What I'm Reading: Solar

Recently, I listened to Ian McEwan's latest novel, Solar. McEwan is one of my favorite authors in general and Solar specifically won this year's Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction. If you like your humor, dark, uncomfortable, and sarcastic (like me) you will love this novel.

Solar is classic McEwan. For example, in NoveList (accessible here for BPL patrons), McEwan's writing style is described as follows:

Ian McEwan's books are haunting, eloquent, precise investigations of how discrete events loom large in the human psyche. His novels are suspenseful and feature subjects of contemporary relevance, often with political undertones, that readers reflect on long after finishing. McEwan's topics are varied and creative, but his stories often involve a sudden event that turns the direction of an ordinary life, forcing the intelligent and reflective character to cope. McEwan also uses disturbing violence to expose the moment when a character's nature is stripped to the bone.

Solar is exactly as described above. Here our protagonist is long past his prime, Nobel prize-winning psysicist Michael Beard. His personal life is a huge mess. His 5th marriage is crumbling, his career is at a standstill. He has half-heartedly become a spokesperson for the British fight against global warming.

He manages to reappropriate the work of an underling on Solar energy and turn himself into a scientific superstar once again. The reader watches, cringing and laughing all the way, as Beard makes bad decision after bad decision in his personal and professional life, leading to a conclusion in which every loose end is tied up and Beard must pay the ultimate price for his choices.

Beard is fun to watch, but we do not ever like him. We feel sorry for him, maybe, but this is more a story where the reader is meant to observe the protagonist, not relate to him. I personally loved McEwan's descriptions of the horrific state of Beard's falling apart flat.  It was in an awful state; so bad that it is comic. There are literally mushrooms growing inside.  But does Beard deal with it? Of course not. He is unable to deal with anything. And when he does take action, he makes awful choices.

Also hilarious is Beard's ill fated trip to the Arctic. Just read it and try not to laugh.

I also loved how McEwan was able to bring together every single subplot into a highly comic, tragic, but inevitable conclusion. Every bad decision Beard has made throughout the book, comes back to literally "get him" in the end, all at once, in the middle of the desert in New Mexico.  Like most McEwan books, things do not end well for our protagonist, but we are not surprised (there is no way things could have ended well for Beard). The novel ends with the one bright moment in Beard's life, reminding the reader, that before his downfall began, Beard did do good for the world.

Is this book, or McEwan for that matter, for every reader? No. But you need to decide that for yourself. It is dark, but seriously, there are some scenes which are so perfectly constructed, that I laughed out loud as I listened.  I do suggest listening to this book if you can. The language is so thoughtfully crafted that I appreciated it even more as a listener.  Personally, I loved this short, sarcastic look at the scientific community, green energy, and misanthropy. It was the perfect mix of the thought-provoking, funny, and dark that I love in my novels.


Three Words That Describe This Book: darkly comic, character-centered, misanthropic


Readalikes: McEwan's darkly comic tone is very similar to Jonathan Franzen's Freedom, which I will review soon. Both poke fun at bring "green," both feature highly flawed, self absorbed protagonists, and both have sarcastic, single word titles that sum up the irony of their overarching themes.

In general, McEwan is most similar to Margaret Atwood, Philip Roth, Martin Amis and Kazuo Ishiguro in writing style, theme, and character development.

After reading Solar, readers may be interested in solar energy and how feasible it would be to bring cheap solar power to the masses. Here is a book to get you started. Ironically, it has a blurb from Bill Richardson, New Mexico's Governor; the state in which McEwan sets the third act of his novel. McEwan would love this irony.

BPL Displays: September 2010

We have 2 new displays up at the BPL. The first,on the small display, is our annual display in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.  This year the annotated list highlights some literary fiction offerings.

The tall display has actually been up for awhile and makes me happy every time I walk past it. It features "patron picks." Why does it make me so happy though? Well, this summer, our fearless leader, Kathy, had the idea that we should ask the adult summer reading participants to not only write down the titles of the books they read, but also, to rank their favorites using a star system.

We then compiled the highest rated books read this past summer and put them out in the display, adding our own annotated list.

But it is the range of books contained in this display that makes me so happy. I am happy because I am proud of our patrons for reading so many different types of books. I am happy because I am proud of our staff for the work we do each and every day, helping our readers, and making suggestions, which led to this amazing breadth of books. I also saw books on this display that I know were put in a patron's hand by one of our staff.

Another side benefit of this display is that it is serving as a perfect browsing collection. Readers and staff know that these shelves hold a cross section of what the patrons at the BPL like to read. When I am stumped and cannot come up with an idea on what to suggest to a patron a few months from now, I will return to the pick list for this display to help.

To see our archived annotated lists go to the Suggested Reading Lists page on the BPL website.

New Content on the BPL Site

A few months ago, former RA Department Head (once removed) Briana moved into her new role at the BPL as our IT Librarian. Basically her job is to focus on our patron's virtual experience with the library. In other words, just because you access the library virtually doesn't mean we care about you any less than the people who come in the physical building.

One of the first things Briana did was to streamline our website, remove the librarian mumbo jumbo and simply give you, the patron, much simpler choices:

• Home
• About us
• Programs & Events
• How Do I... ?
• Online Resources
• Services - Adults
• Services - Literacy
• Services - Youth 

So now, if you want to access the RA content, you click on Services-Adults  and not only access the RA content, but also the Reference/Nonfiction content and AV. You actual don't have to know what you want now, just if you want adult or youth materials. Thanks to Briana's reorganization, patrons can see their full range of options opening up in front of them.

She has also organized the Meet the Staff Page. Now we are all on one page with links to our Shelfari shelves (if we have one) and our blogs (again, if we have one). It is a great way to see who we all are, what we are reading, and what we are blogging about, all in one place.

Personally, I am very happy with the changes. I think they all help the patrons to have a better virtual experience with the library. I also think these changes encourage the staff to work together more, which is good for us and the patrons.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Monday Discussion: Banned Books Week Edition

As I mentioned here, it is Banned Books Week. This ALA sponsored event is sometimes confusing to patrons. Let me explain. Each year, the ALA releases a list of the books challenged, restricted, removed, or banned over the last year. Here is this year's list.

So, not all of the books have been banned per se, but all of them have been challenged by someone who felt he or she could tell the rest of the world what we can read. I cannot even begin to understand the hubris of someone who thinks their opinion should be the final word on any issue. And protecting children is a bad excuse, since I have small children myself.

What surprises me every year is the books that are being challenged. Take this script from an ALA produced public service announcement:

Catcher in the Rye . . . Of Mice and Men . . . Harry Potter . . .
What's your favorite book? Chances are good that someone has tried to ban it. Celebrate YOUR freedom to read during Banned Books Week, September  25 to October 2.

This list of three must have books for any public or school library in America makes the whole idea of challenging books indefensible in my opinion.Oh, and these books are regularly challenged here in America. We cannot ignore these warnings by thinking it is happening "somewhere else."

Aren't convinced yet? Also from the ALA's promotional materials: "Ten most farfetched (silliest, irrational, illogical) reasons to ban a book."

1. “Encourages children to break dishes so they won’t have to dry them.” ( A Light in the Attic, by Shel Silverstien)
2. “It caused a wave of rapes.” ( Arabian Nights, or Thousand and One Nights, anonymous)
3. “If there is a possibility that something might be controversial, then why not eliminate it?” ( Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown)
4. “Tarzan was ‘living in sin’ with Jane.” ( Tarzan, by Edgar Rice Burroughs)
5. “It is a real ‘downer.’” ( Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank)
6. “The basket carried by Little Red Riding Hood contained a bottle of wine, which condones the use of alcohol.” ( Little Red Riding Hood, by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm K. Grimm)
7. “One bunny is white and the other is black and this ‘brainwashes’ readers into accepting miscegenation.” ( The Rabbit’s Wedding, by Garth Williams)
8. “It is a religious book and public funds should not be used to purchase religious books.” ( Evangelical Commentary on the Bible, by Walter A. Elwell, ed.)
9. “A female dog is called a bitch.” ( My Friend Flicka, by Mary O’Hara)
10. “An unofficial version of the story of Noah’s Ark will confuse children.” ( Many Waters, by Madeleine C. L’Engle) 

These are actual reasons why people wanted books removed from a library.

The biggest concern I have these days though is the challenges from the left.  For example, in this year's list, there is a description of the refusal of the German government to allow a republication of Hitler's Mein Kampf because it would "fuel support of far-right groups." Banning this book is dangerous. Germans (actually everyone) need to understand their history, the good and the bad, so that they are not destined to repeat it. And this is coming from a person (me) whose family had to flee Hitler. This is the same argument that comes up just about every year when people want to ban The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because it using disparaging words to describe African Americans. This argument is just as disturbing to me.

Personally, I am glad that librarians take the lead in exposing the scary truth about censorship in our modern age, but I am also saddened by the fact that we need to have this celebration of the freedom to read.

So today, in honor of Banned Books week, for the Monday Discussion, please share your thoughts and feelings about Banned Books Week, your opinions about censorship, and, if you have one, a story about someone trying to ban a book.

You can also follow and comment on past Monday Discussions here.

Horror Site Getting Press

In case you missed it, RA for All: Horror is gaining attention as we move toward the Halloween season. Over on the Library Journal blog Shelfrenewal, Rebecca Vnuk named the site this week's Web Crush of the Week. Thanks Rebecca.

Subscriptions are rising, the new horror 2010 list is posted, and some of my newest material is now available here in the power point from last week's ARRT presentation.

So what's your excuse for not checking out RA for All: Horror. Are you too scared? As I always say, you shouldn't be afraid our your horror patrons,. They are not monsters, they just like to read about them. Let me help you to help them better. Halloween is just around the corner.

Banned Books Week 2010

Banned Books Week begins tomorrow. Click here for the official press kit.

I happen to be one of those librarians who wears her "I read banned books" pin all year round, but I am always looking for new ways to celebrate Banned Books Week.

Thanks to the folks who put out the weekly American Libraries Direct, a newsletter that goes out to ALA members, I found this article entitled, "The Dirty Dozen: Twelve Books Guaranteed To Turn (Almost) Anyone Into a Censor."

The ALA Direct newsletter also suggested this traveling expedition of 50 books that are "Mad, bad, and dangerous to read," produced by the city of London's public libraries.

Check them out!  And keep reading whatever you want, whenever you want.

Readers on the Go

One of RA for All's faithful readers, wrote this article highlighting 10 Apps for Readers on the Go. 

I am not the biggest fan of reading books electronically, but this article makes the point that enough people have and use their mobile devices to read books that we need to pay attention. This I agree with.

However, the list is missing one major app that any reader on the go needs, the mobile site from their local library. Here's the one from mine.

Public libraries want their patrons to have full access to their web sites from anywhere, and this could include downloadable audio or books (if the library offers these services). Library mobile sites try to make the entire scope of library web services available with a smart phone or Blackberry. So, for many readers on the go, their library's url may be the only app they need. And, it is free!

BPL Book Discussion: Await Your Reply

On Monday, our book group met to discuss Dan Chaon's literary, psychological suspense novel, Await Your Reply.  On Monday, I had posted these questions which I wrote in order to lead the discussion. Chaon himself commented on the questions too.

Also, many of you may recall that I read this novel back in January and loved it! Here is the link to my full review.

From that post, I will share some plot info before I being with the notes from our discussion:

The plot is pretty simple.  There are three stories of three different people who are searching for someone or something.  The novel is also comprised of 3 sections.  In Part 1, each of the three "stories" is quite separate.  Each chapter follows one of the stories, alternating for the entire section.

In Part 2, little parts of each story start to blend together.  Terms, places, names, etc... repeat in what were once separate narratives.  This makes you uncomfortable as a reader, leading to a chaotic and violent ending to Part 2.

Are you with me? I still have Part 3 to describe, but I do need to mention that this layered story telling style means Await Your Reply needs to be read in just a few sittings in order for you to best enjoy the unsettling tone Chaon is consciously constructing.

Okay, back tot he novel. Part 3 rounds out the novel and by its conclusion everything is explained. For the surviving characters things are happy, but open ended. There is a big twist in Part 3 which explains why everything is so unsettling and confusing, but I will not ruin it here. Let's just say you should think outside the box if you want to figure it out.

Again, for the full review click here.

Now on to our discussion.

• Of our 12 participants 6 liked the book, 1 did not, and 5 gave it the so-so rating. 8 also admitted to feeling confused. However, we unanimously agreed that this was an extremely well written, clever, and interestingly constructed book. Later in the discussion I brought up the fact that in the almost 10 years we have been meeting, we spent the most time ever discussing the literary aspects of the novel, delving deeply into the themes, and talking about the way it was written.  We all found this highly satisfying.
• Many who voted for not liking the book said that this feeling was mostly driven by the fact that they did not like any of the characters enough to be invested in their stories. But, another participant countered by saying this book was theme driven, not plot or character driven so she did not mind that they characters were all severely flawed. She was propelled by the issues of identity, who was who, and how they would all be worked out. Our group consensus on this point was stated by yet another participant when she said it was fun to read intellectually, but it was unsatisfying emotionally.
• Obviously, we needed to talk about the construction of the novel which is mentioned in my plot summary above. Overall we agreed that this fractured storytelling enhanced our reading of the novel. For example, one member said you could not help but think about the main issue of identity since you were always questioning "who is who." One person however, did say she did not enjoy the book's construction because she felt "manipulated" by Chaon. I countered by saying that she is right, she was manipulated by Chaon, but that was the point.
• We loved Chaon's use of small details to enhance the unsettling tone of the story. Singled out by the group were making Hayden and Miles' dad a magician, the recurring use of the "lighthouse," and the isolated, unique, and quirky settings. Specifically, we loved the settings and thought they enhanced the story greatly. Since many participants were not emotionally invested in any of the characters, they loved that the settings "added flavor" since they were "extreme" and "dreamlike."
• Next we tackled the main character, who we are going to call Hayden because we think that is his birth name. although if this book taught us one thing, what his name is, what our name is, might not matter. But Hayden did show us that no matter the identity you take on, you are still the same person. In Hayden's case no matter how hard he tries to become someone else, things will never work out the way he wants them to.
• We then talked about our own identities a bit. Does it matter what we call ourselves? We decided that no, your name is just what people call you. You are who you are no matter what name you go by. 
• I liked this comment: Hayden has a hole to fill in himself, and he seeks out others with holes in their lives; holes he hopes to fill.
•  We spent a good deal of time talking about the book's strengths. We agreed that Chaon's creation of an unsettling feeling is a big plus to this novel. You really have no idea what is coming next. We also thought it was "brilliant" to start with the most violent scene. We were primed and waiting for more violence, but it never came; only the retelling of this scene. The fact that he created all of this unease and dread without resorting to graphic language or violence was remarkable to us.
• In terms of weaknesses, although the group enjoyed reading this book for a discussion group, a few wished that there were more "likable" characters. I asked what they thought happened to Lucy, Ryan, and Miles as a result of their run-ins with Hayden? But most people said, they really didn't care. They were happy that they made it through their ordeals, but did not want to know more.
• When we did our usual activity of trying to describe the book in a few words, Some words that came up: depressing, nihilistic, hopeless, upsetting, confusing, and enjoyable. One participant was unsettled by the fact that she felt Chaon was saying to her that she was either the victim or the con.
• The last point I want to bring up includes HUGE SPOILERS!!! So skip to the readalikes sections if you don't want to know the book's big twist. Okay, those of you still with me, here it is. I asked the group when they figured out that all three story lines were one story of Hayden and his different aliases and that the time line was purposely "messed up" to confuse the reader and enhance the themes. Some said it took until the last chapter. Others said they thought early on that Miles and Hayden were actually one person but that he had a split personality. I figured it out when the real Jay meets up with Hayden at the Denver airport. Still another participant said she was forced to take a break in the middle of the book due to hosting house guests. When she came back to it, she was making herself a chart of characters in order to get back into it and realized that Hayden, George, and Jay had to be the same person.

Readalikes: Our group talked about the similarities we found to Alfred Hitchcock stories and movies, specifically Vertigo with its focus on identity. Another member saw some connections to the Stieg Larsson books especially with all of the computer hacking. I had not thought of this, but I think she has a great point. They also both share a gritty, unsettling tone. We also talked about how similar in theme Await Your Reply is to Catch Me If You Can, a nonfiction book about a real person who in the mid-20th Century stole people's identities, only instead of computers, he did it through check fraud.  This led to a side discussion about what a great Hayden Leonardo DiCaprio would make (he played the lead in the movie version of Catch Me If You Can).

I must be getting through to the group, because all of these readalike (and watch alike) suggestions came throughout the course of the discussion, without any prodding from me.

I do have a few more suggestions from the first time I read Await Your Reply to share. You can click through for more, but here is a sampling to leave you with for this month:

In the acknowledgments, Chaon mentions many of his favorite authors who inspired him throughout his life and to whom he paid homage to in this book.  A few of these really work as readalikes for this specific book and I would like to point them out here. Ray Bradbury, Patricia Highsmith, and Peter Straub would all be good choices if you liked Await Your Reply.

Next month we are reading and discussion The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry

Fall 2010 Nonfiction Preview

I inspired myself yesterday, so here is a link to a full list, with calendar, of the big, not to be missed, nonfiction coming out this Fall. Thanks to the folks at Books on the Nightstand for compiling this.

Also, don't forget to check out my post from earlier this month in which I provided a more fiction focused Fall 2010 preview.

Please feel free to pass on any other titles you or your patrons are looking forward to, especially if you do not see them on any of the lists I have posted.

Nonfiction RA: Books About Our Favorite Authors

Yesterday as I was driving to work, I heard an interview on Morning Edition with the official biographer of Roald Dahl, Donald Sturrock.  His new biography of the great writer entitled, Storyteller: The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl, came out last week.

Here is the direct link to the interview.

If you read my post yesterday, where I described how I like my books to make me feel unsettled, than you can understand that I am a huge fan of Dahl's work. I really enjoyed listening to Sturrock talk about Dahl's life and will probably check the book out soon.

However, my enjoyment of this interview got me thinking about how I often forget to suggest books about the life of a favorite author to my patrons. Many of my patrons would love to read a well done, engaging biography about a beloved author, yet, I rarely, if ever suggest one.

No more, this interview has reminded me to think of the writer biography more. I pledge to try to remember to ask readers who really enjoy one specific author if they are interested in not only books by that author, but also books about said author.

Another nonfiction path to take with fans of a specific author or genre is to suggest books in which authors talk about their personal favorites. Again, another newer title reminded me of this.  Thrillers: 100 Must-Reads was just published by the Thriller Writers Inc this summer. From their website:

The most riveting reads in history meet today's biggest thriller writers in Thrillers: 100 Must-Reads.

Edited by David Morrell and Hank Wagner, Thrillers: 100 Must-Reads examines 100 seminal works of suspense through essays contributed by such esteemed modern thriller writers as: David Baldacci, Steve Berry, Sandra Brown, Lee Child, Jeffery Deaver, Tess Gerritsen, Heather Graham, John Lescroart, Gayle Lynds, Katherine Neville, Michael Palmer, James Rollins, R. L. Stine, and many more.

Thrillers: 100 Must-Reads features 100 works - from Beowulf to The Bourne Identity, Dracula to Deliverance, Heart of Darkness to The Hunt for Red October - deemed must-reads by the International Thriller Writers organization.

Much more than an anthology, Thrillers: 100 Must-Reads goes deep inside the most notable thrillers published over the centuries. Through lively, spirited, and thoughtful essays that examine each work's significance, impact, and influence, Thrillers: 100 Must-Reads provides both historical and personal perspective on those spellbinding works that have kept readers on the edge of their seats for centuries.

I have many thriller and suspense readers who would love to try something new and a title suggested by one of their favorite authors might just do the trick.

Basically, with this post I am reminding myself and all of you out there, be you a librarian or reader (or both), to remember that nonfiction books about authors and books is an often overlooked readalike option for a wide range of readers.