Are You Missing Harry Potter?

I know Harry Potter is supposed to be a children’s book, but I was just as engaged and enthralled as the most avid 10-year-old, and I really miss looking forward to the next installment of the adventures of Harry, Ron and Hermoine. So I’ve done some checking around to see if there are other authors and titles that would at least come close to the reading fun that J.K. Rowling’s books brought to so many folks.

The Young Wizard series by Diane Duane is the closest I can come to books that might satisfy a Harry-o-phile and also appeal to adults as well as teens and children. The first title, So You Want to Be a Wizard (1982) introduces us to Juanita “Nita” Callahan and Kit Rodriguez. While running away from some bullies, Nita runs into her refuge, the public library and stumbles upon a book she’s never seen there before entitled So You Want to be a Wizard. As she begins to read, she discovers that she is, in fact, being asked to train and learn to become just that –a wizard. After some serious soul-searching, she takes the “wizard’s oath,” – and her life is never the same again. There are currently 8 books in this series, but the first is the best, and I highly recommend it.

Susan Cooper wrote a series of books steeped in Celtic legend and myth that drew my attention when I was a teacher. The best of this series is The Dark is Rising – the story of Will Stanton, the 7th son of a 7th son who, on his 11th birthday, becomes one of the Old Ones. As Will gradually learns about his powers and how to manage them, he and his friend, Merriman, are drawn into a mystical battle against the Dark. The Dark is Rising is actually book 2 in the series, but once again it is the best – and you do not have to have read book 1 for it to make sense. There are 5 books total: Over Sea, Under Stone; The Dark is Rising; Greenwitch; The Grey King, and The Silver on the Tree.

And finally, a series that I have just now begun - the Artemis Fowl books by Eoin Colfer. Novelist describes Artemis Fowl as a “ twelve-year-old evil genius [who] tries to restore his family fortune by capturing a fairy and demanding a ransom in gold. The fairies fight back with magic, technology, and a particularly nasty troll. “ As in Harry Potter, the characters are unique and cleverly drawn. Captain Holly Stark, a LEPrecon Officer (Lower Elements Police Reconnaissance) is a miniature police officer for the fairy folk who live underground; Mulch Diggums is a kleptomaniac dwarf with an ingenious (and rather gross) method of digging underground; Foaly is the LEP’s technological genius who just happens to be a centaur; and of course, Artemis, himself – a combination child prodigy and evil mastermind.

Quite frankly, none of these books created the anticipation or following that Rowling’s did, but each provides a good read and a trip to a land where wizards (or children) fight evil and succeed.

Meg

Julia and Jacques - Being Passionate About Food

Julia Child once said, “I started cooking when I was 32; up until then I just ate.” Just eating is something you might never do again, if you take the time to peruse and use the cookbooks that this pair of famous and fabulous cooks have produced.

The French cooking bible has to be Mastering the Art of French Cooking, first written and produced by Julia Child and her partner, Simone Beck in 1961. Directions are detailed and very explicit but the food that results is beyond belief. (I remember carefully following her recipe for Navarin Printanier – lamb stew – a full 3 pages long. It took a while, but the taste of that stew, served to company , was more than worth the time.)

Jacques Pepin also has quite a few cookbooks to his credit, but most recently he seems to be catering to the modern predicament of “so much to do, so little time” and has come up with Fast Food My Way and More Fast Food My Way.

Both have written memoirs that recount interesting and unusual lives. During World War II Julia worked for the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) in Washington DC, and married Paul Cushing Child shortly thereafter. He was posted to Paris, France in 1948 and it was in Rouen that Julia was introduced to French cooking. She later described this experience for the New York Times as “an opening up of the soul and spirit.” Julia Child’s kitchen is preserved and on display at the National Museum of American History. My Life in France recounts Julia’s introduction to French cooking.

The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen introduces us to a young Jacques Pepin, who was born in France and grew up not only eating French food but cooking it as well, first in his father’s restaurant and then as an apprentice to famous chefs. He was once the personal chef for French President Charles DeGaulle.

Both had television shows, and DVDs are available that show us these cooks at work. The French Chef series with Julia Child not only demonstrates her fabulous cooking skills, but gives us a glimpse of the funny, astute and very practical women who was Julia Child. The Complete Pepin: Techniques and Recipes presents Chef Pepin’s unique style of cooking.

Their collaborative cookbook, Julia and Jacques Cooking At Home, brings these chefs together offering (in print and on DVD) a host of information on cooking techniques (they don’t always agree – and sometimes those disagreements are the most fun to read or hear about) and marvelous recipes for every home chef. Meg

Loving Frank - March's Book Discussion Title

The Thursday Evening Book Club met in March to discuss Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. Our discussion was lively as we both agreed and disagreed on different aspects of this book. In this, her debut as a novelist, Horan tackled the scandalous story of Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah (pronounced “may-mah”) Borthwick Cheney. Focusing on this short chapter in the life of architect Wright, Horan does a deft job of capturing the mores of the times, which was media hungry for scandals involving famous people, not unlike today, but which was overly critical of women in such affairs, especially when children were abandoned, as was the case with Wright and Cheney.

Horan brings in issues of the restrictions on women, and the new ideas that were surfacing, using the character of Ellen Key, a Swedish philosopher. They met and Mamah ultimately became an American translator for Key’s books. An interesting point brought out in our discussion was the idea that Mamah might have found a way to fulfill her aspirations and passions without leaving her family for Frank Lloyd Wright. Edwin, her husband might have been boring to Mamah, but he was very supportive.

For those who are interested in learning more about Frank Lloyd Wright, there are several other biographies, books on his architecture, and an autobiography available through the library. For those who enjoyed the fictional presentation of his story, there is a new novel by T. Coraghessan Boyle, The Women, which broadens the story to talk about the other women in Wright’s life. PL

Greenway, Agatha Christie's Home, Opens

Agatha Christie is now "at home" and receiving visitors. On Saturday, March 2, 2009, Christie’s country home, Greenway, in Devon, England, opened to the public for the first time. The Georgian home had recently undergone a $7.8 million restoration. According to the Associated Press, “Craftsmen worked for two years to restore the 18th-century home, and the rooms are much as they were when Christie lived there, complete with books, papers, boxes of chocolates and bunches of flowers. Even the scratches on the bedroom door made by the family dog remain.”

It might be argued that Agatha Christie is the most famous of the Golden Age mystery writers. She is certainly the most prolific. During her long career, in addition to mystery stories, she wrote radio and television plays, nonfiction and short stories. She also wrote novels under the name of Mary Westmacott.

Christie’s most popular stories were mystery novels starring either Hercule Poirot or Miss Jane Marple. Her career as a writer began in 1920 with the publication of The Mysterious Affair at Styles, starring M. Poirot (the Belgian with a propensity for consulting his “little grey cells”), his sidekick (much like Sherlock Holmes’ Watson) Arthur Hastings, and his official police connection, Chief Inspector Japp.

Miss Marple, an “elderly spinster” living a “quiet life” in the quaint little English village of St. Mary Mead, entered the picture in 1930 with Murder at the Vicarage. Miss Marple remained a bit more independent than Hercule Poirot, as she was assigned no sidekick, and only occasionally worked with the same police inspectors.

Christie wrote another series of mystery stories starring Tommy and Tuppence (Thomas Beresford and Prudence Cowley) who are quite the pair of bon vivants sleuthing their way through the 1920’s and 30s in London and its environs.

My favorite titles by Agatha Christie starring Hercule Poirot are:
Peril at End House
Death on the Nile
Evil Under the Sun
Murder on the Orient Express

My favorite titles by Agatha Christie starring Miss Jane Marple are:
A Murder is Announced
4:50 from Paddington
A Caribbean Mystery
Nemisis

I also highly recommend two mystery titles that do not involve either of these detectives: And Then There Were None and Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? Meg

April is National Poetry Month

National Poetry Month began in April 1996 and was established to encourage Americans in schools, businesses and homes to celebrate and recognize the importance of poetry in American culture.

There are many ways you can join in the celebration.



1. Reading poetry is one of the most obvious. The library has many books of poetry, both old and new for all ages, that you are encouraged to check out. Three that are highly recommended are:

100 Essential Modern Poems by Women
Red Bird: Poems by Mary Oliver
God’s Silence: Poems by Franz Wright

2. The Borzoi Press division of Random House has arranged for anyone who signs up to receive a Poem-A-Day in their e-mail during the month of April.

3. April 30th is Carry a Poem in Your Pocket Day. Find a poem that you like, make a copy of it and carry it in your pocket that Thursday. Share your poem with friends and family.

4. Make a comment for this blog and tell us about your favorite poem or poet.

5. Or – read the following poem by Lisa Starr, Rhode Island's Poet Laureate.

Sandpipers Again
I went back to the sandpipers today –
it’s been a while.

Six of them, or
was it twenty? Never matters;
somehow we all know when a meeting has been called,
somehow we all know
exactly when the surf
will start tossing back
its wild silver hair.

One time I was astonished
to find them waiting for me on the beach in Newport.

It was so quiet it was like rain
without the rain.

I wasn’t planning it
my car just brought me there,
a most uncommon thing – it’s not that kind of car –
but there we were, alone on a beach.

It almost made me giddy,
like today,
just now.

I’d forgotten how much
I need them.

Like me they were laughing and
sputtering about the beauty.

A few of them couldn’t help it
and just kept throwing their small bodies
again and again
into the wild, white water.

[Lisa Starr's poem was published in the Bryant Literary Review, 2005, and The Providence Journal, April 2005]

Magical Merlin and His King

The tales and legends of King Arthur and his court are a wonderful mixture of romance, magic and myth. If you have not yet met the “once and future” king, try these titles while you wait patiently for winter to melt away.

Go to the source by reading Le Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory. First published in 1485, this series of tales was the first to chronicle the tales of Arthur, Guenever and the Knights of the Round Table.

T. H. White’s classic, The Once and Future King, is the book that inspired the Broadway musical, Camelot and the Disney cartoon classic, The Sword in the Stone. This however,is not a children’s book, and as the tale progresses the characters and the story itself become dark, tragic and more complex.

Mary Stewart wrote a quartet of books on Merlin, beginning with The Crystal Cave. This Arthurian series focuses on Merlin and what the wizard felt he had to do to protect Arthur and Brittain. (Other titles in the series are: The Hollow Hills and The Last Enchantment.)

For a totally different and feminist take on the Arthurian story try The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. In this Bradley presents the legend as a power struggle between Morgaine, a Druid priestess of Avalon, and Gwenhwyfar, the Christian Queen of Camelot.

And for a look (via DVD) at Camelot and the Arthurian legends try the new (2004) film, King Arthur, starring Clive Owen and Keira Knightley, followed by a video tour of King Arthur’s Britain. Meg

[The idea for this post came from an article in Library Journal by Neal Wyatt.]

Tuesday Book Group Takes on Mythology

The Tuesday Book Group met this week to discuss Margaret Atwood’s Penelopiad, the second half of a classic/contemporary pairing that began with the ancient Greek epic, The Odyssey.

At just under 200 sparsely-printed pages, The Penelopiad is a walk in the park compared to the other tomes we’ve been reading (like The Odyssey and The Story of Edgar Sawtelle). We agreed that Atwood’s retelling of the Odyssey from Penelope’s point of view makes for light, fun reading. We found that, while this book may not change your life, it will make you think about how some stories get repeated and others suppressed, it will show you that marriage in mythic times could be just as fraught as it is today, it will dance around the ambiguity of human motivations, and it will make hysterical fun of Helen (of Troy) and her pathetic vanity

The group also touched on such touchy issues as teenage violence and violence against women. If you recall, one of the most gruesome climactic events in the Odyssey is the murder of twelve of Penelope’s maids by Telemachus (Odysseus and Penelope’s teenaged son). We never felt that Atwood settled this unsettling issue, but she does give the maids a voice in the book: they appear in between chapters and perform burlesque song and dance numbers, raging against their plight and powerlessness.

The Penelopiad also had us thinking about contemporary culture quite a bit, and there were several interesting segues into topics such as reality TV, morality, and the history of gender roles. You never know where you’ll end up when you talk with good people about good books.

The Tuesday Book Group reads classic books alongside modern works inspired by them. Kindred readers are welcome to join us the second Tuesday of the month at 1:00pm. On April 14th, we'll tackle Dostoevsky’s classic Crime and Punishment. All are welcome to join. Contact the Reference Desk at info@newportlibraryri.org for more information. LO