Blood, bones, & butter : the inadvertent education of a reluctant chef

by Hamilton, Gabrielle

October 3, 2011

Call Number: 641.092 H218

If you have ever toyed with the idea of being a chef or a cook, or have had the urge to own a restaurant, especially after watching one of those ubiquitous competition-style tv shows, you might want to think about the reality of a life in food beyond a few hours of a contrived reality. Better yet read this autobiography of a chef and restaurant owner who got into this line of work without a plan or formal training.

This is an autobiography about family and food written with a passionate intensity for life and work by Gabrielle Hamilton: cook, reluctant chef/restaurant owner of Prune... Read Full Review

Finding Chandra : a true Washington murder mystery

by Higham, Scott

September 26, 2011

Call Number: 364.9753 H638

What makes this book especially compelling is that the authors provide complex portrayals of the many people involved in the case - not only the victim Chandra Levy, but also her family, the various lawyers, FBI and D.C. Police investigators assigned to her case, and former congressman Gary Condit, who was the main focus of the initial investigation. This book also reveals the numerous mistakes made during the original murder investigation.

The authors, who are also reporters for the Washington Post, describe personalities, psychological motivations, and a chain of a events... Read Full Review

Interviews with history and conversations with power

by Fallaci, Oriana

September 12, 2011

Call Number: 920 F194-2

The temptation must have been great indeed to refuse an interview with Oriana Fallaci, journalist, war correspondent and novelist. There were those who claimed they never gave interviews, but consented to her request, all with prior knowledge of her work. Henry Kissinger called his interview, "the most disastrous conversation I ever had with the press." And this from the former Secretary of State who had negotiated with his political counterparts from the world's toughest neighborhoods. Maybe the challenge itself, to prevail over this particular journalist, was enough for... Read Full Review

Vietnamerica: A Family's Journey

by Tran, G. B.

September 5, 2011

Call Number: 301.4509597 T772

"You should ask them about it sometime. There's a lot about your parents you don't know. And they won't be alive forever to answer your questions."

On April 25, 1975, GB Tran's family fled Vietnam, just days before Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese Army. A year later, he was born in South Carolina, and grew up a junk food-eating, video game-playing American kid with little interest in his family's history. However, when his last two surviving grandparents die within a few months of each other, Tran goes to Vietnam with his parents, and meets... Read Full Review

You know when the men are gone

by Fallon, Siobhan.

August 29, 2011

Century upon century, during wars, women have waited for the men to return home, and the men, between battles, have yearned to come home to their wives and families. You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon is about the military men and women, their spouses and families who are involved in our present wars. She opens this book with a quote from one of the older war epics, The Odyssey, as Penelope sees Odysseus, ". . .yes, clearly--like her husband but sometimes blood and rags were all she saw." Fallon has first-hand knowledge of what it is to wait... Read Full Review