passages are capably balanced by thrilling baseball scenes. There’s angst and romance as well—always best in autumn—and a cheeky sense of humor that looks so good with your fading summer tan. —Cat, Deputy Editor

I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron
First of all, what’s more autumnal than the words of Nora Ephron? (Think “bouquets of newly sharpened pencils.”) But I love this collection in particular because it’s the last book Ephron published before she died. Every time I read I Remember Nothing, I cherish it more urgently because I know I’m approaching the end of her expansive but finite body of work. (Oh, for a thousand more charming observations about seer­sucker napkins!) I think this makes it a perfect book for fall, which is the season for lapping up every drop of beauty we can before it’s gone. Poignantly, the last essay in the book is a list called “What I Will Miss,” and it includes: fall, a walk in the park, the idea of a walk in the park and pie. —Christy, Associate Editor

Possession by A.S. Byatt
This supremely meta, deeply romantic bestseller is a lot. But its dual narratives—a doomed romance between Victorian poets and the modern-day scholars who stumble upon their story—offer some sublimely cozy pleasures for a very specific type of book nerd. If your ideal autumn involves prowling through Victorian letters while a storm rages outside, taking baths in crumbling old manor houses and sighing over love thwarted and love gained, Possession is the book for you. And for those who miss school (but not its over-caffeination and assigned reading), A.S. Byatt’s awe-inspiring creation of not only the work of two poets but also the modern scholarly commentary surrounding them will scratch that essay-writing, argument-crafting itch—sans the all-nighter. —Savanna, Assistant Editor 

Calling a Wolf a Wolf by Kaveh Akbar
Scalding, flavorful, and unapologetic, this poetry collection invites readers to scrutinize its speaker’s struggle with alcoholism, desire, and mental obstruction. The reader is welcomed into madness, ardor, misery and silence, but this is not our madness, our sadness, or our experiences. We may not have experienced alcoholism, but we are allowed to smell the same odors, hear the cacophony of a bar and call out to the speaker’s hope. This collection taught me that poetry is never about the reader, but is ultimately an act of generosity. I thank this book for the warmth it gave me, for I needed a comforting drink to withstand its multiclimatic world. Ultimately, I found myself warm enough—and secure enough—to ditch my cup. —Prince Bush, Editorial Intern

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson
If your perfect walk through autumnal woods—fallen leaves in fiery hues crunching beneath your boots, the scents of mist-damp soil and October’s chill filtering through the air—comes with the sense that something is hiding behind every tree, waiting just ahead at every crook in your path, something not sinister but curious about your strange mortal ways, then may I suggest settling down with An Enchantment of Ravens once your latte has chased your chill away? Full of tricksy fairies, a delicious slow-burn romance and plenty of wit and literal Whimsy (the name of the village where Margaret Rogerson’s characters live), it reads the way autumn feels, deep down in your bones. —Stephanie, Associate Editor

It’s the time of year when pumpkin spice suddenly flavors everything. But what if autumn were distilled into a book? The mixture of crispness and warmth, the thrill of possibility, the bittersweetness of change—these books are pure pumpkin spice.

The Art of Fielding by…

RomanceFictionComing of Age

An eight-legged monster of Halloween horror

Feature by Michael Alec Rose

Get ready for a feast of frights, from gaslight romance to cosmic horror. But beware: The eight books get scarier as you read!

The Widow of Rose House
Diana Biller makes no bones about the fact that Edith Wharton—the best American ghost-­story writer of them all—inspired every aspect of her debut novel, The Widow of Rose House. Even the (putatively) haunted house at the heart of the story is based on Wharton’s stately mansion. And best of all, Biller mirrors Wharton’s genius for revealing the emotional gold lying beneath the Gilded Age, which motivates the novel’s massive romantic turmoil. After years of abuse by an evil (and now deceased) husband, Alva Webster hopes to make a new start in the fashionable community of Hyde Park, New York. It’s 1875, a liminal moment in American history, when the dawn of the age of electricity coincides with a mania for psychic research. These paradoxical currents merge in the heart of scientist Samuel Moore, who wants to understand nature’s deepest secrets, however much darkness it takes to bring them to light. He asks Alva to let him investigate her troubled house—but the investigation goes much further than that.

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts
Romance takes a contemporary turn in Kate Racculia’s wonderful new novel, set in present-­day Boston. The title—Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts —captures both the book’s dynamic spirit and its delightful ambiguity. Does heroine Tuesday Mooney really talk to ghosts? Is the ghost in question her childhood friend Abby, who disappeared when they were both 16, taken one night from the ocean wharf where she and Tuesday used to hang out together? That’s the awful shadow that hangs over Tuesday’s life, the memory that keeps her from true friendship and true love. But fate has other things in store, arriving in the form of an elderly, eccentric billionaire who establishes a treasure hunt in the terms of his will. It turns out that Tuesday is the one person holding all the pieces of the puzzle, which she puts together with her deliciously campy friend Dex, her precocious teenage neighbor Dorry and the secretive Archie Arches, the key to the old man’s riddles and (naturally) the person made in heaven for Tuesday. As it turns out, the treasure hunt is a bid for these characters’ very souls. Abby’s ghost has something to say about it, too—something much more than “Boo!”

The Saturday Night Ghost Club
In our next novel, horror is outdone by hominess. Even the setting of Craig Davidson’s The Saturday Night Ghost Club is too picturesque to be allowed: Niagara Falls in the idyllic 1980s, a place so nostalgically beautiful that nothing bad should happen there (but of course, it does). Jake is a 12-year-old boy who, along with two new summer friends, gets caught up in the magical world of his Uncle Calvin, a lovable kook who not only tells the kids ghost stories but also shows them the ghosts. One hidden card after another appears from Calvin’s sleeve, until only the ace remains—the death card, the one that holds Calvin’s own secret, which even he doesn’t realize. If you like darkness poured out like molasses from a bucket, you’ll love this novel. 

Last Ones Left Alive
Sarah Davis-Goff has given us a zombie novel with a Celtic twist. Remember how the folks in Riverdance used to clomp around on stage with their arms held down and motionless? In her debut novel, Last Ones Left Alive, it finally makes sense: Those creepy dancers were heralding an apocalypse of the ravenous undead, whose arms have already been bitten off. Irish zombies are called skrake, and our teenage heroine, Orpen, spends her life on a little Irish island hoping never to encounter one. But she, her Mam and their formidable friend Maeve cannot evade the menace forever. Davis-­Goff’s painstaking account of the courage and resourcefulness of these three women dominates the first part of the book, but their solitary ordeal preludes a much grander unfolding of female empowerment, in which they must join forces with the banshees, a company of women who set out to defeat the skrake—and other monstrous beings—and give humanity another chance.  

Imaginary Friend
YA author Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) makes his adult fiction debut with Imaginary Friend. Assuming its length (720 pages!) doesn’t scare you off before you even crack the cover, I’ll keep my review short, so you can get started. Chbosky’s chutzpah is to reimagine the Christian story of the Madonna and Child as a horror story. Kate Reese (like Alva Webster in The Widow of Rose House) is escaping an abusive man, hoping for a fresh start with her son, Christopher, in a little Pennsylvania town called Mill Grove. But Christopher gets lost in the woods and comes back changed, haunted by a voice in his head that threatens and commands him to do strange things (or else). This “imaginary friend” cannot stay imaginary for long (well, OK, for around 500 pages). The voice’s threats turn into a horrible reality, a battle between good and evil, with Mill Grove as Armageddon. 

Suicide Woods
Benjamin Percy’s awareness of his own craft—the terms of which are generously set forth in Thrill Me, his book of essays on the art of fiction—is apparent throughout his new collection of short stories, Suicide Woods. Each tale is a creaking door, hinging on a high concept or an uncanny hook, nicely derivative of weird masters such as Edgar Allan Poe and Robert Aickman. In every case, the gears of Percy’s plots make an audible noise, grinding his characters’ bodies and spirits (or both) into inevitable carnage. In these unrelenting tales, it can be taken for granted that the worst will always happen—that suicidal patients will ironically be terrorized and undone by their larger fear of death; that the apparition of a “mud man” in a fellow’s yard will turn his life into, well, mud; that a trip to the forbidding wilderness of Alaska will—naturally—forbid all joy, hope and life. The virtue of this collection lies in its super-refined telling, thanks to Percy’s efforts to break through the barriers between genre fiction and literature, by hell and high water (and ice and mud and whatnot).

Full Throttle
Joe Hill’s attitude toward the craft of writing could not be more different from Benjamin Percy’s. Hill eats genre fiction like junk food, chewing up the whole disreputable tradition of horror into a new, unique pulp and spitting it out with massively entertaining mastery. He comes by this skill honestly: I mean, gosh, if your dad is Stephen King and your mom is Tabitha King, you’re as good as doomed (read: saved). For us fans, good fortune is dealt in spades in Full Throttle, Hill’s latest collection of stories. Framing a baker’s dozen of tales are Hill’s beautiful essay of appreciation for his parents at the front and story notes at the back, the kind that horror geeks like me drool over, just because they’re so wonderfully self-indulgent. Best of all are the inclusion of two stories Hill co-authored with his father, whose famous love of motorcycles and road trips gone wrong have corrupted his son just right, making these the best tales in the collection.

A Cosmology of Monsters
The seven books reviewed so far go bobbing for scares, each nibbling at terrors real or imagined, each splendidly diverting in its own way. But Shaun Hamill’s A Cosmology of Monsters bites horror to its core. The most influential horror writer of the 20th century is H.P. Lovecraft, whose works offer a vision of the universe as a place of irredeemable misery and meaninglessness. Our lives are ultimately in the merciless hands (and tentacles) of a pantheon of unimaginably terrifying creatures who inhabit the nether regions of the planet. The only problems are 1) Lovecraft is a notoriously overwrought prose stylist, and 2) he despised people—not just individual persons but everybody, including himself. A magnificent tribute to Lovecraft’s vexing achievement, A Cosmology of Monsters redeems both of the master’s flaws. Hamill’s heart-stopping debut novel features exceptionally graceful language and a set of characters we come to worry about, take delight in, grieve for and love. Saturated with endless wonder and horrific consequences, it’s the story of a family marked for special attention by Lovecraft’s Old Ones. How much loss can a good person endure? Lovecraft never cared to ask the question. Hamill cares very much, all the way to the tragic last act. 

Dip into this season’s best horror fiction with eight books that cover the full spectrum of spooky reading!
Children's & YAPicture Book

Tips for Teachers: ¡Celebrando nuestra herencia hispana!

Feature by Emmie Stuart

Tips for Teachers is a monthly column in which experienced teacher and children’s librarian Emmie Stuart shares book recommendations and a corresponding teaching guide for fellow elementary school teachers.

Kicking off on September 15 and running through October 15, Hispanic Heritage Month is a national festival that recognizes the histories, cultures and contributions of Americans whose ancestors can be traced to Spain, Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean. Sharing stories that honor these countries and cultures is joyful and necessary. As Pura Belpré, a pioneer in Latino storytelling and librarianship, has explained, “Books help give the child a sense of belonging. They bring understanding between people of two different cultures and help [them] to see their similarities and values instead of the differences that keep them apart.” Create a monthlong classroom festival by sharing books rich with characters, color, language and traditions that celebrate and honor Hispanic culture.

Manhattan¡Vamos! Let’s Go to the Market by Raul the Third

Described as the Mexican American version of Richard Scarry’s Busytown, Raul the Third’s picture book graphic novel recounts a day in the life of Little Lobo and his dog Bernape as they deliver “much needed supplies” to the Mercado. The warm-hued illustrations buzz with retro energy that matches the scurry and hustle of the “pathways, shops and booths” that is the Mercado. With cultural details (churros, Frida Khalo, street performers, piñatas, etc.) and Spanish vocabulary seamlessly interwoven into the narrative, the book teaches and communicates through a festive, fresh and funky story.

  • Vocabulary Guessing Game

    Items throughout the book are inconspicuously labeled with their Spanish terms. Point out the terms to your students and ask them to use the illustrations to infer the meaning of the word. Write the terms and students’ guesses on the board and then compare their guesses to the Spanish-English glossary included in the back of the book.

  • Lucha Libre

    At Little Lobo’s favorite shop he buys masks, posters and toys that remind him of his favorite wrestler. Let your students study this illustration for two to three minutes (these exercises help foster the discipline of attention) and encourage them to tell you what they learned about Lucha Libre through the illustration details. Read aloud the books Lucha Libre: The Man in the Silver Mask and Niño Wrestles the World. Here is a link to Morales’ excellent read-aloud version. Allow children time to create their own Lucha Libre personality. Provide art materials and invite them to design masks that reflect their wrestler’s persona.

My Papi Has a MotorcycleMy Papi Has a Motorcycle written by Isabel Quintero, illustrated by Zeke Peña

Daisy Ramona loves nothing more than a sunset ride on the back of her father’s motorcycle, for it’s on these rides that she feels “all the love he has trouble saying.” They zigzag through the California city streets, passing the familiar market, the church and murals that show “our history—of citrus groves and the immigrants who worked them.” They nod to neighbors, stop to buy gummi bears and note with mixed emotions the inevitable changes occurring in their community. Quintero’s prose (including Spanish speech bubbles) paired with Peña’s dynamic illustrations capture Daisy’s motorcycle joy and genuine hometown affection, offering students insight into the life of a southern California neighborhood.

  • Personal Writing

    Daisy cherishes motorcycle rides with Papa. Ask students to reflect on a ritual or tradition they share with a special person. Invite them to write a narrative explaining the tradition. Walk them through a sensory writing exercise and encourage them to address all five senses in their writing. What are the sights, smells, sounds, tastes and textures of their special memory? After they have crafted their narrative, let them use various art supplies to illustrate their memory.

  • Characteristics of Cities

    Read aloud other books that showcase urban communities and neighborhoods. My favorites include Last Stop on Market Street, Daniel’s Good Day, Maybe Something Beautiful, Blackout, and Keats’ Neighborhood. As a class, reread the books and let the students tell you the urban elements that are similar across the books. Make a list of these things and then discuss how these settings are similar and different to your local neighborhood.

  • Mural Art

    “We roar past murals that tell our history…” Revisit this page and discuss and show pictures of local murals. Do they show the history of the community or are they just decorative? Give children oversized paper and chalk pastels or watercolors. Invite them to design a mural that reflects their family history, community history, or the values that are important in your classroom community. Remind them to “think big.” Many of my students started drawing small pictures and we had to revisit the idea of oversized and simple mural art.

One is a Piñata: A Book of NumbersOne is a Piñata: A Book of Numbers written by Roseanne Greenfield Thong, illustrated by John Parra

From uno piñata to diez friends, students will enjoy counting their way up to a fiesta. Following Round Is a Tortilla and Green Is a Chile Pepper, this concept book is a series of rhymes representing a year’s worth of Hispanic celebrations. Para’s bright illustrations incorporate several cultural details that further enhancing the text and explaining unfamiliar words. It’s a quick and effective read-aloud that teaches numbers, new words and various aspects of Hispanic festivals.

  • A Year of Celebration

    Write the names of significant Hispanic celebrations on anchor chart paper (one celebration per paper) and hang them around the room. Provide books, articles and computers/tablets and let children research the various festivals. This exercise is an opportunity to demonstrate or remind that notes are short bits of information. I tell my students that researching is like gold-mining: They must read through the “sand” and find most important “gold nuggets” of information. For younger children, provide a graphic organizer that will scaffold the note-taking process. Once students have gathered their information, invite them to record their facts on the respective pieces of anchor chart paper. If one of the festivals or holidays is on the horizon, help the students use their notes to plan a classroom celebration.

HummingbirdHummingbird written by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Jane Ray

The migration of the “tz’unun,” a word that means hummingbird in several Latin American languages, is interwoven into the story of a young girl and her Latina grandmother. As they sit in her garden, Granny explains, “They’ll soon be gone—flying North like you.” The next spreads showcase the ruby-throated hummingbird’s migration from Central America through the United States to their destination of Canada. The narrative comes full circle when a hummingbird from Granny’s garden crosses paths with the young girl in New York City’s Central Park. Bolded informative facts are interspersed throughout serving to enhance the text. Gentle and informative, this nonfiction narrative is sure to spark classroom conversations about ruby-throated hummingbirds as well as human migration and difficult family separations.

  • Hummingbird Feeders

    If you live in an area with a hummingbird presence, ask your students to collect plastic water bottles or baby food jars and repurpose them into homemade hummingbird feeders. If this is too daunting, buy a feeder to hang outside your classroom. Create a hummingbird observation clipboard and let students record the number and actions of the hummingbirds. Be sure to graph the frequency of the birds and visits. Do they decline as the season change and the weather become cooler? Sept. 1 marks the beginning of the fall migration season.

Tips for Teachers is a monthly column in which experienced teacher and children’s librarian Emmie Stuart shares book recommendations and a corresponding teaching guide for fellow elementary school teachers.

Kicking off on September 15 and running through October 15, Hispanic Heritage Month is…

Science Fiction & FantasyFictionFamily Drama

Funny 2019 fiction: Darkly hilarious but utterly real

Feature by Cat, Deputy Editor

Humor may be the hardest thing to write. Everyone’s sense of humor is different, and it takes a very special person to see the hilarity in day-to-day life, so it’s understandably hard to find a novel that truly makes you laugh. For me, Elizabeth Strout, Gail Honeyman and Jen Beagin make me laugh (though, honestly, Mary Roach’s nonfiction is my go-to laugh machine). 

In 2019, we’ve enjoyed a number of good comic tales—but they’re dark, a little wicked, and even when they’re a little fantastical, they’re deeply, utterly real. Here are five of our favorites.

Gravity Is the Thing by Jaclyn Moriarty
The stronger the wellness and self-help industry grows, the more we need fiction to poke fun at it. Moriarty had me guffawing from the opening pages of her debut, the story of a woman who attends a retreat to discover the mystery behind The Guidebook, a strange guide that has been mailed to her for 20 years, one chapter at a time, and certainly not in order. But the humor serves to break down any skepticism in the reader (because the premise definitely gets stranger), allowing them to be vulnerable and receptive to the underlying message of loss, grief and recovery.

Live a Little by Howard Jacobson
There’s always a place on our reading lists for late-in-life love stories and tales of grumpy old men and women. In Jacobson’s latest novel, the humor is highbrow and crotchety, as two nonagenarians strike up a conversation that blooms into a friendship and more. Of the two characters, snarky Beryl Dusinbery’s very bad attitude was my favorite, but I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed her snide remarks without the counterbalance of Shimi Carmelli. It takes a little while to get to the wittiest parts, but patient readers will be rewarded.

There’s a Word for That by Sloane Tanen
It’s a feat to write a novel about a flawed family that makes the reader laugh—but not at the characters. I’m not interested in ridicule or judgment of complicated, ridiculous people, and neither is Tanen. Her latest novel, about two crumbling celebrity families that collide at a rehab clinic, will appeal to optimistic readers who love Hollywood stories and thoughtful takedowns of delusional, self-involved characters.

Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
I’m just as surprised as you are that the story of a divorced dad being inundated with sexual advances via his dating app is necessary reading for 2019, but here we are. Brodesser-Akner is vicious as she nails the woe-is-me cry of a man who has no idea how much of a fool he is. For divorcees, for dating-app users, for anyone trying to understand what love is or what marriage is, this is the book. But if you’re not sure if this one appeals to you, I suggest trying it on audiobook. Reader Allyson Ryan nails the satirical tone, so you’ll never miss a punchline.

Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton
Who, I thought as I started reading Buxton’s debut novel earlier this year, who am I going to recommend this book to?! The answer is: weirdos with an outstanding sense of humor. It’s a philosophical zombie novel narrated by a Cheetos-loving, foul-mouthed crow who sets out on a journey to try and save humanity. You already know if this appeals to you just from that line—so check it out, hug your pets and then blow your friends’ minds by telling them all about the novel you just read.

In 2019, we’ve enjoyed a number of good comic tales—but they’re dark, a little wicked, and even when they’re a little fantastical, they’re deeply, utterly real. Here are five of our favorites.
NonfictionAudioPop CultureMusicMemoir

5 audiobooks to feed your pop culture diet

Feature by Anna Zeitlin

From lowbrow to highbrow TV, from comic books to rock ’n’ roll, here are five audiobooks to feed your pop culture diet. Whether your ears are tuned to licentious behind-the-scenes stories or erudite critiques, there’s something for anyone who hasn’t been hiding under a rock for the last century.

Bachelor Nation, written and read by Amy Kaufman
This is an absolute must-listen for anyone who’s ever watched “The Bachelor” and wondered what goes on behind the scenes, and for anyone curious about the tricks employed by reality TV. We learn how producers use editing to tell whatever story they want to tell, no matter what was really said. Any casual viewer knows how petty the contestants can be, but this book reveals just how ruthless the people behind the scenes can be, too. If you ever audition for the show, never reveal your fear of heights, unless you want to be the one selected for the sky-diving date. Whether you love the show or love to hate it, the juicy, tell-all nature of this audiobook makes it hard to press pause.

I Like to Watch, written and read by Emily Nussbaum
Emily Nussbaum, TV critic for The New Yorker, shares a collection of essays that treats television with respect, acknowledging it as the art form it has become. Twenty years into what many call TV’s second golden age, this is the perfect time to look back on the pivotal shows like “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City” and even “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” all of which set TV on the path it’s on today. She delves into the difficult question of the #MeToo era: Can we still consume art by bad men? I found myself nodding along to the whole audiobook. It’s a thoughtful, opinionated collection of essays and a masterclass in critical writing.

Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine, written by Joe Hagan, read by Dennis Boutsikaris
Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner’s life makes for a fascinating lens through which to view the changing music- and magazine-publishing industries in the later half of the 20th century. He created legends, cementing John Lennon’s legacy as a rock god and building up the mythology behind rock ’n’ roll and the 1960s as a magically creative time. He lifted up the careers of Annie Lebowitz, Cameron Crowe and Hunter S. Thompson. He’s also a total narcissist, and this book pulls no punches. He puts profits over friendship time and again. He’s a successful business mogul, but at what cost? Joe Hagan had incredible access for this book and doesn’t hold anything back.

The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture, written and read by Glen Weldon
This book tracks the history of Batman from his origin as a Shadow knock-off, created to compete with Superman, and through all his permutations in comics, movies and cartoons. Author Glen Weldon posits that the most essential part of Batman is his pledge: When his parents are murdered, he vows to defend the defenseless. The adaptations that have ignored this part of his character are the ones that fail to connect with readers and viewers. Weldon draws a distinction between male and female fans: Male fans complain, make death threats and beg creators for the version of Batman they most relate to; female fans create their own versions, with stories they want to hear, using the characters they love in fan fiction. Weldon is a dynamic narrator, adopting New York and Scottish accents when quoting comic book authors. His “mad fan” voice is particularly skewering.

My Life as a Goddess, written and read by Guy Branum
Writer/comedian Guy Branum uses pop culture as a framing device for his memoir. As a kid, he watched old TV shows to learn about the world. His essay “The Man Who Watched The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” is a beautiful portrait of his relationship with a father who didn’t quite understand him but was proud of him. He does a line-by-line breakdown of “Bohemian Rhopsody” by Queen, interpreted as a coming-out tale that shines a whole new light on the song. Branum’s repeated line “and then I remembered, I am a Goddess” is an inspiring mantra that will boost any listener’s self-confidence. He has a way of throwing out biting asides that make this audiobook that much more fun than the book.

From lowbrow to highbrow TV, from comic books to rock ’n’ roll, here are five audiobooks to feed your pop culture diet.
Mystery

Whodunit: November 2019

Feature by Bruce Tierney

★ Galway Girl 
Ken Bruen peppers his tales of world-weary ex-Garda (Irish cop) Jack Taylor with shamrock bromides that are often thought provoking or darkly humorous as Taylor muddles his violent way through the damp and peaty Irish landscape. “In Galway / They were forecasting a shortage of CO2 (no, me neither). / Which is what puts the kick, fizz, varoom in beer, soft drinks. / Ireland, without beer, in a heat wave.” You can almost hear the “tsk tsk” as Bruen imagines the mayhem that will ensue. Galway Girl finds Taylor beleaguered by a trio of spree killers targeting the Garda, a priest whose moral compass has been severely compromised and a surly falconer with an injured but nonetheless lethal bird of prey. Taylor’s ongoing battle with the demon rum (actually Jameson Irish Whiskey, in his case) hovers in the background of every scene, like some ominous uncle, familiar yet anything but benign. Bruen’s command of language and metaphor is on full display in his trademark staccato verse, and his sense of place is superb. And to top it all off, the final scene is so artfully and powerfully rendered that I had to go back and read it again. And again. And I likely will again.

Lethal Pursuit
If you wanted to learn about Victorian England, you can read scholarly texts that dissect every nuance of societal caste and political intrigue. Or you can do what I do and pick up a Will Thomas novel featuring private enquiry agents Caleb Barker and Thomas Llewellyn, the latest being Lethal Pursuit. This time out, the duo is charged with the delivery of a satchel to Calais, the French seaport closest to England. It should be a pretty straightforward task, but the previous bearer of the satchel thought that as well—moments before his murder, just steps from his planned destination. Suffice it to say that more murders will follow, as the contents of the satchel are rumored to be holy religious documents dating back to the time of St. Paul, and a host of agents (on both sides of the spectrum of holiness) will go to any lengths to get their hands on them. Think a Victorian-era Archie Goodwin narrating the exploits of a sleuth with an Indiana Jones-esque penchant for derring-do, and you will begin to get an idea of the vibe of this series. There is really nothing out there quite like it. 

A Cruel Deception
The armistice that ended World War I silenced the mortar fire but did little to relieve chronic shortages of food and medical supplies, nor the debilitating malaise that gripped postwar Europe. For nurse Bess Crawford, peace means an imminent change of scenery. Just shortly after the opening of Charles Todd’s latest thriller, A Cruel Deception, Bess is summoned to her matron’s office and receives an assignment to travel to war-ravaged Paris. Her mission is to determine the whereabouts and condition of a young army lieutenant, who happens to be the son of the aforementioned matron. Early on, Bess turns up the missing soldier and finds him in pretty rough shape. Badly wounded, he has become addicted to laudanum while trying to deal with the pain. He suffers from sporadic amnesia, and Bess harbors some suspicions about both his backstory and his intentions going forward. A couple of military types offer Bess their assistance in her efforts to determine the truth, but she cannot shake the nagging doubt that one or both are rather too conveniently available in her life and may have goals that are at cross purposes to hers. As always, the mother-son writing team of Charles Todd does a magnificent job with atmosphere and dialogue, all while keeping their good-hearted heroine one step (but only one) ahead of the bad guys.

The Old Success
Martha Grimes’ series featuring Scotland Yard detective Richard Jury is unusual in several respects, not least of which is that the reader would never suspect that Grimes is an American writer. In terms of verbiage, slang and speech pattern, she channels the British vernacular flawlessly. This time out, in The Old Success, Jury is summoned to a small island off Land’s End, Cornwall, to investigate a murder in which much of the trace evidence has been washed away by the relentless waves that pound England’s most westerly point. It is but the first in a trio of murders that share a common factor or two, not to mention a handful of common suspects. Figuring into all of this somehow is another dead man, perhaps the only deceased person mentioned in the book who died of natural causes, whose passing left complicated opinions in its wake. Some people revere him as being just shy of a saint, while others hint at a much darker side, suggesting that had he lived a bit longer, he could have been the poster villain of the #MeToo movement in the U.K. Some interesting subplots (one with a race horse, one with a race car and one with an updated take on the Baker Street Irregulars) help to tie up some loose ends and keep the reader guessing as they wait for the surprising big reveal.

★ Galway Girl 
Ken Bruen peppers his tales of world-weary ex-Garda (Irish cop) Jack Taylor with shamrock bromides that are often thought provoking or darkly humorous as Taylor muddles his violent way through the damp and peaty Irish landscape. “In Galway / They were forecasting…

FictionYA FictionYAMiddle Grade

The Hold List: You’re invited to dinner

Feature by the editors of BookPage

We love many fictional characters, but when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, it takes a special person to earn a place at our families’ tables. These characters would get our plus-ones. Now, who remembers if we pass to the left or right?

Barbie Chang from Barbie Chang
By Victoria Chang
For the eponymous main character in Chang’s poetry collection, being a child is about grieving and caring for an ailing mother; for me, childhood was particularly the latter. My mother gratefully calls me a hero for doing something as simple as writing her resume or taking care of her when she’s sick. My conversation with Barbie Chang would be about not only the mother-child relationship, but also distance and sacrifice, “how quickly the air // around [us fills] in the space afterwards” when our mothers leave—Barbie Chang’s mother in death, mine as I matriculate into adulthood—and the sacrifices mothers make. I want to have dinner with Barbie Chang, and I also cannot wait to have dinner with my mother.

—Prince, Editorial Intern

Helen Loomis from Dandelion Wine
By Ray Bradbury
I consider this summery, small-town novel to be Bradbury’s masterpiece, its series of short stories offering some of the most beloved, idyllic scenes in my reading memory, from a paean to mowing the grass to the hopeful creation of a “Happiness Machine.” Some tales crackle with the discovery of being alive, while others curl into the bittersweetness of memory and old age. In one story, we meet 95-year-old Helen Loomis, who is like a Miss Rumphius who speaks graciously, openly and ever kindly about her long and eventful life, the loneliness and freedom of her travels, her wildness and never marrying. Her story is one of love—and everyone at my family dinner would fall totally and helplessly in love with her.

—Cat, Deputy Editor

Ralph S. Mouse from The Mouse and the Motorcycle
By Beverly Cleary
My family likes animals. When my dad was in college, he had a rooster named Jack who lived in his apartment. Later, he and my mom had a kinkajou named Pooh Bear who slept in the cabinets. I’ve picked up the exotic animal baton by adopting two chinchillas (Rupert and Terrence Howard). So if I had to bring a guest of honor to dinner, my family would certainly appreciate if it were a mouse. There are, of course, many fine mice in literature, but Ralph S. Mouse is the obvious standout choice. He’s cute, he has great stories about escaping danger (essential for an ideal dinner guest), and best of all—at least in my Suzuki-driving family—he can do motorcycle tricks.

—Christy, Associate Editor

Gansey from The Raven Boys
By Maggie Stiefvater
Under the right circumstances, I’d love to meet any of Stiefvater’s Raven Cycle protagonists, but Richard Campbell Gansey III is the only one who’d be at ease in any social situation, including dinner with my family. For example: “Because of his money and his good family name, because of his handsome smile and his easy laugh, because he liked people and . . . they liked him back, Gansey could have had any and all of the friends that he wanted.” He’d bring flowers for my mother. He’d call my father “sir.” He’d compliment the meal and offer to help with the dishes. And after dinner, driving me home in his beat-up Camaro, he’d ask, a gleam in his eye, “How much do you know about dead Welsh kings?”

—Stephanie, Associate Editor

Circe from Circe
By Madeline Miller
There is probably no one with a more extensive or fascinating array of stories to tell at the Thanksgiving table than Circe. In Miller’s gorgeous reimagining of the legendary sorceress, Circe encounters Medea, Odysseus, Hermes, Athena and many more iconic figures. She is witness to some of the most well-known stories in Greek mythology, and through Miller’s clear-eyed, rigorously researched perspective, figures of fable become complicated, contradictory beings of flesh and blood (or ichor) rather than cold marble. Also, it’s important to note that many characters are either deeply dismissive of or outright hostile to poor, exiled Circe. As such, she quite frankly deserves a nice family meal where she can sit back and be the highly deserved center of love and attention.

—Savanna, Assistant Editor

We love many fictional characters, but when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, it takes a special person to earn a place at our families’ tables. These characters would get our plus-ones.
NonfictionFictionTrue Crime

Book Clubs: November 2019

Feature by Julie Hale

★ The Library Book by Susan Orlean
Susan Orlean offers an homage to libraries while investigating a mystery in The Library Book. Orlean delivers a riveting account of the 1986 Los Angeles Public Library fire, which burned for over seven hours, was extinguished with roughly 3 million gallons of water and damaged or destroyed approximately a million books. In recounting the aftermath of the disaster, Orlean chronicles the investigations that ensued and the eventual arrest of an arson suspect—a disturbed young actor named Harry Peak. Along the way, she tracks the history of the Los Angeles Public Library and interviews librarians about their duties and the challenges they face on the job. This intriguing title is also a touching meditation on the author’s lifelong love of libraries and the invaluable services they provide to society.

Queenie by Candace Carty-Williams
Queenie, a young woman of Jamaican British background, tries to forget her white ex-boyfriend as she reenters the complicated world of interracial dating in this smart, briskly paced novel that explores issues of gender and relationships.

Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken
Local eccentric Bertha Truitt opens a bowling alley in Salford, Massachusetts, in the early 1900s. The alley stays in her family for generations, becoming the foundation for a quirky, compelling narrative about inheritance, connection and tradition.

The Age of Light by Whitney Scharer
After learning about photography from the artist Man Ray, model Lee Miller embarks on a career in Europe, pursuing art and love to their ultimate ends. Skillfully blending fact and fiction, Scharer makes an impressive debut with this bold historical novel. 

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker
For dystopian fiction full of provocative questions but light on the violence often present in the genre, try Walker’s haunting portrait of a community torn apart by a mysterious, airborne sleeping sickness.

★ The Library Book by Susan Orlean
Susan Orlean offers an homage to libraries while investigating a mystery in The Library Book. Orlean delivers a riveting account of the 1986 Los Angeles Public Library fire, which burned for over seven hours, was extinguished with roughly…

NonfictionFood & DrinkCookbooksArt

Gift books: For the friend with the best dinner reservations

Feature by Thane Tierney

These books jump out of the oven and onto your shelf.

The holidays are galloping upon us like so many overachieving reindeer, and that means many of us are in vapor lock, wondering what to get our gastronaut (please, NOT “foodie”) friends and family. The possibilities run into the thousands, if not millions, but we’ve trekked off the road more traveled to discover some volumes that will surprise and delight.

Anthony Bourdain: The Last Interview edited by Melville House
In Anthony Bourdain: The Last Interview, the late chef, author, journalist and raconteur, never shy about expressing his opinion, states his case about food: “Well, there’s nothing more political. There’s nothing more revealing of the situation on the ground, whether a system works or not.” His words serve as a good guide through all these books, and in a person’s wider eating life.

Women on Food edited by Charlotte Druckman
Historically speaking, the “system,” especially as it pertains to women in restaurants, hasn’t always worked all that well. While the Irma Rombauers and Julia Childs and M.F.K. Fishers of the world were given wide berth in waxing poetic while guiding homemakers, in the pro kitchens of the world they were often overlooked or demeaned (or worse). No more. In Women on Food, editor Charlotte Druckman enlists the aid of a talented brigade, including the likes of Nigella Lawson, Dorie Greenspan and Julee Rosso, to articulate the state of the food world from a female perspective. As the joke goes, “What do you call a woman chef?” “Chef.” I am in sympathy with the authors in hoping for a day, and soon, when we look back on a book like this and wonder why it was necessary. 

Chicken Genius by Bernard Radfar
Moving from the political to the aesthetic, Japan, perhaps more than any nation, has given life to the adage that “we eat with our eyes first.” And so it is with Bernard Radfar’s Chicken Genius: The Art of Toshi Sakamaki’s Yakitori Cuisine. Aram Radfar’s informative, imaginative photography, alongside the book’s step-by-step recipes and techniques, is a delight to the eye as well as the appetite. It may take you a while to bring your knife skills up to pro level, but this book will aid you at every step, starting with the proper way to disassemble a whole chicken with some degree of craft, and just possibly art.

Delicious Metropolis by Wayne Thiebaud
Speaking of art, let’s turn to Wayne Thiebaud. He couldn’t have grown up anywhere other than Southern California for his canvasses to look the way they do. In Delicious Metropolis, he rolls out a dessert cart overflowing with pinwheel lollipops, pastel-frosted pastries and the promise of an endless summer, not a cloud in sight . . . unless it’s made from whipped cream.

Eat Joy edited by Natalie Eve Garrett
And if every picture tells a story, it’s also true of every recipe, as Natalie Eve Garrett and her contributors prove in Eat Joy: Stories & Comfort Food From 31 Celebrated Writers. From Anthony Doerr’s hilarious recipe for brownie mix (“Sit on floor. Cut open bag of brownie mix. Add water. Stir. Eat with fingers. Repeat when necessary.”) to Rosie Schaap’s moving tale of her first Passover Seder as a widow in New Mexico, Garrett has gathered not only the “what” of her talented essayists’ relationships with food, but more importantly the tragedies and triumphs behind the “why.”

Vignette by Jane Lopes
If I were able to offer only one book to someone who cares to know about wine, it would be Jane Lopes’ Vignette: Stories of Life & Wine in 100 Bottles. Light and frizzante as a moscato but thoroughly researched, the book walks you through the often confusing world of viniculture with recommendations that will give you the confidence to peruse any carte du vin with authority.

Ruffage by Abra Berens
At a time when many of us are moving toward a more plant-based diet, Abra Berens’ Ruffage: A Practical Guide to Vegetables provides a veg-by-veg road map studded with tips, techniques and recipes geared toward getting the most out of the stuff we grow. Sure, you’ve grilled corn, but have you puréed it? Have you ever braised celery? Have you marinated peas? Berens not only shows you how but also explains why you should. It’s not strictly vegetarian, but it does place the plant at the center of the plate, rather than as an afterthought or mere side dish.

As Bourdain says in The Last Interview, “There are no secret recipes. There are no secret techniques. Everything that you learn in a kitchen you are either told, open-source . . . or you have learned it over time, painfully.” With these books, you can sidestep some of those missteps—or just look at the pretty pictures. Either way, you’ll come away with a greater appreciation of the culinary arts, both visual and practical.

 

Thane Tierney lives in Inglewood, California, and writes extensively on food-related topics both in magazines and on his blog, templeofthetongue.com.

These books jump out of the oven and onto your shelf.
NonfictionLiterature

Gift books: For the friend who’s read more books than you

Feature by Julie Hale

Book lovers, bibliomaniacs, librarians at heart—call them what you will, some readers take the contents of their shelves very seriously. We’ve rounded up a quartet of titles for the literature lovers on your gift list.

The Penguin Classics Book by Henry Eliot
The Penguin Classics Book, edited by Henry Eliot, will send bibliophiles over the moon. Spotlighting 1,200 works and covering four centuries, this handsome volume provides an overview of the Penguin Classics imprint, which released its first title—a new translation of The Odyssey by E.V. Rieu—in 1946. Filled with archival gems including images of vintage covers and rare editions, all beautifully reproduced and ripe for perusal, the book gives readers a sense of the imprint’s enormous output. Eliot, a Penguin Classics editor, describes the volume as “a reader’s companion to the best books ever written.” Indeed, the diverse featured titles are drawn from every conceivable genre: poetry, drama, philosophy, fiction, history and more. The book stands as a tribute to Penguin Classics’ endeavor to publish accessible, affordable editions of essential literary works from around the world. Author biographies, précis of major literary movements and background on the development of Penguin Classics as a publishing entity make this tome a necessary addition to the library of every book lover.

Great Goddesses by Nikita Gill
Classics also serve as the foundation for Great Goddesses: Life Lessons From Myths and Monsters, a new collection of poems and prose by British Indian author Nikita Gill. Mining ancient Greek stories for feminist inspiration, Gill offers fresh interpretations of archetypal tales that feature formidable women—Artemis, Hera, Hestia, Penelope, the list goes on—each with an indomitable spirit and distinctive destiny. In “Athena Rises,” the goddess is at once coolly self-possessed and irrationally passionate, a figure whose “heart wears wisdom skin / and wit-warmed splendor, / the echoes of a war cry holding / its four chambers together.” In “Gorgon (A Letter to the Patriarchy),” Gill reenvisions the snake-haired Medusa: “Perhaps the truth about Gorgons / is they are just women, / women who do not bend to the world or fit into the narrow mould you want them to.” Throughout, Gill includes “Mortal Interludes”—lyrical passages of personal reflection that demonstrate the messages she gleans from the myths. With hand-drawn illustrations that match the magnificence of their subject matter, Great Goddesses is a provocative tribute to the power of female agency.

March Sisters by Kate Bolick, Jenny Zhang, Carmen Maria Machado & Jane Smiley
Any list of literature’s leading ladies would surely include the March sisters from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Part of the appeal of Alcott’s esteemed novel, which turns 150 this year, lies in her nuanced depictions of the siblings, who couldn’t be more dissimilar: Meg, mature and dutiful, is the eldest; headstrong Jo is a budding writer; delicate Beth has a kindhearted disposition; and Amy, the youngest, is a vivacious beauty. A fascinating new book pays tribute to Alcott’s heroines. In March Sisters: On Life, Death, and Little Women, authors Kate Bolick, Jenny Zhang, Carmen Maria Machado and Jane Smiley contribute essays on the little woman of their choice. In addition to reflecting on how the book impacted them, each contributor delves into the singular bond she feels to each sister, investigates Alcott’s inspirations and intentions and explores why the book remains relevant today. March Sisters is a must-have for steadfast fans and those new to Alcott’s novel.

Peculiar Questions and Practical Answers by the New York Public Library
Readers who live for trivia will find innumerable tidbits of interest in Peculiar Questions and Practical Answers. Comprised of queries posed to New York Public Library staffers, this weird, wonderful book draws on archives dating back to the 1940s. Some of the questions are sensible (“May a funeral be held on July 4th?”), some are true curiosity ticklers (“How many seeds are there in a watermelon?”), and some appear calculated to confound (“What is the life cycle of an eyebrow hair?”). Questions of this kind would stretch the skills and stamina of the most long-suffering researcher. Yet library staff stepped up and supplied crisp, succinct responses to all inquiries. New Yorker illustrator Barry Blitt captures the surreal, slightly mad mood of the proceedings in his clever cartoons. This pocket-size book has enormous appeal. 

Book lovers, bibliomaniacs, librarians at heart—call them what you will, some readers take the contents of their shelves very seriously. We’ve rounded up a quartet of titles for the literature lovers on your gift list.

The Penguin Classics Book by Henry Eliot
…

NonfictionNature

Gift books: For the eternally, incurably curious

Feature by Julie Hale

They’ve got probing minds and roving intellects. They simply must unlock the secrets of every subject. And they’re going to love these books.

Brilliant Maps for Curious Minds by Ian Wright
Nowadays, maps do much more than keep us on the proper path. Researchers use cartographic methods to harness all sorts of information, and the results, as Ian Wright demonstrates with Brilliant Maps for Curious Minds: 100 New Ways to See the World, are intriguing. In this fascinating atlas, Wright—the mastermind behind the popular website Brilliant Maps—sheds light on the politics, economies, customs and cultures of countries across the globe. Wright uses colorful, easy-to-decode infographics to answer questions many of us might never think to ask (e.g., Where can the highest speed limits for driving be found? Which countries have no rivers?). He also analyzes in-the-news issues, presenting maps that depict the world’s open borders and the nations with the greatest immigrant populations. His book connects readers with an astonishing range of international data—no passport required.

The Amusement Park by Stephen M. Silverman
Readers are bound to get a rush from The Amusement Park: 900 Years of Thrills and Spills, and the Dreamers and Schemers Who Built Them by historian Stephen M. Silverman. Delivering a wonderfully detailed account of how the amusement park as we know it came to be, Silverman traces the roots of tourist hot spots like Ferrari World Abu Dubai—home of the fastest roller coaster on the planet—back to the medieval pleasure gardens of Europe. In this exhilarating compilation, Silverman spotlights noteworthy parks of the 19th and early 20th centuries and the innovative, often controversial thinkers behind their construction. He also considers contemporary attractions such as Disneyland, Cedar Point and Six Flags Great Adventure, and discusses today’s daringly designed roller coasters, including theme-park behemoths Steel Vengeance and Kingda Ka. Filled with photographs, illustrations and archival advertisements, this high-flying history will thrill adrenaline junkies and history buffs alike.

Airline Maps by Mark Ovenden & Maxwell Roberts
Anyone who’s curious about the early years of commercial flight—those distant days when tickets, terminals and take-offs inspired excitement (the good kind) in the hearts of travelers—will want to log some hours with Airline Maps: A Century of Art and Design. Map historians Mark Ovenden (author of the bestselling Transit Maps of the World) and Maxwell Roberts organized this nifty volume, which explores the evolution of air travel through a fabulous selection of visuals, with an emphasis on maps and flight charts. Beginning in 1919, the book documents the growth of the industry, marking milestones like the rise of big-brand carriers and the debut of the jumbo jet, and shows how that growth was reflected in the creative work of cartographers and designers. From the art deco-influenced flight maps and stylish travel posters of the 1930s and ’40s to the heady ads of the ’60s and beyond, this volume is a fun, informative flashback.

Sun and Moon by Mark Holborn
Capturing a sense of the infinite unknown that enraptures dedicated stargazers, Mark Holborn’s Sun and Moon: A Story of Astronomy, Photography, and Mapping is an extensive—and stunning—visual history of space exploration. The volume begins with a look at the space observatories of prehistoric times and moves forward to chronicle the rise of telescopes and satellites that brought the vast reaches of the heavens closer to home. The book also examines the allure of the moon, which endures even 50 years after the Apollo 11 mission, and its particular appeal to astronomers and intellectuals. Holborn used materials from the collections of the Royal Observatory Greenwich and the Royal Astronomical Society in producing this majestic volume. Elegantly designed, with nearly 300 images, Sun and Moon is an altogether grand retrospective of humankind’s attempts to make sense of the mysteries of space.

Consider the Platypus by Maggie Ryan Sandford
For readers who take pleasure in pondering the enigmas of the natural world, Consider the Platypus: Evolution Through Biology’s Most Baffling Beasts is a can’t-miss gift. In this frequently funny, thoroughly accessible volume, science writer Maggie Ryan Sandford investigates the nature of genetic development through a study of 40-plus animals. Tracking the history of each creature, she reveals how its traits and behavior have adjusted over time for the purposes of survival. Along with the friendly and familiar (bottlenose dolphin, domestic dog), Sandford’s cross-section of specimens features examples of evolution’s odder offerings, like the hoatzin—a red-eyed, blue-faced tropical bird that, despite sizable wings, is a flying failure—and that great hodgepodge the platypus, to all appearances a cross between beaver, otter and duck. Rodica Prato’s masterful illustrations showcase the quirks and foibles of her singular subjects. If only biology class could have been this much fun.

They’ve got probing minds and roving intellects. They simply must unlock the secrets of every subject. And they’re going to love these books.

PhotographyMemoirLiteratureFilmArt

Gift books: For the film buff who dreams in black and white

Feature by Linda M. Castellitto

A glamorous person deserves a glamorous present.

These four books, created by cinephiles for cinephiles, are perfect picks for the film buff in your life: They usher readers behind the scenes and offer a bit of dish, a lot of insight and plenty of glam Old Hollywood fun.

The Hollywood Book Club by Steven Rea
Steven Rea’s The Hollywood Book Club: Reading with the Stars is filled with black-and-white photos of actors from Tinseltown of yore reading at home and on set, poolside and at kitchen tables. The stars’ artful poses and occasional sly grins keep things interesting, a la Gregory Peck looking up from To Kill a Mockingbird. Film critic and photo archivist Rea’s witty captions add color and context. He explains the meaning behind the featured books and offers insider details (Edward G. Robinson collected French Impressionist art; Bette Davis’ husband wanted a divorce because she read too much). This fascinating dive into Hollywood history is a splendidly starry way to add to your TBR pile.

Letters from Hollywood by Rocky Land & Barbara Hall
Rocky Lang and Barbara Hall know movies. Lang, son of a studio executive, is a producer, director and writer; Hall is a film historian and archivist. Their compendium Letters from Hollywood: Inside the Private World of Classic American Moviemaking is an excellent reference and engrossing exploration of American film from the silent era through the 1970s. Letters to and from famous actors, directors and more (Bela Lugosi, Katharine Hepburn, Claudia McNeil, Irving Berlin, Tom Hanks) are augmented by photos and other ephemera. Film buffs will revel in flipping to favorite luminaries, checking out surprising pen pals, admiring vintage stationery design and pondering the vanished art of writing letters. As Peter Bogdanovich writes in the foreword, “What a great idea!”

The Movie Musical! by Jeanine Basinger
At the beginning of The Movie Musical! Jeanine Basinger writes, “I was raised on musicals, and I love them.” That affection is evident in this 650-plus-page master class and love letter to the form and its practitioners. The author, a film historian and author of 11 other film books, takes readers on an edifying journey through the evolution of Hollywood musicals, from “the arrival of sound” in 1927’s The Jazz Singer to present-day extravaganzas like Bohemian Rhapsody (and La La Land, which she Does Not Like). She offers insight on what makes a musical, reveals the ways in which art and business collide and assesses the appeal of everyone from Gene Kelly to Diana Ross to Channing Tatum. Devotees will delight in revisiting beloved films—and making a list of musicals to watch ASAP.

Home Work by Julie Andrews
In this follow-up to 2008’s Home, Julie Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton dive into Andrews’ movie-making era, which began in 1962 when Walt Disney offered her the lead role in Mary Poppins. In Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years, the authors bring us along on Andrews’ thrilling movie star journey with fascinating revelations about films like The Sound of Music, Hitchcock’s Torn Curtain, and Andrews’ second husband Blake Edwards’ 10 and That’s Life (the latter was their final film together; he died in 2010 after a 41-year marriage). Andrews was initially insecure in front of the cameras, but that soon gave way to using stage-honed instincts to inhabit characters from the outside in—via costumes and wigs, as well as, say, giving Ms. Poppins stiffly turned-out feet “to punctuate the impression of Mary’s character when flying.” Andrews shares diary entries, too, as she muses on the perpetual tug-of-war between family and work; the depression that plagued so many colleagues, including Edwards; and memorable trips abroad. Home Work is a multifaceted and absorbing 20-year tour of Hollywood through the eyes of one of its most beloved players.

These four books, created by cinephiles for cinephiles, are perfect picks for the film buff in your life.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Tips for Teachers: ‘Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.’

Feature by Emmie Stuart

Tips for Teachers is a monthly column in which experienced teacher and children’s librarian Emmie Stuart shares book recommendations and a corresponding teaching guide for fellow elementary school teachers.

In an unfortunate series of events, I learned that our school district reduced recess time by 50% (down to 15 minutes per day) about 36 hours after I finished Linda Åkeson McGurk’s There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather. Born and raised in Sweden where “there is no such thing as bad weather,” McGurk spent much of her childhood playing outside. Upon marrying and moving to Indiana, she quickly realized that nature-centered childhoods are not the norm. Her American-born daughters did not share her enthusiasm for the outdoors. Upon returning to Sweden for a six-month stay, the disparities between the countries’ views on childhood became even more apparent to her. Multiple outdoor recess periods, hours immersed in forest play, and unstructured time to build forts or make mud-pies replaced high-stakes standardized testing, hours spent in front of screens, and rigidly scheduled days. Her daughters thrived in the Swedish school setting; they developed independence, a knowledge of flora and fauna, an appreciation for dirt and the enduring understanding that “with increased freedom comes increased responsibility.”

Recess rules, testing regulations, and student screen time are issues beyond my control. But I can provide my students with bountiful outdoor learning opportunities that will give them the chance to observe and experience nature and all of its intricacies and beauty. Expand your traditional classroom walls with the following four books. Through gentle invitations, they beckon children to venture outside, to slow down, to notice, to pretend, to play, to collect and to wonder.

Lawrence in the Fall by Matthew Farrell, illustrated by Doug Saleti

Lawrence, a young fox cub, is paralyzed with fear when a chalkboard assignment tells students to “Bring in something you collect to show the class!” He doesn’t have a collection, and hearing his classmates’ excited chatter only increases his despair. Papa soothes Lawrence’s tears and assures him that he knows a place to find “a collection fit for a special fox like you.” The next morning, the pair ventures off into the woods, where Lawrence’s initial hesitation is legitimized when a sudden rainstorm separates him from Papa. But the storm begins to blow down leaves, and suddenly Lawrence is enraptured by the beauty of the fall foliage. Once reunited, Papa helps Lawrence collect more leaves before heading home to prepare the collection. His classmates are so enthralled by the leaves that by the end of the day his collection is dispersed among them and Lawrence, with a newfound confidence, leads his friends on a leaf-finding forest expedition.

  • Classroom Leaf Collection

    Read aloud books that discuss different types of trees, leaves and the science behind color change. I read Mia Posada’s Summer Green to Autumn Gold, Betsy Maestro’s Why Do Leaves Change Colors? and Gail Gibbons’ Tell Me, Tree. Give each student a gallon-sized plastic bag and ask them to bring it back in a week filled with leaves, acorns and seeds. Encourage them to look in their yards, neighborhoods, local nature centers, the soccer field or any place they notice new types of leaves. Let the students share their collections with each other and then use identification books to categorize, group and label their collections.

  • A Collection of Collections

    Ask teachers, parents and children if they have collections of small items they are willing to lend your class for a week. If they also have time to speak to the class about their collection, it’s a wonderful bonus! Set clear guidelines with students regarding the handling and care of personal collections. Throughout the week, give students time to look at and study the collections. My students were absolutely fascinated by my borrowed rock/gem, stamp, charm, shell, nutcracker, patch and button collections. I even had to physically pry them away from the tables a few times!

  • Further Reading and Critical Thinking

    Most children are natural collectors. Read other books that highlight kids’ collections and then invite students to briefly share personal experiences. I read aloud Michelle Schaub’s Finding Treasure, Emily Beeny’s Hector the Collector and Elisa Kleven’s The Puddle Pail. Spark discussion by asking, “Is money a requirement for having a collection? What type of things can we collect without money?”

The Hike by Alison Farrell

For best friends Wren, El and Hattie, hiking is their “favorite thing to do.” Armed with sketchbooks, pencils, poems, flags, feathers and Bean (their faithful canine companion), they start their Buck Mountain trek on a sunny morning. Their summit assent includes leaf baskets, berry foraging, rainstorms, rocky terrain and piggyback rides. When they reach the top of the mountain, they celebrate by releasing feathers, reading a poem and waving the flag. Unobtrusive dialogue bubbles, labels and sketchbook pages extend the simple narrative, offering readers an abundance of information regarding plants, animals and woodland forest life. The Hike is a story that not only celebrates flora, fauna and the great outdoors, but also camaraderie, perseverance and the joy that really is in the journey.

  • Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.

    As author-illustrator Alison Farrell mentioned in this interview, at the heart of her book are some lines from a Mary Oliver poem, “Sometimes.”

    Instructions for living a life.
    Pay attention.
    Be astonished.
    Tell about it.

    Write these lines on a sheet of anchor chart paper and let students share their interpretations. Ask, “Do you do this?” and “What does Oliver mean when she says, “Pay attention?” I showed my students this Norman Rockwell painting and this photograph, and the two images prompted a cacophony of indignant and incredulous responses! Give students time to copy the lines (goodness, children still need handwriting and fine motor skills!) onto an index card. Their assignment is to “Pay attention,” “be astonished” and decide how they will “tell about it.” This exercise gave me new insights into each child’s individual personality, not only because of what astonished them but also through the way they chose to tell about it. Song lyrics, watercolor paintings, digital presentations and Lego creations are just a sampling of the ways my students communicated their astonishments.

Treasure written by Mireille Messier, illustrated by Irene Luxbacher

Two siblings set out in search of a treasure. “How will we know when we’ve found a treasure?” wonders the younger brother. Big sister confidently explains, “A treasure is shiny and mysterious and precious. And the best treasures are always hidden.” As they wander through the forest, little brother finds an acorn, milkweed pods and a feather, but according to sister, these items are not shiny, mysterious or precious enough to be treasure. Letting his frustration and doubt get the best of him, little brother sits on a rock and declares, “The treasure is hidden too far away! I give up.” But then big sister calls him to come around the bend and together they wonder at an unexpected treasure that is indeed shiny, mysterious and precious—and “too big for pockets.” Told through the siblings’ simple dialogue, Treasure reflects children’s inquisitive nature and the fresh wonder with which they view the natural world.

  • Nature Counting Cards

    Give students brown paper lunch bags and take them on a nature treasure hunt. I prepped by dropping acorns, sticks, bird feathers, fall leaves, miniature acorns and milkweed along our walking path. After the walk, ask each child to lay out their treasures. In the front of the room or on a long table, place pieces of white 8.5" x 11" cardstock labeled 1 through 20. After students have collectively grouped the nature treasures according to item or appearance, let them work together to decide which item they want to represent the number “one.” Place it on the piece of cardstock labeled “1.” Repeat the process for each number, then divide the students into pairs and assign each pair a number. Each pair will arrange the treasures on their respective cards, then loosely glue or tape them to the cardstock. Take overhead pictures of each card, print them in color, and laminate them. Hung together, they create useful and beautiful classroom decorations.

Tiny, Perfect Things written by M.H. Clark, illustrated by Madeline Kloepper

“Today we keep our eyes open for tiny, perfect things,” explains a young girl as she and her grandfather venture out for a neighborhood walk. Slowing down and noticing reveals the small splendors surrounding them. From “a yellow leaf that the wind blew down” to “a man with a beautiful feather in his hat” and the “pale, bright moon,” together they wonder and celebrate the beauty and miracle of nature, neighbors and night. The culminating four-page spread unfolds to showcase the entire walk, inviting children to “come look with me” and notice their own tiny, beautiful things.

  • Categorize

    Reread the text with students. Record each of the tiny, perfect things that the little girl noticed on her walk. I wrote each item on an index card and used magnets to stick them on the white board. Let students determine categories, then divide the items into the appropriate categories. Animals/nature/people was the first (and most obvious) category, but at my encouragement the students expanded their thinking and we recategorized items into living/nonliving, singular/plural, and red/not red.

  • A Tiny, Perfect Things Walk

    As soon as I finished reading it aloud, my first grade students began clamoring for a “tiny, perfect things” walk. Give each student a clipboard and pencil, and let them help you determine the route. Remind your students to notice and record adjectives (read examples from the text) that accompany their tiny, perfect things. Bring your phone and take pictures of the items that students notice. When you return to the classroom, give students time to draw and color their findings and hang them, along with the photographs you took, on a classroom Tiny, Perfect Things board.

Tips for Teachers is a monthly column in which experienced teacher and children’s librarian Emmie Stuart shares book recommendations and a corresponding teaching guide for fellow elementary school teachers.

In an unfortunate series of events, I learned that our school district reduced recess…

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