Staff Picks Format: Book

Luka and the fire of life by Salman Rushdie [Book]

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This wonderful book is a sequel to Haroun and the Sea of Stories, though it stands perfectly well on its own. Luka and the Fire of Life, like Haroun, is a children’s book, and like Haroun it is dedicated to one of Rushdie’s sons. This story is a fast-paced fantasy set in a world made up from bits and pieces of many stories, from ancient myths to Super Mario Brothers and Doctor Who. The writing is wonderfully witty, full of word play and puns and humour of many sorts; it had me chuckling immediately and erupting in belly laughs within the first few pages. Children and adults alike will get great pleasure from this book.

The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway [Book]

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A haunting and memorable novel of hope, courage, and the daily struggle to survive that takes place during the 1992 siege of Sarajevo. After a mortar shell kills 22 people who were lined up in the town square to buy bread, a once famous cellist who viewed this from his window vows to pay tribute to each one during the next 22 days. Every afternoon he brings his chair to the spot where the shell had fallen, and plays a beautiful rendition of Albinoni’s Adiagio. Arrow, a gifted female sniper, is assigned to protect him. A powerful depiction of how the human spirit endures and life continues during the heartbreak of war.

Last Child in the Woods by Richard LouvLouv [Book]

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Richard LouvLouv’s book discusses a ‘nature-deficit disorder’ and ways to counteract it. He cites a 2002 British study which reported that eight-year-olds could identify Pokémon characters far more easily than they could name “otter, beetle, and oak tree.” Gathering thoughts from parents, teachers, researchers, environmentalists and other concerned parties, Louv argues for a return to an awareness of and appreciation for the natural world.

Soulless by Gail Carriger [Book]

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Part regency-romance, part steampunk — “a novel of vampires, werewolves, and parasols.” Set in an alternate regency England, in which werewolves and vampires are an accepted part of society, some with positions at the top levels of government. Alexia Tarabotti is a witty spinster in a family of beautiful people without substance. She is also a preternatural, without a soul. Alexia is bored with her society life, and wants to join the Bureau of Unnatural Registry, a division of Her Majesty’s Civil Service. Although unable to work there, she is still involved in the mystery of where the new vampires are coming from and why the werewolves are disappearing. Very enjoyable read.

At Home by Bill Bryson [Book]

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At Home: A Short History of Private Life is not particularly short, and it is too rambling and unfocused to be a useful history, but it is full of surprising facts and entertaining anecdotes about our homes and how they got that way. We learn about architecture, gardening, furniture, food, sanitation and much else besides. Although we learn a little about life in ancient times, and a wee bit about homes in the Middle East and in North America, the bulk of the content focuses on British homes in the last few hundred years. Many sections of the book tell us little about the lives of all but the most wealthy, which is disappointing but also understandable, but Byrson makes up for this imbalance by keeping the text engaging, readable, and always interesting.

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister [Book]

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This novel about a cooking class will make you hungry, and every detail was so beautifully written with well-drawn characters each with very different issues. While learning to cook, students come away with greater life lessons to help them with their issues. My favorite class was pasta and red sauce, all from scratch. The lesson: the ability to cook and live without worry of time.

The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King [Book]

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This historical mystery, by an Edgar Award-winning author, introduces the strong intelligent character of Mary Russell, with a well-imagined ‘retired’ Sherlock Holmes in a supporting role. Mary Russell first meets Holmes as her neighbor in Sussex Downs in 1915 at the age of 15, as she almost stumbles over him. Holmes, impressed with her wit and intelligence, takes the orphaned Russell under his wing, and gives her the equivalent of an apprenticeship. After working together on a few interesting cases, Russell and Holmes soon find themselves faced with a nefarious foe who wants to make Holmes suffer, and his friends die.

Still Life by Louise Penny [Book]

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This award-winning book, the first in the Chief Inspector Gamache series, introduces us to the sleepy village of Three Pines, a village difficult to find on a map. This book is a more literary, slower-paced mystery. It has very strong characterization, and a well-drawn setting in the countryside of Quebec. Chief Inspector Gamache and his team are called in to investigate the suspicious death of Jane Neal who has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident, but Gamache suspects something more. Has some similarities to the Commissario Guido Brunetti mysteries by Donna Leon, and to Christie’s Poirot.

City of Thieves by David Benioff [Book]

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Iron Lake : a Cork O’Connor mystery by William Kent Krueger [Book]

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First in a series, Iron Lake introduces us to Cork O’Connor, former sheriff of wintry Aurora, Minnesota. Facing personal problems after being voted out of the office of sheriff, Cork finds himself compelled to follow up on the suspicious death of a leading Aurora citizen, as well as other strange happenings in the town of Aurora and the reservation that shares the eponymous lake. I enjoyed both the character development and the chilly sense of place.

Day for Night by Frederick Reiken [Book]

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To say this is a novel of interconnected stories, doesn’t do this narrative justice. Stories of depth, of shadows, good versus evil, night versus day, the holocaust and cults, manatees and coral reefs… Reiken, a local author, says that it is a novel of “opposite things resolving.”

Bauhaus 1919-1933: Workshops For Modernity by Berry Bergdoll and Leah Dickerman [Book]

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Bauhaus, a movement of modern art and also the name of the German school for which it originates, celebrates “total design”. Painting, sculpture, furniture construction, fabric design, architecture, woodwork, commercial design, etc. fit under this collective’s umbrella. Bauhaus 1919-1933 is filled with informational and historical text accompanied by images of wonderful pieces by Walter Gropius (the original Bauhaus artistic director), Marcel Breuer, Paul Klee, Alma Buscher and so many more.