H is for Hawk

I almost became a falconer once. The ad promised you hands-on training for catching raptors, and you would be working with ones needing care, so it seemed like the perfect volunteer gig.  However, our time in California was drawing to a close, so I never got to experience the drama and force of a raptor landing on my gloved hand. But, wow, did I love this book.

This memoir artfully intertwines three stories: Helen’s experience training her first goshawk, her grieving for her father, and author T. H. White’s mixed results raising falcons and hawks. All these stories are told powerfully, and the subject is so interesting that I found the book riveting.  

Training the small fierce goshawk Mable (the author chose the name as something opposite of what you’d expect) for a few hours every day away took Helen from her disabling grief over her father’s sudden death on the street taking pictures for his job. At one point, Macdonald describes his last photograph--at street level, a line of blurs and a patch of sky as her father fell and died from a heart attack.

Winner of the 2015 Rosie Award: The Loners by Lex Thomas

The Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award winner for 2015 is The Loners by Lex Thomas! Indiana high school students read 25 nominated titles and voted for their favorite. Honor titles are Every Day by David Levithan and Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry. 

The Loners is the story of a group of teens in an extraordinary situation, "When a virus deadly to adults infects their high school, brothers David and Will and the other students soon break into gangs that fight each other for survival and the hope of escaping their quarantine." Check it out if you like dystopias, adventures, or stories of survival!

The list of nominees for the 2016 Eliot Rosewater award are also available. Start reading now and then vote for your favorite! You could help decide next year's winner!

While You're Waiting...Yes Please

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

 

SNL star and honorary Hoosier (it’s okay to call her that, right? Is any fictional character a better example of a Hoosier than Leslie Knope?) has gifted us with a collection of biographical essays and comical observations. In them we learn about Poehler’s start in improv with the Upright Citizen’s Brigade and her reoccurring role as Andy Richter’s little sister Stacy on the Late Night With Conan O’Brien Show. When recounting her rise to fame, Poehler is filled with humility and praise for those around her. While there are plenty of laugh out loud moments in the book,  a strong message of empowerment permeates throughout.  Not a self-help book, but at times it feels like Amy Poehler is your own personal cheerleader.

 

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Written by Amy Poehler’s real life BFF and fellow SNL alumna, Fey’s book is also a collection of humorous stories but also includes thoughtful observations about being a woman in charge in a field primarily dominated by men.  Through the more personal essays we see Fey’s transformation from an awkward, intelligent little girl to a writer and star of SNL.  Protip- listen to the audiobook! Fey’s delivery is priceless!

 

My Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me: And Other Stories I Shouldn't Share with Acquaintances, Coworkers, Taxi drivers, Assistants, Job Interviewers, ... and Ex/Current/Future Boyfriends but Have by Hilary Winston

Hilary Winston was perusing a Los Angeles bookstore when she stumbled upon the newly published book by her ex-boyfriend. Against better judgment she picked it up to read the summary-and found it shockingly familiar.  As in it was a fictional account of her relationship with him, and fictional Hilary was referred to a number of times by an unsavory nickname.  Winston, a writer for the TV shows Community and My Name is Earl decides to write her own book-and filled it with stories of doomed relationships, awkward situations, stories about the Olive Garden, and cats.

 

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling

You may recognize Kaling as Kelly from The Office or from The Mindy Project.  Is Everyone… is a tour of Kaling’s life through stories, anecdotes, lists and pictures.  Fun fact:  Kaling rose to fame after portraying Ben Affleck in an off-Broadway show titled “Matt and Ben.”  More a conversation than a memoir, Kaling’s book is quirky and pleasant and a great way to spend an afternoon.  Highlights include: “narcissistic Blackberry” photos; Irish Exits; and why do men put their shoes on so slowly?  Look for Kaling's next book Why Me later this year!

 

I Was Told There’d Be Cake by Sloan Crosley

Sloane Crosley doesn’t work in television-though she has appeared on an episode of Gossip Girl, but her collection of essays are on par with the hilarious and talented women mentioned above.  Crosley focuses on the oddity and selfishness of adulthood.  Her essays are highly entertaining and relatable, especially for those who grew up in the late 80s/early 90s.  Highlights include: The Oregon Trail (computer game not historical event); an out of control My Little Pony Collection and despoiling a butterfly exhibit at the Natural History Museum.

Outline

This quiet introspective read is not for everyone. In it, British novelist Rachel Cusk, examines relationships and self-identity in a series of ten conversations that make up the book. The action occurs in the span of one week while a narrator travels to Greece for a week long writing seminar that she is teaching.

Caveat: this is one of the most unusual novels I have ever read. The author’s voice is sure, steady, and at times mesmerizing. It’s not an action novel in any sense, but rich with everyday life in a way that recalls Virginia Woolf’s works.  Philosophical with wry humor and a deep sense of what makes people tick.

The first dialogue begins on the plane with her seatmate, a wealthy Greek, who is twice, make that thrice divorced. As happens so often in life, the two passengers share many secrets about their lives. We learn that the Greek has a disabled brother and disabled child.  His ex, the mother of his son, wanted to institutionalize the boy, but the

While You're Waiting...The Martian

The Martian has taken the literary world by storm. It has become such a hit that the movie based off the novel will be released in November of this year.  While you're waiting for your copy of the Martian to come in, why not give one of these titles a try.

The Martian by Andy Weir

A team of six astronauts is in the beginning stages of their mission on Mars when a dust storm unexpectedly interrupts their work on the surface of the Red Planet.  Three of the astronauts see Mark Whatney hit by debris and assume he is dead.  They can’t recover his body and save themselves so they leave him on Mars while they make the long journey back to Earth.  Unfortunately for Mark, he was only knocked unconscious and now has to figure out a way to survive on the unforgiving planet for four more years until the next mission is scheduled to arrive.  Told mostly through diary entries written by Mark, this science fiction (emphasis on science) novel is funny, suspenseful and fast-paced.  Weir is able to explain highly technical and complex processes in language that novices can understand and keep up with.  This is the ultimate novel about survival in harsh and lonely conditions.

 

 

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Robert Neville is the last man-living man that is, on Earth.  An incurable plague that somehow Robert is immune to, has taken over the planet and turned every human into a vampire.  Robert spends his days in hiding and his nights hunting down the non-living.  He teeters on the edge of sanity as he grapples with the meaning of life and survival when he is the only one of his species left.  A stressful and intense short story, I Am Legend is an essential story of survival and a testament the human drive to survive.

 

 

Twenty Thousand League Under the Sea by Jules Verne

French naturalist Dr. Aronnax begins an expedition to hunt down a sea monster but upon discovering the Nautilus- a futuristic submarine, he becomes of prisoner of its creator, Captain Nemo.  Together Dr. Arronax and Captain Nemo explore the majesties of the ocean.  A futuristic novel of many years past, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a fantastical story of exploration and survival.

 

 

 

Into the Wild Jon Krakauer

Into the Wild isn’t Science Fiction. Instead it’s the real life story of exploration and survival.  Chris McCandless was a young man who gave his possessions away and embarked on a journey into the wilds of Alaska-and whose body was found a mere four months later. Investigative reporter Jon Krakauer pieces together McCandless's journey and delivers a haunting and thought provoking account of one young man’s adventure.

Around the World in 50 Days: my adventure to every country on Earth

I’m not one for doing the whole of anything: the Appalachian Trail, canoeing the Amazon, skiing across Antarctica, but yes I can see the attraction of visiting every country in the world. The problem is that it is a moving target. Governments change, countries come and go, and unless you are super rich “doing” the world in a timely fashion is not possible.

Yet the inventive, gutsy, rule-breaking Podell finally managed to complete them all though it did take a half century. He began his foreign travels with a quick trip to Canada when he was 24. And yes, he considered this international travel light.

He just completed a degree in international studies. A few years later, as editor of an adventure magazine, he decided he was tired of sending people off on exotic jaunts and staying home, so he set off with a friend to complete the longest land journey ever attempted with his good friend Steve. They got sponsors to pay for the trip and hired a photographer.

Between You & Me: confessions of a comma queen

Are you a grammar aficionado? Do you love learning the ins and outs of different jobs? Do you like reaffirming that your grammar and punctuation is spot-on, or why and how it has strayed from the path of correctness?  If so, Mary Norris’s Between You & Me is exactly right for you. 

Norris describes her life before and during her thirty year tenure at The New Yorker as a copy writer with the detailed knowledge to make sure that the correct word, usage and punctuation is always employed. To accomplish that, her best tool (other than her comprehensive knowledge of grammar) was her noteworthy stash of No. 1 pencils. What an odyssey it was to keep a supply of the best proofreading pencil in the world. And those in a perfect working state.  Solution: a passionate epistolary correspondence with one manufacturer of the yellow-painted rods.

With humor and great descriptive ability Norris describes her first jobs, as a foot checker at a public swimming pool (checking for Athletes foot before swimmers entered the pool), and milkman—make that milkwoman--a job those under fifty may not even know existed. Later, she went to graduate school in literature, and  moved to New York where she took a few lowly desk jobs before she scored an interview at America’s most prestigious literary magazine, The New Yorker.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Aristotle and Dante is a sensitive, thoughtful portrayal of friendship and finding yourself. Both of the main characters are teen boys who feel out of place in the world around them, until they find each other. Together they navigate the ups and downs of teenage life; friends (or lack of them), family, independence, and love. 

An added bonus of this particular book are the complex parent child relationships. Unlike many YA novels, the parents in this book are very present in their sons' lives. Dante is the only child of intellectuals and Aristotle is the youngest child of self made, hard working people. Both of them love their parents, but both of them find different aspects of their lives hard, if not impossible, to share with them.

This is a great realistic fiction for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider. The world is a big place, just because you haven't found where you belong yet, doesn't mean you won't.

Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World

It’s National Poetry Month, and if you want to learn more about the form, pick up this book. Hirshfield writes fine poetry imbued with a Zen calmness and childlike wonder about the natural world. Her prose is intelligent, well-written and informed by a great knowledge of poetry--both modern and classical.

But it’s her descriptions about writing poems that I like best. As she says, “Poetic imagination is muscular, handed, and kinesthetic.” She describes the poet’s reach into the world as “prehensile.”

According to Hirshfield, poets bring the world of the senses to the page, “In poetry’s words, life calls to life with the same inevitability and gladness as bird calls to bird, whale to whale, frog to frog.”

While You're Waiting...The Liar

The Liar, the new book from Nora Roberts, will be released next week.  While you’re waiting for your copy to reach the hold shelf, why not try these other books about women dealing with the aftermath of their husband’s secret lives?

 

The Liar by Nora Roberts

Shelby only found out her husband married her under a false name after he went missing and was presumed dead.  Devastated, she returns to her hometown with her daughter ready to start over-in life and in love. Shelby discovers a key to a safe deposit box.  What she finds inside convinces her that not only was her marriage a lie, but the stranger she was sharing her life with is a very dangerous man.  Roberts’ expert storytelling leaves the reader on the edge of her (or his!) seat right until the very end.

 

 

You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz

Grace is a successful New York Therapist with a beautiful family and is about to start a PR blitz for her forthcoming self-help book about relationships-and how to identify the signs women tend to ignore that lead to heartbreak.  Active in her son’s school, Grace is shocked when one of her fellow committee members, Malaga, is found murdered.  Grace’s husband, Jonathon, has always been distant emotionally and works long hours, so it took Grace awhile to realize that he was missing, and not in the Midwest for a conference like he claimed.  Tension increases as Grace (and the reader) realizes that Jonathon’s disappearance and Malaga’s death are related.  Korelitz masterfully expresses Grace’s increasing anxiety as she pieces together her husband’s secret life while her own is falling apart.

 

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty

The lives of three seemingly unrelated women collide when one of the women, Cecilia, finds a letter from her husband to be opened only in the event of his death.  Concerned, she reads the letter and everything she thought about her marriage begins unravel.  Meanwhile, Tess is facing her own marriage problems.  Her husband has just confessed that he and Tess’s cousin are in love.  Tess moves her young son back to her hometown to live with her mother and starts a relationship with the local school’s P.E. teacher.  Rachel, the school secretary, believes the P.E. teacher murdered her only daughter thirty years earlier. These three women’s lives collide in unexpected and disturbing turns of events.

 

The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreeve

A knock on her door at 3am shatter’s Katherine Lyon’s life.  The plane her husband Jack was piloting exploded off the coast of Ireland, killing all 103 on board.  The investigation indicates a bomb-and implicates Jack as being complicit in the plot.  Katherine desperately tries to protect her daughter from shock after shock as her husband’s secret life comes to light.  Shreeve is expert at revealing game changing details at just the right moment and will leave reader’s wondering just how much they know about their loved ones.

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