Read this: David Sedaris

I just read both Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk and When You Are Engulfed in Flames (ok, I should say that I re-read When You Are Engulfed in Flames) and it just helped to remind me what a fantastic writer David Sedaris really is. David Sedaris is a well-known humorist who, aside from writing books, also contributes to NPR and the New Yorker. Most of his essays are autobiographical, but his recent Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk is a collection of humorous stories with animals as the main characters. Luckily, Lincoln College Library is home to many of Sedaris’ books - find them in the catalog.

Check one out!

'The Dirty Life' by Kristin Kimball

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of self-sustaining, organic farming. I like the idea of safe, natural, healthy foods. I like the idea of thinking locally. I like the idea of food being a product of family. And, strange as it may sound, I really like the idea of hard physical labor. These are all things that are covered by Kimball’s The Dirty Life.

Kristin Kimball is a single, 30-something travel writer living in New York City when she meets the farmer who eventually becomes her husband. The two of them find land in upstate New York and begin a farm with a seemingly simple mission – to create a community supported farm that will provide members with all of the foods needed to feed a family year-round. This means farming grains, vegetables, fruits, poultry, beef and dairy products. Kimball’s journey is fantastically interesting – the reader learns about many different aspects of farm life that city-folk (like me) may not appreciate. The intricacies of creating, equipping and maintaining the farm are mind-boggling, but Kimball describes it in a way that is accessible to people who don’t have a background in agriculture and require explanations.

The fact that Kimball and her husband were able to establish themselves is a wonderful thing to hear – there’s hope for those of us who would like for our lives to be less commercial and more local.

‘Postmortem’ by Patricia Cornwell

Patricia Cornwell is one of the best known crime/suspense writers and the Kay Scarpetta series is her best known work. Postmortem introduces Kay Scarpetta as the Chief Medical Examiner in Virginia. Scarpetta is investigating a series of deaths that are the work of a brutal serial killer. Women from a variety of different backgrounds are being killed and Scarpetta must overcome leaks to the press, accusations and personal battles to catch the murderer.

Whenever I read a suspense novel, my inclination is to try to figure out which of the characters is the killer (I think most people do this). Cornwell’s killer did not end up being the person that I expected – but of course I won’t spoil the surprise.

It is also interesting to note that this book was originally written in 1990. This means that many of the techniques for collecting and analyzing evidence that we take for granted aren’t available to these investigators. Even though they have the ability to collect and analyze DNA evidence, it doesn’t play a big role – one character says that he doubts a jury will convict someone based on DNA evidence. In my opinion, this just adds to the fun – Cornwell’s not-too-distant past is engaging to the very end.

‘The Catcher in the Rye’ by J.D. Salinger

Students at Lincoln College of Technology’s Dayton campus will recognize ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ as one of the possible book choices from Mr. Strickland’s book list for American Literature. Others will know it as one of the most respected American novels of the 20th century. Challenged in some communities for being vulgar or inappropriate, ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ is just as relevant to modern readers as it was to readers 60 years ago.

‘The Catcher in the Rye’ follows sixteen year old Holden Caulfield during two days of his life shortly after he is expelled from boarding school. Holden leaves school and returns to New York City but does not immediately go home. Rather, he checks into a hotel and spends his time reflecting on his past and making plans for the future that he hopes to achieve. This book will ring true for any person who has experienced the disillusionment of growing up.

Banned Books

The list of books banned by American schools and libraries includes many of the classics some of which are listed below. How do you feel about these titles being banned and the reasons why they were banned? Are any of your favorites on this list?

Too Political:

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1852
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, 1928
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, 1929
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, 1939
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway, 1940
Animal Farm by George Orwell, 1945
1984 by George Orwell, 1949
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, 1957
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., 1969
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse by Peter Matthiessen, 1983

Socially Offensive:

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin, 1791
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1850
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, 1884
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, 1930
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, 1932
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, 1936
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, 1937
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, 1947
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, 1951
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, 1953
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, 1960
James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, 1961
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, 1961
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, 1962
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, 1962
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, 1966
Cujo by Stephen King, 1981
The Color Purple by Alice Walker, 1982
Ordinary People by Judith Guest, 1982
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley, 1991
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, 1997-2007

(AARP Bulletin, Sept. 2010)

"Pride and Prejudice" Forever. And Ever.

Will the world ever get tired of rewriting Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice? Probably not; this is unfortunate, because it’s already been done about a million times. For those of you who don’t know, Pride and Prejudice is a classic novel about the proud Mr. Darcy who is destined to fall in love with the lively (and prejudiced) Elizabeth Bennet.

Because most of the rewrites of Pride and Prejudice are modern, they are also quite a bit racier. Some stories put Elizabeth and Darcy in modern settings while others are sequels that speculate about the subsequent lives of the characters. All offer dramatically different portrayals of the lives of two of the best known literary figures.

Luckily, Southwestern College’s Library has a variety of different versions to choose from:
The classic: Pride and Prejudice
Sequels: Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife and Darcy & Elizabeth
A Modernization: The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy

Check with your Librarian if you’re interested in a book from a different location.

‘The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (Manga Edition): An Illustrated Leadership Fable’ by Patrick Lencioni

It is safe to say that I wouldn’t have read this book if it weren’t in graphic novel form. Furthermore, I wouldn’t have read this graphic novel if it weren’t something curriculum-related that I purchased for our library. Lencioni’s story is about a business with disorganized unsuccessful leadership that hires a new CEO to turn the company around. Several meetings take place in which she confronts the tension of the existing management and attempts to teach them to work together effectively.

The end of this book gives specific advice for carrying out the team reformation that the author recommends. It’s difficult to say whether this book would be helpful to me if I were actually in a team leadership position. Most of the advice makes sense and is clearly explained. But is the advice too simple? It seems like some of the things discussed may be obvious, but maybe this is the problem – management techniques that work are so deceptively simple that they get overlooked.

As I’m sure some are aware, Lencioni has written The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (non-Manga edition), on which this edition is based. I can’t comment on how similar the content is, not having read the original. However, as a person who reads very little in the way of business management books, I can say that this is a tolerably entertaining, quick and painless read.