NYPL Blogs: Reader’s Den

Mid-Manhattan Library Reading Recommendations

Marianna Vertsman, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL) — Mon, 06 Aug 2018 10:59:05 -0400

The staff at Mid-Manhattan library believes one of the things New Yorkers love about their libraries is the opportunity to receive personalized reading recommendations from a team of professional bibliophiles.

Unlike suggestions generated by an algorithm, recommendations by NYPL professionals are carefully tailored to each patron's individual needs. We invite everyone to stop by Mid-Manhattan Library, where our personable librarians will offer recommendations in your favorite genre.

We can also advise you on materials related to your education goals, travel plans, hobbies, nutritional preferences, life-improvement plans, short -term interests, and even your current mood!

While this post contains a list of random recent staff favorites, we can recommend a book that will be just right for you.

Marianna recommends:

Drinking with Saints: The Sinners Guide to a Holy Happy Hour by Michael P. Foley

This delightful catalog of Catholic contributions to the world of spirits is bubbling with miraculous facts and refreshing cocktail ideas. It's a perfect companion to an intellectually stimulating happy hour.

The Vory: Russia's Super Mafia by Mark Galeotti

A well-researched history of Russia's criminal structures and its current global outreach efforts.

Sally recommends:

The Punishment She Deserves by Elizabeth George

Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers and Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley are back again in book number 20 of the Lynley series, 30 years on! A comforting blend of police procedural and psychological fiction and, at 690 pages, just long enough.

Antonio recommends:

The Black Monday Murders by Jonathan Hickman

From Jonathan Hickman and Tomm Coker comes the next installment in The Black Monday Murders, the crypto-noir series about the power of dirty, filthy money... and exactly what kind of people you can buy with it. Brilliantly plotted and beautifully rendered, offering an intriguing glimpse into a world where magic and finance are intertwined.

Billy recommends:

Room To Dream by David Lynch and Kristine McKenna

Alternating between biography and autobiography, this book is a must for film fans and those interested in creative processes.

Arezoo recommends:

Women of Abstract Expressionism, edited by Joan Marter; introduction by Gwen F. Chanzit, exhibition curator

Accompanying the recent exhibition, Women of Abstract Expressionism, this lavish book of the same name is a survey that features both the lesser-known and established female artists of this American art movement that focuses on the expressive freedom of gesture and process. The biographies and scholarly essays offer insight into their lives and work.

Zena recommends:

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah is a South African comedian, television/radio host and actor. He currently hosts The Daily Show, a late-night television talk show on Comedy Central.

Christina recommends:

If You're Bored With Watercolour Read This Book by Veronica Ballart Lilja

In If You're Bored with Watercolour Read This Book. Veronica Ballart Lilja puts a fresh spin on watercolor painting, with creative ideas and updated techniques that provide a new perspective on how to use the medium in your artistic experiementations.

If You Can Cut, You Can Collage: From Paper Scraps to Works of Art by Hollie Chastain

This is an excellent book for beginner collage-makers. It provides creative techniques with easy-to-follow instructions that will have you making fun collages in no time!

Gwynneth recommends:

Daughters of the Winter Queen: Four Remarkable Sisters, the Crown of Bohemia, and the Enduring Legacy of Mary, Queen of Scots by Nancy Goldstone|

A lively group biography of Elizabeth Stuart, known as the Winter Queen, and her four daughters. The book brings to life seventeenth century Europe and a family that, by refusing to surrender, survived to change the shape of our world.

Elizabeth recommends:

While Standing in Line for Death by CA Conrad

CA Conrad's Lamba Literary Award-winning While Standing in Line for Death is a poignant, forceful, occasionally brutally funny, and brilliant collection of poetry that deals with the murder of his partner and the subsequent emotional fallout.

Laura recommends:

In the Midst of Winter, the latest novel by Isabel Allende

In this novel, Allende writes the stories of three different characters that meet under one roof in the middle of a winter storm in Brooklyn, New York. They all share their own personal life stories, and there is one big secret tights them all together.

This novel is also available in Spanish.

Vilma recommends:

La magia del orden: herramientas para ordenar tu casa ... ¡y tu vida! / by Marie Kondo (traducción Rubén Heredia Vázquez)

This New York Times best-seller is an amazing little book that shows you, step-by-step, how to organize your home once and for all.

Available in the following languages:

Calbert recommends:

The President is Missing: A Novel by James Patterson and Bill Clinton

What happens when you combine the efforts of two masters of intrigue and suspense? An intense and sensational thriller!

You Don't Own Me: The Life and Times of Lesley Gore by Trevor Tolliver

The author chronicles Ms. Gore’s life as a 1960s teen pop singer and a composer, and as coming out as a lesbian and hosting the television series In the Life, which focused on LGBT issues. Gore's hit song “You Don’t Own Me” became an anthem for the feminist movement.

Thomas recommends:

How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease by Michael Greger

This best-seller by the renowned physician and nutrition expert reveals dietary approaches and lifestyle changes to prevent and reverse the 15 leading causes of death among Americans.

Ikaria: Lessons on Food, Life and Longevity from the Greek Island Where People Forget to Die by Diane Kochilas

The chef and award-winning author presents recipes and insights into the lifestyle and culture of the people of Ikaria, an island in the northern Aegean, who are known for their longevity.

Melissa recommends:

The Burying Place by Brian Freeman

There are two crimes to keep track of—a missing baby and serial killer—plus relationship drama among detectives, in this standard police procedural. Lots of twists and turns will keep you guessing.

The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson

What Are You Reading? Sally Kohn Edition

NYPL Staff — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 09:33:57 -0400

Photo courtesy of sallykohn.com

A while back, I checked out Kick Axe, a lumberjack-themed bar in Brooklyn where you can play a modified version of darts—using axes.

Standing in the axe-throwing cage next to mine was Sally Kohn, an author and commentator who has appeared accross the news network spectrum. Her new book, The Opposite of Hate: A Field Guide to Repairing Our Humanity was on its way (out today), so I thought I'd ask her:

What are you currently reading? What's up next?

I’m reading Nell Scovell’s Just The Funny Parts, which is as hilarious as its author, but also such an insightful look into misogyny in Hollywood and sexism in America in general. And did I mention it’s funny?

When I’m finished, I’m excited to get a copy of Michael Arceneaux’s forthcoming book I Can’t Date Jesus, which I expect will be a brilliant read and just the pointed memoir the world needs now.

Do you listen to audiobooks? If so, do you have a favorite? Any readers you particularly enjoy?

I’m not a huge audiobook reader honestly… is that even the right term, audiobook "reader"? Either way, honestly, my go-to audiobook is Jim Dale reading the Harry Potter series, which is our family favorite for long car trips. We’ll listen over and over again. And it was super intimidating to have Jim Dale as pretty much the only audiobook narrator example in my head when I went to go record my own audiobook. For a second, I tried to do voice impersonations too. Then I stopped. You’re welcome, listeners/audio readers.

Is there a book or other media you return to again and again?

I feel like I read and re-read Angela Davis at least once a year as a political north star, to remind me not only about what it means to be a great political writer but to be a great political leader through the written word. And there are parts of Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly that I read over and over again to keep trying and trying to weed shame out of my own mind and mindset, and the way I relate to others.

Is there a book that your daughter made you read to her so many times that you could basically do it with your eyes closed?

Roly Poly Pangolin immediately comes to mind. But she’s the kind of kid who loves to read the same thing over and over and over and over and over again. Same with movies. I can recite the entirety of Tangled in my sleep. Which hopefully will come in handy someday.

You have written for the Washington Post, USA Today, and Fox News, among others. You also have a book, The Opposite of Hate: A Field Guide to Repairing Our Humanity, coming out. Can you tell us about your process when it comes to writing? Did it differ greatly when you were writing your book as opposed to writing for the papers?

I’m a creature of habit when it comes to writing. Ideally, I like to be tucked in at the same desk in the Brooklyn Writers Space where I work, listening to the same music on repeat, probably even wearing the same clothes if I could get away with it. But through op-ed writing and columns, I’ve learned to be much more adaptive. If news breaks and I have something I want to say about it, and I have a few spare moments, I’ll pound out an essay wherever I am. Once or twice, when I’ve been away from my laptop, I’ve even kicked a friend off their computer for an hour so I could churn out a quick op-ed.

Book writing has forced me to find the balance in between—it’s just so much volume that I’ve had to learn to write anywhere and everywhere, sometimes in beautiful giant blocks of solitude in the writers’ space, but sometimes in the corners and crevices between speaking gigs or TV segments.

You have written for papers and appeared on networks across the political spectrum, on Fox News, MSNBC and as a regular commentator on CNN. In your first TED Talk (see more of her TED Talks here) you spoke of "emotional correctness," a practice that allows you to engage and even be friends with people whose politics and opinions are polar opposite of your own. The subject is near to my heart, and especially important in my work as the Library is here to serve everyone, regardless of ideology.

What drives you to engage, and was there a moment when you realized how important this type of emotional correctness was or is it something you've always practiced? Do you have tips for people who are interested in how to better interact with those whose ideology does not mesh with their own?

I think the challenge of our time is to connect with others who are different than us—or maybe, more accurately, we’ve been taught by society are different, whether that’s ideology or race or class or religion. I’m not sure if we’re the most divided we’ve ever been as a nation, but I’m sure we’re more divided then we should be—or need to be. And it’s destroying us and our democracy. So I see connection as a moral and practical imperative, our duty as civic-minded people who care about our society and, supposedly, all the people in it. We have to walk that talk.

In terms of how, then, to make those connections… look, the issues and viewpoints that divide us are important, and I’d be the last person to tell anyone to abandon their core beliefs. Can we also, at the same time, recognize that we’re all more than the things we disagree on? And that no matter who you are or what you believe, you deserve to be treated with basic humanity and dignity and respect? And then the challenge isn’t to just say that sort of thing at the abstract principles level—"equality and justice for all" and such—but to actually live those principles, to look at your own life and relationships, who you’re connected to and who you are not connected to, who you treat with dignity and who you don’t, and challenge yourself to deliberately and actively do better.

What celebrities or public figures are you curious about?
Whose book list would you like to read?
Let us know in the comments!

What Are You Reading? Politicians Edition

NYPL Staff — Thu, 06 Jul 2017 12:32:12 -0400

At the end of June I attended the American Library Association's annual conference in Chicago, IL. Over 20,000 librarians and others in the library world filled the McCormic Center, teaching, learning and networking at over 2,300 events and on the vender floor. In the midst of all of this I managed to conduct two short interviews with people I very much admire: the first female and African-American Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and Civil Rights legend turned Congressman John Lewis who co-authored the award winning graphic novel March.

As a Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden can't exactly answer my normal questions as they are not allowed to promote specific books. But I had to try:

What are you reading at the moment?

So I have stacks [Puts one hand about a foot above the other] and I group them: The books that are sort of related to work; the books that are fun to read that I can't quite get to; the books that are just sort of interesting... I went to Monticello recently, and I got a book about the chefs for the Whitehouse—the African American chefs—that was just fascinating, and so there's just all this stuff and it depends on what my mood is. I pick one or another up.

What was the one thing you wish they had taught you in library school that you kind of had to learn with your feet on the ground?

I had an interesting experience in library school! I was actually working in a public library when I was in school so I had the benefit of going to class and then going to work and sort of blending it, and so I found that... well there's something they can't teach you in library school, and that's how to predict the future [laughs]. You never know where your career is gonna go.

Where do you think libraries are going, speaking of the future?

Oh, well [gestures around] look at this conference! I mean [holding up my badge ribbons and indicating the first few] You're speaking here, you're serving the incarcerated, you... you know I think that the energy and synergy of the next generation librarians and library specialists tells you where it's going.

So we are the future...

Oh you guys are! I mean you're much more tech savvy than we were. Of course we were doing punch-cards.

That's true, and I couldn’t wrap my mind around those... That's pretty amazing!

We're talking 40 years ago. Apple II's. Have you ever seen one of those?

I have actually! And I used to have a Commodore 64C growing up.

Ooooh OK

Not too far from the Apple II's... well comparatively.

Well you are more tech savvy. By the time Apple II's we weren't doing, you know...

It wasn't as complicated...

It wasn't complicated at all! If I was using it! [laughs]

*At that point she saw a friend, and we left it at that.

The next day I was finishing up a panel when my friend from grad-school sent me a text that John Lewis was at the Library of Congress booth on the vender floor. I managed to get there when he was wrapping up an autograph session with artist and co-author Nate Powell.

Powell is a graphic novelist and musician. While the Congressman finished up with the last person in the line I asked:

What are you reading?

Right now I'm reading Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram Kendi. I just finished rereading Please Kill Me [by Gillian

Nate Powell's pick

McCain and Legs McNeil] and I just cracked open the biography of Joan Didion, so those are the three that are in circulation right now.

Congressman Lewis had finished up and so I asked him:

What are you reading?

There's a book that just came out about President Kennedy and Martin Luther King JR. It's Kennedy and the King and it outlines the lives of both, how one came from a very wealthy family and the other came from a middle class family. One white, one African American, and their lives came together during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. And they both led, and both inspired. I got to know them both... President Kennedy was so inspiring and uplifting, Martin Luther King JR. the same way, but they gave us hope and they both died too young.

May I ask you what the most influential book for your life's path was?

Yeah, it was a comic book! A comic book that came out in 1958 called Martin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery Story. 16 pages, sold for .10 cents. It told the story of a Montgomery bus walk-out. Told the story of Rosa Parks and 50,000 people walking rather than riding segregated buses. It talked about the philosophy and the discipline of non-violence. It became like a roadmap... a blueprint on how to protest, how to believe in something and stand up and fight for it and - if necessary - die for it.

It was amazing speaking with them both and the conference wasn't over yet!

Hillary Clinton was the closing speaker two days later. She spoke about the first time she got a library card, how exciting it was, and how she felt like she was "being handed a passport to the world." While I wasn't able to speak with her directly, she did provide a pretty comprehensive reading list.

As a child she loved everything from Nancy Drew mysteries to Little Women to James Michener. Following her 2016 Presidential loss she found that reading had a restorative and healing effect. "I finished Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan novels, I devoured mysteries by Louise Penny, Donna Leon, Jacqueline Winspear, Charles Todd. I reread old favorites like Henri Nouwen's Return of the Prodigal Son, the poetry of Maya Angelou, and Mary Oliver, I was riveted by The Jersey Brothers and a new book of essays called The View From Flyover Country which turned out to be especially relevant in the midst of our current healthcare debate."

While her next book doesn't have a title yet, she was celebrating the new picture book edition of her 1996 book It Takes a Village.

Besides books, Clinton laid out the three reasons librarians and libraries are invaluable in our society. First off that reading changes lives. Aside for opening the world to readers she cited the benefits to brain health and education from reading in general and the empathy that reading fiction builds. Second, that libraries "are places for communities to come together." These spaces provide a place for the public to not only learn, but access information, job training and technology that may be out of reach otherwise. "As librarians," she said, "you go above and beyond every day to serve the needs of the people living in your communities." Finally she cited the need for critical thinkers. Information and media literacy, things that are increasingly needed in the age of alternative facts, are things that librarians have been teaching the public for as long as they've existed. "You are the guardians of the First Amendment and the freedom to read and to speak. I believe libraries and democracy go hand in hand."

Powerful words that we strive to live up to.

What celebrities or public figures are you curious about?
Whose book list would you like to read?
Let us know in the comments!

Reader's Den: The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, Part 3

Joshua Soule, Spuyten Duyvil Library — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 11:30:01 -0500

The beginning of a beautiful friendship.

It is time to bring this year's round of Reader's Dens to a close, and we will finish with some recommendations for folks wanting some gruesome sword and sorcery. After traipsing through the Hyborian Age with our bloody-handed hero, and I use the term "hero" loosely, what more is there? Try some of these books to start:

I can't see a thing in this stupid fog, can you?

The Knight and the Knave of Swords by Fritz Leiber. This collection features Leiber's most famous characters: the barbarian Fafhrd and his diminutive companion the Gray Mouser. Rogues, scoundrels and treasure hunters, these two formed a fast friendship and cut a swathe through the seamy streets of Lankhmar. There is a humanity in their bond that Conan, perhaps, lacks.

Just enjoying a sunset.

Richard K. Morgan's A Land Fit for Heroes trilogy is brutal, unrelenting and a blistering read. Ringil Eskiath is a war hero and a drunk, homosexual lout. He does not exactly endear himself to the local populace where he drinks his days and nights away. He is also one of the best swordsmen alive and his chance encounter with an ancient, forgotten enemy wielding hidden magic starts The Steel Remains, the first book in the series.

If you're in the mood for some high seas grit and derring do, Robin Hobb's Liveship Traders Trilogy, beginning with Ship of Magic, will satisfy readers demanding some world-building meat on a novel's bones. Liveships, built from special wood found only in the exotic Rain Wilds, are the only boats capable of traversing the acidic Rain Wild River. Any other lumber dissolves quickly, so the Rain Wilders and Bingtown traders depend on the liveships for traffic in the ancient artifacts of the mysterious Elderlings. Althea Vestrit is ready to inherit her family's liveship Vivacia when her father's death quickens the boat, bringing the figurehead to life.

Would you mess with this dude?

Peter V. Brett also brings to life a world where humanity is going extinct during constant demon attacks. Wards, ancient runes painted on wood or engraved in stone, are the only means of fending off the brutal assaults. Arlen, son of Jeph, watches the demons devour his mother during one attack, inspiring a burning desire for revenge in The Warded Man, the first novel in Brett's Demon Cycle. The demons only come out at night, meaning the war must be waged in darkness and shadow.

Go ahead. Make his day.

Another war waged in darkness is the orphaned Azoth's in Brent Weeks' The Way of Shadows. Struggling to survive in the city of Cenaria's Warrens, Azoth sees the world's deadliest assassin, Durzo Blint, make short work of a pack of attackers. Blint, of course, catches Azoth in the act and forces a promise from him never to reveal what he saw in the shadowed street. Azoth's travails carry him through Weeks' Night Angel Trilogy.

There are so many more examples of the genre but it would take the remainder of this year to list even a quarter of them so that wraps our Reader's Den for December. May your winter nights be filled with tales of grim, iron-handed heroes trampling a path to riches, glory or simply survival.

Reader's Den: The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, Part 2

Joshua Soule, Spuyten Duyvil Library — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 13:47:55 -0500

Last week we introduced you, our gentle readers, to the sullen, rough barbarian Conan. It is a name that conjures a multitude of images. There is the campy cult classic film starring a young Arnold Schwarzenegger in the titular role. You have Conan as imagined by various comic illustrators. Even the acclaimed modern fantasy author Robert Jordan put his own spin on the legendary barbarian.

Conan: Bloody fantasy before George Martin made it cool.

This brings up the point of today's Reader's Den. How has Robert E. Howard's creation influenced modern fantasy writing? Most here will know Robert Jordan as the creator of the epic fantasy cycle, The Wheel of Time. Then you get into fantasy author Brandon Sanderson who finished Jordan's work after that author's premature passing. Having read much of Sanderson's epic fantasy to date, I do detect some hints of Howard's influence, especially in his Mistborn novels.

This does not even account for the many, many tales of sword and sorcery that have been written by the likes of Fritz Leiber and Michael Moorcock in the decades since Howard's passing. Even today's modern grimdark fantasists, whether they realize it or not, can trace roots to Howard's savage hillman.

Why has Conan's influence been so enduring? What is it that speaks to readers and writers even decades later? Is it the Cimmerian's no-nonsense approach to seizing power? His willingness to cut down anything in his path while still displaying a certain cunning that sees him through harrowing adventure after adventure? Only you can decide, dear readers. Next week, we will recommend some titles for folks jonesing for more bloody, gutsy swords and sorcery.

December Reader's Den: The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian

Joshua Soule, Spuyten Duyvil Library — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 16:43:45 -0500

“Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet.” That's a guy who needs no further introduction. Conan the Barbarian has been part of the popular imagination for nearly a century, with a legacy stretching into everything from literature to cinema.

The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian's publication marked the first modern effort to publish Robert E. Howard's classic sword and sorcery stories in their original, unedited glory. Writers like Howard were writing gritty and gruesome fantasy before George R.R. Martin made it cool. Credited by some as the inventor of sword and sorcery, Howard published most of his Conan shorts in the famed Weird Tales magazine before his suicide in 1936.

This collection comes with an essay by editor Patrice Louniet, discussing the racism present in nearly all of Howard's works. Some of it was subtle, some not so subtle. Howard's stories frequently featured villains with dark, dusky or black skin.

Not pictured: Wenching and Pillaging

The stories themselves, particularly the Conan works, are fierce and enjoyable reads but that racist spectre is something all the fans must grapple with as they read. Louinet ties in Howard's correspondence and friendship with virulent racist H.P. Lovecraft. Indeed, the two men often shared ideas, stories and even some friendly competition in their writing. You will find echoes of Lovecraft in some of the Conan stories here.

As you begin reading, consider not only the energetic narrative and fantastic imagination; think also of the milieu that produced Howard, along with his racist attitudes. It might cast a shadow over the writing, but what's a good, grim fantasy without some darkness both real and imagined? Join us next week when we discuss Howard's influence on modern fantasy. Until then, enjoy the sullen Cimmerian's exploits as he fights, wenches and pillages his way through the Hyborian Age.

Reader's Den November - Hell Hath No Fury: Gone Girl, Medea, and the Allure of the Femme Fatale, Part 2

Sherri Machlin, Mulberry Street Library — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 11:03:23 -0500

Both Gone Girl and Medea feature two classic examples of the Femme Fatale archetype. In this installment of the Reader's Den, we will examine the appearance of the vengeful female or femme fatale as portrayed in film.

Medea was originally conceived of as a play by Euripides, and first staged in 431 BC at a festival held in Athens honoring the Greek God Dionysus (it took a third place prize). Throughout the ages, differing civilizations have had different reactions to Medea's theme of taking justice into one's own hand in an unjust society, Amy Dunne's 'taking matters into her own hands' probably is less defensible ; although the book and film versions of Gone Girl offer a scathing critique of how the media can exert powerful influence over the justice system.

Medea e Giasone. Image ID: 1622935

On screen there have been several interesting interpretations of the Medea story, notably iconoclastic Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini's Medea (1969) starring opera diva Maria Callas in the title role. With stunning scenes shot in Turkey, a sparse haunting score and dazzling costume design, Pasolini's interpretation focuses attention on class division, through the contrast of life on Colchis and in Greece. Lars von Trier, the iconoclastic Danish director, made a stark and violent version of Medea (1988) for Danish television, starring Udo Kier as Jason.

A femme fatale is defined as: an attractive and seductive woman, especially one who will ultimately bring disaster to a man who becomes involved with her. Let's have some fun with our femme fatale's through the lens of film.

Film Noir of the 1940s were rife with femme fatale archetypes. Film scholars posit that because the role of women in society changed so dramatically during and after WWII in the United States, Hollywood started paying more attention to casting strong starring female characters. Some classic femme fatales on film include Jane Greer in Out of the Past. In Dark Passage , Humphrey Bogart finds himself in a situation similar to Nick Dunne, falsely accused of his wife's murder, aided by Lauren Bacall to help solve the mystery. Barbara Stanwyck plots her husband's demise in Double Indemnity, as does Lana Turner with a drifter she meets at her husband's gas station in The Postman Always Rings Twice.

The 1960s and '70s were the height of the women's liberation movement, and a change in the portayal of womens' roles on film came about as a result. Faye Dunaway shines as gun toting Bonnie Parker to Warren Beatty's Mr. Clyde in Bonnie and Clyde, while her performance as the calculating Ms. Mulwray in Chinatown harkens back to the '40s Noir era. Pam Grier's unforgettable performances in Coffy and Foxy Brown epitomizes the female vigilante within a socially critical urban framework. And Anne Bancroft's Ms. Robinson seduces unwitting Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate before he knows what hits him.

Kathleen Turner Certainly no viewer can remain unscathed by the potboiler concocted by jilted lover Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. Director Paul Verhoeven visits this theme in Basic Instinct with Sharon Stone, Nicole Kidman exploits a student in Gus Van Sant's To Die For. Sean Young pulls the wool over Harrison Ford in Bladerunner. One of Abel Ferrara's earliest films, Ms. 45, concerns a young, mute seamstress in New York exacting some revenge after becoming the victim of street crime. Isabella Rosallini plays a mysterious night club singer in David Lynch's Blue Velvet. A widower gets drawn into a web of confusion with a young woman who pretends to be trying out for his film in Audition, and who can forget the trail of blood and tears left behind by Uma Thurman in Kill Bill.

Everyone's got their favorite femme fatale: Readers—let us know who YOUR favorite femme fatale in film or fiction is!

Thank you for reading November in the Reader's Den!

We'll be back next month in the Reader's Den with The Coming of Conan the Cimmarian by Robert E. Howard, illustrated by Mark Schultz.

Reader's Den November - Hell Hath No Fury: Gone Girl, Medea, and the Allure of the Femme Fatale, Part 1

Sherri Machlin, Mulberry Street Library — Mon, 02 Nov 2015 11:33:40 -0500

Girl meets Boy. Girl marries Boy. Boy meets Another Woman.

Girl goes out of her mind with rage. Big Time.

This familiar trope plays out in a complex web of nail-biting intrigue in Gillian Flynn's popular mystery novel and screenplay Gone Girl, but this theme of punishing a philandering spouse to the extreme has ancient roots. This month in the Reader's Den, we compare Gone Girl to Euripides's Medea, and look at other works that deal with this similar theme of femme fatales.

She is deliciously tall sort of a long girl
She is delightfully small sort of a song girl
She freely admits to the world that she was a wrong girl
That's nothing compare to the fact that she is a gone girl
Johnny Cash 'Gone Girl'

Nick Dunne and Amy Elliott met and courted as journalist/writers in NYC, but after losing their jobs, they move to a rented McMansion in Nick's hometown of North Carthage, Missouri to take care of his dying mother and play out their disintegrating marriage ritual in slow motion. Amy is an exacting perfectionist, and the subject of her parents' popular children's book series Amazing Amy. Nick buys a bar in North Carthage with his twin sister Go (Margo) using Amy's trust fund money. On the morning of Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary, Amy Dunne disappears out of thin air. Nick and Amy take turns narrating chapters in a 'Dear Diary' fashion through the novel to articulate each character's mindset, or so it seems. In these 'diary entries' we learn of Amy's condescension towards her life in North Carthage, Nick's affair with a college student, and Amy's miscarriage. The book unravels as a great thriller as Nick perilously jumps through the many traps implicating him in Amy's murder, as she masterfully twists the media's eye to smear Nick's character as the principal suspect in her apparent disappearance/murder. Flynn crafts a razor-sharp psychotic mind residing within Amy Dunne, she acts only minimally rashly, until she realizes she still has strong feelings for Nick, and then becomes willing to do anything to gain back the love of her husband.

Medea. Image ID: 1622990

"Ah my sufferings, my wretched sufferings, they invite a world's tears! O cursed children of a hateful mother, I want you to die along with your father, and all the house to go to ruins!" (from Medea ). Euripides's play of the Medea story, first produced in 431 BC, takes place about two and a half millennia earlier than the Gone Girl travails, but contains many similar elements of matrimonial revenge. Medea and Amy Dunne both relocate and leave their family of origin for the sake of their spouses; Amy from New York to Missouri, while Medea leaves Colchis to follow Jason to Corinth, after she aided Jason in locating the Golden Fleece (in exchange for marrying her, by some accounts). Nick also takes advantage of Amy's trust fund in order to finance the bar he opens with his sister back in North Carthage. Amy disappears herself after learning of Nick's infidelity, while Medea is banished by Creon, King of Corinth, fearing the wrath of her revenge. Gone Girl's Amy Dunne and Medea both use children as a means of hurting and manipulating their spouses, Amy blackmails Nick into staying with her though a pregnancy, while Medea amps up her game to an unthinkable level by threatening to kill her children, Mermeros and Pheres. And stylistically speaking, the play Medea makes use of a Greek Chorus to add emotional charge and an external voice to the story, while the film version of Gone Girl features an ethereal and edgy soundtrack composed by Nine Inch Nails's Trent Reznor to heighten the emotions of the audience.

Euripides (480 - 406 B.C.) is one of Greece's greatest dramatic writers, and in many ways, revolutionized Western theatrical traditions that endure to this day. He often portrayed 'ordinary' characters under extraordinary pressures and circumstances; in order to distil the most emotional reactions that could come alive on stage. He stood apart from other writers of his age by giving voice and depth to all echelons of society, including female characters, such as Medea. Like Euripides, Gillian Flynn has said of her work that she wanted to write about female aggression in an honest way "...we still don't discuss our own violence. We devour the news about Susan Smith or Andrea Yates—women who drowned their children—but we demand these stories to be rendered palatable."

In our next installment of the Reader's Den, we will discuss other books, films and dramatic works similar to the femme fatale themes seen in Medea and Gone Girl.

October Reader's Den: Just Call Me Superhero, Part 3

A. E. Butler, Senior Children's Librarian, Muhlenberg Library — Sat, 31 Oct 2015 12:45:23 -0400

Welcome back to the October 2015 edition of the Reader's Den! This is our final week of Just Call Me Superhero by Alina Bronsky. If you missed any of this month's discussions, then you can revisit earlier posts:

Part 1: welcome, book introduction, and author information

Part 2: discussion and reflection (mid-month)

There are not any discussion questions; however, feel free to discuss any points that came to mind as you finished the book. At the end of the post, there is also a list of suggested titles with themes similar to those within Just Call Me Superhero.

If you enjoyed, this novel, then I highly recommend reading Alina Bronsky's previous works, Broken Glass Park (2010) and The Hottest Dishes of Tartar Cuisine ( 2011), which also feature anti-heroes. Though both admittedly sound quite dark and possibly depressing from the descriptions, be assured that they are peppered with dark humor and whit throughout.

Broken Glass Park: Seventeen-year-old Sacha Naimann dreams of writing a novel about her mother and killing the man who murdered her, Sacha's stepfather Vadim, while struggling to care for her younger siblings and leave behind her painful childhood.

Reviews

"Whether it's autobiographical or not, Bronsky writes with a gritty authenticity and unputdownable propulsion, capturing the egotism and need of a girl just beginning to understand her own power." -Vogue

"Surprising, poetic, extremely well-crafted . . . recalls the narrative art of Zadie Smith."- K÷lner Stadtrevue

"Youthful, fast-paced, at times sad, never sugarcoated. Broken Glass Park tells the story of a marvelous reawakening."-Modern Zeiten

"Playful, audacious and brimming with verve . . . A gripping read."-Book Reporter (Germany)

The Hottest Dishes of Tartar Cuisine: Rosa's schemes to abort her daughter Sulfia's fetus after learning of the pregnancy, take her granddaughter Aminat after the baby's birth, and move the family out of the Soviet Union eventually lead to tragedy.

Reviews

"What begins as a cruel comic romp ends as a surprisingly winning story of hardship and resilience." — The New Yorker

"Bronsky lands another hit with this hilarious, disturbing, and always irreverent blitz." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A rich, funny and unspeakably delicious novel" — Bookslut

"Bronsky's great gift is humor." — Los Angeles Times

Here are some of my personal favorites, which also feature anti-heroes (and are available for checkout at NYPL with your library card):

Native Son by Richard Wright: Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape. Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic. Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Richard Wright's novel is just as powerful today as when it was written—in its reflection of poverty and hopelessness, and what it means to be black in America.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath: The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under—maybe for the last time. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that Esther's insanity becomes completely real and even rational, as probable and accessible an experience as going to the movies. Such deep penetration into the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche is an extraordinary accomplishment and has made The Bell Jar a haunting American classic.
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger: Holden, Caulfield, knowing he is to be expelled from school, decides to leave early. He spends three days in New York City and tells the story of what he did and suffered there.
The Watchmen by Alan Moore: It all begins with the paranoid delusions of a half-insane hero called Rorschach—but is he really insane or has he, in fact, uncovered a plot to murder super-heroes and possibly millions of innocent civilians? Following two generations of masked super-heroes from the close of World War II to the icy shadow of the Cold War comes this groundbreaking comic story—the story ofThe Watchmen.
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk: The rise of a terrorist organization, led by a waiter who enjoys spitting in people's soup. He starts a fighting club, where men bash each other, and the club quickly gains in popularity. It becomes the springboard for a movement devoted to destruction for destruction's sake.
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller: Set in the closing months of World War II in an American bomber squadron off the coast of Italy, Catch-22 is the story of a bombardier named Yossarian who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he has never even met keep trying to kill him.
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis: In a black satire of the eighties, a decade of naked greed and unparalleled callousness, a successful Wall Street yuppie cannot get enough of anything, including murder. Patrick Bateman moves among the young and trendy in 1980s Manhattan. Young, handsome, and well educated, Bateman earns his fortune on Wall Street by day, while spending his nights in ways we cannot begin to fathom. Expressing his true self through torture and murder, Bateman prefigures an apocalyptic horror that no society could bear to confront.
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess: Told through a central character, Alex, the disturbing novel creates an alarming futuristic vision of violence, high technology, and authoritarianism. A modern classic of youthful violence and social redemption set in a dismal dystopia whereby a juvenile delinquent undergoes state-sponsored psychological rehabilitation for his aberrant behavior.

By no means is this list comprehensive. What are some of your favorites?

Come back to the Reader's Den in November for a discussion on Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and Medea by Euripides.

Happy reading!

October Reader's Den: Just Call Me Superhero, Part 2

A. E. Butler, Senior Children's Librarian, Muhlenberg Library — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 20:31:12 -0400

"I didn't want to think about how funny a man would have to be to deflect attention from his face."

Welcome back to the October 2015 edition of the Reader's Den! We are at part 2 of 3 of our discussion of Just Call Me Superhero by Alina Bronsky. If you need a copy of the book, then you can reserve a copy through the NYPL catalog; available in both print and electronic formats and available for checkout with your library card.

***There are some spoilers below. If you have not finished the book yet, then you may want to revisit this post at a future date.***

If you already have a copy, then join the discussion. There are questions throughout this post. However, feel free to highlight any points that came to mind as you read the book.

Marek agrees to attend the group (as a result of a bribe and his romantic interest in the beautiful Janne), the Guru announces that they will take a trip to a countryside estate and continue filming. During his trip, Marek continues to reject any attempts at friendship and forges ahead with his usual caustic approach. When his absent father dies, he is called home to pay his respects. To further complicate matters, he must grieve alongside his father's young second wife (Marek's former nanny) and his much younger half-brother. During this difficult time, he discovers that he does indeed need the support of those around him. We witness his struggle to make sense of these feelings in relation to his actions and attitude toward life.

Marek is certainly not a hero in the traditional sense. It can be argued that he performed a heroic deed, but even he has difficulty reconciling his actions with his thoughts.

Is he an anti-hero? Why do some readers relate so readily with anti-heroes?
When you learned the circumstances under which Marek was mauled, did this change your opinion of his behaviors and attitude? Is he justified in his response to the outside world and the treatment of those in his life?

There are two seemigly parallel storylines within the book. The first surrounds Marek's relationship with the Guru and the group members, and the second involves his complicated family dynamics. The two stories converge upon the death of Marek's father, whom we, like him, know very little about. During the repass of his father's funeral, Marek begins to take some consideration for the feelings of others in a way that he had not previous to this point. Rather than focusing so much of his attention inward, his ability to appreciate theroy of mind has grown tremendously over the past weeks.

How do Marek's step-mother and half-brother help him come to terms with not only the death of his father but also his feelings about himself?
Towards the end of the novel, Marek finds a list of names and birthdates.The support group members'names are marked with stars. I found it of note that the author chose not to explore this twist further. Were there any indications that the group members had so much in common? Would this novel have been possible if his knowledge had been revealed from the beginning?

These are the last lines of the book: "[I] had a feeling that by the time I got to Berlin my big speech would have dwindled to just a few words. And I wouldn't say them anyway. I turned toward the mirror and took off my glasses."

How did you feel about the conclusion of the story?
Are these short phrases enough to wrap up the larger issues within the story? Can or should those issues be fully resolved for the reader?

What to expect this month

Part 1: welcome, book introduction, and author information

Part 2: discussion and reflection (mid-month)

Part 3: concluding comments and read-a-likes (last day of month)

If you missed any previous Reader's Den discussions it is not too late to join in on those discussions now.

Happy reading!

Reader's Den: The Human Body by Paolo Giordano, Part 3

Lori Salmon, Art & Architecture Collection, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 17:43:50 -0400

Thank you for participating in this month’s book discussion on The Human Body (2014) by Paolo Giordano. If you are looking for another war novel to get you fired up about the battlefield or home front, or if you are itching to find a protagonist dealing with the trials and tribulations caused by the world around them, take a look at these suggested titles.

	The Kite Runner (2013) Khaled Hosseini This novel of education illustrates the similarities and the differences between two people, two countries, and two vastly different cultures, focusing on what is right and wrong and the nature of the wickedly ugly.
	Fobbit (2012) David Abrams As a former real-life soldier in Iraq who rarely ever left the confines of the Forward Operating Base, the author puts his knowledge of this world to good use in this historical novel about his experiences.
	Invisible Country: A Mystery (2012) Annamaria Alfieri In Alfieri’s anti-war mystery, the 1964 War of the Triple Alliance pits Paraguay against its neighbors Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay—and a freelance assassin.
	One Hundred and One Nights (2011) Benjamin Bucholz Iraq war veteran Benjamin Buchholz depicts both the delicate and intimate nature of war, while capturing the struggle for salvation and the power of family.
	Half of a Yellow Sun (2007) Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie An emotionally complex story of Biafra’s struggle to establish an independent republic in southeastern Nigeria during the late 1960s.
	The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil (2005) George Saunders Called the “Animal Farm for the 21st century,” this book plops us into a world not recognizable to any United States citizen and makes us look to another planet for answers.
	Disgrace (1999) J. M. Coetzee Suggested by Paolo Giordano as a book that inspired The Human Body for its fiery language, this book explores the downfall of a professor, caught in the chaotic aftermath of the overthrow of Apartheid during a difficult period in South African history.

Take a look back at Part 1 (Introduction) and Part 2 (Questions) of the discussion The Human Body to continue the conversation at any time. And don't forget to stop by Reader’s Den next month for a conversation on Just Call Me Superhero (2014) by Alina Bronsky.

Reader's Den: The Human Body by Paolo Giordano, Part 2

Lori Salmon, Art & Architecture Collection, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 17:42:25 -0400

I take my hat off to you for continuing this discussion of The Human Body on Reader's Den. See below some questions to consider for your reading.

[The Italian advance into Greek territory placed high demands on the troops.] Image ID: 3956121

The Setting

So how did you experience this Italian platoon stationed at a Forward Operating Base (FOB) in the treacherous Gulistan district of Afghanistan? Were you engaged immediately, or did it take you a minute to get into the book? Paolo Giordano divided the story into three sections: Part 1: Experiences in the Desert, Part 2: The Valley of Roses, and Part 3: Men. What did you think about the way he chose to tell the narrative? Starting and ending with the title of the novel itself, what was The Human Body to you?

The Personae

Describe some of characters: the medical Lieutenant Alessandro Egitto, First Corporal Major Angelo Torsu, troop leader Marshal Antonio René, Corporal Major Roberto Ietri, Major Francesco Caderna, or the only female Corporal Major Giulia Zampieri. What were the differences and similarities between those in command and the rank and file?

Is there such a thing as a "military personality"? And if so, do the personality traits and characteristics of these platoon members differ greatly from the average person? For instance, how did platoon member Lieutenant Egitto deal with his ties to his family? What were platoon members relationships with individuals such as the interpreter Abib and masseuse Oxana?

Do you find that these characters change by the end of the narrative? Do they learn something about themselves and their surroundings?

The Resolution

Was the ending satisfying? If so, why? If not, why not... and how would you change it? After reading the book, what is Giordano getting at, what larger issue is he exploring? Has this novel broadened your perspective on human dynamics?

There is an interesting interview with Paulo Giordano and Mitzi Rapkin on Aspen Public Radio’s show First Draft, which features the novelist as he discusses The Human Body among other things readers and writers alike would enjoy.

Click on Part 1 (Introduction) or Part 3 (Book Suggestions) links of the discussion at any time.

October Reader's Den: Just Call Me Superhero, Part 1

A. E. Butler, Senior Children's Librarian, Muhlenberg Library — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 15:28:06 -0400

"They didn't look at me because I was outside their field of vision and thus outside their world, but I could still sense it."

Welcome to the October 2015 edition of the Reader's Den! This month's selection is Just Call Me Superhero by Alina Bronsky. Alina Bronsky is known for her two previous works Broken Glass Park and the Hottest Dishes of Tartar Cuisine. The book is available in both print and electronic formats and available for checkout from NYPL with your library card.

This year's theme is superheroes and antiheroes. Well don't judge a book by its cover—or in this case, its title. Can our protagonist, Marek, be called a superhero, much less a hero? After a horrific encounter with a large dog leaves his once handsome face almost unrecognizable, Marek hides behind his dark glasses, long hair, and biting cynicism. Though he has endured countless corrective surgeries, he refuses to go uncovered and rarely leaves the house. His mother, worried for his well-being, signs him up for a support group, which is filled with physically impaired teens. The Guru, as the group leader is called, uses some unconventional methods to help the teens open up with one another and with themselves. Marek does not understand how he fits into this group and is reluctant to participate. Through his limited social encounters, ongoing internal dialogue, and gradual acquiescence of his group membership, we learn more about Marek's daily struggles with self-acceptance and adolescent insecurites. When an unexpected tragedy hits, Marek realizes that he needs support, but where will he find it since he has built a wall between himself and the world?

There are a few questions at the end of this post, but feel free to discuss any points that come to mind as you read the book.

Reviews

Bronsky lands another hit with this hilarious, disturbing, and always irreverent blitz. —Publisher’s Weekly (Starred Review)

Bronsky presents strong characterizations while slowly unveiling plot twists and providing an enigmatic conclusion that hints at the mystical. This well-written novel could work as an adult/YA crossover. —Library Journal

Bronsky's warmth, humor and sharp observational eye combine to make this coming-of-age tale a rich, affecting read. —Kirkus Reviews

Bronsky’s great gift is humor. —Los Angeles Times

What begins as a cruel comic romp ends as a surprisingly winning story of hardship and resilience. —The New Yorker

A masterful study in delusion. —The Financial Times

About the author

Alina Bronsky (pseudonym) was born in Yekaterinburg, an industrial town at the foot of the Ural Mountains in central Russia. She moved to Germany when she was thirteen. Bronsky is the author of Broken Glass Park, which was nominated for the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize, one of Europe’s most important literary awards, and The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine, which was named a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. Just Call Me Superhero is her third novel. —From author's website

The Daily Beast calls Alina Bronsky "an exciting new voice in the literary world." She has been hailed as a literary wunderkid whose writing style the Financial Times describes as "potent and vital." Bronsky is the author of Broken Glass Park—"the most astonishing debut in years"—and The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine, which was named a Publishers Weekly's Best Book of the Year. Just Call Me Superhero is her third novel. She lives in Berlin. —From Amazon.com

A film adaptation of Broken Glass Park (original Scherbenpark) was released in 2013. The film, directed by Bettina Blumner, won a CineStar Award at the Schwerin Art of Film Festival (2013), was nominated for a Hessian TV Award (2014), and nominated for Best European Film Debut at the Zlin International Film Festival for Children and Youth.

What to expect this month

Part 1: welcome, book introduction, and author information

Part 2: discussion and reflection (mid-month)

Part 3: concluding comments and read-a-likes

Questions for your consideration

What makes a hero—superpowers, acts of bravery, something else?
Why are readers drawn to anti-heroes? Are they likeable?

If you missed any previous Reader's Den discussions it is not too late to join in on those discussions now.

Happy reading!

Reader's Den: The Human Body by Paolo Giordano

Lori Salmon, Art & Architecture Collection, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 13:16:03 -0400

It’s nice to see you at Reader’s Den! This month we are reading The Human Body (2014), the second novel by author Paolo Giordano and which Anne Milano Appel has translated. You may know his award-winning novel The Solitude of Prime Numbers (2010), which tells the coming-of-age story of two outcasts who overcame traumatic experiences in their early years. In the next couple of weeks, we will discuss trauma from a different perspective. Within this account, we will be looking at the psychological impact of comradeship, family, and war taken on by a platoon of Italian soldiers based in Afghanistan.

Reviews of The Human Body:

“The first page indicates that the platoon’s experience was particularly horrible...but the fact that the mission runs off the rails is almost secondary to the beauty, texture, and acuity with which Giordano captures the day-to-day routines of the soldiers, and their efforts to make sense of both their lives in Italy and their military assignment.” —Publishers Weekly

“As the title suggests, the book is less about military heroism than the devastating human impact of combat. Well-observed and compassionate, this is a memorable look at imperfect people in extreme circumstances.” —Kirkus

So, please join me in reading The Human Body and post below any comments that you may have. Click on the link Part 2 (Questions) to move forward in the discussion.

Reader's Den: A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, Part 2

Melissa Scheurer, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL) — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 11:42:41 -0400

Hi Reader’s Den! It’s taking me longer to read Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods than to hike the AT. That’s the Appalachian Trail to the uninitiated... something I learned while reading this month’s selection. To be honest I still have about 80 pages to go. But it is the end of the month and time waits for nobody, so here I am posting some discussion topics.

Bill Bryson humorously recounts his own hike along large sections of the Appalachian Trail, describing its flora, fauna, and history. Which aspect of the book appealed to you more, the the humor or the history?

The longest hike I’ve done was about four hours and I thought that was long! What reasons does Bill Bryson give for wanting to hike over 2,000 miles on the AT? What do you think motivated Katz to join him?

Lookout Mountain from Tennessee River. Image ID: 62484

“Every step was a struggle. The hardest part was coming to terms with the constant dispiriting discovery that there is always more hill.” And yet they keep going. What motivates people to keep going when there is no end in sight?

"Good old Katz. Good old anyone with a pulse and a willingness to go walking with me." Who would be your ideal companion for walking the AT? How do you think a shared experience of this kind changes a friendship?

Who was your favorite trail character?

“In America, alas, beauty has become something you drive to, and nature an either/or proposition—either you ruthlessly subjugate it….or you deify it, treat it as something holy and remote, a thing apart…” Is it possible for people and nature to coexist to their mutual benefit?

Coincidentally, on September 3 author Edward Ricciuti will be at Mid-Manhattan Library discussing his book, Bears in the Backyard, which explores the increasing intersection between humans and wild animals.

Stay tuned for more reading suggestions.

In the meantime check out this post from a few years ago on local hiking resources.

Readers Den: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Interview and Wrap Up

Brian Baer, Mulberry Street Library — Thu, 13 Aug 2015 15:25:07 -0400

karenabbott.net

Welcome back to the Reader's Den as we wrap up July's book. I hope you have enjoyed Karen Abbott's book Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy as much as I have. Please join us for the next book A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson.

I talked to the author about what she likes to read (when she's not busy writing!)

What are you reading now?

I spent the past five years reading some pretty heavy, academic Civil War tomes—many of which I enjoyed—but it’s been fun to return to narrative nonfiction and fiction. I’ll read any genre as long as it transports me to a different world, and preferably to a different time period; I just reread The Age of Innocence so I could visit Gilded Age New York, which to me is an endlessly magical and intriguing setting. I’m also working on a modern journalism piece (something I haven’t done in quite a while!) and I’ve just pulled Gary Smith’s classic book of essays, Beyond The Game, from my shelf. I’m also rereading Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. The journalism piece I’m working on features some bizarre, quirky characters and a sensational murder; it’s sort of Midnight meets Fargo.

Cipher used by Elizabeth Van Lew. Image ID: 1698013

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I wish I were like Joyce Carol Oates, scribbling furiously every minute of the day, but sadly I have my moments of laziness. I almost don’t feel guilty for watching as much television as I do, since so many current shows are incredibly well-written and crafted. I also recently began meditating in an attempt to cure my lifelong insomnia, but it’s proving beneficial in other ways, too. And I can’t neglect to mention my African Grey parrots, Poe (after Edgar Allan) and Dexter (after the novelist Pete Dexter). They are excellent writing companions, although they have a tendency to poke their beaks down into my files and shred my notes.

What made you become a writer?

When I was a kid, as young as four or five, I would “write” books, staple them together, and create a library shelf of my work, but as I got older never considered writing to be a viable profession. I obsessively watched LA Law (and developed major crushes on both Susan Dey and Harry Hamlin) and thought I might become a lawyer. When I was a junior in college, I got an internship at Philadelphia magazine. I had never been surrounded by such interesting people, all of whom were having so much fun doing their jobs—every day was a new interview, a new personality, a new story, a new puzzle to piece together. I was sold. And I’m really lucky to have come of age in an era when people could still get print journalism jobs straight out of college.

What historical periods do you enjoy reading about?

I adore everything about the Gilded Age: the mood, the excess, the depravity, the incredibly enterprising criminal class. I also loved the Progressive-era setting for Sin in the Second City. When people think of the Progressive Era, they usually think of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, or Ida Tarbell's exposé of Standard Oil, or any of the other famous muckrakers. The history books failed to mention that a large group of Progressive-Era reformers targeted red light districts across the country and terrified citizens with lurid tales of “white slavery.” I have a few of those propaganda posters framed and hanging on my wall.

Your books are nonfiction; do you consider venturing into fiction, and if so, what genre?

I am actually in the very early stages of drafting a novel. It’s based on a real woman, a con artist, who lived and operated in Gilded Age New York. I couldn’t entirely divorce myself from my love of nonfiction and my love of history, so I was happy to find such a fascinating character. There’s not enough there for a nonfiction account, so the challenge is going to be to fill in the blanks; it’s calling upon a very different part of my brain, so I hope it’s up to the task! It will be the very first time I get to make dead people do and say what I want them to do (dead people are stubborn like that), so I’m at least looking forward to having that control.

Your subjects can be seen as “unconventional.” Why choose them and not women like suffragettes or political/economic activists?

My subjects are not in the history books, as much as they deserve to be. They pushed and poked at social conventions, and chafed at their perceived limitations. They were revolutionary. The word “maverick” is interesting—it always struck me as being a historically male word—but I like to write about female mavericks.

Is there any historical person you really want to write about?

There are many, but I am loath to tip my hand! I’m superstitious and think it’s bad luck to talk about a book when it still exists only in my mind.

Thank you Karen Abbott! And thank you all for joining us this month in the Reader's Den.

August in the Reader's Den: A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, Part 1

Elizabeth Waters, AskNYPL — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 10:54:45 -0400

"All over America today people would be dragging themselves to work, stuck in traffic jams, wreathed in exhaust smoke. I was going for a walk in the woods. I was more than ready for this."

“So woods are spooky.”

Welcome back to the Reader’s Den! This August we’re making a virtual escape from the hot and steamy New York summer with Bill Bryson’s classic travelogue, A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail, originally published in 1996.

Our reading list this year includes books featuring heroes, superheroes, and antiheroes. “So how exactly does A Walk in the Woods fit into this theme?” you might ask. Well, as a not particularly fit fortysomething myself, I have to admire the heroic effort put forth by Bill Bryson and his ill-prepared hiking companion Katz, who slowly but surely walked hundreds of miles on the Appalachian Trail. Isn’t perseverance a kind of heroism? And doesn't it require courage to take a risk and embrace a new experience? But perhaps we could also ask: Where does heroism end and foolhardiness begin?

Why would anyone wish to hike more than 2,000 miles over rugged terrain, carrying all needed supplies on their back? Bill Bryson got the idea when he stumbled upon a section of the Appalachian Trail near his home in New Hampshire:

"It seemed such an extraordinary notion—that I could set off from home and walk 1,800 miles through woods to Georgia, or turn the other way and clamber over the rough and stony White Mountains to the fabled prow of Mount Katahdin, floating in forest 450 miles to the north in a wilderness few have seen. A little voice in my head said: ‘Sounds neat! Let's do it!’"

June 3, 1948: Earl Shaffer
Photo: National Museum of
American History Smithsonian Institution

As we learn in A Walk in the Woods, the first thru-hiker, or person to hike the entire length of the Appalachian Trail (AT), was Earl V. Shaffer, a World War II veteran who walked over 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine over four months in 1948. There were no trail guides at the time, so Shaffer had to rely on his considerable experience as an outdoorsman, often bushwhacking through overgrown sections of the trail. Shaffer describes his hike in Walking with Spring: The First Solo Thru-Hike of the Legendary Appalachian Trail. Bryson and Katz embarked on their walk on a well-maintained trail, armed with (not always satisfactory) guides and advice passed on by hikers famliar with the AT. What they didn’t have at the beginning were Shaffer’s wilderness skills, which makes for some entertaining reading. On a more serious note, as Bryson describes his walk, he also explores the human and natural history of the AT and its environs.

Melissa Scheurer is my co-blogger this month in the Reader's Den. We hope that you’ll join us for an informative and frequently hilarious trek on the Appalachian Trail in the company of Bill Bryson and his unforgettable trail companion, Stephen Katz. We'll be posting discussion questions later this month, but please feel free to make comments about the book below. We'd love to know what you think about A Walk in the Woods!

You can request a copy of A Walk in the Woods from the library. It's available as a book, e-book, or audiobook.

And if you're interested in doing some actual hiking in the New York City area, this Ticketless Traveler post lists some great resources.

Reader's Den: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, Week 3

Brian Baer, Mulberry Street Library — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 15:05:56 -0400

Welcome to Part 3 of the Reader's Den in July. In Part 2 we showed the two women who spied for the Confederacy in Karen Abbott's book Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy. In this post we will show two women who spied for the Union, sometimes behind enemy lines. We will be accepting questions for the author to be posted in our wrap up at the end of the month. Please write them in the comments section!

Sarah Edmonds, via Wikimedia CommonsEmma Edmonds

Emma Edmonds was born in Canada as Sarah Emma Edmondson. She would change her last name after she fled her native New Brunswick to escape both a bad family situation and an arranged marriage. She became a successful bible salesman in the United States under the guise of “Frank Thompson” and enlisted in the 2nd Michigan Infantry. She participated in the First Battle of Bull Run, helping to cover retreating soldiers, and as a hospital attendant. She distinguished herself and was promoted to mail carrier and spy, going behind enemy lines disguised as slaves (male and female), and once as an Irish woman.

She broke her leg as a courier at Second Manassas (a permanent injury) and relayed messages at the Battle of Fredericksburg. She deserted the army in early 1863 after contracting malaria, as she did not want to be found out by doctors. She would return as a female nurse in 1863, working at a Washington D.C. hospital until the end of the war. In 1864 she wrote her memoir Nurse and Spy in the Union Army. She revealed herself years later, in 1886, to get her Army pension and to get her deserter status revoked. In 1897 she was the only women inducted into the Grand Army of the Republic.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Elizabeth Van Lew

Elizabeth Van Lew was from a prominent Richmond family, but she had Yankee roots and had been educated in the North, which made her a opponent of both slavery and secession. Van Lew received permission to visit Libby Prison, in Richmond, and through her efforts she freed prisoners of war, smuggled money and other items into the prison, and carried information out. She developed an intricate cipher system, hid messages, created safe houses, and hid escaped prisoners in a secret room in her family mansion. She snuck her servant Mary Elizabeth Bowser, an educated freed slave, into the Confederate White House under the guise of "Ellen Bond." In 1865, Van Lew supplied information about Confederate troop movements, which enabled Grant to win at Five Forks, one of the last major battles of the Civil War. When Richmond fell in 1864, she was the first one to raise the Union Flag.

Many could say she was one of the most important and successful spies during the Civil War, running over a dozen people in her network by 1864. One story even jokes that she could get a morning Richmond paper to the Union lines the same day it came out. Her spying and Union sympathies made her the target of Confederate officials, but she was never captured or put in prison, as they could never find any definitive proof against her. Elizabeth Van Lew became Postmaster in Richmond in 1869, and did much to modernize the postal service in that city. But, she would forever be an outcast for what she did during the war.

Reader's Den: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, Week 2

Brian Baer, Mulberry Street Library — Fri, 24 Jul 2015 11:21:31 -0400

Welcome to the second week of July's Reader's Den. In keeping with this year's theme of Superheroes, we're taking on a different approach: seeing a 'hero' from multiple perspectives. There is a saying that “one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter." What one person sees as a hero, another sees as a villain. Two women in Karen Abbott's Civil War novel, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, fit this category very nicely: Belle Boyd and Rose O'Neal Greenhow, both of whom worked for the Confederacy. To the Union, they were considered spies and traitors, but to the Confederates, these women were lauded as heroes.

Belle Boyd: Photo Courtesy of Library of Congress

Belle Boyd

Maria Isabella "Belle" Boyd was born to a prosperous Southern family in Martinsburg, Virginia (now in West Virginia) in 1844. She began her spying career at 17, when she shot a Union Soldier who had drunkenly harrassed both her and her mother using “language as offensive as it is possible to conceive.” By 1862, she had become well known to Northern authorities and was quite open about her activities, which included serving as a courier, stealing weapons from Union troops, and acquiring quinine for malaria. She once secretly observed a Northern general's war council and transmitted the details to Stonewall Jackson's headquarters. (She also developed affections for him, which he did not reciprocate.)

Though Belle was captured many times, she was only imprisoned twice. While in prison, she devised a unique way to communicate with the outside involving a compatriat, rubber ball, and bow and arrow. She wound up fleeing to England until the war was over, after being part of prisoner exchanges. While in England, she became an actress. After the war, she returned to America and wrote her biography, Belle Boyd in Camp and Prison. She died in 1900.

Rose Greenhow O Neal and Her Daughter Rose at Old Capital Prison: Photo Courtesy of Wikicommons

Rose O’Neal Greenhow

Rose O'Neal Greenhow was a wealthy Washington, D.C. widow, who was originally from Maryland. She moved in important political circles and cultivated ties with high-ranking military and political personnel and used these relationships to pass along key military information to the Confederacy at the beginning of the war. In early 1861, she took over control of a pro-Southern spy network in Washington, D.C. that had been run by Thomas Jordan. She learned how to send codes using Ciphers, window shades, hand fans, and her own needlework. She won a major coup by supplying intelligence on Union troop movements that is said to have helped the Confederate army win the First Bull Run in July 1861. Had the Confederacy lost this battle, the war would have been over.

Greenhow continued spying until she was captured by the Pinkertons and thrown into Old Capital Prison, which had been a relative’s boarding house in her youth. Her daughter was allowed to stay with her. She continued to send messages until she was banished to Richmond in 1862 and spent the remainder of the war in Europe trying to get French and British Support for the Confederacy. She penned her memoir, My Imprisonment and the First Year of Abolition Rule at Washington in London. In 1864, while returning to America, her boat sank, and she drowned. She was later buried with military honors in Oakdale Cemetary in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Reader's Den: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, Week 1

Brian Baer, Mulberry Street Library — Fri, 10 Jul 2015 12:44:34 -0400

Welcome to July's Reader's Den and as another Fourth of July passes we will be discussing Karen Abbott's book Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy. The role of women in the Civil War is usually thought of as Scarlett O'Hara of Gone with the Wind letting the fortunes of war roll over them passively, and without control; maybe rolling bandages or wiping soldiers brows, if they were willing. The four women in Abbot's book not only took their destinies into their own hands, but became heroines in their own right, for their own prospective sides.

They embodied the ideals of Union or Confederacy and decided to risk it all no matter the cost to their families and reputations. One even paid the ultimate price. These women are a part of the history of the United States that is not very well known, but their stories need to be told. Using both primary sources and descendant interviews, Karen Abbot tells the story of the war as these women lived it.

Civil War Envelope. Image ID: 819703

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Belle Boyd

Rose O’Neal Greenhow

Reader's Den: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy, Week 1

Do you listen to audiobooks? If so, do you have a favorite? Any readers you particularly enjoy?

Is there a book or other media you return to again and again?

Is there a book that your daughter made you read to her so many times that you could basically do it with your eyes closed?