My 2009 Favorites

Looking over the books I've read this past year, I decided it's been a good reading year. With about 36 hours to go until 2010, I looked over the list I keep on Goodreads and pulled out 5 to share. Although they were not necessarily published this past year, I greatly enjoyed reading them in 2009. Alphabetically by author they are:

Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews - Chronicles the years 1935-1960 in Andrews' life and rising career, including My Fair Lady and Camelot on Broadway.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - A dynamic story of life on near future earth, where teens must compete on a televised game where they are both hunter and prey.

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier - "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again." A new bride is haunted by the dark shadow of the first Mrs. de Winter.

Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction by David Sheff - Sheff recounts how he and his family struggled with his son Nic's methamphetamine addiction (also read Tweak by Nic Sheff).

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger - For anyone who's ever had the boss who demands the impossible. And expects you to make it happen anyway.

Happy New year everyone! I'll see you in 2010!

The Help and Other Suggestions

The Help by Kathryn Stockett is set in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi. In this still segregated world, a young white woman just out of college decides to write about the lives of two black maids, a potentially dangerous venture at the time. Told in the voices of the three women, The Help has become one of the most popular fiction books of 2009. If you're waiting for a requested copy, or already enjoyed the book, here's a few other titles to try (book descriptions are from the database EBSCO Novelist):

We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg
Stricken by polio, Paige Dunn, a woman of remarkable free spirit, beauty, and intelligence, continues to raise her daughter, Diana, with the help of her caretaker Peacie, in a novel set against the backdrop of Tupelo, Mississippi, in 1964.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
After her "stand-in mother," a bold black woman named Rosaleen, insults the three biggest racists in town, Lily Owens joins Rosaleen on a journey to Tiburon, South Carolina, where they are taken in by three black, bee-keeping sisters.

A Gesture Life by Chang-rae Lee
Lee's most recent novel explores ideas of alienation and assimilation through the life of a multinational protagonist. Franklin Hata was born to Korean parents, raised in Japan, and finally settles in the United States. His struggles are twofold: dealing with his adopted daughter's conflicting values and life choices, and struggling with dark secrets in his own past, gradually revealed over the course of the story.

I'm heading to Buffalo for Christmas. Weather looks good and let's hope it stays that way.

Happy Holidays!

The woman at Macy's asked, "Would you be interested in full-time elf or evening and weekend elf?"
I said, "Full-time elf."
I have an appointment next Wednesday at noon.
I am a thirty-three-year-old man applying for a job as an elf.
~From Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris

It's 9 days until Christmas. My tree is up and decorated, the majority of my shopping is done, and I've managed to avoid the mall entirely! While I enjoy the holiday season - wrapping presents, opening presents, watching It's a Wonderful Life, spending time with family - one of my all time favorite Christmas stories is a dark little tale called "SantaLand Diaries", in the Holidays on Ice collection.

Authored by the wickedly funny David Sedaris, "SantaLand Diaries" tells the story of the season he worked as an elf in Macy's department store. Having been turned down for a UPS job, Sedaris figures he was hired as an elf mostly because he is short. He experiences first hand the children who cry when placed on Santa's lap; parents who spend all their time posing their kids for photos and never let the child talk to Santa; the corner where over excited kids tend to get sick; elves who flirt with other elves; and the Macy's Santa who claims to live at the North Pole - for real! The stories he tells are just plain strange, a bit risque, and terribly sarcastic, but I think this is a pretty realistic description of what goes on behind the scenes at the huge department store capitalizing on Christmas. There are 11 other short stories in this collection you may enjoy, but I think "SantaLand Diaries" is the best.

Looking for Holiday Favorites?

With Christmas rapidly approaching, we get lots of requests at the library for holiday movies and books. Something to remember is that if you like the story, your Christmas favorite is often available in different formats. For instance, I just love to watch A Charlie Brown Christmas- it was on television the other night and I literally clapped my hands for joy! Fans of the special should definitely check out A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition which includes the original script, talks about the making of the show, interviews some of the children who performed the Peanuts voices, and presents tons of other interesting information about the now classic holiday special.

The 1947 beloved tale of believing in Santa Claus, Miracle on 34th Street, was released simultaneously with a delightful book version by Valentine Davies. Look for In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash by Jean Shepherd; it's the book and audiobook that is the basis for A Christmas Story. And of course there are many versions of the time-honored A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. From an in depth annotated book including historical background and old-time illustrations; the 1951 film featuring Alastair Sim; The Muppet Christmas Carol with Michael Caine as Scrooge and Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit; and Patrick Stewart's one man Christmas Carol on audiobook, or presented on DVD with additional cast memebers. Choose one or choose them all- just enjoy the holiday season!

Festively Funny!

My goodness, December is here! We're decorating at the library, making nifty decorations, putting up the tree, and generally getting into the holiday spirit. I put together a display featuring lots of our Christmas books (and of course there are more on the shelves!), so please take a look the next time you're here.

One of my favorite holiday books is about Christmas, yet not about Christmas. Let me explain. The book is called Hogfather and it's by humorous fantasy writer Terry Pratchett. Pratchett has created a series of books set on Discworld, and things there always seem quite familiar. On Discworld they celebrate Hogswatch, a festive time when the Hogfather flies in a sleigh pulled by four large hogs named Gouger, Tusker, Rooter, and Snouter and delivers presents to the people. When the Hogfather goes missing, who could possibly take over climbing down chimney duty but the ever helpful Death? Death puts on the red suit and does his best "HO HO HO", while his granddaughter Susan works to solve the mystery of what happened to the big guy. Along the way you will meet Violet the undertrained Tooth Fairy; Bilious, the God of Hangovers; and of course Death's favorite cohort, the Death of Rats, who says only SQUEAK. It sounds weird (and it is), but I find Hogfather, and the rest of the Discworld series, very, very funny!

KCPL also carries a highly entertaining DVD of Hogfather.