Good Reads & Views

Public Radio: Behind the Voices by Lisa A. Phillips
791.44 PHI

Regular listeners to National Public Radio often feel like they know the hosts and reporters from the various programs, even though they may not know what the radio personalities even look like. Lisa A. Phillips interviewed several of the popular public radio reporters, including Daniel Schorr, Susan Stamberg, Linda Wertheimer, Cokie Roberts, and Nina Totenberg. It is fascinating to hear the demands of some of the jobs, whose hours and preparation seem to leave little time for a personal life. The book also includes photographs, so readers can see the person behind the voice.

Coal River by Michael Schnayerson
333.822 SHN

In Buffalo Creek, West Virginia, in 1972 an impoundment of toxic slurry composed of chemicals used to clean coal broke though unsafe banks and killed 125 people.  Hundreds of similar spills from mountaintop removal mining continued to flood homes, threaten lives, and ruin croplands and gardens on lower slopes, including one in 2000 in Martin County, Kentucky, when 300 million gallons of slurry spilled.  Journalist Michael Schnayerson carefully documents his indictment of abuses by coal companies such as Massey Energy, abetted by easily obtained permits for thousands of acres from the Army Corps of Engineers, the state EPA, and government officials influenced by campaign donations from the mining industry.  Results from uphill legal battles by public-interest lawyers and organizations such as Coal River Mountain Watch to persuade the mining industry and government agencies to enforce standards required by the Clean Water Act and other federal legislation intended to protect the environment are still pending.

Strange As This Weather Has Been: A Novel by Ann Pancake
FIC Pancake, Ann

This is an excellent first novel based on firsthand knowledge and extensive interviews with Appalachian residents of West Virginia and Kentucky who have been and still are deeply affected by mountaintop removal mining: thousands of acres of forest land destroyed, foundations of homes cracked and walls crumbling from blasting nearby, headwaters of creeks and rivers deeply buried under toxic fill, aquifers they depend on for drinking water contaminated by toxic sludge, deaths from floods after huge holding ponds filled with chemicals used for cleaning coal break through unsafe banks, cropland and gardens on lower slopes ruined by those same toxic overflows.  The story is told through flashbacks from the viewpoints of an activist wife, a husband fearful of retribution from the mining industry, and their four children.  Ann Pancake grew up in West Virginia and now lives in Seattle. 

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn 
FIC Flynn, Gillian

Libby Day was seven years old when she escaped the brutal killings of her sisters and mother, and her testimony sent her 15-yr. old brother Ben to prison. Now, 24 yrs. later, Libby’s life has been on a downward spiral and she is desperate for cash. Agreeing to revisit the case for the “Kill Club” – a group of true crime enthusiasts – she is at first only interested in the money they pay her. Eventually, though, she has to face up to the possibility that her brother might be innocent. Dark and gritty, with some unpredictable twists.

Talking About Detective Fiction  by P. D. James
809.3872 JAM

One of the genre’s grand dames has written a marvelous little gem of a book that is a must-read for all lovers of detective fiction. The book traces the genre’s history and evolution, heavily based on British writers and Golden Age mystery writing, but also includes American comparisons and modern writers. Wilkie Collins, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Raymond Chandler make their appearance alongside Colin Dexter, Ruth Rendell, Sara Paretsky, and Henning Mankell, among many others. Never one to mince words, P. D. James gives us her take on how the genre has evolved and where she thinks it is headed. Elegant and insightful.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout 
FIC Strout, Elizabeth

Winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize, this novel of interconnected short stories allows the reader quick peeks at the lives of some of the denizens of small-town Crosby, Maine. Olive, the title character, is a strong-willed, very opinionated and rather blunt local schoolteacher when we first meet her, and she is the thread that runs through all the stories. A finely drafted and deeply emotional work of literature, deserving of its many accolades.

For All Mankind by Harry Hurt
629.45 HUR

Only 24 men have traveled to the moon, and this book tells their story. The author begins with the idea that each of the Apollo missions began on the same day, even though the dates were different—but for each mission, launch day itself held some commonalities. Once the astronauts reached the moon, Hurt devotes a chapter to the lunar landing of each mission. (Though in the case of Apollo 13, they hadn’t yet reached the moon when the big story began.) A fascinating account of the experience of flying to the moon.

The Pink Lady: The Many Lives of Helen Gahagan Douglas by Sally Denton
B  Douglas, Helen Gahagan

 

Helen Gahagan Douglas was a fascinating woman who lived in a fascinating time. She was a Broadway star, confidant of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt, wife of actor Melvyn Douglas, lover of Lyndon Johnson, two time congresswoman and most notably the victim of Richard Nixon’s notorious campaign for the U.S. Senate in 1950—the campaign that became the model for dirty politics in America and virtually ended Douglas’ political career.  With the help of J. Edgar Hoover, Nixon linked her with the anti-communist hysteria sweeping Hollywood and dubbed her “the pink lady.”  Denton’s book ably portrays Douglas’ place as a pioneer of American politics.

Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
YA CD Audiobook Ryan, Pam Muñoz

14-year-old Esperanza Ortega had been living like a princess on her family’s beautiful ranch in Mexico during the Great Depression. But, her privileged life came to a halt after her father was brutally murdered and she was forced to flee with her mother to a migrant camp in California. Through her tragedy, Esperanza develops self-awareness and compassion for others. The audio book narrator’s strong Spanish voice is infused throughout, bringing the story and characters to life.

European Tapestries in the Art Institute of Chicago by Koenraad Brosens
746.3 BRO

Released in conjunction with the exhibit The Divine Art: Four Centuries of European Tapestries, this generously illustrated volume documents tapestries acquired by the museum over more than a century. Well-researched chapters deal with both the artistic merits of the individual tapestries and the production technology used in different periods.