China on the brain

Well, I don't know what it is about me lately, but I seem to be ordering and reviewing an awful lot of books about China. In my defense, there is a heightened interest in that country due to the upcoming summer Olympics (and because of less cheery topics like consumer product safety). So the publishers have been busy cranking out beautiful books that introduce Westerners to the history, culture, religions, politics and economics of China. We have yet another one on the shelves (from DK, one of my favorite coffee-table book makers): China: people, place, culture, history. The first chapter - Landscape - is page after page of gorgeous wide-angle shots of various locations around the country. It gives you a very real appreciation of the geographic diversity and immense size of China. The second section goes through the history of China. The format of this section is basically a running timeline with scattered pictures and blurbs of information. If you want a more in-depth history, try The Great Wall: China against the world, 1000 BC - AD 2000, by Julia Lovell. Then follows an interesting section about the Chinese people, which focuses on various representative professions (cricket seller not being one you would commonly find in the U.S.). The chapter on culture is alarmingly brief, but the architecture chapter is great. Sometime before the torch fires up in Beijing this summer, you should check out one of our many new books on this fascinating country.

Peter Jennings

Our new biography of journalist Peter Jennings - who died of lung cancer in 2005 - follows an unusual format. Rather than sitting down and interviewing a bunch of Jennings' associates, combing through his old letters and quotes, and then parsing it all out into a 300-page narrative of his life, Peter Jennings: a reporter's life takes a different approach. Editors Kate Darnton, Kayce Freed Jennings and Lynn Sherr have created a bare-bones oral biography of the former anchorman of ABC's World News Tonight. Friends, relatives, colleagues, and prominent political figures have all contributed their recollections of Jennings: his charm, his insightful questions, his work ethic and his passion for reporting the news. The quotes follow a chronological track, beginning with his public-school upbringing in Canada (Jennings became an American citizen in 2003), his brief foray into nightly news as the youngest anchorman ever (a mere 26 years old), his on-the-spot reporting at the Munich Olympics and on to his 27-year stint at the anchor desk of ABC News. This book actually ends up being more of a tribute than a biography. There are no laundry lists of dates or facts, and while the commentators don't shy away from mentioning mistakes Jennings made, or arguments they had with him, the sense of respect and affection each commentator has for Jennings comes through on each page. It definitely shows Jennings in a much more human way than a half-hour newscast.

Patrick and Arthur Collaborate

We have a new mystery that should appeal to a wide range of readers: Deadly Shoals by Joan Druett. Part nautical adventure, part mystery, part cultural and historical commentary, Druett's book marries the traditions of Patrick O'Brian and Arthur Upfield to create an intriguing series with an unusual protagonist. Wiki Coffin is half-Maori, a sailor who acts as translator for the U.S. Exploring Expedition as it sails the oceans of the mid 19th century. In addition, Coffin acts as the official representative of United States law and order (such as it was back then) whenever trouble arises involving American citizens. In this book, he is hashing out a fradulent deal involving a New England whaler, political unrest in South America, and a killer who is targeting the expedition itself. Extremely well-researched and historically accurate, this story is also a rolicking mystery that will keep the reader turning pages. A very fun read. (We also have the first book in the series - A Watery Grave).

Marco who?

The name is legendary, but do any of us have more than a vague idea of the actions and events that made Marco Polo such a renowned public figure? Aside from the whole introducing Italy to macaroni myth - which, according to Laurence Bergreen's book Marco Polo: from Venice to Xanadu, is a myth - what do we know? Well, by sifting through original source material in more than half a dozen different languages, and by traveling over the same silk trading routes that Marco Polo himself crossed, Bergreen manages to put together a very thorough, very readable biography of one of history's most intrepid merchants. What an amazing experience it must have been for Marco Polo to travel through China during a period of great cultural, economic and military wealth, especially coming from the dark squalor of 13th century Venice. As he becomes a trusted diplomat of the Kublai Khan and travels throughout the Mongol kingdom on the Khan's business, Marco Polo not only gained an enormous amount of information and experience, he also developed a deep appreciation and respect for the cultures he saw. When you think that his fellow Europeans were busy burning one another at the stake for marginal heresies, Marco Polo's humility and adaptability were truly remarkable.

A Book for English Majors

I remember reading the promotional blurb for The Heroines, by Eileen Favorite, and thinking to myself 'I have got to order this book'. The premise is great: Anne Marie runs a cute bed-and-breakfast in rural Illinois where literary heroines can come to get a grip when their story becomes too intense. Anne Marie is always willing to listen and nod sympathetically, but does not want to dispense counsel, lest she alter the course of great literature. Her 13-year-0ld daughter Penny is tired of her mother's time and attention being taken up by weepy 19th century women, but when she gets involved in one of the stories (and I mean involved), the weepy lodgers are the ones who come to her rescue. Some of the lines in this book are great. When a dashing horseman comes thundering into the woods looking for his lost love Deirdre, Penny's thought is "Deirdre was so depressed...she must have come from some awful romance. Only a cheap book would have binding too weak to hold back a stereotype like this guy". A little bit about teenage angst, a little bit about the importance of literature in shaping in our lives, and a little bit of a love story, Heroines is a wonderfully fun read (even if you hated Senior English class).

A Valentine Read

I don't usually do humor books in the blog (since funny is such a subjective thing), but a new book caused such unbridled laughter amongst the library staff that I feel compelled to share. Everything He Hasn't Told You Yet: a new way to get men talking about stuff that matters, by Burton Silver and Martin O'Connor, is so far out in left field that even though it bills itself as a help guide for interpersonal communication, it really is just plain humor. Here's the scenario: you are supposed to get the man in your life to sit down, listen to a hypothetical situation, and answer a series of questions which you then interpret - much like dreams - to discover his true inner workings. Want to find out if he's interested in being in a relationship? Read out loud a list of animals and ask him to come up with names for each animal pair. If he picks a male name and a female name (Rex and Fluffy), then he's interested in committment because "he sees a world of couples". If he picks Rex and Scamp, then you might as well pack up your toothbrush. Want to find out what he thinks about women? Have him answer a bunch of stupid questions from an alien, like "Why do women have so many shoes?"
This book reads like the literary equivalent of a cootie catcher. If you can get a guy to go through these dumb exercises with you, you've either been dating for less than 4 months or he's making stuff up to pull your chain. He's in a relationship with you - he's not applying for a job. Save the goofy personality tests for Human Resources.

A troubadour, a Templar, and a lady walk into a bar....

A tarot-inspired retelling of the events of the Cathar crusade? A tongue-in-cheek parody of historical intrigue novels? A prequel to The Da Vinci Code?
The Last Troubadour: song of Montsegur, by Derek Armstrong, is a hard book to categorize. Set in the 13th century, this book follows the sometimes funny adventures of a troubadour, a Knight of the Templar, and a beautiful woman as they work together to find an important religious relic before an evil agent of the Pope gets to it. Not having read The Da Vinci Code, I can't comment on any parallels or judge whether this is a true parody. The 13th century was not a real great time to be alive, and I don't ordinarily connect an Inquisition with big belly laughs, but Armstrong does his best to inject some wit and humor into his story. The Tarot-inspired characters will interest anyone familiar with the history of the Tarot (again, not my thing). I guess at the end of all this I'm not really sure if I'm recommending this book or not. Perhaps the most mysterious thing about this mystery is whether or not it's worth reading.