Dubuque Tournament of Books: Sweet Sixteen

The madness begins! Welcome to Round One of the Dubuque Tournament of Books!

Voting for the first round will run from March 3rd - March  9th. Winners from round one will be announced on March 10th, when voting for the second round begins.

You have until March 8th to fill out a bracket and be entered for a chance to win a prize! Blank brackets are available at Carnegie-Stout Public Library, on our website as a pdf, and in the February 28th issue of 365Ink. Your bracket must be turned into the library by March 8th to be eligible to win.

Cast your votes for the first round below! Not sure which title to vote for? Check out this blog post.

Dubuque Tournament of Books: Meet the Contestants

Voting for the first ever Dubuque Tournament of Books begins on Sunday, March 3rd. There's still time to enter the contest with your picks for the winning books. Entry brackets are available in the February 28th issue of 365Ink, you can download one from our website, or you can pick one up at Carnegie-Stout. All entries must be returned to Carnegie-Stout by March 8th to be eligible for the drawing.

Of course we don't expect you to have had a chance to read all the entrants in the contest, so today we're providing you with a brief introduction for each title!

Wild: from lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed 
Wild is a deeply personal and inspirational memoir about grief, hiking, and personal growth. This was the first title selected for Oprah's new book club, and was the topic of a Read Alike post on our blog. 

Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel 
Are You My Mother? is the second witty and intellectually challenging graphic memoir by cartoonist Alison Bechdel. Her first, Fun Home, will be the book under discussion at the April 9th meeting of Graphic Content here at C-SPL.

The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett
This stand alone novel by the prolific fantasy author is a thought-provoking exploration of parallel worlds told with Pratchett's trademark humor. The main character's journey starts out in a Madison, WI orphanage stretches to the bounds of reality.

Redshirts by John Scalzi
Scalzi is an award-winning author known for both his science-fiction and his blog. Redshirts is a darkly humorous and thought-provoking examination of many popular science fiction tropes with great appeal for any Star Trek fan.

Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich
How could we not include the latest installment in Evanovich's hilarious mystery series featuring hapless bounty hunter Stephanie Plum? Be sure to check out our Janet Evanovich Read Alike list if you haven't. 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn 
Most readers hadn't heard of Gillian Flynn before the publication of her third novel, Gone Girl, but this suspenseful story of a dysfunctional relationship kept readers turning pages long into the night. Flynn's weeks at the top of the best seller lists earned her a Read Alike post as well.

Building Stories by Chris Ware  
Ware's unconventional take a graphic novel captured the attention of many critics, landing Building Stories on several Best of 2012 lists (as well as Andrew's Graphic Novels for People Who Don't Read Graphic Novels post). Melancholy and complex, the way the reader approaches the 14 pieces changes the experience.

Batman: Court of the Owls by Scott Snyder
Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, and Jonathan Glapion team up for a new look at an old comic book favorite: Batman. If you've never read a Batman story, this gritty murder mystery would be a good volume to start with.

50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James 
Everyone and their mother has heard of the self-published erotica turned #1 best seller that is the 50 Shades trilogy. This steamy read has convinced legions of readers to explore their inner goddess, or maybe just given them the giggles. This was the 2nd place choice in our November voting.

Bared to You by Sylvia Day
The popularity of 50 Shades brought long time steamy romance author Sylvia Day to wider recognition due to the similarities in her Crossfire trilogy: a dominant business man, a young woman just starting her career, and their steamy (and somewhat kinky) passion. Bared to You has also spent significant time on the best seller lists.

Killing Kennedy by Bill O'Reilly 
Librarians across Iowa will tell you that Bill O'Reilly and coauthor Martin Dugard's dramatic exploration of President Kennedy's assassination is a popular title. A follow-up to their earlier Killing Kennedy, readers shouldn't doubt the host of Fox News Channel's O'Reilly Factor's continuing popularity.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
This beautifully researched book about life in one of India's slums by journalist Katherine Boo was the winner of the 2012 National Book Award for Non-Fiction. You can read more about this book in Sarah's staff review.

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling 
The first novel from the author of the wildly successful Harry Potter series was bound to receive attention. The Casual Vacancy is a character-driven and darkly humorous novel of small town politics with not a single wizard. It also tied for 5th place in our November voting.

Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
Bring up the Bodies is the sequel to Mantel's Man Booker winning Wolf Hall, the first two novels in a proposed trilogy about the life of Thomas Cromwell in King Henry VIII's court. In fact, Mantel was also awarded the Man Booker for Bring Up the Bodies. She is only the fourth novelist to receive two, and the first woman.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Wein's haunting novel about friendship in WWII received a Printz Honor for 2013, as well as being a C-SPL staff pick for the best books of 2012. Suspenseful, with moments of dark humor, and a powerful twist near the end, this is a great pick for readers old and young. 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
John Green's witty take on first love, and winning online presence, has earned him a wide readership. The bittersweet romance between two teens who meet at a cancer support group had most readers laughing and weeping by turns. Don't miss our March 12th meeting of Let's Talk Books, where Amy will be leading a discussion of this book!

Be sure to check back here on Sunday to cast your votes for the first round of the Dubuque Tournament of Books!

Heads in Beds by Jacob Tomsky

Probably no one is surprised that I brought a lot of books home with me for the holidays, and not just as gifts. Although almost everyone on my list got at least one book. Of course, it's a rare Smith family gathering that doesn't involve at least a few book swaps or heartfelt endorsements. I hadn't intended to share Heads in Beds by Jacob Tomsky with my family, but I left it sitting on an end table, and the next thing I knew both my brother and father had picked it up. My sister and mother were both too busy with their own books.

I was drawn to Heads in Beds for two reasons: I love snarky memoirs, and I have a few of my own horror stories about working in a hotel. My experience only lasted long enough for me to save the money to pay for library school, and the suburban hotel I worked in was far from the luxury destinations of New Orleans or New York that Mr. Tomsky writes of.

Despite my brief time as a hotel employee, and the genera quiet of that hotel, I still have a store of weird stories. Tomsky captures all the stress and insanity that goes on in the staff only areas and behind closed guest room doors with behind the scenes of the hotel's front desk or behind closed guest room doors with wit, charm, and more than a few swears. Scattered throughout are useful tips for hotel guests looking for extra perks, or for those who might just want to make life easier on the staff.

My Dad was particularly struck by the advice on tipping, and has been sharing stories about all the hotels he stayed in during his career. Including the time he and my mom were upgraded to a lakeview suite. I'm glad I was only ever tipped once, with a piece of chocolate, because our location did not have any upgrades that I could offer.

Overall it's funny, informative, and sure to remind you of at least one hotel stay (good or bad).

~Sarah, Adult Services

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

It began - or at least it seemed to begin - with two small bug bites. Bedbugs? Perhaps. The young Manhattan reporter, just months out of college, searched her apartment for any sign of the pest. Despite finding no trace, she searched again, eventually calling in an exterminator, who also found nothing. Unknown her, this seemingly innocuous event would mark the beginning of an illness that would eventually steal her sanity, mind and nearly her life.

Susannah Cahalan's Brain of Fire: My Month of Madness is her recollection (as much as she is able to remember) of her journey through what initially appeared to be a bad cold, to extreme personality changes, paranoia, mania and vivid auditory and visual hallucinations and seizures. It is also a harrowing journey through the health care system, as she and her parents desperately searched for a diagnosis as Cahalan slipped further and further into catatonia.

Brain on Fire is based on Cahalan's recollections during the first stages of her illness. However, as she admits, the very nature of the disease makes her memory of that time unreliable, and later, simply missing. Cahalan also relies on the recollections of her parents - who kept a shared journal to keep each other updated on their daughter's progress between visits - her boyfriend's memories and stories from her family, friends and coworkers. Cahalan also draws on her extensive medical records and interviews with the doctors and nurses who treated her, including, as Cahalan's mother remarks, "a real-life Dr. House." She also reviews recordings of her time in New York University Hospital's Advanced Monitoring Unit, offering a haunting glimpses of her deteriorating sanity, none of which Cahalan remembers.

Some of the book's most moving passages (of which there are many) are the recollections of her parents and loved ones. Cahalan's parents had divorced and remarried and her relationship with her father - a somewhat reserved and emotionally distant man - had suffered. Her parents, who had not maintained a relationship, vowed early on that their daughter would not be placed in a psychiatric ward. Her father kept a near-constant vigil at her bedside and her mother researched every possible cause of her daughter illness, searching out the best doctors with increasing desperation. The effect of Cahalan's illness - of watching their only daughter fall apart and being powerless to help - was profound. But, as Cahalan acknowledges, she would not have survived without them.

The science behind the disease Cahalan is eventually diagnosed with is highly complex and not entirely understood. Therein lies the crux of the book - the disease is so rare and difficult to diagnose, its cause so mysterious - that it baffles even the best doctors in the field. Perhaps the most sobering message of this book is, as Cahalan says, how lucky she was. To have been admitted to the right hospital at the right time and referred to the right doctors; the sheer odds against her were astronomical. How many others, she wonders, were not so lucky? How many have been confined to psychiatric wards, long-term care facilities, or have died because they were not as fortunate?

At the close of the book, nearly two years had passed since her admission to NYU Hospital. While she had returned to her job at the New York Post and had, again, moved out of her mother's home, she admits that she isn't entirely sure if her recovery is complete. After such a harrowing journey, after the insults suffered by her brain and body, was is even possible to return to the same person she had been before? Cahalan seems to accept the idea that she might never return to exactly the same person she was before, nor will her parents and boyfriend.

Brain on Fire is both a memoir and a medical thriller, an exposé of the health care system and a tribute to the men and women who work within in,  it is a warning of how fragile our minds and bodies are, and an affirmation of the strength of love and family.

~ Allison , Adult Services

Bestsellers for the week of November 11th

It's a good time to be a rock star with a book, it seems. Over past few weeks, more and more memoirs and biographies by and about rock 'n' roll stars have appeared on the bestsellers list. This week, for instance, four artists have spots on the top 10:

Bruce: The Innocence, the Darkness, the Rising  by Peter A. Carlin, an authorized and painstakingly researched biography of the Boss. Drawing on exclusive interviews with members of the E Street Band, including Clarence Clemons’ final interview, and unrestricted conversations with Springsteen’s family, friends, manager Jon Landau, and Springsteen himself, Carlin gives his life the definitive treatment. Carlin also wrote a similarly sweeping biography of Paul McCartney - Paul McCartney: A Life - in 2009.

Rod: The Autobiography, the self-penned story of two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee's rise to fame that recounts his youth, his years with on tour with The Jeff Beck Group and The Faces and his three marriages and decades as a solo performer.

Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream by Neil Young. The early anticipated memoir recalls his childhood in Ontario, to his first gigs with the Squires as they traveled Canada in his 1948 Buick hearse, his spur-of-the-moment move to California in 1966 and the brief but influential time with Buffalo Springfield to his solo career and work with Crazy Horse and Crosby, Stills and Nash. Young also delves into his personal life, recounting the influence his wife and three children have had and finally coming to rest in the contemplative natural beauty of Hawaii.

There have been a few other biographies written about Young, including Shakey: Neil Young's Biography by Jimmy McDonough (2002), Neil Young Nation: A Quest, an Obsession, and a True Story by Kevin Chong (2005) and Neil Young: The Definitive History by Mike Evans (2012), but this is the first memoir penned by the artist himself.

Who I Am: A Memoir by Pete Townshend - The lead guitarist and founding memoir of The Who tells the story of his life in this memoir - a book that has taken him nearly a decade to write. A candid recollection of his difficult childhood in West London, the beginnings of his career with Roger Daltry and his struggles with the trappings of drugs, sex and fortune that inventively come with the lifestyle of a rock star.

Last week also saw Peter Criss' Makeup to Breakup: My Life In and Out of KISS, In the Pleasure Groove: Love, Death and Duran Duran by the band's co-founder John Taylor and How Music Works by David Byrne, which is less of an autobiography than an exploration of the evolution and meaning of music.

For a full list of this week's fiction and nonfiction bestsellers, visit us on Pinterest!

Read Alike: Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Oprah's famous book club has returned (now with webisodes) and her first selection is Wild: from lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. Ms. Strayed's memoir has been receiving positive reviews and numerous holds here at Carnegie-Stout since its publication earlier this year. Prior to Wild, Ms. Strayed worked as a columnist and wrote a novel, Torch. You can read more about her background and writing on her website: cherylstrayed.com

Wild is an inspirational, lyrically descriptive story of grief, hiking, and personal growth. After her mother's sudden death from cancer, Ms. Strayed's life fell apart. On impulse, she decides to challenge herself by hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs 2,650 miles from the Mexican border of California to the Canadian border of Washington.

You can read more about the Pacific Crest Trail by following these links:
www.fs.usda.gov/pct/
www.pcta.org

We've also gathered together some read alike suggestions for Wild available at Carnegie-Stout:

Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Golden Gelman
When children's author Rita Golden Gelman is confronted by a divorce and an empty nest, she impulsively sets out for Mexico, starting her decades long journey from home to home around the world. I included this book in a list of some of my favorite female travel narratives in a blog post last summer.

The Cactus Eaters by Dan White
Dan White and his girlfriend Melissa leave their jobs at a Connecticut newspaper to tackle the Pacific Crest Trail. Mr. White writes with humor and honesty about their misadventures, neither was an experienced hiker, though his transformation is somewhat less inspiring than Ms. Strayed's.

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (917.40443 BRY)
Mr. Bryson is known his witty travel writing. In A Walk in the Woods, he tells of his journey along the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, along with local trivia, natural history, and more. Mr. Bryson is a more experienced hiker than some of the others he meets along the trail, but this is also a less difficult trail.

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch (028.8 SAN)
After Ms. Sankovitch's sister is killed by cancer, she works through her grief by reading, an activity the sisters had shared. This is a moving story about family, reading, and the strength of relationships and memory. This book was also the topic of an earlier staff review.

Library Journal has also created a list of reading suggestions for readers who loved Wild, which you can check out by clicking here.

Please stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!

Spotlight: Motherhood

 This Sunday, May 13th, is Mother's Day, and what better topic for our Friday post than motherhood? We've brought together some fiction titles, memoirs, advice books, and movies to look over here, or on display at Carnegie-Stout. And don't forget, our magazine of the month is Working Mother!

Novels
Afterwards by Rosamund Lupton (Mystery) In Ms. Lupton's fast-paced and conversational second novel, a woman runs into a burning building to save her daughter, but that's only the start of the danger.

Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult (Fiction) A thought-provoking novel that includes a soundtrack. Music therapist Zoe Baxter sues her ex-husband for custody of their frozen embryos after she falls in love with another woman.

Left Neglected by Lisa Genova (Fiction) Ms. Genova's second novel is reflective and inspirational. A successful career woman and mother finds herself reevaluating her priorities after a traumatic accident.

Room by Emma Donoghue (Fiction) This fast-paced and suspenseful novel is told from the perspective of five-year-old Jack, who has lived his entire life in one small room with his mother, held captive by the whims of her kidnapper.

Please Look After Mom by Kyŏng-suk Sin (Fiction) This haunting family drama has a relaxed pace, though the revelations about the characters keep the pages turning. When the family matriarch goes missing, her children and husband search Seoul as well as their memories.

Come Home by Lisa Scottoline (Mystery) Ms. Scottoline's latest novel is fast-paced and suspenseful, as well as an examination of motherhood. Dr. Jill Farrow has finally found balance in her life after her divorce, when her ex-husband's daughter arrive unexpectedly with news of her father's murder.

One True Thing by Anna Quindlen (Fiction) This is a reflective and thoughtful novel by Ms. Quindlen. Ellen has taken care of her mother throughout her battle with cancer, and never expected to be accused of euthanasia.

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah (Romance) A character-driven and moving story of family. After their father's death, two sisters are brought reunited with their abrasive, Russian-born mother.

Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (Science Fiction) In a fast-paced, alternate universe steampunk Seattle Briar struggles to raise her precocious son, Zeke, on the wrong side of the tracks, but things are only complicated when Zeke decides to clear his father's name.

Movies and Television

Gilmore Girls

Terms of Endearment
Mrs. Miniver
Mother India
Mother and Child
Volver

All About My Mother (Todo Sobre Mi Madre)

Mother of Mine 

Biography, Memoir, and Advice

• Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel (Adult Graphic)
• No Biking in the House Without a Helmet by Melissa Fay Greene (362.734 GRE)
• Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua (306.8743 CHU)
• Blue Nights by Joan Didion (Biography)
• Mom: a celebration of mothers from StoryCorps (306.8743 MOM)
• Not Becoming My Mother: and other things she taught me along the way by Ruth Reichl (641.5092 REI)
• Just Let Me Lie Down by Kristin Van Ogtrop (306.8743 VAN)

Please stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!

Spotlight: From the Web to the Stacks.

From the invention of the printing press, technology has changed the ways we interact with information. It's no secret that the internet and eReaders are shaking up the scene today. A story we've heard a few times already in 2012 involves the success of self-published authors (see Publishers Weekly).

From Allison's staff review of Eden by Keary Taylor, to the excitement around 50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James, authors, readers, and publishers are discovering that success and great reads can be found outside the traditional sources. Of course, the stories we hear about are those authors who've made the jump to traditional publishing like Amanda Hocking, author of young adult paranormal romances and self-made millionaire.


Read Alike Suggestions for Amanda Hocking

The Frenzy by Francesca Lia Block 17 year-old Liv has had more than your typical teenage struggles and concerns. When she turned 13 she discovered that she's not as human as she thought.

Evermore by Alyson Noel The first book in the Immortals series, who discovered her psychic powers after a tragic car accident.

Tithe by Holly Black Sixteen year-old Kaye has seen faeries all her life, which is just another way that marks her as different, like her rock musician mother. Then she saves a mysterious young man who claims to be a knight of the faerie court.

Wings by Aprilynne Pike, Fifteen year-old Laurel discovers, after growing wings, that she is a faerie.


Read Alike Suggestions for 50 Shades of Grey

You may also want to check out these discussions where readers have suggested their favorite erotica authors: Dear Author and Read React Review

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice (writing as A.N. Roquelaure)

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey

Saddled and Spurred by Lorelei James

Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas


Other Books Available at Carnegie-Stout that started out on the internet

• John Dies at the End by David Wong: a darkly comic horror novel originally published as an online serial
• Hark a Vagrant by Kate Beaton, comics: often featuring historical figures
• 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth by Matthew Inman: comics, often silly, NOT for children
• Julie and Julia by Julie Powell: cookbook and memoir (also a movie!)
• Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded by John Scalzi: from the blog of the popular science fiction author
• Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern: a collection of tweets from the popular Twitter account
• 420 Characters by Lou Beach: a collection of microfiction originally published on Facebook
• Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pamela Slim: advice from a blog on careers
• Pioneer Woman by Ree Drummond: memoir and cookbook

Please stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!

A Review of By the Iowa Sea by Joe Blair

I was sort of excited when I first heard about Joe Blair's By the Iowa Sea, a memoir written by a middle-aged, working-class Iowa transplant who feels trapped by his wife, kids, house, and job. It almost seemed as if Joe had written this book for me. I am approaching middle age. I've been married to Maggie May for close to twenty years. Our two kids are rambunctious and demanding. Our house is so small I tell people we live in a shoebox. I'm a librarian, not a pipefitter, though I'm sure some analogy could be made between the two. I often wonder, "What in the hell am I doing in Iowa?" And like Joe, I think, "I want to be in love again. I want to be brave, to give everything away, to be iconoclastic, idiosyncratic, and artistic."

Besides identifying with Joe's Midwestern midlife crisis, I was also interested in reading about the 2008 Iowa floods, though I was skeptical about the premise that the floods "revived in Joe the hope and passion that once seemed so easy to come by." In October 2008 I volunteered to help gut a house in Cedar Rapids which had been destroyed by the floods. The water had reached the middle of the second floor, and we were ripping out carpeting, linoleum, drywall, and fixtures, everything down to the wooden frame, so building inspectors could later decide if the structure should be saved or razed. The wood itself was permeated with muck and mold and stench three months after the floods, so our stumbling around the wreckage seemed pretty pointless. And this was just one house among five thousand. When I heard about By the Iowa Sea, I was worried that it would trivialize loss and suffering by using the floods as a syrupy metaphor for marital rejuvenation.

But as it turns out, By the Iowa Sea is not exactly sweet. Joe Blair reminds me more of Michael Perry (Truck: A Love Story) than Raymond Carver (What We Talk About When We Talk About Love), but he's probably nothing like Vicki Myron (Dewey: the Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World), as the readers' advisory database NoveList would have us believe. "If you enjoy 'By the Iowa Sea,' you may also enjoy 'Dewey,'" NoveList suggests, "because both are moving Family and Relationships [sic] about Iowa." I doubt it, considering Joe Blair writes about such things as learning how to masturbate, fishing feces out of his child's bath, shopping for a vibrating dildo, getting drunk at the Wig and Pen, having sex in an alley after smoking marijuana, his wife's forgetting to remove a tampon, and so on. I have not read Dewey the Library Cat, but I certainly would reconsider doing so if it included witticisms like this: "The thought of a venereal disease put a major kink in our romantic, postflood love vacation."

While not trite, By the Iowa Sea seems constrained, like Joe doesn't quite believe his own story. Passages swing from the strange ...

Elton John sings about butterflies being free. "Butterflies are free to fly." This is what he sings. And then he wonders why the butterflies fly away. It's a touching sentiment I suppose. Bugs being free. But a bug being free doesn't mean very much to me. What do bugs do with all that freedom anyway?

... to the moving, especially when Joe describes his relationship with his autistic son, Michael:

Our faces are very close in the dark. Mike likes it this way. Close. He is a beautiful boy. His eyes are large and liquid. His facial features are clean."Mike," I say in the darkness, "you're a good kid." I say it, and then I listen, for once. I don't stop listening after a few seconds but let the seconds run on. Mike has ceased his laughter now. After some time, I don't know how long, Mike whispers very quietly, "You're" and "a good kid." And then, "A good." And then,"Kid." And then "Mike, you're a good kid."

Joe's range is interesting, but his effort to ascribe some sort of sense or meaning to it doesn't quite ring true. I wonder if this uncertainty is a result of how Joe wrote By the Iowa Sea. In recent interviews, Joe says he writes for about one hour each day, and for every one or two writing sessions he produces an enclosed one-thousand-word essay. You can read some of these on Joe's blog. For By the Iowa Sea, he took hundreds of these enclosed essays, opened them up by "chopping their heads and feet off," and rearranged them into one book-length story connected by a simple narrative arc, personal redemption through natural disaster. Joe did this, he explains, because "life is a goat path." In other words, without the narrative arc, a book of his disparate essays wouldn't make sense.

A favorite passage of mine is when Joe reads one of his essays to his writing partner:

Pamela frowns."I don't get it," she says.
"Don't get what?" I say.
"The whole thing," she says. "I mean, here's a guy working on a piece of equipment, and then he drives to Wal-Mart."
"Yeah?"
"I don't get it."
"Maybe there's nothing to get," I say."I mean . . . I just wrote the thing five minutes ago. I can’t really explain it to you."
She nods professionally.

That passage makes me think of Raymond Carver, how Carver's characters never quite seem to know what's going on. My midlife crisis, my life, feels more like that.

And Carver struggled with the editing process, too:

 "I know there are going to be stories… that aren't going to fit anyone's notion of what a Carver short story ought to be… But Gordon, God's truth… I can't undergo the kind of surgical amputation and transplant that might make them someway fit into the carton so the lid will close. There may have to be limbs and heads of hair sticking out" (Raymond Carver: the kindest cut). 

I don't want Joe Blair to chop the heads and feet off of his stories in order to try to make sense out of them. I want "irredeemable characters who circle the drain," as Joe has described his unpublished fiction in recent interviews. I want the goat path. Let the goat path be the narrative arc, Joe.

Michael May


Joe Blair's Blog
http://blog.joeblairwriter.com/


Joe Blair Interviews

Other People with Brad Listi

Talk of Iowa with Charity Nebbe

Book Nook with Vick Mickunas

Talking With...Yale Cohn


By the Iowa Sea: A Memoir by Joe Blair was published on March 6, 2012 by Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. This review was based on the digital galley obtained from Simon & Schuster through NetGalley.com.

Read Alike "Bossypants" by Tina Fey

Memoirs are often very personal stories that may deal with an individual's struggle with grief or addiction. The common elements of the human experience as seen from another's perspective can be inspiring, but there is no requirement for a memoir to be heavy or serious.

One of the most popular books of 2011 was the light-hearted and hilarious Bossypants by comedienne Tina Fey. She covers the trials and tribulations of childhood and marriage, and the road from unknown to celebrity with wit and charm. And best of all, she's neither the first, nor the only, author to tackle the story of her life this way.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and other concerns) by Mindy Kaling
Mindy Kaling is best known for playing Kelly Kapoor on The Office. In her recent memoir she shares her thoughts on dieting, her experience as an actress and comedy writer, and a glimpse of the world behind the scenes of a popular television program. Her writing is both funny and conversational.

Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler
A popular comedienne and host of a late night cable talk show, Ms. Handler is a star in the field of the comic memoir. Funny, honest, and no holds barred, the stories of her misadventures in dating and Hollywood have earned her a loyal following.

The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance by Elna Baker
Ms. Baker adds her own take on the funny girl's quest for love and success in the big city. With wit and without taking herself too seriously, she describes her experience with extreme weight loss and what it's like to be a faithful Mormon in New York City.

Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster
Ms. Lancaster turned to writing after an unexpected layoff leaves her adrift. A caustic wit and an ability to not take herself too seriously have grown into a rewarding second career. Tackling everything from life as a former sorority girl to her struggles with weight and reality tv, she turns her flaws into strengths.

More funny female memoirists:

• I Know I am, but What are You? by Samantha Bee
• The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love by Jill Conner Browne
• Seriously... I'm Kidding by Ellen Degeneres
• Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
• It Looked Different on the Model by Laurie Notaro
• The Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman
• Ali in Wonderland by Ali Wentworth

Please stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!

Spotlight on True Adventure: Discovery & Battle of Wits

Nonfiction or True Adventure stories deliver the adrenaline rush of exploration, survival, and discovery, without having to leave your comfiest chair. Though similar to Adventure Fiction (see Clive Cussler), part of the enjoyment to be found in True Adventure are the practical details. Whether it's the tools and procedures for mountain climbing, or descriptions of far off or extreme landscapes, readers will be immersed in a fantastic, but all too real, world.

This is our second post on True Adventure titles. You can read our first post, which focused on Survival Stories and Natural Disasters, by following this link: http://carnegiestout.blogspot.com/2012/01/spotlight-on-true-adventure-survival.html

Voyages of Discovery
The Lost City of Z: a tale of deadly obsession in the Amazon by David Grann (918.11 GRA) Author David Grann retraces the 1925 journey of Percy Fawcett, who disappeared in the Amazon while in search of a missing city filled with Incan gold.

Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
(940.5451 KUR) The story of two scuba divers who discover an unknown U-boat off of the coast of New Jersey, and their dangerously obsessive 11-year quest to identify the wreck.


Blind Descent: the quest to discover the deepest place on earth by James M. Tabor
(796.525 TAB) Not a tale for the claustrophobic, Mr. Tabor provides a look at the competitive world of professional spelunking from Oaxaca, Mexico to the Republic of Georgia.

Too Far from Home: a story of life and death in space by Chris Jones
(629.45 JON) When the space shuttle Columbia was destroyed, two American astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut became stranded on the International Space Station. Journalist Christ Jones combines the details day-to-day life in space, with the dangerous rescue attempt à la Apollo 13.

The Lady and the Panda: the true adventures of the first American explorer to bring back China's most exotic animal by Vicki Croke
(LP 599.789 CRO) In 1936 socialite Ruth Harkness' husband was killed in an attempt to capture a Giant Panda for an American zoo, and Ms. Harkness decided to complete her husband's dangerous quest.

A Battle of Wits
Agent Zigzag: a true story of Nazi espionage, love, and betrayal by Ben Macintyre
(Biog Chapman) Conman Eddie Chapman trained as a spy for the Germans, but when given a mission to destroy a British airplane factory, he became a double agent for MI5 instead.

Sex On the Moon: the amazing story behind the most audacious heist in history by Ben Mezrich
(364.1628 MEZ) Thad Roberts worked hard to escape his life in Utah and become a NASA fellow, but then he decides to impress his girlfriend, a NASA intern, by involving her in a plot to steal moon rocks. Ben Mezrich is also the author of The Accidental Billionaires, the book behind The Social Network.

The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: the astonishing rise and spectacular fall of a serial impostor by Mark Seal
(364.1633 SEA) When Clark Rockefeller's marriage comes to a bad end, he kidnaps his young daughter, but the FBI investigation turns up more than expected. Rockefeller is not the man he claimed to be.

Flawless: inside the largest diamond heist in history by Scott Andrew Selby
(364.162 SEL) In 2003, upwards of a hundred million dollars of diamonds and other gems were stolen from the high security Antwerp Diamond Center. Though, unlike a Hollywood crime caper, the thieves do not get away, but most of the valuables were never recovered.

Readers may also be interested in our Ann Rule Read Alike post, which includes reading suggestions about crimes and criminals.

Please stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!

Spotlight on True Adventure: Survival & Natural Disasters

As most avid readers will tell you, a book can offer an escape from your everyday life. Nonfiction or True Adventure stories deliver the adrenaline rush of exploration, survival, and discovery, without having to leave your comfiest chair. Though similar to Adventure Fiction (see Clive Cussler), part of the enjoyment to be found in True Adventure are the practical details. Whether it's the tools and procedures for mountain climbing, or descriptions of far off or extreme landscapes, readers will be immersed in a fantastic, but all too real, world.

Whether you're already a fan or you're looking to try something new, we've put together a list of suggestions for True Adventure. You can read our second True Adventure post, which focuses on Voyages of Discovery and Spies & Conmen, by following this link: carnegiestout.blogspot.com/2012/02/spotlight-on-true-adventure-discovery.html
Stories of Survival
Lost in Shangri-la by Mitchell Zuckoff
(940.548 ZUC) Three Americans survive a WWII plane crash in remote New Guinea.

Not Without Hope by Nick Schuyler
(910.452 SCH) Mr. Schuyler survives a terrible boating accident that kills three of his friends, two of whom played in the NFL.

Miracle in the Andes: 72 days on the mountain and my long trek home by Nando Parrado
(982.6 PAR) Mr. Parrado's tragic tale of survival after a tragic plane crash high in the Andes is considered a classic of the True Adventure genre.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston
(Biog Ralston) While hiking in Utah, Mr. Ralston becomes trapped beneath and boulder and must make a difficult decision. His story is the basis for the film 127 Hours.

Into Thin Air: a personal account of the Mount Everest disaster by Jon Krakauer
(796.522095496 KRA) Journalist Jon Krakauer's deadly 1996 Mt. Everest expedition is another classic in True Adventure writing.

The Ledge: an adventure story of friendship and survival on Mount Rainier by Jim Davidson
(796.522092 DAV) This more recent account of mountain climbing tells of a 1992 disaster on Mount Rainier, and its inspirational impact on survivor Jim Davidson.

Natural Disasters
The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin
(977.031 LAS) The story of a tragic blizzard in 1888 that caused the death of many recent and unprepared immigrants, especially school children.

F5: Devastation, survival, and the most violent tornado outbreak of the twentieth century by Mark Levine
(551.553 LEV) In April of 1974 more than one hundred tornadoes struck the central U.S. Mr. Levine focuses on the impact of these deadly storms on a community in rural Alabama.

The Perfect Storm: a true story of men against the sea by Sebastian Junger
(974.45 JUN) This account of the deadly storm which struck the New England coast in October of 1991 is another True Adventure classic and served as the basis for the 2000 movie.

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
(976.335 EGG) Mr. Eggers tells the story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun who disappeared in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

When the Mississippi Ran Backwards: empire, intrigue, murder, and the new Madrid earthquakes by Jay Feldman
(551.22 FEL) The story of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and '12 and how they affected the people and politics of the day.

Please stop by the Recommendations Desk on the first floor, check out NoveList Plus on the library's website, or visit W. 11th & Bluff next week for more reading suggestions. Or submit a Personal Recommendations request, and we'll create a reading list just for you!

"Tolstoy and the Purple Chair" by Nina Sankovitch

"Books loved anyone who opened them, they gave you security and friendship and didn't ask anything in return; they never went away, never, not even when you treated them badly."

Cornelia Funke, Inkheart
As quoted in Chapter 8 of Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch

If you're a loyal follower of our weekly staff reviews, you may've noticed that I tend to include more than one book in my reviews and enjoy a good reading challenge. When you work at a library filled with this many good books, it's hard to limit yourself to just one!

I picked up Tolstoy and the Purple Chair because I wondered how anyone would find the time to read 365 books in one year and what would you read, picture books? But I found myself drawn in by the personal story about family and the relationships between readers and books. Ms. Sankovitch undertook her challenge as a way to honor the memory of her oldest sister, who died unexpectedly of cancer.

The pages are filled with book and author suggestions, and Ms. Sankovitch makes a point to share meaningful quotations. The sections that I enjoyed the most are the ties between her reading life and her real life. How a good book can change the way we look at our lives, and how our lives can change the way we look at a book. She still maintains the blog she started for her year of reading: www.readallday.org/blog/

And because I can't limit myself to just one book, here are a few others I've read recently and enjoyed:

Periodic Tales
A narrative history of the elements, from the historic and cultural importance of gold, to the quest for new elements. An entertaining, and educational read.

Kicking Ass and Saving Souls
A biography of a man whose life reads like fiction, or a summer blockbuster. Spy, SCUBA diver, thief, humanitarian, world traveler, and a definite page turner.

Shades of Milk and Honey
A quieter, more romantic story, highly reminiscent of Jane Austen, but with a touch of magic. A dreamy, character-focused novel that I read in one sitting.