Booktalk

The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodman is the first book in a fairly new thriller/mystery series which takes place in 1836 Istanbul during the decline of the Ottoman Empire.  It won the Edgar Award for best novel in 2007. The author studied Byzantine history at Cambridge, so the background for this story is authentic.
 
The Janissary's were a corrupt group of soldiers which had been disbanded in the 1820's.   However, a string of horrific murders indicate that there may be soldiers continuing to operate with the same ideology, only worse.  Inspector Yashim, a eunuch who is a friend of the sultan's court, is asked to find out who is committing these crimes.  (As a eunuch he can inconspicuously go anywhere in the community, unlike many others.) 

This exotic culture came alive as I read the story.  I followed Yashim into the sultan's harem and the dark, hidden passages of Istanbul trying to uncover the mystery.  It is such a mix of people, religions, traditions and languages.  I am not a history buff, and would never have entered this time and place without this novel.  Now, I am intrigued by the culture and would love to read more, or even visit the area.

I have since read The Snake Stone, the 2nd book in the series, and found it equally enjoyable.  I plan on reading the 3rd book in the Yashim the Eunuch series, The Bellini Card.  Hopefully, there will be a 4th.

If you enjoy literary, historical mystery series...check this one out.

Of all the many incredible stories of courage and sacrifice during World War II, the one about Europe's pilfered artwork remains relatively unknown.  Only recently have researchers filled in the details surrounding the loss, and by a hair's breadth, the unlikely recapture of almost all of Western Civilization's significant historical artwork.  Robert Edsel tells the story in The Monuments Men:  Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History.

The initial dozen or so men drafted (a few women were later recruited) for this unit were museum curators, art directors and architects, tasked with securing historic buildings after combat forces retook Nazi-held terrain.  The job morphed quickly into a frenzied attempt to save structures and hidden art works from Allied bombardment over hundreds of square miles at the front.  Operating at the front, rather than behind it, resulted in the death of two of the men, but also hastened intelligence-gathering on hidden Nazi art caches.  As the front moved east, the race to find the caches intensified before artwork was either intentionally destroyed (Hitler's orders were ambiguous), or damaged beyond repair by the environment in which they were stored (damp mines, typically).

Approximately 5 million items were stolen by the Nazis - priceless paintings, sculptures and statues, national jewels, medieval manuscripts, religious relics, etc.  Tragically, some major landmarks and great treasures could not be saved, but the Monuments Men, aided by courageous locals and no small amount of luck, saved a vast portion of Europe's artistic heritage. 

I love dogs. I love their general characteristics as well as the various shapes and sizes of the breeds. I know genetic manipulation is often very detrimental to dogs, but there's something about the variety and particularities of the breeds we've created that I find extremely engaging. I've had pure-breds as well as dogs of uncertain ancestry for companions, and both groups have their advantages and disadvantages, but overall dogs are wonderful creatures. The Good, the Bad and the Furry is a delightful book that presents breed-specific information in a humorous, though still very accurate, way in order to assist humans in selecting a suitable canine family member.

When the movie Whip It - starring Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page - was released last fall, rollergirls across the nation were thrilled.  Did this signal roller derby's return to mainstream?

Roller derby has been around since the the 1920s and 30s, but the sport really hit its stride it the 60s and 70s, playing in televised bouts to crowds numbering in the tens of thousands.  Sadly, the sport eventually rolled into obscurity, due at least in part to the pro wrestling-like approach to game play.  In the early 2000s, however, women began forming skater-operated leagues, skating both banked track and flat track roller derby.  These leagues now number in the hundreds, with some as far afield as New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates.  Once again, the sport is growing in popularity; over 5,000 fans attended a recent Rat City Rollergirls bout in Seattle, a first for modern roller derby.

Whip It is based on the novel Derby Girl by Shauna Cross.  Stuck in Bodeen, a tiny Texas town, Bliss Cavendar longs for a more exciting life.  Her pageant-crazy mother wants her to compete for the Miss Bluebonnet crown.  On a trip to nearby Austin, Bliss sees an ad for the Lone Star Derby Girls and attends her first bout.  Inspired, she digs out her old Barbie skates and tries out for the league, earning herself a spot on the Hurl Scouts team under the moniker Babe Ruthless.  But Bliss hasn't told her parents about her new life as a roller derby queen, instead claiming that she's taking SAT prep classes.  When her secret derby life threatens to collide with her mother's pageant expectations, how will Bliss find her way out of a jam?

Written by a member of the L.A. Derby Dolls, Derby Girl has plenty of thrills and spills, along with a message of female empowerment and some hilarious commentary on mother-daughter relationships.  After you read it, you may feel inspired to strap on your skates and roll around the rink a bit!

ANOTHER sequel to Pride and Prejudice?  Really?  I'll bet you're thinking: it has been done.  And done.  And done.

If that is your first reaction to The Independence of Miss Mary Bennett, look again, because it hasn't been done by a storyteller the caliber of Colleen McCullough.

The story picks up twenty years after P&P, and we find that Mary has spent nearly all those years caring for the flighty and irritating Mrs. Bennett.  Mary, who has grown into a bright and lovely woman from the bookish prude she once was, is suddenly set free by her mother's unexpected death.  Rather than marry as her family and her suitors urge, she embarks on a trek to write a book about the evils of poverty in English society.

Along the way we are introduced to some interesting new characters.  We meet the gruff Ned Skinner who has a mysterious connection to the Darcy family.  We meet the indomitable Scottish publisher Angus Sinclair who is secretly the social commentary columnist Argus.  We meet the ignoble Father Dominus who imprisons Mary in a hidden cave network.   And some of your old favorites are here as well, including the other Bennett sisters, the still-nasty Caroline Bingley, and of course, Mr. Darcy.

What I like about this sequel is that the plot is so rich and dramatic that it truly stands on its own apart from the original.  McCullough takes the characters places Austen never thought to take them, but still stays true to the personalities with which they were endowed.  This is a worth addition to the Austen continuations.

In 1986, a young and naïve photojournalist named Didier Lefèvre started an amazing journey.  As part of an expedition of the humanitarian aid group Médecins Sans Frontièrs (Doctors Without Borders), Lefèvre would document the work of this group as they traveled from Pakistan into remote northern Afghanistan to build a hospital and staff another that was built during the last mission.  Months of preparation is required for the weeks of travel by horse and donkey it will take to reach the region of Badakhshan.  During the three months Lefèvre is in Afghanistan, he experiences first-hand the difficulties MSF faces in trying to provide medical services along with the physical toll the harsh environment and decades of war have taken on the Afghan people.  The journey also affects Lefèvre personally in ways that he couldn't even begin to anticipate.

The Photographer: Into War-Torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders is the result of a combined effort of multiple people.  Lefèvre's photographs and writings from his journal are illustrated with the artwork of Emmanuel Guibert and Frédéric Lemercier, with the original French text beautifully translated into English by Alexis Siegel.  The result is stunning and powerful.  Lefèvre's stark and often haunting black and white images of the Afghan people and landscape are tempered by the colored panels detailing Lefèvre's personal journey.  His experience is highly emotional, from the almost daily trauma he witnesses to a series of decisions made near the end of his travels that nearly cost him his life.  Anyone looking for outstanding travel writing or unique insight into the history and culture of Afghanistan will be captivated by this very personal and engaging story.

Navy Captain Will Laurence was moving nicely along in his career when his ship captured a French frigate and he discovers a very valuable cargo; a dragon's egg.  The egg hatches and the beautiful black dragonet bonds with Captain Laurence.  This is the end of his naval career; because dragons and their bondee(?) or bonder(?) become a part of the British Aerial Corps.  These aviators are viewed askance by the regular services, after all dragons are dangerous.   Temeraire is very smart and he likes to be read to. He can't hold the books himself, talons aren't good for that, you know, plus since he grew quickly to weigh over 8 tons, it makes the books pretty darn small.  Captain Laurence and Temeraire are sent to the wilds of Scotland for combat training, with other dragons and their humans.  Soon they are ready to fight Napoleon's Aerial Corps. They engage in one of biggest battles and win because of the special nature of Temeraire.

I know more about the manners of the British aristocracy than military issues and the aristocratic manners are portrayed fairly accurately, so I am going to assume, I know dangerous to assume, that the military protocol and the historical battles are accurate also. 

Captain Laurence is a very noble man and struggles with the casualness in the aerial corps.  He is righteous and does the right thing no matter what, but Temeraire does question some of the issues and forces Laurence to reexamine them.  Temeraire and Laurence become very good friends. If you enjoy Patrick O'Brien's naval stories or Alexander Kent's and you like dragon fantasies, you will enjoy Naomi Novik's His Majesty's Dragon.   This book is the start of a series; there are five right now with number six being released in July 2010.

In The Lace Makers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri, the superstition about bad things happening in threes has certainly come true for Kate Robinson. Her mother's death from cancer, the failure of her fashion line, the betrayal of her longtime boyfriend--everything has come unraveled. When Kate travels to Ireland on the trip that she and her mother meant to take together, the rain and the green landscape feel like her home in Seattle. The village of Glenmara, however, is a world apart. Kate is stranded there due to an erratic bus schedule and stays because of the kindness of Bertie, one of the lace makers.  As she learns the craft of making lace from the women of the village, reminiscent of the way that she learned to sew from her mother, Kate begins to deal with that loss as she finds a new outlet for her creativity. Love, she believes, can wait until she has more faith in her own judgment.

I was most interested in the lace makers themselves, whose relationships with each other are rooted in a lifetime of history, lending the kind of security that only comes over time. Kate becomes a catalyst for change, but the women make it their own. With warm characters, a setting that is equal parts timeless history and inevitable change, and an unhurried pace, The Lace Makers of Glenmara is an excellent choice for a book group read or a companion on a rainy Seattle afternoon.

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World   by Tracy Kidder

This week's Chronicle of Philanthropy ran a front-page story on Partners in Health, one of the most effective NGO's in Haiti today.   Its programs are being replicated by other organizations throughout the developing world.   The mission of Partners in Health is prominent on their website:  "to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care."  So is the phrase: "Whatever it takes."

"Whatever it takes" to provide good health care to the poor is what Paul Farmer has been doing since 1983, the year before he started med school.  He managed to ace Harvard Medical School while spending much of the school year working in Haiti.  He routinely walked many miles to remote villages in order to visit patients too ill to come to the clinic. Whatever it takes. With the assistance of a generous donor and a classmate from Harvard, he developed a health care strategy that started with meeting basic needs such as food and clean water, so that effective medical treatment would be possible.  Whatever it takes. He began successful treatment of HIV and TB in the poorest areas of Haiti and Peru when others said it couldn't be done, and published his work so that it could be used by others.  All of this was accomplished before the year 2000, before the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation made a $44.7 million dollar grant to Partners in Health to further their work. Since then, Partners in Health has expanded its operations to nine countries and has become a world leader in global health.      

Author Tracy Kidder interviewed dozens of Farmer's friends, colleagues and family members, and spent many weeks with Farmer in Haiti while researching this book.  There are snapshots of Farmer's unconventional childhood, which included several years of living in an old bus in South Carolina with his eccentric father, mother and 5 siblings. We hear about Farmer's undergraduate years on full scholarship at Duke, and his introduction to the plight of poor Haitian farm workers in the fields of South Carolina.   Kidder describes Farmer's ability to function on 4 hours of sleep per night, and work for several weeks without a day off.

Mountains beyond Mountains traces the arc of  Partners in Health, and provides an absorbing portrayal of the complicated, dedicated, uncompromising man who started it.

I Need My Monster! by Amanda Noll, illustrated by Howard McWilliam

What if one night when you were ready to be scared to sleep by the resident monster under your bed you discovered that he decided to go fishing instead?!  How's a kid supposed to get to sleep without his monster?  This is the predicament Ethan finds himself in one night and he's terrified he won't be able to sleep without Gabe oozing green slime, scratching with his terrible claws and lashing with his spiked tail.  So Ethan does what any kid would do: he knocks on the floor for a replacement monster for the night.  What follows is a cavalcade of monsters, none living up to the scariness of Gabe.  How will Ethan get to sleep?

Amanda Noll appeared at the King County Library System Foundation's 2010 Literary Lions Gala.