Staff Picks Format: Book

Small Gods : a novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett [Book]

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I’ve read many of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels. They are great fun. The Discworld is an imaginary planet in an imaginary universe and everything, even the Discworld’s fundamental physical laws, is written so as to parody or satire our own world. Pratchett isn’t content to leave it at that however, he also parodies literature of all sorts, but especially fantasy novels; he affectionately sabotages these by taking their best known cliches and stereotypes and acting as if they made sense. The results are hilarious.

Small Gods is probably my favorite of the Discworld novels. I have returned to it again and again, and I enjoy it every time. Perhaps it is because libraries and books play such an important part in the book, but I think it is mostly because of the book’s two unlikely heros: the great god Om, stuck in the form of a tortoise and incapable of performing even the smallest miracles, and a lowly novice monk, Brutha, the only living creature who still believes in the great god Om. Om is arrogant and ill-tempered, but endearing in his impotence and confusion as he struggles with his new fondness for lettuce and fear of eagles. Brutha is slow, illiterate, and quite accustomed to be looked down upon, but he has an amazing memory, faith in his god, and an absolute determination to do the right thing.

Things, of course, get complicated. They always do in the Discworld. There is a war and an inquisition, gods and philosophers, a labyrinth and a steam engine. Brutha plods through it all. Om, on the other hand, is carried most of the way. And they are both changed by their experiences. They have to be, because that’s how these kind of stories work, but that doesn’t stop the transformation from being satisfying, and even a little surprising.

Small Gods stands well on its own. You don’t need to read any other Discworld books to appreciate it, and, indeed, it would be a good choice for your first Discworld book.

Julie and Romeo by Jeanne Ray [Book]

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This light romance turns Romeo and Juliet on its head. Julie is struggling to keep her family’s flower business in Somerville, MA afloat after her husband of 35 years left her (for a younger woman) and moved to Seattle. She runs into her rival, Romeo Cacciamani, at a small business conference. Although he is the other florist in Somerville, and their families have been feuding for years, she finds that not only does she no longer hate him, but they quickly fall in love. In a reversal, it is their children who are against the relationship, and insist on continuing the grudge, even though no one knows why or how it began. Will Julie and Romeo find true love the second time around, or will their children prevail in keeping them apart?

The Penny Whistle Book by Robin Williamson [Book]

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Blood, Bones, & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton [Book]

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Hailed as “the best memoir by a chef ever” by Anthony Bourdain, and a NY Times Notable Book in 2010, this unusual memoir follows the life of Gabrielle Hamilton, now chef/owner of Prune in NYC. It is unusual in that Hamilton is such a good writer, and seemingly holds nothing back, allowing us to see the bad and ugly along with the good.
The quality of her writing is partially explained with her MFA from the University of Michigan, an experience she relates in ambivalent terms, “It’s a tired reading style…it attaches more importance to the words than the words themselves — as they’ve been arranged, could possibly sustain, and it gives poets and poetry a bad name. Which is not what I came to graduate school for; I want to forever admire poets.”
The bad and the ugly includes her wayward youth and relationship with her family after her parent’s divorce. How she develops from a lost girl to opening an award-winning restaurant in New York and a marriage with an Italian doctor (and his family), is a compelling story, with lots of detail of the food along the way, that never feels like it bogs down the story.
And here, as a treat to celebrate my last day before continuing on my journey, when we drove to the coast, past fields of shooting asparagus and trees about to burst forth, and we stopped finally at the water’s edge in St. Malo- here are platters of shellfish pulled that very morning from the sea-langouste, langoustines, moules, crevetted, huitres, bigorneaux, coques. These are the pearl-tipped hat pins stuck into a wine bottle cork for pulling to the meats of the sea snails. The tide ran out, and the fishing boats slumped in the mud attached to their slack anchors like leashed dogs sleeping in the yard. The particular smell of sea mud went up our nostrils as we slurped the brine from the shells in front of us, so expertly and neatly arranged on the tiers.

Snuff by Terry Pratchett [Book]

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One Terry Pratchett Discworld novel is much like another, and I mean that as a compliment, the way I would about the Marx Brothers or P.G. Wodehouse.  Pratchett is reliably funny, satirical, detailed, and quick, coming at you from all sides (including footnotes).  In Discworld there are no sacred cows, and in this latest installment cows feature prominently since streetwise city detective Sam Vimes has been lured by his formidable wife to her country estate on vacation.
Pretty soon the deceptively sleepy village reveals there’s more than manure to meet the eye, and Vimes is entangled in crimes and secrets that rival his usual pastimes in the metropolis.
Start anywhere; you won’t regret it.

I’m a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away by Bill Bryson [Book]

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A collection of articles originally written for a weekly British magazine chronicles Bryson’s humorous reintroduction to life in America: “The intricacies of modern American life still often leave me muddled.” From dental floss hotlines, to cupholders, to the abundance of trees in New Hampshire, Bryson entertains us with his laugh-out-loud writing.

Krazy Kat: the Comic Art of George Herriman [Book, Graphic Novel]

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Krazy Kat was a remarkable and hugely influential daily comic. Found in newspapers around the country for over 30 years, from 1913 and 1944, it would influence comics greats such as Charles M. Schulz, Will Eisner, and Bill Watterson. Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman provides an overview of the life and works of Krazy Kat creator George Herriman, and includes a large collection of beautifully reproduced daily and Sunday Krazy Kat strips.

Herriman’s astonishing Sunday Krazy Kats are reason to pick up this book alone. Giant, free form, brightly colored affairs, unconstrained by the rigid panels of today’s strips, it is the surreal landscapes and innovative design of the Sunday strips for which Herriman is best know, and with good reason. (Fans of Calvin and Hobbes will immediately recognize the influence of these strips on Bill Waterson’s Spaceman Spiff strips.)

Krazy Kat is not particularly funny, but I love reading it. Krazy Kat is dreamlike and poetic, a little bit difficult, and very much worth your while. Full of characters and images you will not forget, this is a bit of comics history you should definitely check out.

A Bigger Message: Conversations with David Hockney by Martin Gayford [Book]

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Critic Martin Gayford has been interviewing David Hockney for many years and the two have developed a warm friendship that extends past their professional relationship. In A Bigger Message, Gayford collects several conversations with the famed British artist. Discussions range from new technology, photography, stage design, living in different parts of the world, various histories of classical art and Hockney’s own process.

Gayford frames each chapter with a theme that corresponds to the many phases of Hockney’s career. One very interesting segment discusses his attraction to creating work on an iPhone or iPad. The book exhibits several of these small scale works that look very much like detailed watercolors.

These pieces along with massive painted landscapes, stills of video installations and photographs of Hockney at work are weaved in and out of Gayford’s brief biographical information and extensive dialog with the tireless artist. Like many innovative, creative people, he is also very much a student of art. Hockney, and here I’ll sound redundant, is a thoughtful thinker and his meditations on artistic movements, motivation and life are extremely fascinating and inspiring.

Christmas Wedding by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo [Book]

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Widow Gabby Summerhill invites her 4 children and their families home to Stockbridge, Massachusetts to celebrate Christmas together, their first holiday together since their father died 3 years ago. Gabby announced in a video message to her children that she will be getting married on Christmas but the identity of the groom will remain a secret until the wedding. While the book is not a typical James Patterson thriller, it has many emotional twists and turns.

Murder Your Darlings by J.J. Murphy [Book]

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East, West by Salman Rushdie [Book]

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I love short stories and I’ve made a resolution to read more of them this year. With this in mind, but as I haven’t yet read any new story collections this year, I’ve picked an old favorite for this post. East, West is a collection of stories by British Indian author Salman Rushdie. Rushdie’s writing here is witty and colorful, and these stories, are quick, enjoyable reads. Rushdie draws inspiration from a variety of sources, both classic (Shakespeare, the life of Muhammad) and modern (The Wizard of Oz, Rambo, Star Trek). The plots are not particularly memorable (I’ve read the volume several times but can never quite remember how the stories unfold), but the flavor of the stories, and the voice of the author will stick with you. (I’ve found that to be true of much of Rushdie’s writing—if you are going to enjoy Rushdie you probably won’t mind this in the least.) A good introduction to this important author.

Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell [Book]

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Set in the Ozarks in the unforgiving winter. Ree Dolly, a 16-year-old who is the de facto head-of-household, has taken on the responsibility of raising her two younger brothers and caring for her mentally withdrawn mother. A knock on the door informs her that her father has skipped bail, and she will lose the house that has been in her family for generations unless he is found, dead or alive. This book is very atmosopheric, with the winter hanging over the story. It has an older feel, partially because of the poverty and living conditions that are treated as commonplace, until you realize that Jessup Dolly had been arrested for running a meth lab. Ree Dolly is a strong girl, old beyond her years, trying to fight for her family in an unforgiving landscape.