Staff Recommendations
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Before She Was Helen
by Cooney, Caroline B.
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibrarySeptember 23, 2020
Helen Stephens lives a quiet life in Sun City, a retirement community in South Carolina. She regularly plays cards in the clubhouse with other residents of the complex, including her neighbors Joyce and Johnny. While she is mostly retired, she continues teaching some Latin classes at a local high school. She has what she needs and most of what she wants. But a single careless act will set in motion a series of events that will upend, and ultimately threaten, Helen’s quiet life in Caroline B. Cooney’s new novel
As Helen begins another day, she sends her daily... Read Full Review
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The last days of night
by Moore, Graham, 1981-
Reviewed by: Holly Z., LibrarianSeptember 14, 2020
In 1888 on a busy street in Manhattan, New York City, a young man, who works for Western Union, attempts to connect two direct current wires by mistake. The workman’s arms jolted with orange sparks, a blue flame shot from his mouth and set his hair on fire. Then it melted his clothes and the skin off his bones….
Witnessed by 200 people, as well as the young lawyer Paul Cravath, the terrifying event begins this historical novel about a compelling and often mysterious story about the so-called current wars. Which is better, direct or alternating current? A bitter... Read Full Review
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It Came From the Sky
by Sedoti, Chelsea
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibrarySeptember 8, 2020
Call Number: YA
Sixteen-year-old Gideon Hofstadt prefers an orderly life and an orderly future. In his schoolwork, he excels in the sciences, but struggles with the vagaries of the humanities. It is the same way he struggles with his relationships with his family, friends, and his maybe boyfriend, Owen. Gideon cares about Owen, but as the only other gay student in his school, Gideon fears that Owen really doesn’t care about him, as there aren’t any local alternatives for either of them. When he creates a seismograph and wants to test it, he allows, against his better judgement, his older brother... Read Full Review
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The Operator
by Berg, Gretchen
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryAugust 31, 2020
In a world where most people walk around with a telephone on their person that can allow them to contact someone anywhere in the country, or the world, easily and directly, it may be a bit of a shock to realize that as little as 50 years ago many people relied upon the assistance of an operator to connect their calls. Operators, primarily women, manually connected callers to the person with whom they wanted to speak. Another marked change, societal rather than technological between the age of operators and today, has to do with personal information. Again, it may seem odd to... Read Full Review
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Zandra Rhodes : 50 fabulous years in fashion
by Rhodes, Zandra, 1940-
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionAugust 26, 2020
Call Number: 746.52 R477-1 folio
Who is that woman on the cover of the book? A holdover, punk rock fashion designer? The appearance, clothes and art are by design, but her name is not. For over 50 years, Dame Zandra Rhodes has been actively designing textiles, clothes and anything else that she has the creative impulse to work on. Friends, designers, artists, fashion designers and colleagues pay homage to her in this collection of essays. There are fond remembrances of this iconoclast, for whom originality is not a word, but a way of life. As they tell it, she was always full of surprises, and she still is... Read Full Review
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The Darwin Affair
by Mason, Timothy
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryAugust 18, 2020
Call Number: M
It probably goes without saying that when Charles Darwin published his revolutionary theories regarding evolution, and their supporting evidence, in The Origin of Species in 1859, there was controversy. Even today, 160 years later, Darwin’s theory of species evolving over time still engenders strong feelings of resistance to his ideas, especially within faith-based communities, in spite of the fact that his ideas gained the wide ranging support of the scientific community long ago. So, it probably isn’t surprising that when first introduced, Darwin’s ideas sparked outrage and... Read Full Review
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The Ghosts of Sherwood
by Vaughn, Carrie
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryAugust 10, 2020
Call Number: e-Book
The earliest references to Robin Hood date back to the 14th century, and the earliest surviving copies of the story are from the 15th century. The details may change, but the core of the legend concerns a nobleman turned outlaw with a band of followers known as the Merry Men. He is a highly skilled archer and swordsman, who is loyal to the absent King Richard. He challenges the treatment of common people by Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham by robbing the rich and giving to the poor. He also has a legendary romance with Maid Marion. The story is one of the best-known... Read Full Review
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A Star is Bored
by Lane, Byron
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryAugust 3, 2020
Kathi Kannon is the daughter of a famous actress mother, and went on to gain her own fame as Princess Talara in the space spectacular, Nova Quest. She has gone on to work as a script doctor and written several novels, but several decades later she is a star in decline. She is famous, outrageous and always looking for the next thrill, and needs a personal assistant. Enter Charlie Besson, a young man from New Orleans who has transplanted himself to Los Angeles. He is searching for something, anything, that will bring purpose to his currently miserable existence. When he is... Read Full Review
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The year 1000 : when explorers connected the world -- and globalization began
by Hansen, Valerie, 1958-
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionJuly 29, 2020
Call Number: 909 H249
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word “globalization” is not that old a word and refers to:
“The action, process, or fact of making global; esp. (in later use) the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale, widely considered to be at the expense of national identity.”
When we speak about globalization today, it is usually about international trade and the legal documents that formalize it. The concept of globalization existed centuries ago,... Read Full Review
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Pretty as a Picture
by Little, Elizabeth
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryJuly 21, 2020
A young film editor in need of a job is offered one that, at first, seems too good to be true: working for an Oscar-winning director on a high-profile project on location. But, as we all know, if something seems too good to be true, it more than likely is. So, it should really be no surprise that the production turns out to be plagued with accidents, a temperamental director who is regularly firing the crew, and threatening the cast, and finally there is a murder.
When Marissa Dahl’s agent calls her in for an interview, she is both excited and terrified. It sounds... Read Full Review
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Read Me, Los Angeles
by Orphan, Katie
Reviewed by: Nicholas Beyelia, Librarian, History and Genealogy DepartmentJuly 13, 2020
Call Number: 810.9 O74
Read me, L. A.: a book lover’s celebration of Los Angeles by Katie Orphan explores L.A.’s literary heritage and the people, places and events that gave it life. Orphan, a writer and manager of a local bookstore, has written a book that is ostensibly marketed as a literary tour guide of the city, but functions as a paean to Los Angeles’ portfolio of literary assets and the writers who lovingly contributed to it.
The book’s central focus is exploring the work of both contemporary and long-departed writers who made Los Angeles a central character within... Read Full Review
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The chiffon trenches : a memoir
by Talley, André Leon
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionJuly 7, 2020
Call Number: 746.52 T148-2
Fashion journalist André Leon Talley’s autobiography could not be more prescient, and not just for fashion followers. Written before the pandemic and recent protest movements, the four and a half page introduction validates the concerns and issues which are playing out on the streets of the world:
“For so long I was the only person of color in the upper echelons of fashion journalism,but I was too busy pushing forward, making it to the next day, to really think about the responsibility that came with this role. Memories linger in the mind … Now I realize it... Read Full Review