How Do I
2009 Staff Picks
- Staff Picks by Genre in alphabetical order by author's last name.
January 2009
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Allende, Isabel Daughter of Fortune Fiction |
| I’ve loved Isabel Allende's writing since The House
of the Spirits, and her mixture of South American history, romance,
adventure, and fantasy continues here. Set in Chile and San Francisco,
the daughter of the title is Eliza Sommers, abandoned on a doorstep
and then adopted by a brother and sister in nineteenth century Valparaiso.
Eliza travels from Chile to America as a stowaway to find her lover
who has abandoned her and her unborn child. Along the way, she rekindles
a friendship with Tao Chi’en, a Chinese doctor whose devotion and
love take her on another sort of unexpected journey. Allende mixes
the temporal and the sensual with the fantastic and we often wonder
where the narrative ends and the fantasy begins. No matter, really
– what‘s important here is the tale and it’s a lovely one. Recommended by Jane, January 2009 |
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edited by Jones, Daniel Modern Love: 50 True and Extraordinary Tales of Desire, Deceit and Devotion Nonfiction |
| The more things change the more they stay the same – a
phrase that couldn’t be more perfect when considering the intricacies
and challenges of modern love. The language of love got a lot more
difficult when text messaging and the internet were added to the mix
of an already mystifying and complicated subject. Taken straight from
the New York Times weekly “Modern Love” column, 50 intrepid
authors bare their souls in illuminating essays about love in the
twenty-first century. A voyeuristic approach to love and a superb
collection for anyone who has loved, lost, or googled her date’s name.
Recommended by Lisa, January 2009 |
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| Keyes, Ralph The Courage to Write Nonfiction |
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| Keyes separates this highly approachable and entertaining
book into two sections. The first, "The Elements of Courage," examines
the many sources of fear for writers and ways fear can manifest itself
in the writing process. Causes range from the well-known fears of
revealing family secrets, receiving terrible reviews or accidentally
publishing mistakes. Some of these fears and their expressions are
more surprising, though. For instance, the constant procrastination
so many writers experience might not result from a lack of discipline,
but a hesitance to confront the raw emotions and self-examination
that writing demands. Even that dreaded beast, writer’s block, has
some of its roots in fear. These examinations are infinitely helpful
in identifying the ways fear causes a writer to avoid writing or writing
honestly, so she can recognize the cause of her counterproductive
patterns and change them. In the second section, "Coming to Terms
with Fear," Keyes details methods for writing that go beyond the common
(and useless) assurances like “Just start writing and you’ll feel
better” or “There’s nothing to be afraid of.” Instead, Keyes acknowledges
the actual importance of fear to the writing process, stating that
fear and courage travel in tandem. He offers helpful suggestions,
such as designing a writing schedule around your most productive,
least defensive time of day, or sharing work at variously public levels.
Most encouraging, Keyes includes myriad anecdotes and quotes from
well-known writers regarding their own negotiations with the fear
to write. Without pep talks or gimmicks, Keyes acknowledges the many
ways fear presents itself in different stages of writing, and ultimately
recognizes it as a tool and an essential element of writing. Recommended by Renée, January 2009 |
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McEwan, Ian On Chesil Beach Fiction |
| It is July 1962 in England. Florence is a talented musician
who dreams of a career on the concert stage and of the perfect life
she will create with Edward, an earnest young history student. Their
courtship has been both cerebral and platonic. Newly married, Edward
and Florence honeymoon at a Dorset hotel on the English coast, on
Chesil Beach. At dinner in their room, they are anxious about the
wedding night. Edward harbors a private fear of failure, while Florence's
anxieties are overcome by sheer disgust at the idea of physical contact.
All goes badly. In spite of their deep love and affection for each
other, what might have been a marriage of great compatibility comes
to a halt. Their lives go forward in different directions. You feel
compassion for both Edward and Florence as they struggle with their
lack of ability to communicate with each other. On Chesil Beach
is another solid novel from British writer Ian McEwan. This is a story
of lives changed forever by the gesture that wasn’t made and the words
that weren’t said. Recommended by Noufissa, January 2009 |
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| Ridley, Matt The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation Nonfiction |
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| What are the origins of human morality? If your first
answer is religion, think again. While it cannot be denied that the
moral systems of the world’s great monotheistic religions have a strong
influence on us today, these moral systems have only existed for several
thousand years. For millions of years prior, humans and our hominid
ancestors lived in social groups that required moral behavior without
the mediation of powerful religious institutions. Hence, contemporary
research in human evolutionary studies is asking what evolutionary
pressures led humans to behave morally. Matt Ridley’s The Origins
of Virtue is a brilliant delineation of the developments in this
field of research. Limited space prevents me from discussing every
excellent detail of the book, but its basic conclusion is this: human
morality is the result of the evolutionary pressures of group living.
In other words, the features of morality that we take for granted,
such as empathy for others, cooperation, sharing, and a sense of justice,
are the hardwired products of millions of years of biological evolution
that emerged as our hominid ancestors turned to sociality for survival
purposes. The fascinating implication of this is that mandated morality
by governments or religious institutions is unnecessary, and usually
does more harm than good. With that said, besides being a tour de
force of contemporary science writing, The Origins of Virtue
is also a compelling argument for the libertarian political tradition.
Recommended by Wes, January 2009 |
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Scottoline, Lisa Lady Killer Mystery |
| A co-worker suggested that I try a Lisa Scottoline book,
and I’m sure glad I did! Scottoline writes stand alone novels as well
as a series about a group of female lawyers in Philadelphia. I have
read four of the latter, of which my favorite is Lady Killer.
This story focuses on Mary DiNunzio, one of the associates in the
law firm. She gets an urgent visit from her high school nemesis, Trish,
who pleads for protection from an abusive boyfriend. When the boyfriend
is murdered, Mary’s investigations lead her back to her past, and
the memories and people who remain there. Mary’s traditional Italian
Catholic family lends some lighter moments to this legal mystery that
will keep the reader guessing until the end. Recommended by Karen G., January 2009 |
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