Staff Recommendations
Pages
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The Sultan of Byzantium
by Altun, Selçuk, 1950-
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionNovember 10, 2014
Halâs is a professor, book collector, poetry lover, inquisitive reader of history, with a well-ordered but lackluster life. All of this changes when he is approached by several men from the mysterious Nomo organization who offer him a challenge that will verify if he is the heir apparent to the ancient Byzantine Empire. Initially dismissive, his interest grows as he seeks to unravel the answers to a set of questions. Each individual answer has a clue that leads to the next question, with the story taking on a whirlwind pace and tour through districts in Istanbul, cities and regions... Read Full Review
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Clariel
by Nix, Garth.
Reviewed by: Vi Thục Hà, Senior Librarian, International Languages DepartmentNovember 2, 2014
Call Number: YA
In this action-packed epic fantasy, Clariel, displaying the typical disgruntled behavior of a young person, bristles at her family’s move to the city of Belisaere. Back in the Great Forest that surrounded bucolic Estwael, Clariel has carved a solitary life perfect for her needs; she has learned hunting, studied plant lore from her Aunt and planned to become a Borderer, someone who patrolled the forests of the kingdom. Her mother Jaciel, a goldsmith of great renown and talent, moved the family to Belisaere to accept the invitation to join the High Guild of Goldsmiths in the... Read Full Review
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His own man
by Ribeiro, Edgard Telles.
Reviewed by: Robert Anderson, Librarian, Literature & Fiction DepartmentOctober 27, 2014
Brazil is currently in the news because of its presidential election, featuring three major candidates representing various points on the political spectrum. But, as novelist Edgard Telles Ribeiro reminds us in this mesmerizing tale of unbridled ambition and of idealism and friendship betrayed, Brazilian politics looked very different half a century ago. In 1964, a military coup deposed the left-leaning government and received immediate recognition and support from the United States. At the height of the Cold War, the U.S. was nervous about other countries in the Americas... Read Full Review
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The magician's land : a novel
by Grossman, Lev.
Reviewed by: Andrea Borchert, Librarian, Koreatown Media LabOctober 20, 2014
In the third book of the Magician’s series, Quentin Clearwater must find a way to survive being cast out of Fillory, the magical land he once ruled. Stuck in our world he revisits the haunts of his childhood. He returns to his parents’ house and to his school. He gets to experience that disquieting adult moment of meeting parents and teachers again and seeing them, maybe for the first time, as human beings in their own right. He gets a job and even though it is a job teaching at a hidden magic school, it still counts as a real job and evidence of his growing... Read Full Review
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Mexican American Baseball in Los Angeles
by Balderrama, Francisco E.
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionOctober 12, 2014
Call Number: 796.231 B176
In 2004 at California State University, Los Angeles, an exhibit was organized by Terry Cannon, Executive Director of the Baseball Reliquary and Cesar Caballero, Associate Library Dean at California State Library, Los Angeles. The purpose was to educate students on the history of Latino baseball in Los Angeles, and its importance to the greater community. Students, faculty, and the community responded with great enthusiasm. Former players came forward with oral histories and ... Read Full Review
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Lock in
by Scalzi, John, 1969-
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryOctober 6, 2014
Call Number: SF
Imagine, in the very near future, our world being hit with a medical pandemic unlike anything we’ve experienced in recent history. This influenza-like disease would spread through the world’s population disguised as a common flu. While the overall death toll from the disease would be over 400 million, most would come through unscathed. About four percent of sufferers would be affected with a second stage of meningitis-like inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. Those affected by this stage of the disease would experience one of these possible outcomes: 1) death; 2)... Read Full Review
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Seconds : a graphic novel
by O'Malley, Bryan Lee, .
Reviewed by: Andrea Borchert, Librarian, Koreatown Media LabSeptember 29, 2014
Call Number: 740.9999 O54-1
Seconds is a stand-alone graphic novel by Bryan Lee O’Malley, who is best known for his series, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Scott Pilgrim, Scott Pilgrim's precious little life, ... Read Full Review
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My Mexico : a culinary odyssey with recipes
by Kennedy, Diana.
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionSeptember 24, 2014
Call Number: 641.5972 K35-4 2013
Yes, I do read cookbooks, but not always sequentially the way fiction and other non-fiction books are read. Sometimes when reading them I skip around looking for an author’s take on a particular type of recipe or ingredient. Well-written cookbooks provide a history and insight into the world, and this particular one can be read by anyone besides those who like to cook. Diana Kennedy is the doyenne and world renowned authority for the foods and recipes of Mexico. A highly unlikely expert with no formal training as a cook, British by birth... Read Full Review
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The tale of the dueling neurosurgeons : the history of the human brain as revealed by true stories of trauma, madness, and recovery
by Kean, Sam,
Reviewed by: Andrea Borchert, Librarian, Koreatown Media LabSeptember 14, 2014
Call Number: 612.82 K24
The study of the human brain is a history of people who somehow walk away from terrible accidents and illnesses, but don’t manage to walk away unmarked. There are the difficulties of Phineas Gage (who survived a railway spike through the head), or conjoined twins Tatiana and Krista Hogan (Their brains are joined and they go through life sensing each other’s pain, tasting each other’s food where one sister hates ketchup... Read Full Review
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Chasing the rose : an adventure in the Venetian countryside
by Di Robilant, Andrea, 1957-
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionSeptember 9, 2014
Call Number: 716.21 D599
“. . . in the springtime a beautiful white and pink rose blossoms randomly in the sunnier parts of the wood. The gardeners do not know its provenance and call it the Rosa moceniga; but it is probably a variety of the Rosa multiflora that Lucia brought from Paris, and now grows wild in the gardens of Alvisopoli.” So ends the biography, ... Read Full Review
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Lexicon
by Barry, Max, 1973-
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryAugust 31, 2014
“Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts.”
From The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Words have power that can inflict irreparable harm or heal an old wound. They can be used to instruct, obfuscate and persuade. In Lexicon, Max Berry weaves a world... Read Full Review
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1914 : a novel
by Echenoz, Jean.
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionAugust 19, 2014
2014 is the beginning of the First World War Centenary. Many fine novels, short stories and poems have been written about the Great War and Jean Echenoz’s 1914: a novel joins the list. The novel has a relatively simple plot with five young men leaving their French village to join the war and one young woman left behind. The novel opens with a cinematic description of the lovely countryside as seen, from an elevated area, by young Anthime who has taken a bicycle ride on a sunny, calm August day. Without warning a strong wind whips up out of... Read Full Review