Book Lust to Go

Book Lust To Go by Nancy Pearl

Having spent two luscious days at the Tucson Festival of Books, followed by two evenings at my book clubs, I have been reveling in the company of the "bibliobibuli." Coined by H. L. Mencken in 1957, the word refers to people whose reading is constant and intoxicating. "I know some who are constantly drunk on books as other men are drunk on whiskey or religion."

If the bibliobibuli inhibited a kingdom, its ruler could easily be Nancy Pearl. Nancy, who spent all day Saturdays at the Parkman Branch of the Detroit Public Library, grew up to be the librarian whose book recommendations have been aired on radio, collected in print and been on the tongues of readers everywhere. In 1991 she initiated the concept of the all-city book club when book lovers all over Seattle read and discussed the same book. Cities all over America, including Tucson, soon started and continue to host similar book discussions.

Nancy's latest, Book Lust To Go: recommended reading for travelers, vagabonds and dreamers will delight travelers, active or armchair, as Pearl includes reading suggestions for 120 destinations both real and imaginary. She recommends history, memoir, fiction, geography and poetry to get you into the mood for your journey or take along as literary travel companions, setting the scene or finding the heart and soul of your destination. Even the method of arriving-- by walking, by train, bicycle, by sea or air--come under the scope of Pearl's literary radar.

Be sure to check out her two preceding lust titles--Book Lust and More Book Lust.

Bon Voyage!

RR @ RR

In Memoriam

If you're driving around town today, wondering why all the flags are at half mast, here's why: the last surviving American veteran of World War I, Army Cpl Frank W Buckles, passed away February 27, at the age of 110. Today we're honoring all WWI veterans, in conjunction with his internment.

Also in honor of WWI veterans, here are a few books that take place around WWI.

Maisie Dobbs is a private investigator / psychologist who has worked her way up from position of servant into a position of independence. Her investigations take her back to her past as a nurse during the war as she uncovers intrigue at the cooperative farm called the "Retreat." Find it at your library.

Legends of the Fall, yes, was a movie, but first it was a novella by author Jim Harrison. Also set during WWI, it follows three Montana brothers who ride over to Canada to join the war effort, and the paths their lives take after the war has ended. Find it at your library.

~That One Girl

Warning: Hunger causing books

I love food and I love books. It's rare that something other than a cookbook combines these two loves, but every now and then a book comes along that has such delicious descriptions of food and cooking that I am ravenous by the time I finish each chapter. I am not talking about a book where there is a special recipe that the character makes and that is often included at the end of the book. I am talking about books that intricately describe the act of cooking, the smells, the textures and the taste. Here are two of my favorites. I recommend not reading them on an empty stomach.

The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister









The Love Goddess' Cooking School by Melisssa Senate

Bon Appetit!
~Grace

Titles similar to Hell's Corner by David Baldacci

Do you like political suspense stories? Are you waiting to get your hands on a copy of Hell's Corner by David Baldacci? Or have you already finished it? Whatever the case, if you are looking for another book like it, we have some titles you might enjoy. All these books feature assassination attempts, conspiracy theories, secrets, and suspense that will keep you on the edge of your seat. And all of them are available at your local library.

Born to Run by James Grippando

Dark Justice by Jack Higgins

Mounting Fears by Stuart Woods

It's Tax Time...

April 18th is sneaking closer and closer -- and boy, do I have the perfect book for you to read during this tax season. Richard Yancey's Confessions of a Tax Collector: One Man's Tour of Duty Inside the IRS is full of dry wit, eccentric characters, and juicy scenes told with the insight only an IRS insider could provide. Far from being the dry tome you might expect a "tax book" to be, this memoir reads like fiction. You'll meet people who neglected their taxes so egregiously that Yancey and his colleagues come knocking at their doors to demand payment. And although you might sympathize with the people who owe money, you'll probably sympathize even more with Yancey, who does a remarkable job of humanizing the plight of the IRS man everyone loves to hate.

So if you need a break from working on your own taxes this month, pick up Yancey's book and have a good laugh. And if you need help with your taxes, remember that there are places where you can get free assistance--and some of them are at the library. Check out this link for more information. http://www.library.pima.gov/research/guides/taxinfo.php

~Queen of Books

Fact and Fiction at the Tucson Festival of Books

Jess Walter is high on my list of authors to meet at the Tucson Festival of Books, because I love his novel on how not to cope with the current economic crisis in The Financial Lives of the Poets. Matt Prior is a likable Everyman who has lost his job as a business reporter and is within days of losing his upside down-mortgaged house. His wife has filled their garage with junk from the Home Shopping Network, and he's afraid that she's having an affair with the high school flame she found on Facebook. Caring for his senile father is another of Matt's challenges and he can't afford to keep his sons in their over-priced private school, even though he knows they won't survive the predatory jungle of public education. His attempt to launch a website where financial advice is given in poetry is a failure: people don't seem to want economic updates delivered in iambic pentameter or haiku.

What, then, do people want? The answer comes to him in a flash, when a chance encounter with some gang bangers at a convenience store results in him getting stoned for the first time in many years. Of course! Middle-aged folks are longing for marijuana! And selling pot is a recession-proof business. Not surprisingly, this doesn't turn to be the best idea for saving his bacon that Matt could have had, but it's by no means the last bad decision he'll make in this hilarious satire on The-way-we-live-now-but-really-wish-we-didn't. Multiple "What was he thinking?" moments will keep you turning pages.

Still on the subject of business reporters--nonfictional this time--I also plan to check in on Michael Hiltzik, Pulitzer Prize-winning business reporter for the LA Times, and author of Colossus: Hoover Dam and the Making of the American Century. Hiltzik digs deep into the social, economic and political factors that surrounded the construction of this eternal symbol of the Southwest, and places them in an environmental and historical context that is as eye-opening as it is informative.

Hundreds of authors will be at the Tucson Festival of Books, March 12 and 13 on the UA Mall. And, it's all free, even the parking. You absolutely can't afford to miss it!

Helene

Follow the book title links to the Library's catalog for these and other great titles by authors appearing at the Book Festival.

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

Do you know what Quinoa is? Ok, do you know how to cook it?

How about a Chayote?

Would you like a list of the 15 different types of apples and how to use them properly?

Questions about virtually any type of vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, pasta, tofu, breads, sauces, desserts and more are answered in this, the mother of all vegetarian cookbooks.

Although, you don't have to be a vegetarian to appreciate the depth of knowledge and research that went into this book, or the wonderful recipes!

If you are like me and are trying to improve your diet and eat more locally grown produce, this book is vital to understanding absolutely everything about the new and wonderful foods you will encounter.

Check it out at your local library!

~ Roller Derby Librarian