Staff Recommendations
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Shout, sister, shout! : the untold story of rock-and-roll trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe
by Wald, Gayle, 1965-
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionApril 1, 2014
Call Number: 789.14 T367Wa
Early on Elvis was mightily inspired by Sister Rosetta Tharpe's singing and guitar style, and Eric Clapton, B. B. King, Muddy Waters, Johnny Cash are others who have tipped their guitars her way. Thanks to local jazz radio station KJazz, NPR, and this documentary, a quick clip in the French film Amélie, and this recent biography, there should be wider knowledge and credit for the woman who is known... Read Full Review
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Cress.
by Meyer, Marissa.
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryMarch 24, 2014
Call Number: YA
When we last left Linh Cinder, the cyborg mechanic who may or may not be the lost Lunar Princess Selene, at the end of Scarlet (the second book in the Lunar Chronicles series), the situation was dire. She had escaped from prison (making the acquaintance of Captain Carswell Thorne in the process), secured a spaceship, The Rampion, and rescued Scarlet Benoit from certain death. On the run and now the most notorious escaped convict on both Earth and... Read Full Review
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Year zero : a history of 1945
by Buruma, Ian,
Reviewed by: David B., Librarian, InfoNowMarch 11, 2014
Call Number: 909.9 B974
1945 was the year that radically changed the world, according to Dutch historian Ian Buruma. Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, beginning the Atomic Age. General Douglas MacArthur took charge of the Supreme Command of Allied Powers. At the end of the Second World War, Europe was divided up by forces from the United States and the Soviet Union, precipitating the Cold War. The United Nations was formed to prevent another worldwide catastrophe. The Nuremberg Trials were held to bring Nazi mass murderers to justice for genocide--the first time men had been put on trial... Read Full Review
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The Martian : a novel
by Weir, Andy.
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryMarch 3, 2014
SURVIVAL. It’s an impulse hardwired into us as humans. The idea of separating an individual from his peers and civilization and pitting him against the forces of nature is the launching point for many, many stories, such as Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen,... Read Full Review
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The improbability principle : why coincidences, miracles, and rare events happen every day
by Hand, D. J. (David J.), 1950-
Reviewed by: Bob Timmermann, Senior Librarian, History & Genealogy DepartmentFebruary 24, 2014
Call Number: 519 H236
On April 23, 1999, Fernando Tatis of the St. Louis Cardinals hit a
grand slam home run against Chan Ho Park of the Dodgers. That's not an
overly rare event. However, Tatis didn't hit just one grand slam off
of Park. He hit TWO. And they were in the same inning. No Major League
player had ever done this before and no one has done it since. The
chances of being a witness to such a thing must be so high to make it
unlikely that anyone would ever see it. And yet it happened.David Hand's book The Improbability Principle tries to explain... Read Full Review
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A star for Mrs. Blake
by Smith, April, 1949-
Reviewed by: Janice Batzdorff, LibrarianFebruary 16, 2014
When U.S. soldiers died during the First World War, their relatives were given the choice to have the remains shipped home or buried in an American cemetery in Europe. A lobbying movement on behalf of those who selected overseas interment resulted in Congress financing close to 7000 pilgrimages for mothers and wives to visit the graves.
Inspired by the diary of a young West Point graduate who escorted groups of mothers to France, local writer April Smith has created a well-researched and engaging fictional account of five women who left their homes during the height of the Depression... Read Full Review
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Under the wire : Marie Colvin's final assignment
by Conroy, Paul,
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionFebruary 10, 2014
Call Number: 071.092 C727Co
"Where are all the men?" the editor asked Marie Colvin, who would not abandon hundreds of refugees in war-ravaged East Timor, and answered, "I suppose they just don't make men like they used to." They may not make war journalists, male or female, to match the likes of Marie Colvin who was one of the greats and valued as such by her colleagues.
International photographer Paul Conroy recounts the reporting he and Marie Colvin did in 2012 in the Baba Amr section of Homs, Syria which was known for its support of... Read Full Review
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The crane wife : a novel
by Ness, Patrick, 1971-
Reviewed by: LAPL Staff, LibrarianFebruary 3, 2014
Patrick Ness, who has been writing marvelous young adult fiction for several years now, has written his first adult novel, The Crane Wife, and it's a lovely book.
George is a middle-aged divorced man who runs a small printing shop in London. He’s a quiet, pleasant man, the sort you wouldn’t notice if you passed him on the street. That affability is starting to work against him, though; he’s so genially low-key that he doesn’t inspire much passion in anyone (or have much passion about anything), and women rarely get beyond seeing him as a good... Read Full Review
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All in one basket
by Devonshire, Deborah Vivien Freeman-Mitford Cavendish, Duchess of, 1920-
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionJanuary 28, 2014
Call Number: 942.51 D511-6
Deborah Vivien Freeman-Mitford Cavendish, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, is the youngest of the Mitford sisters whose interests and social views were all over the political compass. One sister was a Communist; one sister and her husband were imprisoned during World War II for their fascist views and overtly supporting the Nazis; several other siblings were unofficial supporters of fascist politics; and two others preferred the agrarian life. As a child, the Duchess was tormented and teased by her older sisters who called her Nine because they thought her intellectual development stopped at... Read Full Review
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The human division
by Scalzi, John, 1969-
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryJanuary 13, 2014
Call Number: SF
When we last left the Colonial Union (CU)--the human political/military force in John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War series--things were in a bit of a mess. Since there is no way to describe this mess without giving away the ending to the last books in the series (The Last Colony and Zoe’s Tale), mess will simply have to suffice to describe the difficulties facing the CU (some of their own making and some issuing from their rival, The Conclave). In The Human Division, Scalzi takes us back to the Colonial Union to see how it is dealing with these... Read Full Review
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Midnight in Mexico : a reporter's journey through a country's descent into the darkness
by Corchado, Alfredo.
Reviewed by: Eileen Ybarra, Librarian III, Electronic ResourcesJanuary 6, 2014
Call Number: 351.7650972 C793
This book is an intriguing mix of personal memoir, Mexican drug trade reporting, and a historical overview of Mexico in the late 20th century. This book is also much more than those things too: the author, Alfredo Corchado, navigates his heartache and longing for a Mexico that no longer exists, a place where he was born and where his family decided to leave in order to find a better life in the U.S. when he was just a child. Interwoven throughout these explorations of U.S. and Mexican identities and histories, there is this alarming fact that kicks off the book: ... Read Full Review
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The mayor of MacDougal Street : a memoir
by Van Ronk, Dave.
Reviewed by: David B., Librarian, InfoNowDecember 31, 2013
Call Number: 789.14 V275
The inspiration for the new Coen brothers film, Inside Llewyn Davis, Dave Van Ronk (1936-2002), was the unofficial leader of the Greenwich Village folk music scene in the late fifties and early sixties. Unlike most of the New York-based performers, Van Ronk was a New York native who grew up in Queens and Brooklyn. He developed a love for jazz and blues at a young age, and frequented the Washington Square Park folk singing sessions. Though he had seen very little of the country until he was in his twenties, Van Ronk became deeply enamored of music from the American heartland.
... Read Full Review