How Do I
Kaarin's Picks
|
Young, William P. The Shack Fiction (Inspirational) |
| A fictional account of a man, Mack, whose daughter disappears at a campsite. The initial hunt turns up only her red dress in a shack in the woods, and "The Great Sadness" descends upon him. When he receives a note, signed simply "Papa," inviting him to meet at the shack, he doesn't know whether to think it's a horrible joke or his last hope to find his daughter. What he finds there are three people, unlike any people he's ever met before, and they proceed to offer him a thorough picture of his relationship with God, one that had deteriorated in the face of his sorrow. What is most compelling about the story, aside from the fascinating and unusual way God is presented, is the time spent looking at suffering through spiritual eyes. Just when you think Mack has opened up to God more than anyone possibly could, Young gives you even more, and it is beautiful. To think of God as wanting, craving really, a direct and intimate relationship with each of us, is exhilarating and very moving. Highly recommended. Recommended November 2009 |
|
|
Page, Karen and Andrew Dornenburg The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs Nonfiction (Cookbook) |
| This delightful book is a reference for anyone who likes
to make up recipes as they go along and wants a starter for their
creative juices. Organized alphabetically by ingredient, each item
has a list of complementary flavors. Each list contains items in bold
and in all capital letters, indicating the highest popularity of the
pairing among chefs. For example, rosemary goes well with apricots,
mackerel, and risotto (among many, many other things); combines particularly
well with eggplant and roasted meats; its best friends include pork
and potatoes; and both lamb and garlic are its perfect match. Quotes
by well-known chefs about flavors and names of popular dishes are
shared throughout the book, and with two introductory chapters, they
are both inspiring and pleasurable to read. Whether you love to cook
or love to read about food, this book is highly recommended. Recommended October 2009 |
|
|
Wener, Louise Goodnight Steve McQueen Fiction |
| For any adult who loved Angus,
Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, I must heartily recommend
Goodnight Steve McQueen. For anyone who enjoys sex, drugs
and rock 'n' roll, personally or vicariously, this novel is for you.
If you want to read a story about a wanna-be rock star who's been
given an ultimatum by the woman he loves - find a record deal in 6
months or find a job (and not just a part-time one in a video store
where you help elderly ladies get their martial arts movie fix) -
you've got to read this book. If you want to learn how to use "strop"
or "git" in a sentence, or find alternative meanings for "bog" and
"punter," borrow this novel. If you want to laugh out loud at the
antics of 29-year-old boys who are fighting adulthood with all their
might, click on the title above and request it immediately. The only
risk is people looking at you funny while you're reading it on the
bus. Recommended by Kaarin, February 2008 |
|
|
Langhorne, Karyn Unfinished Business Fiction |
| I have always been a sucker for a transformation story,
and this romance, between a liberal, African American teacher and
anti-war activist from Washington, D.C. and a conservative, Southern
white senator and decorated veteran, does not disappoint. Sparks fly
when she disrupts his committee hearing on education, and she invites
him to visit her inner-city classroom. Not to be outdone, he invites
her to visit his Southern state. With all that visiting, sparks are
bound to ignite, but wanting to see how they could possibly get over
their ideological aversion to each other kept me engaged to the very
end. Recommended by Kaarin, September 2007 |
|
|
Pollan, Michael The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals Nonfiction |
| In this wonderful combination of science, history, economics
and memoir, Michael Pollan traces four different kinds of meals back
to their source. The first is from McDonald's, or actually, McDonald's
is the last place it goes before it's served and eaten in the car.
The second, industrial organic meal from Whole Foods, contrasts with
the third, a local, small-scale organic meal grown on a "grass farm"
in Virginia. Finally, Mr. Pollan himself hunts and forages for wild
pig and mushrooms to create the meal closest to human's original ways
of sourcing food. All along he is both entertaining and educational,
one minute I would be thinking about how much smarter I was getting
with so much new information, the next I would be pulled further into
the story by a moving description of a meal shared with family and
friends. This winning combination may just change the way you eat.
Recommended by Kaarin, August 2007 |
|
|
Krauss, Nicole The History of Love Fiction |
| Every once in a while, a book comes along that makes
you remember that all of humanity is connected, there are no accidents,
and our lives intersect for reasons we are here to find out. The History
of Love was one of those books for me. As a young man, Leo Gursky
writes a book for the woman he loves. More than 60 years later, Alma
Singer starts off looking for a new man for her mother, and ends up
searching for something more for herself through her namesake, a character
in a book called The History of Love, by Zvi Litvinoff. Learn
how these unlikely characters are connected and discover how far beyond
physical reality human connection can go. Recommended by Kaarin, June 2007 |
|
|
Pratchett, Terry The Wee Free Men Teen Fiction |
| From a book featuring 6-inch-high blue men (a.k.a. the
Nac Mac Feegle) who wear kilts, and whose favorite activities are
"stealin', drinkin', and fightin'," one might expect a certain kind
of story, perhaps a silly story. But the Nac Mac Feegle are there
to help the heroine of the book, Tiffany Aching, who finds herself
protecting her world from the Queen of the Elves, using just a frying
pan and her common sense. And it's Tiffany's story that brings depth
to the story that's belied by its title, as she learns to trust her
keen perceptions while she tries to rescue her little brother from
Fairyland. Of course, since the Nac Mac Feegle escaped (or were banished,
depending on who you ask) from Fairyland and have the inside scoop,
plus Tiffany wouldn't be able to get rid of them if she tried, it
all makes for a laugh-out-loud-funny reading experience. Recommended by Kaarin, May 2007 |
|
|
Marchetto, Marisa Acocella Cancer Vixen: A True Story Nonfiction Graphic Novel |
| Marchetto was a newly-engaged 40-something without health
insurance when she discovered that she had breast cancer. As a freelance
cartoonist, her way of dealing with it was to document her experience
in a comic strip, and the result is Cancer Vixen. From the
story of her engagement to the hip Italian chef, Silvano Marchetto,
to each trip through chemotherapy, Marchetto shares her life with
us, and makes it all the more touching with her loosely-drawn, brightly-colored
panels. Whether she’s talking about what she wears to chemo or her
relationship with her mother, she manages to draw a personal, yet
universal, story. Recommended by Kaarin, April 2007 |
|
|
Cullen, Lisa Takeuchi Remember Me: A Lively Tour of the New American Way of Death Nonfiction |
| Have you ever wondered what happens to a body that’s
cremated? Or what alternatives there are to the big, mahogany caskets
and ghostly make-up of a typical funeral? I hadn’t, until Remember
Me came across my desk. My curiosity piqued, I read on to learn
about everything from green burial options, to plasticizing, to how
to get your deceased loved one made into a diamond. If you’ve ever
thought about how we deal with death in our culture, or don’t deal
with it, as the case may be, this book is for you. Who knew that death
could be so entertaining? Recommended by Kaarin, March 2007 |
|
|
Setterfield, Diane The Thirteenth Tale Fiction |
| Margaret Lea works and lives in her father's antiquarian
book shop, occasionally writing the biography of some obscure author
who strikes her fancy. When she receives a letter from Vida Winter,
England's most famous and reclusive contemporary author, requesting
her as a biographer, she can hardly imagine why. Miss Winter is notorious
for making up her life as if it's a novel, but now she's old and ailing,
and appears to be ready to tell the truth. Margaret loses herself
in the dark and brooding story of a disturbed, aristocratic family
and it's dramatic decline. Whether she finds herself is a testament
to the power of storytelling. Recommended by Kaarin, December 2006 |
|
|
Gilbert, Elizabeth Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia G154.5 .G55 A3 2006 Nonfiction |
| After a long and messy divorce, Elizabeth Gilbert gets
the chance to travel to Italy, India, and Indonesia over the course
of a year. She begins this personal journey in Italy, moves on to
an ashram in India, and ends up in Bali, with the intention of experiencing
both pleasure and prayer, and finding a balance between the two. Much
of the pleasure takes the form of pasta and gelato, along with loving
Italian friends, and much of the prayer is in the struggle to quiet
her mind through chanting and meditation in India. At one point in
the book, she tells the reader that one thing she has always been
able to do is make friends, and with her intimate tone and self-deprecating
sense of humor, you can easily see why. I found that I would be laughing
one minute and crying the next, which for me, made this a most satisfying
read. Recommended by Kaarin, November 2006 |
|
|
Davidson, MaryJanice Undead and Unwed Fiction |
| In this hilarious take on the afterlife, Betsy Taylor
wakes up after getting hit by a truck and finds herself being sought
as the vampire queen. Just trying to get used to being dead, and craving
blood (yuck!), she has no interest in vampire politics, but some vampires
just can’t let you live, or die, in peace. Horror, romance, and comedy
all come together for an enjoyable and original adventure. And if
you enjoy this one, you can go on to read the next one in the series,
Undead and Unemployed. Recommended by Kaarin, October 2006 |
|
|
De los Santos, Marisa Love Walked In : A Novel Fiction |
| In alternating chapters, we get the story of Cornelia,
a cafe manager who's trying to figure out what to do with her life,
and Clare, an 11 year old who’s trying to keep her life going as her
mother experiences a breakdown. Their lives are connected by a Cary
Grant look-alike, who walks into the cafe one day and offers to take
Cornelia to England. While Cornelia wonders if Martin is too good
to be true, she comes face to face with his daughter for the first
time. The sweetness of that relationship is the beauty of this book,
which is filled with characters who come to feel like your own friends.
Recommended by Kaarin, September 2006 |
|
|
Cleage, Pearl Some Things I Never Thought I'd Do Fiction |
| Regina Burns is a recovering addict who has to straighten
out the mess she made of her life. The first order of business is
to make enough money to save her family home, and the opportunity
she can’t pass up involves working for her former employer, idol,
and almost-mother-in-law in Atlanta. When she arrives she finds a
formerly run down African American community called West End, whose
complete transformation is credited to her new landlord, the mysterious
Blue Hamilton. As she falls in love with her new community, she also
falls for the man who saved it, but she has to delve into the painful
past in order to have a future with him. For me, Pearl Cleage writes
strong, passionate, and socially conscious women like no other, which
is the joy of reading this book. Recommended by Kaarin, September 2006 |
|
|
Moore, Christopher Practical Demonkeeping Fiction |
| Catch, the human-eating demon has arrived in Pine Cove,
California, along with his reluctant demon-keeper, Travis. Augustus
Brine, owner of Brine's Bait, Tackle and Fine Wines, has just been
informed by a tiny, wrinkled genie that he's the only one who can
send the demon back to hell. As Travis tries to keep Catch's appetite
in check, he's distracted by a beautiful waitress who looks vaguely
familiar. Meanwhile, a hilarious cast of characters is in danger,
including a witch wanna-be and an occult-obsessed owner of the local
diner. Together they have to save their sleepy town from Catch's voracious
hunger for people and power. Recommended by Kaarin, October 2005 |
|
| Orgill, Roxane Shout! Ten Girl Singers Who Shaped a Century Teen Nonfiction |
|
| Going decade by decade through the 20th century, Shout,
Sister, Shout! offers brief but compelling biographies of female singers
who represent their decade musically and historically, and, with the
exception of Judy Garland, women who have controlled their own careers.
Starting with Sophie Tucker, who started off singing in her parents'
restaurant, and ending with Lucinda Williams, this book tells the
compelling stories of some of the musical greats of the past 100 years.
Recommended by Kaarin, October 2005 |
|
| Moore, Terry The Collected Strangers in Paradise, Volume One Graphic Novel |
|
| Francine and Katchoo are old friends and roommates who
could hardly be more different: Katchoo is a blond, man-hating lesbian
with anger issues, while Francine is a beautiful brunette carpet -
as in "walk all over me, please." When Francine catches her slimy
boyfriend cheating on her, the tale of revenge, complete with guns,
blackmail and a hilarious scene involving a department store window,
is ever so sweet. Recommended by Kaarin, August 2005 |
|
