Book Discussions: January through June, 2016

Join us once a month, on a Wednesday afternoon from 1:00 to 2:00 pm, to discuss a fiction or non-fiction book selection. Coffee, tea, and cookies are served. Books are available at the Circulation Desk four weeks before the discussion date. Our schedule is:

          January 20^th: The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics is written by Daniel James Brown. It traces the story of an American rowing team from the University of Washington that defeated elite rivals at Hitler’s 1936 Berlin Olympics, sharing the experiences of such contributors as their enigmatic coach, a visionary boat builder and a homeless teen rower. Registration begins December 16^th.

         February 17^th: The History of Love is written by Nicole Krauss. This is a novel about a man named Leo Gursky, who reminisces about his lost love, missing son, and the publication of his book. Meanwhile, a teenage girl named for one of the book’s characters seeks her namesake, as well as a cure for her widowed mother’s loneliness. Registration begins January 20^th.

         March 16^th: The Art Forger: a Novel is written by Barbara Shapiro. It is about an artist with a tarnished reputation who stumbles on a piece of art that disappeared twenty-five years ago. She agrees to forge it for a gallery owner but then realizes that the art she is forging may itself be a forgery. Registration begins February 17^th.

          April 20^th: The Weird Sisters is written by Eleanor Brown. It is about three sisters who are unwillingly brought together to care for their ailing mother; they discover that everything they have been avoiding may prove more worthwhile than expected. Registration begins March 16^th.

          May 18^th: Time and Again is written by Jack Finney. Here, Simon Morley is selected by a secret government agency to test Einstein’s theory of the past co-existing with the present and is transported back to 1880s New York. Registration begins April 20th.

          June 15^th: Unbroken: a World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption is written by Laura Hillenbrand. It relates the story of a U.S. airman who survived when his bomber crashed into the sea during World War II, spent forty-seven days adrift in the ocean before being rescued by the Japanese Navy, and was held as a prisoner until the end of the war. Registration begins May 18^th.

Fit and Healthy for the New Year

            January 1^st is around the corner! After the overindulgences of this holiday season, we’ll all be ready for our resolution to be fit and healthy for the New Year. Here are some books to help you plan your course.

            Eat Clean, Stay Lean: 300 Real Foods and Recipes for Lifelong Health and Lasting Weight Loss is a publication written by registered dietitian Wendy Bazilian and the editors of Prevention magazine. The reader is introduced to the basics and benefits of clean eating with whole foods like fresh fruits, vegetables, unprocessed meats and fish, and unrefined grains, then learns how and where to shop for these foods. Chapters follow on each type of food (fruits and veggies, proteins, condiments, etc.) with recipes, color photos, and preparation tips.  

            Yoga Therapy for Stress & Anxiety: Create a Personalized Holistic Plan to Balance Your Life, is written by three experts on yoga and meditation. The authors explain what creates a stress-filled life and how to use exercises, breathing techniques, meditation and other tools to relieve this stress. Over fifty illustrations of yoga postures are presented to assist the reader.

          Core Fitness, written by Hollis Lance Liebman, is a fully-illustrated introductory guide to working the body’s core, which is a system of muscles in the lower-trunk area that includes the lower back, abdomen, and hips. After learning about the necessary equipment and nutritional requirements, the reader is presented with over seventy exercises for warm-up, core stabilizers, core strengtheners, and cool-downs. 

New Books about Diabetes

            Celebrate American Diabetes Month in November with these newly published books.

            21 Things You Need to Know about Diabetes and Nutrition, written by Stephanie A. Dunbar and Cassandra L. Verdi, two nutritionists who work for the American Diabetes Association. They present the 21 most common questions people have about diabetes, nutrition, and meal planning, and provide the answers in easy-to-understand text. Topics include best carbohydrate choices, carbohydrate counting, reading nutrition labels and glycemic index. The reader learns how to enjoy special occasions and eating out as well as daily meal planning.

            Ask the Experts: Expert Answers about your Diabetes, is compiled by the editors of the Diabetes Forecast from its bi-monthly issues. Actual questions and answers are presented on such topic areas as nutrition, exercise and weight loss, monitoring blood glucose, oral medications and supplements, using insulin, diabetic complications, and more.

            The Diabetes Solution: How to Control Type 2 Diabetes and Reverse Prediabetes Using Simple Diet and Lifestyle Changes is written by Jorge E. Rodriguez, MD and Susan Wyler, RDN.  Rodriguez, a gastroenterologist and Wyler, a nutritionist and cookbook author, provide an overview of the disease and describe how to control it through meal planning, exercise, and medication. Also provided are one hundred recipes that control intake of carbs and calories and promote weight loss that is so important in managing diabetes.

            The Johns Hopkins Guide to Diabetes: for Patients and Families is written by Christopher D. Saudek and others. This is the second edition of the book, providing up-to-date research on diabetes diagnosis and genetic effects, improvements in blood glucose monitoring, oral and insulin medications, benefits of good nutrition and exercise, use of insulin pumps, and more.

 

 

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

            Erik Larson is the author of several bestselling non-fiction books that read like suspense novels. Here he presents the story of William E. Dodd who in 1933 was appointed as the American diplomat to Germany. Dodd was a middle-class history professor and author who was a supporter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He brought along his wife and two adult children to his post. Dodd was out of his element among the other diplomats who qualified by virtue of their political connections and upper-class status.

This was a transitional time for Germany; Adolf Hitler was amassing power over the German government but had not yet gained full control. Dodd found that the Germany that he remembered from his college years had changed. His daughter Martha and son Bill embraced an active social life; Martha had several affairs with German officials, communists, and others. While at first she was impressed by the “new” Germans in time she became disillusioned.

Dodd, who at the outset did not believe the rumors of violent incidents against the Jews, homosexuals, communists, and other minorities, eventually saw these events at close range. He spent his last few years as diplomat trying to publicize the growing crisis in Germany but was ignored. Would acknowledgement of this crisis changed world events? We will never know.

Martha’s diaries and correspondences, sharpened by her previous publishing career experience in the United States, and Dodd’s professional and personal correspondences provided most of the detail for this book. Larson’s meticulous attention to detail and character development make reading it an instructive experience.

Beauty, Thy Name is Woman

            The quotation really is “Vanity, thy name is woman”, but the above title is appropriate for this entry. Usually women are the ones who search for reading material on improving their physical appearance. Here are some of our library’s new selections on this popular subject.

            Me, My Hair, and I: Twenty-Seven Women Untangle an Obsession, edited by Elizabeth Benedict, is a collection of essays written by a variety of famous and not-so-famous writers, actresses, and others about their crowning glories. Each selection is humorous and informative, giving the reader insight into the cultural and emotional entanglements that our hair produces.

            Vintage Hairstyles: Simple Steps for Retro Hair with a Modern Twist is written by Emma Sundh and Sarah Wing, with accompanying photographs done by Martina Ankarfyr.  Wing is the hairstylist who has developed the easy-to-do modern techniques for producing these retro hairstyles dating from 1910 through the 1960s. Tips on color, accessorizing the hairstyle, and makeup ideas also are presented.

            How to Fake Real Beauty: Tricks of the Trade to Master Your Makeup is written by professional makeup artist Ramy Gafni. From faking the perfect complexion to the perfect tan, to creating big eyes and shapely eyebrows, the information is here. Create a brighter smile and use contouring to change the shape of your face and features. A multitude of color photos provide guidance for the reader.   

The Bee Cottage Story: How I Made a Muddle of Things and Decorated My Way Back to Happiness

            Frances Schultz, the author, can list several accomplishments to her resume. She is a blogger (FrancesSchultz.com), author and co-author of several books, a contributing editor to House Beautiful, has appeared on several television shows, and more. Here she presents a combination memoir and home decorating guide; showing us her inner soul and her home and how she was able to develop both.

            The reader learns about Frances’s abilities and accomplishments during her early years, in her career and the social/emotional realm. Yet as she approached the age of fifty, she broke off a relationship just before the wedding because she realized that she wasn’t being true to herself and her fiance. At loose ends, Frances decided to cope psychologically by throwing herself into a renovation project. Before she broke off her engagement, Frances, with her fiance’s approval, had purchased a small cottage in East Hampton. She threw herself into the project; its details are recorded here with helpful decorating guidelines and accompanied by appealing before-and-after photographs taken by Trevor Tondro.    

            Happily, Frances succeeds in both creating her new home and recovering emotionally. This book is based upon the House Beautiful magazine series on the makeover of Bee Cottage.

            

Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker

            This novel, based on fact, is written by Jennifer Chiaverini. It tells the story of Elizabeth Hobbs Keckley, a talented needlewoman and a former slave who worked to earn freedom for herself and her son. She settled in pre-Civil War Washington D.C. where she successfully established her own business as modiste, or dressmaker, to the fashionable wives of politicians.

            But the political atmosphere was changing in Washington D.C. Abraham Lincoln was elected as president and tensions grew between the northern and southern states. Elizabeth’s success increased when she was introduced to Mary Lincoln, the president’s wife, and became Mrs. Lincoln’s only dressmaker. Through the years of the Lincoln presidency, Elizabeth had a front row seat to their domestic life and historic events. She became the confidante of Mary Lincoln and was able to deal with her erratic moods which most of Washington D.C. society criticized.

            After Abraham Lincoln’s assassination in 1865, Elizabeth continued to emotionally support Mary while others turned away from her. However, Elizabeth’s decision to write her autobiography featuring her years of slavery, establishment of her dressmaking business, and relationship with Mary came back to bite her when the publisher modified some of the text to present a salacious view of Mary. Mary broke off all contact with Elizabeth and never reconciled with her.

            Even though the ending of the friendship upset Elizabeth, she continued with her life’s work of promoting equality for the newly freed slaves.