The Inside Scoop: You Saw the Film – Now Read the Book!

Attention Anglophiles! If you loved the movie “The King’s Speech”, the book of the same name, written by Mark Logue, grandson of Lionel Logue, will add to your enjoyment. Letters, photos and diaries that are in the grandson’s possession were shared with filmmakers and became the basis for this book. Details of Logue’s ancestry and life in Australia are included, as well as comments about speech therapy over the years. When I watched the movie, I never got a true sense of the timeline of events, as none of the characters aged visibly. The movie covers the years spanning from 1926 through 1939. Logue was summoned to the Palace often when the King was due to give a speech. He spent many Christmas days with the Royal family so that he was present for the annual Christmas Day message from the King that was broadcast live. Their friendship continued beyond the point where the King felt enough confidence to speak in public without Logue at his side and lasted till the King’s death in 1952. The fabulous Mozart and Beethoven pieces that are part of the soundtrack are wonderful to listen to also. Enjoy! -Rita

The inside scoop: The Buddha in the Attic

I just finished The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka. It is a short book describing the journeys of Japanese picture brides from Japan to San Francisco. Their collective experiences are shared, from their wedding night, settling into married life, backbreaking work in the fields, or the life of domestic help for white folks, raising families. They eventually are faced with internment and the tragedy of losing the life that they have created in America. 

Another fiction book that deals with the Japanese internment is Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jaime Ford.  Taking place in Seattle, a young Chinese boy befriends a young Japanese girl based on mutual exclusion. Their friendship grows until she is sent to the internment camp in Puyallup. Their separation haunts him for the rest of his life.

Dear Miss Breed by Joanne Oppenheim is the true story of San Diego Public librarian Clara Breed who befriends many of the Japanese children that visited the library.  She sends them letters of encouragement and care packages of books when they are interned. The correspondence from the children over the years describes the squalid conditions that the Japanese Americans endured for the duration of the war. 

And finally, Stubborn Twig is the true story of the Yasui family of Hood River, OR. Their life as Issei (first generation Japanese in America) and Nisei (second generation) is documented, continuing to the third generation. All of these titles share what it is like to be rounded up from one’s home, distrusted, accused of spying for the Japanese (because of nationality and facial features) and forced to live in camps under inferior conditions.

– Rita

On January 6, 1987, a bill (H.R.442) was introduced in the House of Representatives to have Congress and the President formally apologize and make restitution for the treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II.  The following year it would be passed as Public Law No. 100-383.  The National Archives has an excellent bibliography of the history and documents related to this topic: Documents and Photographs Related to Japanese Relocation During World War II

Straight out of the box: New Non-Fiction on the Best Seller Carts at Cedar Mill and Bethany November 2011

Blue Nights by Joan Didion. Didion writes honestly about her feelings about being a parent, about her daughter, and about growing older. 

The Conference of the Birds written and illustrated by Peter Sis.  Sis adapts the ancient Persian epic poem with his unique, beautiful illustrations. 

Food Rules by Michael Pollan, illustrated by Maira Kalman.  Artist Kalman, whose work you may have seen in the picture book section, and who previously illustrated Strunk and White’s Elements of Style, now opens her paint box to interpret Pollan’s best seller.

The Garner Files, an autobiography by James Garner

Holidays in Heck by P.J. O’Rourke.  A follow-up to 1988′s  Holidays in Hell, O’Rourke writes about his travels with and without his family to far and not-so-far off locations.

How I Got This Way, an autobiography by Regis Philbin

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and other concerns) by Mindy Kaling.  Kaling (writer, producer, director and sometimes star of NBC’s The Office) muses on fame, friendship, family and how to sneak out of a party early. 

Maphead by Ken Jennings.  Jeopardy legend Jennings delves into the world of geography geeks and map nerds, of which he is proudly one.

Nearing Home: life, faith, and finishing well by Billy Graham.  Graham once again takes up the pen not only to share his personal experience of growing older but also to teach some important lessons on how to view time here on Earth.

SEAL Target Geronimo: the inside story of the mission to kill Osama Bin Laden by Chuck Pfarrer

Shaq Uncut, an autobiography by Shaquille O’Neal

Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher.  Fisher picks up where she left off in Wishful Drinking- dishing hilariously on her relationships and life in Hollywood.

Spontaneous Happiness by Andrew Weil.  This book presents integrative treatment strategies for low mood and depression; offers advice on lifestyle, behavior, and dietary changes; and helps readers assess their own emotional wellness and build personalized plans to manage their moods.

That is All by John Hodgman.   Hodgman- Daily Show correspondent, mustache-cultivator, and self-described deranged millionaire – finally completes his three volume compendium of ALL WORLD KNOWLEDGE*.

*(That he made up.)

 Then Again, an autobiography by Diane Keaton

The Time of Our Lives by Tom Brokaw.  In previous books, the news anchor covered the history of the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boomers. In The Time of Our Lives, he turns his attention to the current millennium and the state of America today and into the future.

Van Gogh, the life by Steven Naifeh

Blurbs from the Branch: I Love a Broad Margin to My Life

Several years ago, Maxine Hong Kingston’s previous biographical book with an attached fictional chapter, The Fifth Book of Peace was my favorite of the year and I suggested it to everyone I met.  The book,  I Love a Broad Margin to My Life,  is nearly a follow up work about what happens next as she continues her life journey. It meanders like a large river covering any range of topics giving little gems of subtle ways of thinking about a thing in a new way. It moves fluidly through time with discussions of multiple generations in her family with the central theme about her own upcoming 65th birthday. 

 One of the charms about the book is the feel of poetry,  from the staccato sentence structure, abrupt turn of direction, and the choice to use whatever language best conveys the completion of the thought.  It’s next to impossible to imagine what’s going to happen next and relaxing that part of your brain to just follow the story is a peaceful way to take a break from the day. 

-Dusty

Straight out of the box: How They Croaked

A recent arrival to the Juvenile Non-fiction collection caught our attention here in the Technical Services Office: Georgia Bragg’s How They Croaked: the Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous.  Nineteen famous figures from history are profiled.  Some chapters cover territory that is probably familiar—Marie Curie’s radiation poisoning or Julius Caesar’s assassination.  Others bring to light less well-known history —Edgar Allan Poe could have had rabies!  It’s suggested for a middle-school reading level, but is not for the squeamish.  Bragg doesn’t shy away from the gory details—from the medical malpractice that probably contributed to the deaths of Queen Elizabeth I and President Garfield to Henry VIII’s….erm… explosive funeral.  Also available as a book on CD.