Meredith @ Bellevue Archive.

Like many people, I enjoy cooking, and I love to eat. I always thought I had a passion for good food and cooking, but after reading this book, what I call passion seems lukewarm.

La Cucina is the story of Rosa Fiore, a woman who used cooking as a kind of therapy throughout her life. And no one in could blame her for needing some therapy. After Rosa's first love was murdered by his own father (who happened to be involved with the mafia), she locked herself in la cucina and prepared all types of pastas: rigatoni, ravioli, spiralli, cannelloni, linguini. She baked ciabbata and focaccia. She brewed sauces of tomatoes, anchovies, saffron, and pine nuts. She bottled fruits and jams, cured meats, and made ricotta by the barrel. Then, when she had cooked everything on their estate, she packed up a few clothes and her parrot, and left to become a librarian in Palermo.

It wasn't until twenty five years later that another man entered her life, a foreigner. L'Inglese, an English chef, arrived at her library and awakened desires and passions didn't even realize she possessed. As they spent the summer cooking and discovering each other, anyone could see that it was too wonderful to last...and besides, disaster always seemed to follow Rosa.

Fans of Like Water for Chocolate and Joanne Harris may enjoyLa Cucina by Lily Prior.

There's an Irish Wolfhound named Dante in Sight Hound who has cancer, but this is not a book about a dog who has cancer. I'm very sensitive to the treatment of animals, and I really hate it when an animal is used as a device to play with my emotions, but this book doesn't do that. When you hear the description, you may think it sounds like a sappy animal story, but I assure you, that's not what it is, either. In fact, it can be quite gritty. What this book is about is a woman named Rae and her journey toward love and self acceptance.

As you read this book, you get to hear from all the characters, including the animals (Rae has another dog and a cat). But again, this is not done in a cutesy way. Dante quotes Buddha and Lao-tzu, and is truly wise. His mission (this time around) is to teach Rae that it is alright to hope, and to find her a human who will love her after he is gone. Rae and Dante have a deep effect on everyone around them, and each has a chance to speak. All of this takes place for the most part on Rae's Colorado ranch, a beautiful setting that changes with the tide of the story and the emotions of the characters.

If you have ever found it difficult to love yourself, or easy to love a dog, try Sight Hound by Pam Houston.

...there was Sunshine by Robin McKinley. Known for her award-winning fantasy books, McKinley creates a familiar-feeling world where vampires and magic are very real, but so are coffee and cinnamon rolls.

Rae lives in the small town of New Arcadia, where she wakes up at 4am everyday to bake Cinnamon Rolls as Big as Your Head for a coffee shop in Town. She doesn't really mind getting up early, since she loves the warm morning light, and the feel of soft dough between her fingers. Sounds kind of cozy, huh? Well, then, let me tell you a little more about New Arcadia. One branch of the police force there is called SOF: Special Other Forces. They deal with the Others, the most dangerous of these being the Suckers. That is, vampires. There are Others that aren't really legislated against, like Weres, Demons, and Sprites...I mean, everyone knows someone with a little sprite or peri blood in them. But it's the Darkest Others, the vampires, that you really want to avoid.

So when Rae takes a nighttime drive out to her parents' cabin by the lake, she's not really surprised when she gets kidnapped by a gang of suckers, tied hand and foot, and left in an abandoned house...but not alone. She's been put there as supper for Constantine, the gang's rival, who does end up surprising her, in more ways than one.

This refreshing fantasy presents a world where the supernatural is normal, but so are friends, family, and fragrant baked goods.<

Have you ever thought about how wonderful it is to be able to make decisions? The freedom to decide what to wear, how to act, or even who to marry?Or maybe you've felt that something was guiding, no, pushing you toward certain choices? If you have ever felt that you had no control over the path of your life, then you might just understand what it's like to be Elena Klovis.

Elena lives in one of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, which are governed by a powerful magical force called simply The Tradition. This magic gathers thickly around people who appear to be following a familiar fairytale path, and then ensures that they complete that path. And if you remember your fairytales well, you'll know that not all endings are happy. Elena was supposed to be a Cinderella, but the prince in her kingdom was only eleven years old! So she slaved under a cruel step-family as magic gathered around her, frustrating her, making her feel that she was supposed to do or be something else.

When her predictably evil step-mother and step-sisters leave her penniless to fend for herself, she goes in search of a job...and finds herself apprenticed to a Fairy Godmother. All the magic gathering around her gets put to good use as she dispenses potions, attends royal christenings, and tests questing knights and princes. Everything's going well for Godmother Elena, until she tests an unusually disagreeable prince, and decides to teach him a lesson. Unfortunately, The Tradition has other plans for them. Elena must try to find a way to break Tradition, but there's only one problem: no one has been able to do it before.

Mercedes Lackey creates a warm, strong, and witty character in The Fairy Godmother, and a story that is easy to cuddle up with when life has got you down. This is the first book in the Five Hundred Kingdoms series.

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant is a story of art and passion in 15th century Italy.

Florence under the Medici family was a city rich in art, culture and luxury. Alessandra grew up in this world of beauty and affluence, but at fifteen, she had never had the freedom to enjoy it. As the daughter of a wealthy cloth merchant, her purity had to be under close guard until she was safely wed. That meant being cloistered in her family's palazzo, and never going anywhere without a chaperone. But finding a husband for tall, awkward, and outspoken Alessandra was a challenge. In a world where women were taught to be hostesses and homemakers, her intelligence and gift for drawing made her freakish and undesirable. When her father brings home a young artist to decorate their chapel walls, Alessandra becomes entranced by his talent, and intrigued by his quiet intensity.

Soon enough her parents have married her off to a much older man, but the freedom that she expects as a married woman is cut short by the rise of the fundamentalist monk Savonarola. Florence becomes a city full of fear and hellfire, where no one is safe, even from their own secrets, and Alessandra must decide whether to risk exploring her own passions, both of the spirit and of the flesh...

This is a vibrant choice for those who enjoy art and historical fiction along the lines of Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Meet The Author!
Sarah Dunant will read from her new book, Sacred Hearts, at the Bellevue Regional Library on Tuesday, July 21 at 7pm.

So, you've already discovered that the library offers you streaming music.  Did you know we also have streaming video and online scores?  Over 13,000 scores and close to 200 videos are available to you online right now through Music Online, a general portal that also covers our other streaming music databases (Classical Music Library, African American Song, and Smithsonian Global Sound). 

Videos include opera and dance performances, artist interviews, and documentaries.  How about a classic *Aida performance?  Links to subtitles and liner notes are provided, too.

Scores cover everything from Mozart *piano sonatas to *Creole music.

The Music Online database is still growing, so check back often and click "What's New" at the top of the page to see recent additions.  Don't forget that you can sign up for a free account and save your own playlists!

Summer reading isn't just for kids!  Bellevue Regional Library has a fantastic lineup of Meet the Author programs throughout the summer.  Our first Meet the Author event features Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire mysteries set in Wyoming.  He will read from his newest installment, Dark Horse, on Tuesday, June 16, at 7pm.

For more on Johnson's series, check out Lisa's Book Talk entry.

See you there!

According to an article in Blender Magazine, John McCain is an ABBA fan, while Barack Obama prefers the Fugees. 

The top ten songs of each candidate can be found on this site from NPR.  Interestingly, the only artist appearing on both lists is Frank Sinatra.

To really get into the candidates' heads, why not take a listen to some of their favorite tunes?

To boogie like Obama, try these picks:

• What's going on? Songs of Marvin Gaye
• Remixed & reimagined (Nina Simone)
• How to dismantle an atomic bomb (U2)

To bop like McCain, check these out:

• Smile (Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys)
• Home before dark (Neil Diamond)
• Hag: the best of Merle Haggard

Or, for something everyone enjoys, try some Frank Sinatra:

• Young Blue Eyes: birth of the Crooner

So, have you ever become aware of something for the first time, and then started seeing it everywhere?  

For the past 25 years, the Olympic Music Festival has brought world-renowned classical musicians to perform inside of a turn-of-the-century barn on the Olympic Peninsula.  Originally conceived by Alan Iglitzin as a summer home for the Philadelphia String Quartet, the festival now sees over 12,000 visitors each summer. 

Upcoming performances include Fauré, Schubert, and Dohnányi on August 2nd and 3rd, and an all Dvorák festival on August 9th and 10th.  If you are making the drive out to this wonderful festival, why not bring along some CDs to get you in the mood?

Dvorák's String Quartet No. 12 in F, Op. 96 (American) and Piano Quintet in A, Op. 81 by the Jerusalem Quartet

Dohnányi's Complete Piano Works Vol. 1 and Vol. 2

 

For some instant gratification, here is the first movement of Fauré's Piano Quartet in C minor Op. 15 from the Classical Music Library Database (you will need to enter your library card number to listen).