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At the Lake

A Dance In Deep Water
Doug Allyn

Families are never what they seem, either from the inside or the outside. Michelle 'Mitch' Mitchell, a café owner, deep-water diver, and sometime detective, is slowly pulling her life together on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where she grew up. Her mother died in childbirth, and she and her late father were emotional strangers. She senses it's now or never with her precocious teenage son, Corey, who's been away at boarding school while mom worked offshore oil rigs in the Gulf. A chance meeting at an isolated gas station leads Mitch and Corey to relatives of Mitch's late mother. They're unpleasant folks and obviously have something to hide. Mitch senses it may have to do with her mother's death. Suddenly obsessed with her family history, she plunges deeper into her past, meeting a man who was a foxhole buddy of her father in Vietnam and who now runs a school for the Amerasian descendants of that war. She also runs afoul of a nasty militia group, attracts the attention of the FBI, and learns an awful secret that is contained in an abandoned mine on the school's property. But those are just bumps in the road in Mitch's journey to understand her past.
Booklist Review; December 1997.

The Glass Lake
Maeve Binchy

Bestselling novelist Binchy again explores the passions and priorities of Irish women in a seductively written tale that's a bona fide page-turner. She sets this story in the small village of Lough Glass, the 'glass lake' of the title, in Dublin and in London, animating each place more by the robust characterization of the people who live there than by the use of descriptive detail. When Kit McMahon is 12, her sad and distant mother disappears while walking along the lake. Authorities find the family's boat overturned, and, when Kit discovers a sealed letter addressed to her father, she fears that the suicide confession will keep her mother from a consecrated burial. She burns the letter, adding another burden to her misery. Helen is not dead, however. She has run off to London for great and compelling reasons, where she adopts the name Lena Gray and eventually becomes the director of an important employment agency. When Kit discovers her there years later, the anguish of both women is intensified by the complex situation, and the secret they now share eventually explodes in a way neither could have foreseen. If some aspects of the plot are contrived and the narrative overtold, the richness of Binchy's characters makes these drawbacks easy to forgive.

Publishers Weekly Review; January 1995.

Lake News
Barbara Delinsky

Falsely implicated in a scandal by an unscrupulous reporter, Lily Blake returns to Lake Henry, her small New England hometown. She is devastated by the loss of her job, privacy, and reputation and struggles to regain control of her life. Although distrustful of the media, she is drawn to John Kipling, the editor of the local Lake News. A wounded soul himself, Kip has also returned home to exorcise personal demons. Together they find justice for Lily and healing for themselves. Prolific novelist Delinsky (Coast Road, LJ 7/98) spins another engrossing story of strength in the face of cataclysmic life changes. Her picture of the ease with which one can lose all privacy and the damage caused by an irresponsible and out-of-control media, while perhaps exaggerated, is nevertheless chilling.

Library Journal Review; June 1999.

The Draining Lake
Arnaldur Indridason

Missing persons particularly pique the interest of Reykjavik police inspector Erlendur, still haunted by the loss of his younger brother in a blizzard that he survived as a child. When the mysteriously draining Lake Kleifarvatn reveals a skeleton tied to an old Russian radio transmitter, Erlendur and colleagues Elinborg and Sigurdur Oli delve into the cold war era, when promising young Icelandic socialists were sent to Leipzig to study, and one of them lost the woman he loved in the atmosphere of 'interactive surveillance.' Considering himself a failure in family relationships, the introspective and dogged Erlendur is motivated to bring closure to a 70-year-old woman still waiting for her long-vanished lover; even a missing hubcap is a key to this case. Erlendur's developing relationship with a married woman, Elinborg's newfound success as a cookbook author, and Sigurdur Oli's phone calls from a troubled man add depth and texture to the fourth in Indridason's award-winning Nordic series (after Voices).
Library Journal Review; September 2008.

Your Oasis On Flame Lake

Lorna Landvik

Landvik was a stand-up comic, and she writes like one: her characters are clever and offbeat, like Garrison Keillor's or Fannie Flagg's. In a small Minnesota town, two friends chafe at being voted 'Least Changed' at their twentieth high-school reunion. Timid Devera has an affair with her night-school teacher; BiDi, known for her still-perfect figure, gets pregnant by Sergio, her second husband. Devera's husband, Dick, a car salesman who dreams of performing his joke songs in a cabaret, opens 'Your Oasis' in their basement and provides a town gathering place. When opposing hockey players ambush BiDi's daughter, Frannie, the hulking product of her first marriage and the town mascot for making the varsity team as a freshman and a girl, the families and town must make peace with the fragility of loved ones. The most captivating narrator is Devera's precocious daughter Darcy, a hat aficionado and self-appointed defender of justice. She and this book should delight most readers.
Booklist Review; June 1997.

Crow Lake
Mary Lawson

Kate Morrison, the quietly complicated narrator of this lovely first novel of tangled tragedies, relives childhood events in the small Canadian farming community of Crow Lake, Ont., during a family reunion. When Kate is only seven, her parents are killed in a car accident, and her 19-year-old brother, Luke, relinquishes academic success to keep the siblings together. Instead, it is Matt, 17 and brilliant, who reluctantly and guiltily agrees to finish high school and go on to college, all the while sharing in the care of Kate and her baby sister, the hilarious, scene-stealing Bo. The violent, secretive history of the neighboring Pye family intrudes into the Morrisons' fragile system, detonating Matt's plans, and it is ultimately Kate who escapes into an academic career of challenge and respectability. Elegant, beautifully paced, and deeply resonant of the fears of children too young to have a vocabulary to express such feelings, this is a terrific debut. Nine countries were wise enough to buy the rights.
Library Journal Review; February 2002.

The World Below
Sue Miller

Miller (While I Was Gone) has a remarkable talent for paying scrupulous attention to the details of domestic life and nuances of personal relationships and then, with such seeming ease, relating them both truthfully and lovingly. Here she also shows the timelessness of the courses that human lives can take and the events that shape them. At 52, twice-divorced Cath Hubbard takes a sabbatical from her San Francisco teaching job to take possession of her grandparents' home. Contemplating starting a new life there in small-town Vermont, she uncovers truths about her beloved grandmother, Georgia Rice, on whom much of the story centers. Confined to a tuberculosis sanatorium before she was 20, Georgia found a different world with rules of its own where people behaved 'scandalously,' and her life was irrevocably changed. Cath finds parallels between her life and that of her Gran and insight into her grandparents' marriage that sheds light on her own failed ones, as events take the path of her own life out of her hands. A beautifully crafted and supremely satisfying work of fiction.
Library Journal Review; September 2001.

Lost Girls
Andrew Pyper

In a small Canadian town, two 14-year-old girls are missing and presumed drowned. Toronto attorney Bartholomew Crane arrives to defend Thom Tripp, the girls' English teacher, who is accused of first-degree murder. At first the egocentric, caustic Crane doesn't care about the truth he just wants to get the job done. The more he probes, however, the more he comes across the legend of the Lady in the Lake, who drags her victims down to the watery depths. Disturbing visions and voices unnerve him. Once he faces his own grief-stricken past, he emerges as a likable human being. Debut novelist and lawyer Pyper writes his murder mystery in a Tom Wolfe style of luxuriant hyperbole, portraying outrageous yet believable characters. His fast-paced present tense is well suited to the antic, first-person narrative of the coke-addicted Crane.

Library Journal Review; May 2000.

National Book Awards 2009

The National Book Awards program was held Wednesday night. Jeff Vandemeer of the Omnivoracious Blog gives a newcomer's account of the event.

The winner in the Fiction category is Colum McCann, author of Let the Great World Spin, a deft portrait of decaying New York City.

The winner in the Non-Fiction category is T.J. Stiles, author of The Last Tycoon: the Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt.

The winner in Young People's Literature is Phillip Hoose, author of Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice.

These books are chosen because they represent the best of the year in their categories. Among so many great books published each year, these have that something extra that makes them stand out.

In the Golden Years

Dearest Dorothy, Help! I’ve Lost Myself!
Charlene Ann Baumbich

Fans of Jan Karon's Mitford or Philip Gulley's Harmony will revel in the antics of the residents of Partonville, Baumbich's imaginary village in 'the northern part of southern Illinois.' Alongside various familiar faces (the prickly mayor, the garrulous salon owner and the city slickers who've recently moved in from Chicago), the town boasts an individual who is anything but a stock character: Dorothy Jean Wetstra, an 87-year-old spitfire with a heart of gold. As the town gears up to celebrate its 130th anniversary, Dorothy helps new resident Katie Durbin come to terms with an unsettling revelation about her family, while Katie's son Josh winningly navigates the turbulent waters of adolescent dating. The novel has some mechanical problems, with sudden and inexplicable shifts in point of view, but the characters are quirky and charming; there are several laugh-out-loud moments; and Baumbich offers gentle inspiration without hammering readers over the head with God, whom Dorothy delightfully calls 'The Big Guy.'
Publishers Weekly Review; August 2004.

Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House
M C Beaton

Agatha Raisin, snug and warm in her Carsley cottage, has that same old feeling-boredom-until a report of a haunted house sends her and new neighbor, handsome Paul Chatterton, to investigate. Suddenly, middle-aged Agatha is aglow with romance and excitement. But the glow fades fast. It turns out Paul is a cad. The victim of the haunting is a universally disliked old biddy. And the ghost is most likely someone playing a dirty trick. Then an old lady is soon found murdered. But never fear! For Agatha, solving a homicide is more fun than hunting a ghost. She quickly has a theory and a risky scheme. And she is about to make a startling discovery which can be her greatest triumph...or leave her heartbroken, in trouble with the police, and in danger of losing her reputation-or her life.
Book Description.


Turning for Home
Sarah Challis

The ties between generations are at the heart of this romantic saga set outside London. At 84, Lady Pamela desperately wishes to remain in her home, but her calculating daughter-in-law wants to send her away so she can modernize the charming cottage. To the rescue comes 26-year-old Maeve Delaney, a companion whose headlong approach to life is just what Pamela needs to get her out of the doldrums. Maeve feels emotionally abandoned by her own parents, who divorced when she was 12, and Lady Pamela has always longed for a daughter to replace her Lizzie, who died much too young. Into the mix are thrown Maeve's best friend, Sophie, a single mother with twins; Matt, the handsome local vet who loves them both; Sam, Pamela's beau of over 50 years, whom she should have married; and Irish Dancer, the injured horse Pamela longs to bring back for one last race. Challis' second novel reads like a sexier Rosamunde Pilcher, packed with robust characters, romance for both young and old, and heart-tugging tragedy.
Booklist Review; May 2003.


Jane Austen in Boca
Paula Marantz Cohen
A clever update of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, this first novel is set in a Jewish retirement community in Boca Raton, FL. Carol Newman is obsessively seeking a mate for her widowed mother-in-law, May. When Carol decides that the recently bereaved and very wealthy Norman Grafstein is the ideal candidate, the resulting comedy of manners is worthy of Austen herself. The author's perceptive observations of life among the retirees of Florida are combined with skillful parallels to the plot and characters of the original novel. The narrative flows, and the reader will be chuckling, trying to guess who from Boca is a character from Austen. Particularly delightful is Flo Kliman, the contemporary Elizabeth Bennett character, a retired librarian from the University of Chicago with a keen intellect and acerbic wit. Although certain aspects of the plot seem contrived, this fiction debut by humanities professor Cohen, who has written scholarly studies such as Silent Film and the Triumph of the American Myth, will amuse readers everywhere.
Library Journal Review; September 2002.

Loop Group

Larry McMurtry

In his 28th novel, Pulitzer-winner McMurtry again displays his knack for compelling characters and plots, this time as two women of a certain age take a road trip through Texas. Sixty-year-old widow Maggie Clary hasn't felt like herself since her hysterectomy; though her Hollywood company, Prime Loops, is doing well--they dub in the grunts and groans for movie soundtracks--she secretly wonders if she's going 'bats.' Maggie's three well-intentioned daughters have appeared on her doorstep for a Sunday morning 'intervention.' Though Maggie's diminutive Sicilian psychiatrist has improved her mood, she decides to follows the advice of a flirtatious waiter and try a change of scenery. Maggie invites fellow 'looper' and best friend Connie (the two have been inseparable--and boy crazy--since they were 14), to join her on a drive to her octogenarian Aunt Cooney's Texas chicken ranch. Despite family troubles that threaten to sabotage their trip, the two stay the course on a road rife with reprobates, from a relentless 'professional' hitchhiker to a mild-mannered car thief forever violating his parole. Aunt Cooney's brief appearance is among the high points of McMurtry's life-affirming tale: sporting an 'old mashed-up' cowboy hat and an abundance of rouge, the gregarious granny greets her city slicker niece by yanking a pistol out of her pocket and firing shots into the sky.
Publishers Weekly Review; November 2004.

Julie and Romeo

Jeanne Ray

This is a short, sweet love story for the 60-plus set by a talented first novelist who is, according to the publicist's blurb, a nurse living in Nashville. Romeo Cacciamani and Julie Roseman are rival florists in Somerville, MA, whose families have feuded for three generations. Romeo's son Tony and Julie's daughter Sandy attempted an elopement in high school but were thwarted. Now it's the turn of widowed Romeo and divorced Julie, who meet at a small- business seminar and fall into a passionate love affair that their families are determined to thwart as well. This is a funny book, and Julie and Romeo are lovable protagonists, but the underlying premise is serious: can deeply held antagonisms be overcome, or are some relationships simply impossible? Ray comes up with some unforgettable characters, including Julie's aggressive real-estate agent daughter, Nora, and Romeo's equally aggressive 90-year-old mother, the witchlike matriarch whose 'poke' has unmanned many a Cacciamani and whose rosebush-killing method harks back to Rome's destruction of Carthage. The abrupt ending (and revelation of the basis for the family animosity) may disappoint slightly, but this would still make a terrific movie.
Library Journal Review; May 2000.

Miss Julia Paints the Town
Ann Ross

Julia Springer Murdoch has survived widowhood, scandals and her share of delightfully harebrained adventures in eight previous Miss Julia outings; here she tackles a town's worth of problems. Smarmy New Jersey developer Arthur Kessler plans to tear down the old Abbotsville, N.C., courthouse and replace it with condos, but more pressing is the fact that three of Julia's friends' husbands have decamped or gone missing, including Richard Stroud, who may have absconded with a great deal of money. Everyone's turning to Julia for advice except for Richard's wife, Helen, who's getting too cozy for comfort as she cries on the shoulder of Miss Julia's good-natured second husband, Sam. Julia rallies her friends to convince Kessler that Abbotsville is too full of Southern eccentricities for him, but those eccentricities may be too real for the plan to work. The memorably droll Ross has a gift for elevating such everyday matters as marital strife and the hazards of middle age to high comedy, while painting her beautifully drawn characters with wit and sympathy.
Publishers Weekly Review; January 2008.


The Three Miss Margarets
Louise Shaffer

Secrets are kept in small southern towns as they are nowhere else. In Charles Valley, Georgia, it is the three Miss Margarets-- 'little old ladies with pedigrees'--who not only held secrets but also lied to do what they thought was right. Li'l Bit Banning and Dr. Maggie Harris are from old families, and Peggy Garrison married into the town's wealthiest clan. Things come to a head when Vashti Johnson, an African American who became a renowned scientist, comes home to die at the same time a New Yorker writing a biography of Vashti turns up asking questions. And Laurel McCready, whose poor, white-trash, unwed mother blamed the three Miss Margarets for the ills in her life, wants the truth about how her father was killed before she was born. Shaffer unravels this tale with skill, building enough sense of foreboding to be enticing as she reveals the backgrounds of the major characters and the decades-old rape and murders and brings it all to a satisfying conclusion. This has likely appeal to book groups.
Booklist Review; February 2003.

Veterans, At War and At Home

In honor of Veteran's Day, here are some books that concern the experiences of men & women in war and at home after the war.

Ordinary Heroes by Scott Turow. Stewart Dubinsky plunges into the mystery of his family's secret history when he discovers his deceased father's wartime letters to his former fiancee, revealing his court-martial and imprisonment during World World II.

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan. In 1946, Laura McAllan tries to adjust after moving with her husband and two children to an isolated cotton farm in the Mississipi Delta. The experience of an African American soldier in Europe leads to the final tragedy.

No Graves as Yet by Anne Perry. First book in series. Set in England just before England joins WWI, Cambridge professor Joseph Reavley investigates the death of his parents in a motor accident. He and his sister and brother prepare for war. In the remaining books of the series, the siblings enter WWI, each in their own way. These books present a strong vision of the hardships of war, and of WWI in particular.

The Names of the Dead by Stuart O'Nan. At 34, Larry Markham seems to be going nowhere fast. The only people he can talk to are a group of disabled Vietnam vets whose gut-wrenching stories feed his imagination. Over and over he is brought back to 1968, to the jungles of Southeast Asia where, as a young medic he had to find a way to keep his platoon alive. But now, in the present, a more imminent danger arises, and his struggle to survive a deadly threat forces him to confront the battles that rage within him. (book summary)

Rules for Old Men Waiting by Peter Pouncey. A brief, lyrical novel with a powerful emotional charge, Rules for Old Men Waiting is about three wars of the twentieth century and an ever-deepening marriage. In a house on the Cape “older than the Republic,” Robert MacIver creates a list of rules by which to live out his last days. He invents a tale of the Great War, which prompts MacIver’s own memories of his role in World War II and of Vietnam, where his son, David served. Both the stories and the memories alike are lit by the vivid presence of Margaret, his wife. (from book summary)

Holiday Entertaining

How to Cook Everything Holiday Cooking
Mark Bittman

Enjoy cooking for the holidays this year! Roast Turkey and Gravy. Baked Ham with Maple Glaze. Traditional Apple Pie. Death-by-Chocolate Torte. Holidays are when you pull out all the stops, and with How to Cook Everything: Holiday Cooking, you can make your special feast or buffet spread without stress. Mark Bittman, the award-winning author of the bestselling kitchen classic How to Cook Everything, shares his favorite simple–and infinitely flexible–holiday recipes. You’ll be able to cook for big feasts and parties from Thanksgiving to New Year’s and for other holiday gatherings all year-round. To inspire you and help you plan your meals, you’ll find Bittman’s straight talk on cooking and special features, including: Creative recipe variations and ideas, Tips for shopping, preparing, and cooking the recipes, Illustrations to demystify trickier techniques, Menu suggestions for a Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner, a Tree-Trimming Party, an Easter Feast, and more, At-a-glance icons highlighting recipes that can be made ahead.
Book Description.

Gourmet Meals in Minutes

Having trained thousands of professional chefs, the Culinary Institute of America addresses home cooks here in an effort to "cultivate a passion for cooking" despite today's hectic pace. With an emphasis on a multiplicity of ethnic flavors, the recipes are largely familiar and manageable. In fact, many of the simpler ones (Vichyssoise, Romaine and Grapefruit Salad with Walnuts and Stilton; Ratatouille; and Tiramisu) may be found in scores of other cookbooks. However, such dishes as Lobster and Roasted Red Pepper Salad, and Pesto-Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Tomato Relish seem rather ambitious when described as "meals in minutes." And suggesting the use of premade phyllo dough as a prime ingredient in Fennel and Chorizo Strudels, or packaged puff pastry dough in Fresh Fruit Galette, undercuts the book's premise. Oddly for home cooking, nearly every recipe serves eight. Still, there are dozens of quick and easy recipes, such as Niçoise-Style Grilled Tuna and Cider-Braised Pork Medallions. Presentation is often a key aspect, as in Haricots Verts with Prosciutto and Gruyère, in which prosciutto slices are twisted into spirals to resemble roses. CIA fans, who include viewers of PBS's Cooking Secrets from the CIA, will turn to this book.
Publishers Weekly Review; August 2004.

Entertaining 101
Linda West Eckhardt

Dinner parties are back. But some things have changed forever. There was a time when celebration meant days of planning, days of cooking, and days of recuperation. But no more! Today, the very thought of preparing one of those sumptuous multicourse extravaganzas has become no more than a fleeting nightmare. For special events, however, there is still nothing quite so welcome as a home-cooked meal. In Entertaining 101, mother and daughter Linda West Eckhardt and Katherine West DeFoyd provide all the information anyone will need to throw a terrific party at home. Each of the recipes has been tested not only by the authors but also by less experienced cooks. Each one has been simplified to eliminate all unnecessary steps. Each menu is accompanied by a carefully worked-out timetable so that every dish will be ready when it should be. And no menu requires more than an hour's preparation time in the kitchen, although some dishes may cook longer unattended--while you set the table or enjoy a cocktail with your guests. The fifty-two seasonal menus--from a Winter Solstice Formal Sage Chicken Dinner to a Summer Supper from the Farmer's Market--will allow anyone to entertain "with style and grace" every week of the year. Each menu includes wine suggestions and useful tips for serving and decorating (although the authors emphasize that there are no absolute rights or wrongs). This may not be the age of Aquarius, but it is certainly the age of liberation--in the kitchen as well as everywhere else.
Book Description.

The Art and Craft of Entertaining
Kimberly Kennedy

Where do I begin?That's the question we start with when thinking about throwing a party -- and for many of us, that's the question we end with, too. We may like the idea of entertaining friends and family in our home, but the details -- those how to's of planning the party, making the food, and playing hostess -- can quickly overwhelm us, prompting us to tuck away the idea, waiting for another, better time. But it doesn't have to be that way. With The Art and Craft of Entertaining, author Kimberly Kennedy provides all the information and inspiration you need to plan, organize, and carry out a successful no-stress event. Marry some of her ideas with your own, and you'll be on the way to developing your style, gaining confidence as a hostess and elsewhere in your life. Whether you're throwing a cocktail party, a baby shower, or an intimate dinner for two, The Art and Craft of Entertaining will take you there, step-by-step. Instructive and encouraging, this essential book lays the groundwork for entertaining with style, demonstrating how to craft a perfect invitation for any occasion, organize your supplies into versatile and efficient arsenals, and plan a satisfying meal without breaking your budget. The Art and Craft of Entertaining shows how to mix passion with planning so that you can throw the party of your dreams.
Book Description.

Semi-Homemade Gatherings
Sandra Lee

Sandra Lee, host of the ever-popular Food Network show Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee, knows how to make meals and menus memorable, whether it’s dinner for two or for ten! Sandra’s combination of 70% ready-made foods and 30% fresh ingredients makes every day a culinary celebration. More than 40 party themes featuring easy to duplicate, beautifully decorated and artfully arranged tabletop settings for every celebratory occasion imaginable. Sandra offers 100 sensational Semi-Homemade recipes for quick and delicious appetizers, desserts, and signature cocktails-perfectly suited for each specific party theme.

The Hassle-free Host
Christopher Lowell

Television's ever upbeat designer and decorator Lowell shows in pictures and text how to throw a memorable party. In this volume, he expands his horizons to include food as well as decoration. He wants to make a party fun, freeing the host from exhausting pre-event preparation but still making the scene one that guests are unlikely to forget. For a simple design concept, Lowell places flowers, vegetables, and fruits around a table, noting, "There are no mistakes in nature." Even apples make good place-card holders. Painted dowels glued to candle holders make elegantly tall rose holders for a more formal look. Lowell's recipes call for ready-made foods and mixes that gain individuality and creativity by addition of a few extra ingredients. Frozen macaroni-and-cheese stirred with some roasted red peppers and added cheeses easily fools guests. Frozen peas whipped with dill and cream make a simple starter. But some dishes require fresh ingredients, so Lowell does a veal stew from fresh meat and then simplifies it with frozen pearl onions and some canned white beans.
Booklist Review; September 2004.

Real Simple Celebrations

If only it were as simple as popping open a bottle of Champagne. But as every hostess knows, life's myriad celebrations - whether they come in the form of a big holiday blow out or a small birthday party - require planning and effort to pull off. And in the midst of all that hors d'oeuvre making and centerpiece arranging, it can be easy to lose sight of what you're actually celebrating (whose birthday is it, anyway?). "Real Simple Celebrations" is filled with smart solutions to take the hassle out of entertaining. Each chapter is dedicated to a different occasion - such as Easter, New Year's Eve, a child's birthday party - and guides you every step of the way, from inviting the guests to cleaning up after they've gone. With its handy checklists, foolproof game plans, practical advice, and truly doable ideas, "Real Simple Celebrations" will make all your parties a lot easier to pull off. So, you can stay focused on what you're celebrating-and, more important, why.
Book Description.

Come for Dinner
Leslie Revsin

Revsin, the former owner and chef of Manhattan's celebrated (but now defunct) Restaurant Leslie, offers a collection of over 150 recipes designed for small get-togethers of friends and family. While Revsin's recipes aren't necessarily innovative-they rely primarily on favorite comfort foods, often borrowing flavors from Italian cooking-her unique twists on classics should make this book very appealing to home cooks seeking "sophistication that doesn't bonk you over the head." Readers will find enticing recipes for every course, including Roasted Mushrooms with Lemon Oil, Chicken Cutlets with Fresh Tomato-Shallot Sauce and Brown Sugar Bananas in Phyllo. Revsin celebrates desserts as much as main courses, and bakers will find quite a few worthwhile recipes. Some of the recipes have quite a few steps, which the experienced Revsin (Great Fish Quick) sometimes shrugs off; for one salad, she writes, "When you've peeled, cut and dressed the beets beforehand...it takes only a few minutes to put together." But she does include "Do-Ahead Options" for each dish, which note the steps in the recipe that can be completed days-or even weeks-ahead. Such planning hints help assure that delicious meals can be made from scratch, and that the cook will get to sit down with guests when it's time to dine. Revsin also includes several dozen helpful menu suggestions, which will help readers put together a dinner party from the grill, a picnic or a perfect meal for cool weather.
Publishers Weekly Review; July 2003.

The Future is Bleak: Dystopias

To borrow from Robert Burns, "the best laid schemes of social planners aft gang a-gley." Whenever leaders endeavor to prevent pain, hunger, civil unrest, inequality, there is a danger of oppression and scapegoating. Dystopian literature reflects this reality. The appeal of these books is that they let us explore different societal norms and what happens when pushed to the extreme. In all of these books, a teenager sees through the adult curtain of reality, and through a test of courage or morality, becomes the catalyst for change.

The classic is, of course, The Giver by Lois Lowry. It is now an assigned reading in high school (not sure if that's a plus or not).

At the Ceremony where each 12-year-old is given their career assignment, Jonas has been chosen for something special. He will be the next Giver, who makes this perfect society possible. Jonas must reach deep inside himself to come to grips with the truths he is being told. Told with deceptive simplicity, this is the provocative story of a boy who experiences something incredible and undertakes something impossible. In the telling it questions every value we have taken for granted and reexamines our most deeply held beliefs.

The most popular book at the moment is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It has been number 2 on the NY Times Chapter Books Bestseller List for 52 weeks. The second book of the trilogy has just been released, Catching Fire.

In a society reminiscent of The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, each summer in Panem, a boy and girl teenager is selected from each of 12 districts to participate in the hunger games. The survivor is guaranteed fame and fortune for life. The games are said to remind everyone of the realities of war in order to prevent another one. A skilled outdoorswoman, Katniss takes her younger sister's place because she cannot bear to have another loss in her family.

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. This book was a Newbery Honor Book for 2003.

In a future where humans despise clones, Matt enjoys special status as the young clone of El Patron, the 142-year-old leader of a corrupt drug empire nestled between Mexico and the United States. To most people around him, Matt is not a boy, but a beast. Everyone around him understands the purpose of a clone, but as a young boy, he cannot imagine what it is. As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by sinister characters. Around every turn in this vivid, futuristic adventure is a heart-stopping surprise with unforgettable consequences. (book summary)

The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.

Another great adventure story set in a futuristic world of hoverboards and uglies and pretties. The premise of this society is to prevent the excess that led to the end of the "rusties". Just before their sixteenth birthdays, when they will be transformed into beauties whose only job is to have a great time, Tally's best friend runs away and Tally must find her and turn her in, or never become pretty at all. Until the end, when she must choose her path, Tally's choices belie her stated goal of becoming "pretty".

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

In a future world where those between the ages of thirteen and eighteen can have their lives "unwound" and their body parts harvested for use by others, three teens go to extreme lengths to uphold their beliefs--and, perhaps, save their own lives.