2book

Children's & YAPicture Book

Exploring life under the sea

Feature by Robin Smith

One of the joys of summer is spending time at the ocean and seeing ocean life through the eyes of children, who are endlessly fascinated by all that lives in the sea. Here are three new picture books to help answer a child’s questions about all things aquatic.

BRINGING UP BABY

Dolphins are amazing to children: mammals that live in the water! Nicola Davies tells the story of these graceful animals in Dolphin Baby!. Illustrated by Brita Granström, this charmer follows the life of a baby dolphin from birth to first breath to the moment of independently catching its own fish. Filled with factual detail, the more complicated in smaller type for parents to explain, Dolphin Baby! will satisfy the curious youngster, whether she has actually seen a dolphin or not. Granström’s breathtaking brushstrokes make it easy to imagine life in the ocean and the comparisons to human development will help young readers connect with their seagoing relatives. This book could be the starting point for a lifelong love of dolphins.

SEA CREATURES

In the Sea brings David Elliott and Holly Meade back together with a companion book to On the Farm and In the Wild. Meade’s stunning woodcuts swim off the page and invite the young reader to enter the magical world of the ocean. Each short rhyming poem briefly introduces the young sea enthusiast to one creature. I can just imagine a young reader poring over this oversized volume, memorizing the poems and noticing the details in the illustrations. The rich rhymes (apparition/magician, tuxedo/torpedo, sandy place/carapace, buffoon/balloon) are inviting and challenging while the drama of the woodcuts brings a gasp at every page turn. Each book in this series respects young scientists without overwhelming them.

CHAIN REACTION

A good teacher makes learning easy and interesting, and after reading Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny Plants Feed the Seas I imagine that Penny Chisholm, professor of ecology at MIT, is an amazing teacher. Her second collaboration with illustrator Molly Bang explains the role that microscopic plants called phytoplankton play in the earth’s ecology. Obscure scientific ideas are a challenge to my brain, but I could not stop reading this amazing book. Narrated by the sun, the book begins and ends with bright yellow, making the sun’s importance clear. The marriage of clear language with Bang’s rich illustrations made me want to slow down and really understand the importance of these little plants to the ocean’s food chain. Some of the pages are mostly black, allowing the reader to see the eerie “marine snow” of decaying animals. Ocean Sunlight is one of those special picture books that will appeal to all ages, from the youngster interested in ocean animals to anyone who appreciates the intricacies of food chains, seen and unseen.

One of the joys of summer is spending time at the ocean and seeing ocean life through the eyes of children, who are endlessly fascinated by all that lives in the sea. Here are three new picture books to help answer a child’s questions about…

Fiction

Focus on the family

Feature by Lauren Bufferd

This summer brings two short story collections perfect for dipping in and out of on your vacation: one by naturalist and poet Lucia Perillo, and a debut offering by Natalie Serber. Both focus on families, though the majority of Serber’s work is devoted more specifically to the ties between mothers and daughters.

The 14 stories in Happiness Is a Chemical in the Brain are firmly rooted in the small towns and quiet neighborhoods of the Pacific Northwest. Three linked stories follow Louise, a developmentally disabled adult who is a good-natured witness to her mother’s unhappiness and her younger sister’s sexual adventures. Many of Lucia Perillo’s adult characters recollect their childhoods, seeking answers to current situations in past behaviors. The wild exploits of youth are dissected in several stories such as “The Cavalcade of the Old West,” in which two sisters recall their adventures at a summer fair before one sister’s promiscuity drove them down separate paths. In “Report from the Trenches,” a frustrated housewife lives vicariously through the memories of her neighbor, now prim and proper, but once a female gang member. The narrator in “A Ghost Story,” one of the strongest stories in the collection, remembers her years as a “girl flagger” in a highway crew and the affair she had with a man who literally picked her up off the street.

Perillo’s characters are tough but with an edgy wit and a refreshing lack of self-pity, despite their often dead-end circumstances. Perillo’s work as a poet informs and deepens her language; in “Big-dot Day,” a miserable young boy, dragged cross-country by his mother and her new boyfriend, catches a gull with the boyfriend’s fishing rod while stuck in a motel room. The title story of a chronically ill woman suspecting her husband of infidelity ends with a striking vision of a quilt turning into migrating birds.

Natalie Serber explores the emotional rollercoaster of motherhood, from euphoria to fear and everything in between. Most of the stories in Shout Her Lovely Name trace the life of Ruby Hargrove, the daughter of an alcoholic father and depressed mother and herself the single mother of a daughter, Nora. Beginning with “Ruby Jewel,” the stories follow Ruby as she disentangles herself from her parent’s emotional neediness, only to be abandoned with a new baby, and throw a spotlight on seminal episodes of Ruby and Nora’s peripatetic life from New York and California. Each of the other three stories in the collection stands alone, but their subjects—a mother addressing her teenage daughter’s anorexia, a new mother comforting an orphaned baby on a plane and a middle-aged wife and mother taking stock of her life at her husband’s 50th birthday party—mirror and echo the themes explored so thoughtfully in the stories of Nora and Ruby. Like Perillo, Serber writes with grace, humor and a thoughtful, but realistic, understanding of the emotional toll demanded by families.

This summer brings two short story collections perfect for dipping in and out of on your vacation: one by naturalist and poet Lucia Perillo, and a debut offering by Natalie Serber. Both focus on families, though the majority of Serber’s work is devoted more specifically…

Nonfiction

Let the games begin

Feature by Martin Brady

The Olympics may sneak up on its intended audience—that is, the entire world—but once the Games are in full swing, our attention matches their intensity. Warm up by exploring the fascinating history of this quadrennial athletic extravaganza.

THE FIRST MARATHON

London is the only city to host the Olympics three times, having done so previously in 1908 and 1948. Journalist David Davis’ Showdown at Shepherd’s Bush relates the story of three men who arrived at the 1908 Games to compete in the first modern Olympic marathon. Johnny Hayes was an Irish scrapper from the streets of New York City, Dorando Pietri a candymaker from Italy, and Tommy Longboat a Native American by way of Canada. All three men had humble roots, and the account of their race is gripping, including the contentious outcome.

Yet Davis’ book is also a profile of a time—when the Olympics had only recently been resuscitated and when sports in general were beginning to attract rabid spectator interest. “London 1908 serves as the blueprint for subsequent Olympics,” Davis writes. “They were the first to involve national squads. . . . They were the first to have an Opening Ceremony, with each country’s team marching en masse, and the first to feature a newly built, state-of-the-art stadium.” It was also the first Olympiad to be extensively photographed and filmed, setting a precedent that has never wavered.

HOOP STARS

The U.S. Olympic basketball squad of 1992—led by Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird—vanquished its opponents with a virtual flick of their talented wrists. Longtime Sports Illustrated staffer Jack McCallum puts their accomplishments in perspective in Dream Team, which provides the history of how the team came to be, but also benefits mightily from the author’s updated interviews with the principals.

The Dream Team was untouchable on the court, and one can argue that this Olympic episode had more to do with promotion than the spirit of Olympic competition. But more interesting than the basketball dominance are the behind-the-scenes politics that spawned this particular collection of players. McCallum brings events vividly to life—including the concerns about Magic’s recent HIV diagnosis and Charles Barkley’s off-the-court antics—and effectively gets inside the heads of his famous subjects, exposing their egos and occasional insecurities. McCallum writes with energy, and his book is way more riveting than, say, Michael & Co.’s 117-85 drubbing of Croatia in the Gold Medal game.

FOR ARMCHAIR WARRIORS

Finally, British writers David Goldblatt and Johnny Acton smartly serve up How to Watch the Olympics. This handbook, with its fast facts and useful overviews of the many events, plus its thumbnail portraits of past Olympic performers, should rest comfortably on the easy chair, ready for quick access as the TV broadcasts commence.

The Olympics may sneak up on its intended audience—that is, the entire world—but once the Games are in full swing, our attention matches their intensity. Warm up by exploring the fascinating history of this quadrennial athletic extravaganza.

THE FIRST MARATHON

London is the only city to host…

NonfictionBiography

50 years later, her star still shines

Feature by Pat H. Broeske

The passage of time and occasional discoveries of new source materials have made Marilyn Monroe an ever-evolving presence. Marking the 50th anniversary of her death on August 5, 1962, two revisionist biographies offer divergent views of the blonde icon.

Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox, by USC gender studies professor, feminist historian and unabashed Monroe fan Lois Banner, seeks to quash the notion of Monroe as damaged victim. Marilyn is instead the one on top—a smart cookie, largely in control of her self-created sexy persona and career.

Adept at depicting time and place in authentic detail, Banner digs deep into the fractured childhood of Norma Jeane Mortenson, showing that Monroe exaggerated chapters of her life (her foster families were relatives/friends, not total strangers), while downplaying probable childhood sexual abuse.

Growing up in the shadow of Southern California’s film industry, Monroe did more than dream of stardom; she set out to make it happen. After being snapped by a photographer for a recruiting magazine, she became an eager and astute photo subject, then a possible “party girl” (serving up sex and drinks to the powerful) and studio contract player. Her star was rising when rumors hit that she’d once posed nude for a calendar pin-up. Instead of today’s typical insincere apology, Monroe owned up to it. Asked if she had anything on during the shoot, she quipped, “The radio.”

Seeking self-improvement she frequented bookstores, took classes at UCLA, studied acting. She confounded studio executives by wanting control over her movies, and infuriated the same crowd when she went out without donning underwear.

Banner takes us through the films, love affairs, the shrinks, the medication and a pivotal weekend during which something murky transpired at Frank Sinatra’s Cal Neva Lodge. A drunken Monroe may have been sexually violated; she was certainly humiliated. Days later she was dead, at 36. Banner recounts various Monroe death theories, including those with a conspiratorial edge involving the Kennedys, and wonders if, had she lived, she would have embraced the sisterhood of feminism. 

In Marilyn Monroe: The Final Years British author Keith Badman charts similar biographical terrain, but steadfastly refutes an affair with JFK—beyond a one-nighter—and shoots down a rumored RFK romance. Itineraries prove both were logistically impossible, Badman argues. He also claims to have solved the mystery of Monroe’s death, via copious data regarding her lengthy use of prescription meds. Well, maybe. . . .

Like Banner, he delves into the creepy goings-on at Cal Neva, while taking a magnifying glass to the actresses’ final films, The Misfits and the never-completed Something’s Got to Give.

Author of books on the Beach Boys, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, Badman is gifted at depicting Monroe’s colorful supporting cast, including longtime acting coach Paula Strasberg (dubbed Black Bart by crew members) and publicist Pat Newcomb, who remains a tantalizing figure in the life of the ultimate mystery woman.

Author Pat H. Broeske is also a Hollywood journalist whose byline appears in the latest issue of Emmy magazine.

The passage of time and occasional discoveries of new source materials have made Marilyn Monroe an ever-evolving presence. Marking the 50th anniversary of her death on August 5, 1962, two revisionist biographies offer divergent views of the blonde icon.

Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox, by…

Memoir

The stuff Olympic dreams are made of

Feature by Martin Brady

What does it take to become an Olympic athlete? Three top competitors—including two Olympic veterans and one who will participate in this summer’s games—have crafted memoirs that describe their early life challenges and their struggles to achieve on the world athletic stage.

Swimmer Amanda Beard has competed in every Olympics since 1996, gaining a total of seven medals, including two gold. She participated in 2008 without medaling and fell just short of qualifying this year (at the age of 30). In the Water They Can’t See You Cry, co-written with Rebecca Paley, is Beard’s account of her personal life and her Olympic experiences, a journey strewn with disappointments—from her parents’ divorce to her own struggle with self-esteem and body image issues, including episodes of self-mutilation. Beard's narrative is heartfelt, and she ably recounts the confusion of her youth and the dedication to swimming that helped her push through the uncertainty found in other areas of her life. With athletic success have come opportunities in self-marketing and product endorsements and especially high-profile modeling gigs with Maxim, FHM and Playboy, all of which Beard has embraced in the spirit of savvy entrepreneurship while continuing to strive in the pool. Yet she has also found happiness in marriage and motherhood, and appears now to have finally balanced her professional endeavors with personal satisfaction. Her memoir also provides interesting viewpoints on the Olympic social culture at the games in Atlanta, Sydney, Athens and Beijing, and serves as a readable profile of an athlete who first achieved internationally as a teenager, then continued to compete in spite of physical changes (specifically, a sudden growth spurt in late adolescence) and emotional upheavals.

Lopez Lomong’s upbringing in Africa is in stark contrast to Beard’s California experience. Still a boy when separated from his parents and siblings during civil war in his native Sudan, Lomong ended up in a U.N. refugee camp in Kenya, where, under the auspices of Catholic Charities, he was eventually accorded an opportunity to emigrate to the United States, where he was adopted by a supportive foster family in Syracuse, New York. Co-authored by Mark Tabb, Lomong’s Running for My Life: One Lost Boy’s Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games relates the frightening and almost miraculous tale of his survival in Africa, his adjustment to America (including gaining citizenship in 2007), and his transition from talented soccer player to world-class distance runner with Olympic aspirations. Lomong was the 2008 Olympic flag bearer for the U.S. in Beijing and will compete in London in the 5,000-meter race. Lomong’s inspiring memoir also includes the back-story on an HBO feature in which he returned to Africa to reunite with his parents, whom he thought were dead, and his brothers, who eventually immigrated to the U.S.

Reigning Olympic decathlon champion Bryan Clay won the silver medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics and took the gold in ’08 in Beijing. (In June, at the U.S. Olympic trials, Clay clipped a hurdle and failed to qualify for the London games.) In Redemption: A Rebellious Spirit, a Praying Mother, and the Unlikely Path to Olympic Gold, co-written with Joel Kilpatrick, Clay reveals that his journey has been one of emotional as well as physical challenge. Like Beard a child of divorce, he dealt with serious anger issues through his younger years, seeking out opportunities to party hard in his adolescence even while gaining strength as a multifaceted athlete. His mother’s religious influence played a key role in Clay enrolling in California’s small Azusa Pacific University, a stoutly Christian college but one that also boasts a strong track and field program. There, Clay honed his competitive skills, met the woman who would become his wife, and found comfort in commitment to his Christian faith—all on his way to Olympic glory. 

What does it take to become an Olympic athlete? Three top competitors—including two Olympic veterans and one who will participate in this summer’s games—have crafted memoirs that describe their early life challenges and their struggles to achieve on the world athletic stage.

Swimmer Amanda Beard has…

Fiction

Dealing with life’s trials and tribulations

Feature by Sandy Amazeen

Strength of character and overcoming hardship to discover better times ahead are the central themes of three delightful new fiction releases that will warm the heart.

Gabriel Clarke was born to be on “The River”—his father and grandfather were whitewater guides who appreciated all the subtle nuances and moods of the Whitefire River, deep in the Colorado Rockies. But when he was five, Gabriel’s world was ripped asunder when his father’s attempt to save a kayaker went horribly wrong. After moving to live with his mother in Cairo, Kansas, fun-loving Gabriel becomes insecure and withdrawn. Years later, a job with a rafting company offers Gabriel the opportunity to reconnect in full—not only with The River, but also with his past—but only if he has the strength of character to move beyond his anger and childhood pain.

Michael Neale’s The River gently sweeps readers along like a leaf in a current as Gabriel struggles with beginning a new life after a terrible loss. Throughout this artfully crafted story is a genuine sense of The River as a force of nature to be reckoned with, respected and learned from.

LOVE, ITALIAN-STYLE
Charming and smoothly paced, The Girl in the Glass recreates the feeling of walking the streets of Florence, Italy, and is populated with warm, generous-hearted characters. Thirty-year-old Meg Pomeroy has a good job as an editor for a travel guide publisher, yet travels very little. She clings to the hope that her financially irresponsible father will make good on his promise to take her to Florence. When he finally appears to be following through, and then fails spectacularly, Meg swallows her disappointment and decides to go to Florence alone. She meets up with two of her publishing connections: author and tour guide Sofia Borelli, and photographer Lorenzo. Meg has been trying to publish Sofia’s short stories, based on the life of Sofia’s ancestor, Nora, and she has worked on projects with Lorenzo and his sister for several years. Now that she and Lorenzo have met, Meg can’t help but respond to his infectious charm. But is what she feels for Lorenzo the real deal or a travel romance?

Susan Meissner, author of The Shape of Mercy and A Sound Among the Trees, maintains a smooth pace and believable dialogue throughout—even if Meg seems a little old-fashioned. Sofia’s story is even more interesting as the painful truths of her life reveal a vulnerable, broken woman struggling to come to terms with a traumatic past.

SOUTHERN STRENGTH
Michael Morris spins an excellent yarn about a Deep South community circa World War I in Man in the Blue Moon. As a young woman, Ella Wallace was a promising art student looking forward to furthering her studies in France—but that was before she became infatuated with the charismatic, free-spending Harlan. Eighteen weary years later, Ella is disillusioned and raising three boys alone after Harlan ran away to escape his debts. Local banker Clive Gillespie can’t wait to get his hands on her piece of Florida property, which contains a natural spring with reputed healing powers, and Ella is on the verge of foreclosure when she receives notice that a clock has been delivered for her. When Ella and her boys unpack the crate, it isn’t a clock they discover but a man: Lanier Stillis, a distant cousin of Harlan, hiding from his ex-in-laws. And this is only the first of the surprises Lanier brings.

Morris encapsulates the hypocrisy, pettiness, greed and outright meanness that are often a part of small-town life, yet his story manages to avoid being too dark or depressing despite the bad things that happen to some of its characters. Don’t miss this thoughtful, poignant tale of love, loss and redemption steeped in the heat and natural beauty of the Deep South.

Strength of character and overcoming hardship to discover better times ahead are the central themes of three delightful new fiction releases that will warm the heart.

Gabriel Clarke was born to be on “The River”—his father and grandfather were whitewater guides who appreciated all the subtle…

Children's & YAPicture Book

Treats for little tricksters

Feature by Alice Cary

Friendly ghosts can be comforting, especially to young goblins who may find Halloween a little overwhelming. I’m dating myself with this admission, but I grew up watching “Casper, the Friendly Ghost” every Saturday morning on TV. Here are some newly created ghosts waiting to befriend the latest generation of Halloween revelers.

A GHOST OF YOUR VERY OWN
Start with My First Ghost by Maggie Miller and Michael Leviton, which is loads of fun and, as the cover boasts, comes with a “Free GHOST INSIDE!” Just turn the page, the text says, to claim yours, but first be sure you’re ready to take on the responsibility.

Miller and Leviton offer a humorous owner’s manual, explaining, for instance, how ghosts are better than pets and siblings (“Your ghost will never punch your arm” or “sing annoying songs for hours on end”). Young readers will enjoy the activity suggestions (hide and seek, invite another ghost over), as well as the warnings (“Ghosts are very bad at catch”).

Stephanie Buscema’s energetic illustrations have a delightful retro feel, reminiscent of the 1960s and 1970s, yet with a modern twist. My First Ghost will bring reassuring smiles to young trick-or-treaters, who will be pleased to learn that “If you love your ghost, your ghost will haunt you forever.”

SURPRISE GUESTS
Halloween has finally arrived in Leo Landry’s Trick or Treat, which means that a charming little ghost named Oliver is getting ready to throw his annual party. As he cleans house and doles out invitations to several witches and skeletons, he unknowingly drops one, which is found by two young trick-or-treaters.

When this twosome arrives at Oliver’s doorstep on party night, Oliver and his guests are initially perplexed about what to do. Not to worry, of course—much fun ensues, and new friendships are formed. Landry’s watercolor-and-pencil illustrations are a perfect match for the text: gentle, straightforward and sure to please anxious, eager youngsters.

NEVER FEAR!
Another comforting book is Susan Hood’s Just Say BOO!, which is sure to be a read-aloud hit with its resounding chorus, featured in the title and throughout the book. Fun and fear go hand in hand on this creepy holiday, and Just Say BOO! will help youngsters navigate that wobbly tightrope between the two.

As a group of trick-or-treaters ventures out, the book tackles the pre-school fear factor by asking a series of rhymed questions like, “If a yip and yowl make you shiver and scowl, what do you say?” Just Say BOO! gives little ones the ammunition they need to conquer their jitters in a boisterous, humorous manner. Jed Henry’s illustrations feature cute young trick-or-treaters quaking in their little boots, and then shouting “boo!” with wild abandon.

Friendly ghosts can be comforting, especially to young goblins who may find Halloween a little overwhelming. I’m dating myself with this admission, but I grew up watching “Casper, the Friendly Ghost” every Saturday morning on TV. Here are some newly created ghosts waiting to befriend…

Heartwarmers with star power

Feature by Kelly Blewett

What do Tony Bennett, Dolly Parton and the movie It’s a Wonderful Life have in common? They’re each the focus of new books that are guaranteed to inspire, advise and entertain.

Tony Bennett’s Life Is a Gift will be a hit with anyone who loves anecdotes about famous people (and, let’s admit it, that’s all of us!). From Cary Grant to Aretha Franklin to Lady Gaga, Bennett’s famous friends span the century, but readers will recognize them all, and his stories about them have the ring of someone who truly cares. Subtitled “The Zen of Bennett,” the book also offers nuggets of advice on many topics, including maintaining good relationships, insisting on a quality product and having fun. There are also a few surprises: Did you know that Bennett is an accomplished painter whose work is hanging in the Smithsonian? Did you know it was Bob Hope who coined Bennett’s stage name? This book is full of joyful appreciation for the life Bennett has lived and the audiences he’s served. His loving and happy attitude will linger in your ears like the sweet notes of his treasured music.

Dolly Parton keeps Dream More short and sweet—and very funny. There are four core pieces of advice the “Dolly Mama” (as she sometimes calls herself) offers: dream more, learn from everything, care for everyone and be more. These principles also guide the Imagination Library, an organization she founded that provides free books to children, first in the Smoky Mountains and now across the country. This book makes you want to cheer for Parton. For instance, she doesn’t just give books away to lower-income kids, but rather to any child in a participating community who signs up. She knows from experience that charity only directed to the poor can make the receiver feel “less than.” Parton dedicated this book to her father, who, as she puts it, “never learned to read and write, paid a dear price for that, and inspired me not to let it happen to others.”

Speaking of everyday heroes, Bob Welch’s new book celebrates one of America’s favorites, George Bailey, whose life forever changes his hometown of Bedford Falls in It’s a Wonderful Life. From this classic Christmas film, Welch pulled 52 Little Lessons from It’s a Wonderful Life. Be prepared to find morals in moments you might not even remember, like the transformation of George’s mother-in-law. These lessons are cut from the same life-affirming cloth as the film itself, and stitched lovingly together by an author who is clearly an affectionate fan.

What do Tony Bennett, Dolly Parton and the movie It’s a Wonderful Life have in common? They’re each the focus of new books that are guaranteed to inspire, advise and entertain.

Tony Bennett’s Life Is a Gift will be a hit with anyone who loves anecdotes…

NonfictionPhotographyMusic

Memories of musical greats

Feature by Henry L. Carrigan Jr.

Whether through letters, lyrics or rare photos, a number of this season’s books capture the magic of the music we love so much.

Acclaimed Beatles biographer Hunter Davies has gathered, for the first time, all of John Lennon’s correspondence in a groundbreaking collection. The John Lennon Letters, published on what would have been Lennon’s 72nd birthday, includes almost 300 letters, notes, doodles, handwritten Beatles set lists, grocery lists and lyrics to never-recorded songs. Ranging from 1951 to Lennon’s reclusive years with Yoko Ono in the late 1970s, this fascinating volume contains thank-you notes to family and friends; love notes to Cynthia, his first wife (including a homemade card that celebrates their first Christmas together); a page from a homemade book, A Treasury of Art and Poetry, that he wrote when he was 11; and letters to record executives and other Beatles. With affection and insight, Davies provides elegant introductions to each of the book’s sections, setting each of the items into the fuller context of Lennon’s life and times.

SHINE A LIGHT

Fifty years after they kicked off their rollicking and raucous career at The Marquee Club in London, the Rolling Stones continue to prance across stages with their hard-driving anthems celebrating sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll. The band marks the anniversary with The Rolling Stones 50, by Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood. More than 1,000 illustrations from the archives of the Daily Mirror chronicle now-legendary events in the Stones’ career—from the band’s first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show to the 1969 concert at the Altamont Speedway. Captions from band members accompany the photographs; in a concert photo of the Stones in the Brighton Ballroom in 1964, packed with fans screaming, fainting and fist-fighting, Jagger remarks that “it was getting to be the same old thing, night after night. There was every chance that someone would get seriously hurt if this kept up.” Because it contains many rare and never-before-seen photos, this essential collection is a perfect gift from the Stones to their fans.

ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?

An entire generation of guitarists grew up imitating Jimi Hendrix’s blazing guitar solos. Yet, as Hendrix’s sister, Janie, illustrates so forcefully in her lovingly crafted collection, Jimi Hendrix: The Ultimate Lyric Book, Hendrix excelled as much at lyrics as he did at licks. Published in time for what would have been Hendrix’s 70th birthday, this collection of handwritten lyrics, some scribbled on hotel stationery, offers powerful insights into Hendrix’s passionate imagination and lyrical genius. Photos accompany each song, bringing to life Hendrix’s enduring legacy and his ability, in his sister’s words, to build a “bridge from past to present to future.”

Whether through letters, lyrics or rare photos, a number of this season’s books capture the magic of the music we love so much.

Acclaimed Beatles biographer Hunter Davies has gathered, for the first time, all of John Lennon’s correspondence in a groundbreaking collection. The John Lennon…

Animals

Animal magnetism

Feature by Linda M. Castellitto

We humans sure do love our pets. When we’re not cuddling, thinking about or talking to them, we love to read about our favorite animals.

It’s impossible to look at Under­water Dogs without smiling, whether at the wild grin on the face of Buster the Cavalier King Charles spaniel or the cautiously inquisitive snout of Comet the golden retriever, as seen from photographer Seth Casteel’s perspective under water. Casteel’s splashy pictures, which went viral earlier this year, strike a happy chord: Dogs dive in enthusiastic pursuit of tennis balls; the photographer captures them in all their bulging-eyed, floppy-tongued glory. Canines of all shapes, ages and sizes appear here, but Casteel’s message is universal: “[Dogs] teach us that if you just jump in, you might have fun along the way.” This delight-inducing book makes an excellent argument for taking a plunge, watery or otherwise.

FASCINATING FELINES

The Life & Love of Cats is filled with gorgeous color photos of domestic and wild felines: Russian blues, Siamese, lions, leopards, Bengal tigers and more. In accompanying essays, Lewis Blackwell shows us why cats have so many admirers and delves into the history of “the cat-human/human-cat relationship.” He notes that an archaeological dig revealed a cat’s skeleton from 7500 BCE carefully buried alongside a human grave—“an indication of a cat that was a highly treasured part of society”—and that, over the centuries, the role of the cat was elevated, then devalued, then raised up again. Today, there are 600 million pet and stray cats roaming the world. Blackwell offers much to ponder, whether the eternal question, “What does the cat think of us?” or the physical beauty of precious kittens, impossibly fluffy cats and calmly regal white tigers.

UGGIE, AUTHOR

Oh, Uggie, he of the bowties, pretty brown eyes and career success that most humans would envy, never mind dogs. He’s done it again: While many of us have been embroiled in a daily struggle to find the darn car keys, the Jack Russell terrier has gone and written a book, Uggie: My Story. He told—er, barked—it to Wendy Holden, and reassures readers, “Where human conversations cannot be remembered precisely, I have recreated them to the best of my canine ability.” One would expect nothing less from Uggie, who, like many Hollywood sorts, had a bit of a rough start as a hyperactive puppy. He was taken in by Omar von Muller, a veteran trainer who got Uggie’s unfortunate impulses under control. Uggie shares lots of behind-the-scenes dish on his rise to fame and his work on movies like Water for Elephants and The Artist. Adorable, often hilarious photos appear throughout, and Uggie lets readers know what it’s really like to be cute and in demand.

We humans sure do love our pets. When we’re not cuddling, thinking about or talking to them, we love to read about our favorite animals.

It’s impossible to look at Under­water Dogs without smiling, whether at the wild grin on the face of Buster the Cavalier…

NonfictionMemoir

True tales of Christmas joy

Feature by Heather Seggel

These three books about Christmas have little in common, which should come as no surprise. We each observe the season in different ways. There is one common thread between these books, though, and it’s not jolly old Saint Nick: Each features an absolutely hair-raising drive through a holiday blizzard. Read, enjoy—and don’t forget your snow chains.

Julia Romp’s The Cat Who Came Back for Christmas gives away the story’s end in the title, but once you’ve met single mother Julia and her son George you’ll still cheer. For years, neighbors and teachers complained about George’s disengaged and combative behavior, but nobody knew what was wrong or how to fix it. One day mother and son took a stray cat to the vet. When they came to check on the animal, George began to open up to it, speaking in a high voice, making eye contact and almost instantly warming up. They adopted “Ben,” and he became a lifeline for George, who by now had been diagnosed with autism. When Ben runs away, George regresses, turning his rage on his mother. But Julia applies the same persistence to finding Ben that she had to caring for George, and things end well. Romp tells a hard story, and it’s easy to sympathize when she asks for help repeatedly and is instead viewed as a potential child abuser. Her love for her family—son and cat both—shines through, and if you’ve put off microchipping your pet, this story will encourage you to make that appointment.

BEHIND THE BEARD

Sal Lizard was just a working stiff with a bushy white beard when someone asked him to play Santa as a one-time gig. Being Santa Claus details Lizard’s journey into work as a full-time Santa, working in malls, making home and hospital visits, and loving the job. As one might expect, bringing cheer to terminally ill children is heart-wrenching work, and the hospitals he worked at had designated areas where employees could cry without the patients seeing. The hard times were offset by a job that let him bring joy to old and young alike, and Lizard seems made for the task. He’s playful with older kids who doubt Santa is real, and willing to get on the floor and play with younger kids who are scared by him (to the consternation of mall staff). Lizard tells his story with the help of Jonathan Lane, who interviewed him extensively and collected his best stories here. It works well; reading the book feels like being entertained, possibly over milk and cookies, by a relative overflowing with heartwarming anecdotes.

THE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON

Joseph Bottum’s The Christmas Plains is considered a memoir, but it’s as much about Christmas, language and landscape as it is his personal history. Moving his family to the Black Hills of South Dakota, where he lived as a boy, to reclaim a sense of fixed geography for his daughter, Bottum muses about his childhood holidays and considers the works of Charles Dickens, G.K. Chesterton and Dylan Thomas, and the ways in which they have influenced our experiences and recollections of Christmas. Bottum has a fresh take on the perennial complaint that Christmas is too commercial, pointing out that the inflatable snowmen and profusions of tinsel come from a knowledge that “a real thing comes toward us in December, and they layer it over with whatever fake or genuine finery they can find—not to hide it but to honor it.” His spare descriptions of the desolate Western plains alongside the hustle and bustle of New York City at Christmas are lovely, and his gentle insistence on the spiritual amid the commercial is a welcome tonic.

These three books about Christmas have little in common, which should come as no surprise. We each observe the season in different ways. There is one common thread between these books, though, and it’s not jolly old Saint Nick: Each features an absolutely hair-raising drive…

Children's & YAPicture Book

Stories to warm winter’s chill

Feature by Robin Smith

January is the month for snow and cold and ice. Whether you live with snowy weather, or wish you did, pour a mug of cocoa and share these three picture books with your favorite little snowman.

WORKING FOR A LIVING

Husband and wife team Caralyn and Mark Buehner have come up with an intriguing idea in Snowmen at Work, the fourth book in their popular Snowmen series. What if snowmen had actual jobs as dentists, mechanics, grocers and the like? Sparkling oil-and-acrylic paintings pop with energy and allow the Buehners to create warm and humorous scenes on every page. Each spread includes four hidden characters—cat, mouse, T. rex and rabbit—adding to the fun. Readers will have to slow down to find these little critters, but the search will allow them time to appreciate the charms of each detailed illustration.

WORTH THE WAIT

Bunnies on Ice is Johanna Wright’s tribute to ice skaters of all levels. Reminding us that, as in many life events, “you have to wait for the conditions to be just right,” Wright takes us through spring planting, summer swimming and harvest. This trip through the seasons allows the reader and lap-listener to slow down and enjoy the journey. Wright’s gentle acrylic-and-ink illustrations, in her signature naïve style, are filled with details that amuse both the eye and the heart. The members of the bunny family enjoy one another as they celebrate life together—gardening, swimming, raking, cooking, building a scarecrow, making music and, at last, skating. I always want to join the families that Wright constructs, especially if it means I could bundle up and skate on a frozen lake.

BRRRRR

The town of Toby Mills is cold. Very cold. After a few days of sub-freezing weather, the local paper declares what the townspeople already know: It’s a cold snap! Veterans Eileen Spinelli and Marjorie Priceman team up in Cold Snap, a brisk tale of one town as it handles a long period of cold weather. A statue of the town founder is at the center of the story. Actually, his nose is at the center of the story. The icicle that slowly grows from it is an unusual calendar of cold, but a humorous one that serves as a wonderful anchor for the story. Illustrations, in vivid, mostly primary-colored gouache, highlight a week of bone-chilling cold, but also show how warm a community can be. Millie and Chip throw snowballs, kids race down T-Bone Hill on their toboggans and skis, townspeople warm themselves in the diner, knitters create warm hats, and ice skaters race around the pond. As the week unfolds, the townspeople get colder and colder, shivering in their church pews, getting stuck inside frozen train doors, and suffering with broken furnaces. Priceman’s breezy style, all movement and energy, is a perfect fit with Spinelli’s staccato, happening text. Readers will want to stay in Toby Mills longer than the week—maybe long enough to enjoy some sugar-on-snow.

January is the month for snow and cold and ice. Whether you live with snowy weather, or wish you did, pour a mug of cocoa and share these three picture books with your favorite little snowman.

WORKING FOR A LIVING

Husband and wife team Caralyn and Mark…

Fiction

Inside the great house

Feature by Lauren Bufferd

Do you have “Downton Abbey” fever? Novelist Fay Weldon and interior design expert Elizabeth Wilhide have just the books to keep you happily distracted until the third season begins on January 6—or to ease the wait for season four.

Over her 40-year career as a writer, Fay Weldon has been known for her unpredictability, from controversial early novels such as The Life and Loves of a She-Devil to the commercial tie-in The Bulgari Connection. Now the author of the first episode of the original “Upstairs Downstairs” turns her attentions to 1890s England. The first in a planned trilogy, Habits of the House is a comedy of manners that takes advantage of Weldon’s rich sense of farce.

Habits of the House opens on the well-appointed front steps of 17 Belgrave Square, where Eric Baum, financial counselor to the Earl of Dilberne, is ringing the doorbell. The relentless pealing sets off a chain of responses from the domestic staff, who ignore the bell, deeming Baum “too foreign looking” to be worthy of the front door. Lady Isobel and her adult children, the ne’er-do-well Robert and his fiercely independent suffragette sister, Rosina, can’t be bothered to get out of bed. It is the Earl who finally allows Baum in, noting that this is the first time he has opened the front door himself.

The news Baum brings isn’t good—the Earl’s investments in South African gold mines have been badly affected by the Boer war. The only real answer is to marry the children off to money without delay, despite the fact that Rosina seems unmarriageable and Robert is keeping a mistress. Cue the entrance of wealthy Americans—beef baron Billy O’Brien, his vulgar wife, Tessa, and their daughter Minnie, a beautiful girl with a questionable past.

Habits of the House moves quickly, and though the characters sometimes seem like they’ve been ordered from Central Casting (doughty cook, brash American, street-smart manservant), the novel retains a tongue-in-cheek humor even when it examines the tougher issues of the times.

Elizabeth Wilhide’s Ashenden traces the history of a grand British home from the 18th century to the present. Middle-aged New Yorker Charlie Minton is awoken by a phone call from his sister: They have inherited the estate owned by their Uncle Hugo and Aunt Reggie. Charlie goes to England to find the house in terrible disrepair. The National Trust isn’t interested, and he and his sister can’t agree on another solution. The novel then moves from the present day through the two centuries since the house was built. Readers meet the financially insolvent Mores, who never even paid the initial builder; Mrs. Trimble, who spent years as a housekeeper only to end up impoverished; a POW during World War II; and finally Reggie and Hugo, for whom the restoration of the house was an extension of their loving marriage.

This is Wilhide’s first novel, though she has written books on interior design and collaborated on projects with notables like designer Orla Kiely. Ashenden’s history is based on the history of Basildon Park, which was also built in the 18th century, lived in by many families, turned into an army hospital and a prisoner of war camp, and lovingly restored in the 1950s. This charming book suggests a house is a living, ever-changing thing, deeply affected by the people who live and work in it.

Do you have “Downton Abbey” fever? Novelist Fay Weldon and interior design expert Elizabeth Wilhide have just the books to keep you happily distracted until the third season begins on January 6—or to ease the wait for season four.

Over her 40-year career as a writer,…

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