Summer Fiction: Around the World in 24 Books

--by Lucinda Everett (published in The Telegraph, Book Reviews, May 2011)

Argentinian thrillers, Tuscan farce, love in the Australian outback... Wherever you're jetting off to this summer, there's a story to suit your surroundings.

France - If you’re joining the jet set on the Riviera, pick up Tender is the Night, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s tale of Twenties’ debauchery, charting the demise of Dick Driver and his hedonistic pals. Fans of Joanne Harris’s Chocolat may like the next title in her “food trilogy,” Blackberry Wine, in which a blocked bestselling author buys a French farmhouse hoping to recreate his childhood summers.

Italy - If a summer romance is looking unlikely, E.M. Forster’s A Room with a View, in which Lucy Honeychurch escapes Edwardian England for a Florentine fling, should provide some vicarious titillation. And for a bit of Tuscan farce, pack Cooking with Fernet Branca, James Hamilton-Paterson’s comedy of errors that sees solitude-seeking expatriates Gerald and Marta become begrudgingly close neighbours.

Spain - No suitcase (or Kindle) full of Spanish fiction should be without Miguel de Cervantes’s masterpiece Don Quixote, which follows the adventures of a chivalry-obsessed knight errant. Those with more contemporary tastes should try Manuel Vázquez Montalbán’s Barcelona-set The Man of my Life, a gripping instalment in the series centred on Pepe Carvalho, a fiery detective with a penchant for fine food and women.

United States - Those intrigued by the US’s troubled past should read Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison’s Beloved, which follows Sethe and her daughter Denver as they rebuild their lives after slavery. And if you’re heading to the City of Angels, Raymond Chandler’s hard-boiled detective classic The Big Sleep is a must. The first in the Philip Marlowe series, its grim violence and ingenious twists play out on perfectly depicted LA streets.

Greece - There are few summer novels that can beat Louis de Bernières’s wartime love story, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, for sun-drenched landscapes and good old-fashioned yearning. People-watchers will love Panos Karnezis’s Little Infamies, which peeks gleefully into the lives of one village’s inhabitants. Expect priests, prostitutes and Homer-reciting parrots.

Cuba - Those in search of grit should pack Pedro Juan Gutiérrez’s Dirty Havana Trilogy, a visceral novel that ventures down Havana’s dark alleys and spotlights its lusty inhabitants. The product of a (slightly) more innocent era, Graham Greene’s Our Man in Havana is a classic black comedy about James Wormold, a vacuum cleaner salesman turned secret agent.

Mexico - All the Pretty Horses is the first book in Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy, a coming-of-age epic, which follows adolescent Texan cowboys John and Lacey into the beautiful, brutal Mexican landscape. Foodies, opt for Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Each chapter in this story of forbidden love begins with a Mexican recipe that is prepared as the chapter’s events unfold.

Argentina - Set in Buenos Aires, Tomás Eloy Martínez’s hallucinatory thriller The Tango Singer joins student Bruno Cadogan on the hunt for an elusive tango legend. Julio Cortázar’s Hopscotch recounts the adventures of a flighty Argentinian writer forced to knuckle down as a salesman before getting jobs in an asylum and a circus.

New Zealand and Australia - New Zealand’s South Island beaches are the setting for Keri Hulme’s Booker Prize-winning novel, The Bone People, a fable that combines Maori myth with dazzling descriptions. For a rollicking read on an Aussie beach, pack Colleen McCullough’s saga The Thorn Birds, which charts the life of Meggie Cleary as she grows up on a sheep station in the Australian outback.

Thailand - Set in lush Thai landscapes, Mischa Berlinski’s Fieldwork is a nimble adventure story centred on one journalist’s quest to clear the name of an anthropologist wrongfully accused of murder. A must for any backpacker, Alex Garland’s The Beach follows Richard as he infiltrates a seemingly Utopian community in a secret beach paradise, only to find himself part of a brutal Lord of the Flies-style “democracy.”

India - Those journeying south must pack The God of Small Things, a tragic story of devoted twins in which rural Kerala is brought to life by Arundhati Roy’s exquisite prose. Crowned the Best of 40 Years of the Booker Prize, Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children is a history of Indian independence, as told by Saleem Sinai, a mixed-race boy born at the moment India became its own country.

Turkey - Anyone visiting the historic site of Hisarlik should enjoy The Fall of Troy, Peter Ackroyd’s story of the ancient city’s excavation by obsessive and devious archaeologist Heinrich Obermann (based on the similarly natured real life excavator Heinrich Schliemann). And in Rose Macaulay’s The Towers of Trebizond, a group of unlikely travelling companions journey from Istanbul to Trebizond via a host of oddballs.

Booklist's "Top 10 SF/Fantasy: 2011"

--by Brad Hooper
(First published in Booklist, May 15, 2011)

SF and fantasy, as with all fiction genres these days, offer tantalizing — even dizzying — diversity, which, of course, beckons a wide spectrum of readers of popular fiction. The 10 novels below are the ones Booklist thought particularly tantalizing of the titles we reviewed over the past 12 months.

All the Lives He Led (Frederick Pohl). It’s 2079 and Pompeii has become a theme park. Pohl is a master of everything that goes into a cracking good novel, and for this one, he has clearly boned up on vulcanology to boot.

The Best of Larry Niven (Larry Niven). Niven excels at creating possible futures that are the outcome of current ideas stretched to the extreme. This is a collection to love.

A Discovery of Witches (Deborah Harkness). Diana Bishop is the last of the Bishops, a powerful family of witches, but she has refused her magic ever since her parents died. Essential reading across literary mystery and epic and fantastic romance genres.

Dragon Haven (Robin Hobb). The second volume of the Rain Wilds Chronicles shows Hobb again working at the highest level of contemporary fantasy, to which her creativity with dragons adds majesty.

Hellhole (Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson). This is a militaristic sf story of galactic proportions that also offers characters easy for the reader to believe in.

Midsummer Night (Freda Warrington). Set after the end of the Great War, this novel should please classic- and urban-fantasy fans, romance readers, and anyone looking for a good, fey story.

Pale Demon (Kim Harrison). The ninth Rachel Morgan novel finds our tough and feisty witch on a mission to get her shunning rescinded; this is an excellent series entry that is guaranteed to satisfy the author’s following.

The Spirit Thief (Rachel Aaron). Aaron’s outstanding fantasy debut is the first in a trilogy about unrepentant thief Eli Monpress, whose goal is to amass $1 million in gold.

Thirteen Years Later (Jasper Kent). Kent has magically blended history, folklore, and storytelling to produce a superb account of the Dekabrist revolt in 1825 Russia.

What the Night Knows (Dean Koontz). This novel is deliberate, highly supernatural, somber throughout, and motivated by religious dread—one of Koontz’s weightiest performances.

Booklist's "The Year’s Best Crime Novels: 2011"

--by Bill Ott (First published on May 1, 2011 in Booklist)

So what kind of a year has it been in crime fiction? There has been lots of genre bending, that’s for sure, with the distinctions between crime, horror, and urban fantasy becoming more and more fluid as the vampires, zombies, and shape-shifters jump from genre to genre like the former headmasters of Hogwarts strolling between paintings. Beyond that, though, mainstream crime writers have done what they always do: turn out superior work in a multitude of styles and degrees of light and dark...

There is a perfect split in the top 10 among first-timers and repeaters, with Louise Penny (Bury Your Dead) extending her streak to three years in a row. She’s joined on the repeater roll by Kate Atkinson (Started Early, Took My Dog — the year’s catchiest title, hands down), Jo Nesbo (The Snowman), Henning Mankell (The Troubled Man), and the late, great Robert B. Parker (Painted Ladies).

Our work here is done, but yours is only beginning, just in time for the summer reading season.


The Anniversary Man (R. J. Ellory) - NYPD Detective Ray Irving — overworked, underpaid, and absolutely dedicated to his job — risks his sense of ethics and, ultimately, his life to track down a serial killer who is imitating the crimes of some of the worst monsters in history. Entirely free of formula, Ellory’s breakthrough procedural should give him the kind of acclaim in the U.S. that he enjoys in his native Britain. (on order)

Bury Your Dead (Louis Penny) - Penny’s sixth Armande Gamache novel is her best yet, a true tour de force of storytelling. Juggling three freestanding but subtly intertwined stories, Penny moves seamlessly from present to past as Gamache, the chief inspector of the Sûreté du Quebec, investigates a murder in Quebec City, tries to determine if he jailed the wrong man in an earlier case, and struggles with his memories of a third case that went horribly wrong. Penny hits every note perfectly in what is one of the most elaborately constructed mysteries in years. (on order)


Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter (Tom Franklin) - Silas and Larry, two poor kids in 1970s Mississippi, were close until they drifted apart after Larry’s date disappeared one night and never returned. Now, 20 years later, Silas is the new town constable, and another girl disappears in similar circumstances. Edgar winner Franklin delivers luminous prose and a cast of unforgettable characters in this moody, masterful mix of crime and literary fiction. (on order)




Gone (Mo Hayder) - In this fifth riveting entry in Hayder’s series starring haunted homicide detective Jack Caffery, the disappearance of an 11-year-old girl leaves police playing catch-up against an adversary who seems to anticipate all their moves. The meticulously crafted plot is heightened by Hayder’s skillful evocation of mood in this utterly gripping thriller. (on order)

Painted Ladies (Robert B. Parker) - Are we honoring the late Parker’s career here or is this really one of his best books in its own right? Well, both. His penultimate Spenser novel captures all the charm of the landmark series. The iconic Boston PI can still nail a person’s foibles on first meeting, still whip up a gourmet meal in a few minutes, still dispatch the thugs who haunt his office and his home, and still do it all while maintaining a fierce love of Susan Silverman and English poetry. Parker was one of the first to show us that a hard-boiled hero doesn’t have to frown all the time, and we’ve been smiling along with Spenser ever since.

The Snowman (Jo Nesbø) - Norway’s maverick detective Harry Hole is back in this fourth installment of Nesbø’s uniformly outstanding series. A new case puts Harry on the track of another serial killer, and once again his obsessive approach to crime-solving puts him at odds with his peers. Nesbø layers the suspense skillfully, deftly mixing scenes from the investigation with glimpses into Harry’s always compelling personal life. With the conclusion of Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander series, the Harry Hole novels now assume the top spot in the Scandinavian crime-fiction universe. (on order)

Spiral (Paul McEuen) - Cornell physicist McEuen, writing his first novel in his “spare time,” may have created the most engrossing thriller of the year. With the murder of an 85-year-old physicist, it’s left to one of his colleagues, the victim’s granddaughter, and her nine-year-old son to thwart a complex scheme to launch the “most devastating terrorist attack in human history.” McEuen offers lucid disquisitions on science; posits that “synthetic biology” will surpass silicon microelectronics as the next big technological wave; and, remarkably, he makes these ideas accessible to the average thriller fan. (on order)

Started Early, Took My Dog (Kate Atkinson) - In the latest entry in Atkinson’s brilliant Jackson Brodie series, the semiretired detective is touring abbeys in northern England, but soon enough he becomes involved in several interrelated cases, one of which concerns a police detective who has rescued a child from a prostitute by paying cash for her. Her odyssey as a new parent, relayed with tenderness and wry wit, must be one of the grandest love affairs in crime fiction. For its singular melding of radiant humor and dark deeds, this is must-reading for fans of literary crime fiction. (on order)

The Terrorist (Peter Steiner) - American expat Louis Morgon’s retirement in a Loire Valley village is upset by cancer and by the life he left decades before. The former CIA agent has helped a young Algerian boy get a scholarship, but now the boy has been deposited in a secret prison. Weakened by cancer, Louis must uncover valuable information about al-Qaeda that he can trade for the boy’s release. The Terrorist is a deeply human story of a man in the last years of his life, who, unexpectedly, has again found love but who is sucked back into a cynical, dangerous milieu he abhors. An espionage gem with strong echoes of Greene and le Carré. (on order)

The Troubled Man (Henning Mankell) - The final volume in Mankell’s Kurt Wallander series represents a landmark moment in the genre. As Wallander strives to find his daughter-in-law’s disappeared father, he launches another, more poignant investigation into his own past. This is a deeply melancholy novel, but Mankell, sweeping gracefully between reflections on international politics and meditations on the inevitable arc of human life, never lets his story become engulfed by darkness. Always a reticent man, Wallander shows an intensity of emotion here, a last gasp of felt life, which is both moving and oddly inspiring.

10 Ways Libraries Matter in a Digital Age

--by Greg Landgraf (American Libraries, May 4, 2011)

After “10 Reasons Why the Internet is No Substitute for a Library,” a 2001 article in American Libraries, received some unwelcome attention two weeks ago, we sought your feedback to help create an updated version. Based on reader comments and staff discussions, we’ve drafted this list of reasons why libraries matter in a digital age. We welcome your additions to this list.

Libraries serve the disenfranchised. You don’t need to be the proper age, or the proper race, or have enough money, or know the right politicians, or believe in the “right” things to use the library’s resources.

Libraries are a gathering place. The physical structures and the programs within them make possible social and cultural discourse with friends and strangers. “They are a safe place of education where our masses, young and old, can have a moment of peace or an impassioned dialogue exchanged with others,” writes one commenter.

Libraries are a first step to literacy. For our youngest patrons, libraries offer story hours, book talks, and reading-related play to spark the imagination and create a sense of wonder. Thanks to this work, words can change from indecipherable and frustrating squiggles to sources of joy and inspiration. Libraries also provide needed support for immigrants and those for whom English is a second language.

Libraries are there for all ages. For young children, libraries offer storytimes, beginning books, and creative programming. Seniors can enjoy books on their passions, classes, and technology. And libraries provide services to all regardless of what stage of life—whether finding a job, buying their first house, learning a new skill, taking up a new hobby, or any of a thousand other things.

Libraries help people use the internet. … “The ‘libraries vs. internet’ concept is foolish because libraries work WITH the internet to bring patrons information,” writes commenter Stacey. “We provide internet access for those who cannot afford it… . We provide research assistance to patrons who know how to type, but not how to formulate searches or choose keywords properly.”

… And libraries help people use the internet better. Accessing the internet is easy. Accessing the full depth of the internet is hard. “I’ve met a lot of people (patrons and students) who thought the Internet was a perfectly good substitute for the library—until they realized they were drowning in ‘information’ and still hadn’t found what they needed,” writes commenter M. Mori. “I help those people by teaching them better search techniques, how to search the ‘deep web’ (where commercial search engines can’t go), and ways to evaluate the good from the bad among the resources they select.”

Libraries are interested in your privacy. Libraries have a long history of defending patron privacy—a history that is supported by confidentiality laws in almost every state. We don’t collect hackable lists of credit card numbers or broadcast our patrons’ whereabouts to the world.

Libraries are hubs for preserving the past. Digital libraries are wondrous, but they exist, for the most part, because of the local and world treasures safeguarded by brick-and-mortar libraries, which keep them safe and accessible for future generations. We also work to help our patrons preserve their own materials.

Libraries are there in a crisis. After the recent tornadoes in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa Public Library offered college students a means to communicate with friends and family. When Hurricane Ike struck Houston September 13, 2008, the Central Library reopened within three days to help residents contact insurance companies and file federal aid applications. Libraries belong to their communities and do what it takes in times of need.

Libraries offer the human touch. As commenter Pat G. writes, “the interface between a librarian and the client is priceless. Patrons who seek help in selecting a good book could use online reviews, but nothing beats the ‘Try this one, I’ve read it and I think you’ll like it’ approach.” Librarians get to know their patrons and offer service personalized to them.