Memphis Reads

Nonfiction/Memphis History

Marilyn reviews MEMPHIS IN BLACK AND WHITE by Beverly G. Bond and Jannan Sherman (Arcadia, 2003)

Throughout the history of the Fourth Bluff, the power of its geographic location has shaped the lives of the people living here. From the Indians to the present, people have used Fourth Chickasaw Bluff as a trading center.

Memphis in Black and White, by Beverly G. Bond and Jannann Sherman, tells the rise of the Fourth Chickasaw Bluff from a Native American trading area and hunting ground to an international center with world wide influence. Starting with the Native Americans of the Mississippian culture, Bond and Sherman trace the development of the bluff city into a worldwide distribution center with a city of almost a half a million inhabitants, who have an international influence.

The authors discuss the influence of politics, religion, African-Americans, English, French, German, Irish, Italian, Jewish, and Spanish on the city. The development of Memphis' medical hospitals, schools, industry, transportation industry, public transportation, sewage system, infrastructure, and sports is also explored. The lives of dreamers and shakers, such as John Overton, Robert Church, Clarence Saunders, Tom Lee, E. H. Crump, Lloyd Binford, and Fred Smith are recounted in this fascinating read of Memphis history.

Marilyn Umfress, History Department

Labels: Memphis History, Nonfiction, Reviews by Marilyn Umfress

New York Times reported that "[a] book about the conflict between Muslims and Christians and one about the migration of black Americans from south to north won the 2011 J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project Awards for exceptional nonfiction." About the award.

The Tenth Parallel: Dispatches From the Fault Line Between Christianity and Islam by Eliza Griswold won the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize. The Warmth of Other Suns, by Isabel Wilkerson, won the Mark Lynton History Prize. Read full article.

Isabel Wilkerson visited our WYPL studios in February for a taping of the library's Book Talk program. Click here to listen to the Book Talk podcast.

Science Fiction fans, links to samples of works nominated for the 2011 Hugo Awards have been compiled at Galleycat. The extended list of nominees for this award, given to the best in science fiction each year, are available at Renovation.

Labels: Awards, News and Notes

Nonfiction/Memoir

Andrea reviews HOPE'S BOY: A MEMOIR by Andrew Bridge (Hyperion, 2008)

This is the account of Andy Bridge. Raised by his grandmother Kate for the first five years of his life in Chicago, everything seemed good, except Andy always wondered why he didn’t have two parents around like everyone else. Only when his mother, Hope, showed up to take him to live in California did things get really rotten. Living in squalor and realizing she could not afford to raise her son, Hope abandoned him when he was only seven years old.

Becoming a ward of the state of California, Andy first lived in a group home environment where the children were horribly mistreated in every possible aspect. Later, he lived with the Leonard family where the wife was overbearing but her husband all but ignored Andy. His foster siblings imitated their parents’ behavior, since they had so many foster children come in and out of their house growing up.

Whereas, the average foster child will live with a family no more than two and a half years, Andy lived with the Leonards for 11 years--from the time he was seven until he was emancipated by the state at age 18. The author claimed that just because he lived with the family didn’t mean he was ever loved or accepted by them.

Andy realized that academic achievement, determination, and persistence were his only ways to get out of such a despairing situation. After being accepted and receiving a sizable scholarship to attend Wesleyan College in Connecticut, Andy saw his way out. His foster father’s only comment about Andy’s success was, “Where’s that school located?”

Becoming “Andrew” in college and after being accepted into Harvard Law School, the author became an advocate for foster children nationwide. He currently serves as the Los Angeles Executive Director of the Alliance of Children’s Rights.

Andrew could have gotten lost and shuffled around the system, but he always knew someone out there needed him. Maybe his mother was not capable of raising him and the Leonard family saw him just as another foster kid but the author knew his worth. Knowing these two things, Andrew Bridge has made huge strides for foster relationships and children’s rights throughout the Los Angeles area.

I finished this memoir in two days. It reminded me a lot of The Glass Castle in the fact that the author doesn't want sympathy; he is just telling his story. Check it out sometime!

Andrea King, Poplar-White Station Library

Labels: Memoir, Nonfiction, Reviews by Andrea King

The 2011 winners of the Pulitzer Prize were announced Monday, April 18th. The Pulitzer is best known as an award for journalism but books also receive honors under the "Letters" category (Awards history). View those winners below.

Fiction - A Visit From the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan

History - The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, by Eric Foner

Biography - Washington: A Life, by Ron Chernow

General Nonfiction: The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, by Siddhartha Mukherjee

View all Pulitzer Prize winners

Labels: Awards, News and Notes

Fiction/Horror

The horror fiction genre was discussed March 17 as part of the library's What's Your Flavor reader's advisory series. This is a review from one of the participants.

Audrey reviews GUILTY PLEASURES: AN ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER NOVEL by Laurell K. Hamilton

"…I spend most of my waking hours confronting and destroying things that I fear. A thousand-year-old master vampire was a tall order, but a girl’s got to have a goal."

Meet Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter. I am not a horror reader. But I love a smart-aleck, gutsy heroine. And Anita Blake is definitely that - sort of a grown-up Harriet the Spy in a paranormal world.

Guilty Pleasures is the first in a (to date) seventeen book series, set in St. Louis. This book is definitely plot-driven and not for the faint of heart--gore abounds, as do vampires, ghouls and were-rats (Were-rats?? Who knew?).

But through it all, Anita Blake is a captivating, believable and funny heroine, whose ruminations certainly made me chuckle while I anxiously turned the pages to see what would happen next. I was at times confused by so many characters flying in and out (pun intended) - but the plot’s the thing, and Anita triumphs to engage in many more books of vampire-hunting.

Recommended as a new adventure for open-minded non-horror readers who can tolerate some violence and gore.

From her website, laurellkhamilton.org:

"Laurell K. Hamilton is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of two series that mix mystery, fantasy, magic, horror and romance. Her Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter novels from Penguin/Putnam Books began with GUILTY PLEASURES (now a hugely successful graphic novel from Marvel - the first sexy paranormal comic ever!) and continues with SKIN TRADE, number seventeen in the series.

There are now more than 6 million copies of Anita in print worldwide, in 16 languages."

Audrey May, LINC/2-1-1

Labels: Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal, Reviews by Audrey May

Labels: News and Notes

Jennifer Egan's novel, A Visit from the Good Squad, is the winner of the 2011 Tournament of Books. This contest is "an annual, irreverent literary contest structured like and coinciding with the NCAA basketball tournament, sponsored by The Morning News." Click for full article.

The winners of the 2011 Indies Choice Book Awards were announced on April 6, 2011. The winners listed below were chosen by members of the American Booksellers Association.

Adult Fiction Book of the Year: Room, by Emma Donoghue (Past review)

Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year: Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand

Adult Debut Book of the Year: Matterhorn, by Karl Marlantes

Young Adult Book of the Year: Revolution, by Jennifer Donnelly

Click for full article.

Labels: Awards, News and Notes

Fiction/Women's

Andrea reviews THE WEIRD SISTERS by Eleanor Brown (Amy Einhorn Books/G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2011)

This is not a novel of sentimentality and sap. In fact, the cover reads “See, we love each other. We just don’t happen to like each other very much.”

These three sisters are the daughters of a small town college's Shakespeare professor and his wife. Apparently overzealous in his expertise, Dr. Andreas decided each daughter needed to be named after a Shakespearean heroine. Rosalind, Bianca, and Cordelia are grateful for their names because their father’s colleague, a Classics professor, named his daughter Lysistrata, nicknamed Lyssie!

Dr. Andreas has written each daughter a letter stating, “Come, let us go; and pray to all gods/for our beloved mother in her pains.” As obscure as this message is, each sister realizes it’s time to come home, since their mother has cancer.

Rose, the oldest and dutiful daughter, has decided to put her wedding plans on hold and move back home to take care of her mother. Bean, the flirtatious middle daughter, has gotten fired from her job in New York and decides to return to her small town home as a way of escaping legal and financial issues. Cordy, the spoiled youngest, arrives home to Barnwell last, after indulging in a hippie lifestyle.

Being their father’s daughters, the three spout Shakespearean phrases when conversing or arguing with each other. The liberal sprinkling of such phrases and quotations actually works well, but it also takes some getting used to when reading the book. This novel also took some getting used to based on the fact that the three sisters speak as a single point of view. The pronouns “we” and “us” are most commonly used.

This is a solid, charming, well-written story by Eleanor Brown, who can boast of having her Master’s Degree in Literature. Using the single point of view works well because the sisters can talk about themselves or each other freely and equally. Although the sisters start out at odds with each other and themselves, it was refreshing to see all of them end in peace.

Andrea King, Poplar-White Station Library

Labels: Chick Lit, Reviews by Andrea King, Women's Fiction

The nominees for the 2011 RITA and Golden Heart Awards were announced in late March. The Romance Writers of American (RWA) will announce the winners on July 2, 2011 during their annual conference in New York City. Visit their website to view finalists in their respective categories.

About the awards:

"The purpose of the RITA® contest is to promote excellence in the romance genre by recognizing outstanding published romance novels and novellas.

The purpose of the Golden Heart® contest is to promote excellence in the romance genre by recognizing outstanding romance manuscripts."

Did you know that RITA stands for “Romance is Treasured Always?” View the awards history page to learn more.

Labels: Awards, News and Notes

April 10-16, 2011 is National Library Week. This year's Honorary Chair is John Grisham, best-selling author of The Confession and Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer, his first children's book.

We know libraries have played a huge part in satisfying your love of reading. Click on the banner above to visit ALA's "Celebrate National Library Week" page. Learn about contests and other ways to show appreciation for libraries of all kinds.

Labels: News and Notes

Fiction/Women's Fiction

Darletha reviews GODS IN ALABAMA by Joshilyn Jackson (Warner Books, 2005)

This story begins with one of the best first liners: "There are gods in Alabama: Jack Daniel's, high school quarterbacks, trucks, big tits, and also Jesus."

Chicago transplant, Arlene Fleet, has avoided Alabama, its gods, and all family gatherings since she graduated from high school ten years ago. After she killed Jim Beverly, the high school quarterback, she made a promise to God that she would stop fornicating, never lie, and never return to Possett, Alabama, if the body was never found. Unfortunately, Arlene’s past has arrived in Chicago in the form of Rose Mae Lolley.

Rose Mae, the missing quarterback's girlfriend, is searching for answers to his disappearance. Even worse, Arlene’s African-American boyfriend thinks it's time to be properly introduced to her family, despite warnings of their racist views. Arlene must decide if she is ready to travel down south to come to terms with her not-so-pretty past.

This was a funny but sad novel I couldn’t stop thinking about after I finished reading it. The story is told from Arlene’s perspective, utilizing flashbacks to pull the reader into her inner thoughts and her unexpected, sometimes disturbing, actions. Like many Southern novels, there are quirky but likeable characters. My favorite was Aunt Florence, the proud Southern Baptist who unloads a ton of guilt on Arlene with her sharp wit. Be prepared to laugh and cry because this novel pulls heavily on your emotions.

Darletha Matthews, South Branch Library

Labels: Chick Lit, Reviews by Darletha Matthews, Women's Fiction