Discover Will

People in this area have a don't-miss cultural opportunity this month: to see the First Folio or "the book that gave us Shakespeare." The First Folio is making the rounds in the U.S., and the only location in Illinois that will have it on display is the Lake County Discovery Museum, located in Wauconda. Admission is free for this exhibition that runs through February 28.

The First Folio is a compilation of many of Shakespeare's plays that was published in 1623 to preserve his work after death. Find out more about the exhibit and accompanying programs.

Read more about the Bard or one of his works. Discover Will this winter!

Historical Reads: Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes

The Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes (2005).
Call #: Fiction Moyes (Adult New Books)
Find it in the catalog! 

I've been a big fan of British author Jojo Moyes's previous books including Me Before You and The Last Letter from Your Lover.  She writes smart, thoughtful and funny women's fiction, often times with a historical component.  One of the nice things about her growing popularity stateside is that several of her older works are now being widely published, including The Ship of Brides!

Set just after World War II and based loosely off of real events, this book follows the journey of 650 war brides from their native Australia to England to be reunited with their British husbands.  The brides travel aboard the HMS Victoria, a war ship, and are accompanied by over a thousand British naval officers.  The book primarily focuses on four women who share a cabin on this voyage. 

Maggie is a heavily pregnant farm girl who was raised by her father and is generally used to being surrounded by men.  Because she is a tomboy, she has no problem making friends with some of the men on the ship (in spite of the strict rules about fraternizing between the soldiers and the brides). She also has a warm personality and brings together the four roommates in spite their very diverse backgrounds.  Out of the roommates, Maggie has had the longest relationship with her husband, Joe. 

Avice is probably the least immediately likeable character.  She's a snooty and spoiled society girl who is unhappy with the conditions of her voyage, hoping to be on a cruise liner instead of a war ship.  She finds the other three girls to below her preferred station of friends, but it still somewhat fond of Maggie.

Jean is a teenage bride.  She is quite immature and always trying to have a good time. She knew Avice before the trip, and much to Avice's dismay, winds up sharing a cabin with her.  Jean comes from a more working class background than Avice and her love of partying sometimes gets her in trouble.

Finally, Francis was a war nurse with a mysterious past.  Francis is incredibly shy and tends to keep to herself, despite encouragement from Maggie and Jean.  She says very little about her past or the man she is married to, but acts as a strong advocate for Jean when she gets in trouble.  Because of her medical skills, she is also of assistance on the war ship.

As one might expect, despite very strict rules and punishments, there is still quite of bit of mischief between the brides and the soldiers, with much higher stakes for the brides.  As some brides begin to receive "Not Wanted, Don't Come" telegrams from their husbands, tensions begin to run high among the women on the ship.  Their is also a very sweet, Austen-esque romance between one of the women and a naval officer. 

I really liked the book, but had one minor quibble.  Avice is a pretty annoying character and it's easy to see where her plot line is going.  That said, she was a good foil for the rest of the girls, in particular Francis, who has the most compelling narrative.  Overall, this was a very enjoyable read about a little known part of history.

Historical Mysteries

Want to try something new to read?  How about a historical mystery series?

I found a newer author not too long ago and I think anyone who likes historical mysteries will love these books.  The author is Alex Grecian.  Here is a look at the first book, The Yard from the author’s website:  

1890, London. Jack the Ripper’s reign of terror is finally over, but a new one is just beginning…Victorian London is a cesspool of crime and Scotland Yard has only twelve detectives – known as “The Murder Squad” – to investigate countless murders every month.  Created after the Metropolitan police’s spectacular failure to capture Jack the Ripper, The Murder Squad suffers rampant public contempt.  They have failed their citizens.  But no one can anticipate the brutal murder of one of their own…one of twelve…

When Walter Day, the squad’s newest hire, is assigned the case of the murdered detective, he finds a strange ally in the Yard’s first forensic pathologist, Dr. Bernard Kingsley.  Together they track the killer, who clearly is not finished with The Murder Squad…but why?

He has two more in the series Black Country and The Devil’s Workshop, which I think is the best of all three and that is saying something because they are all excellent reads!!

When members of a prominent family disappear from a coal-mining village—and a human eyeball is discovered in a bird’s nest—the local constable sends for help from Scotland Yard’s new Murder Squad. Fresh off the grisly 1889 murders of The Yard, Inspector Walter Day and Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith respond, but they have no idea what they’re about to get into. The villagers have intense, intertwined histories. Everybody bears a secret. Superstitions abound. And the village itself is slowly sinking into the mines beneath it.

Not even the arrival of forensics pioneer Dr. Bernard Kingsley seems to help. In fact, the more the three of them investigate, the more they realize they may never be allowed to leave.

London, 1890. Four vicious murderers have escaped from prison, part of a plan gone terribly wrong, and now it is up to Walter Day, Nevil Hammersmith, and the rest of Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad to hunt down the convicts before the men can resume their bloody spree. But they might already be too late. The killers have retribution in mind, and one of them is heading straight toward a member of the Murder Squad, and his family.

And that isn’t even the worst of it. During the escape, the killers have stumbled upon the location of another notorious murderer, one thought gone for good but now prepared to join forces with them.

Jack the Ripper is loose in London once more.

Recent Reads

I've been more slack in my summer reading progress than usual, thanks to True Detective and good weather.  However, I have discovered a few good titles so far.  Two of the books are rereads that I remembered liking, but not necessarily what they were about.  The third is a new title that I checked out mostly because I liked the guy's glasses on the cover. 

Black Swan Green by David Mitchell (2006).
Find it in the catalog!
I first read this book shortly after graduating from college and really enjoyed it.  However, I could no longer remember much about it other than the cover and that it was British and had a kid that stuttered.  So naturally I checked out again just to refresh my memory.  Based loosely on author David Mitchell's childhood, the book follows 13-year-old Jason Taylor who is dealing with a garden variety of life issues.   His parent's marriage has hit a rough patch.  His older sister is going away to college. He's also secretly a published poet, which he keeps secret to avoid being picked on in school.  Like most intelligent, sensitive kids, Jason deals with some pretty intense bullying at school, which is intensified by his speech impediment. The book is set in 1980s Margaret Thatcher era England.  I wasn't all that familiar with that period of history, which includes the Falklands War, but Mitchell does a good job dropping the reader into that era. 

The Man of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld (2006).
Find it in the catalog!
I first read this book while I was in graduate school.  I remember immediately relating to the main character, Hannah Gavener, who's kind of a socially awkward loner.  Imagine my horror later on to read reviews of the book describing Hannah as irritating and a "sourpuss" (thanks a lot, New York magazine!).  After rereading the book recently, I can see how some people find Hannah to be a difficult character.  She is stubborn, usually says the wrong thing, and is primarily responsible for her own misery (isn't everyone?).  However, I think that makes her more of a realistic and sympathetic character.

Sittenfeld follows Hannah's life from early adolescence, where she struggles with having an emotionally volatile father, to her late twenties.  The book primarily focuses on Hannah's relationships with the different men in her life.  In high school and college, Hannah frets over her lack of a love life.  However, even after she starts dating, she finds her actual relationships wanting.  Instead, she longs for Henry, the on-again, off-again boyfriend of her more glamorous cousin, Fig.  Throughout the book, we see Hannah struggle with her low self-esteem and poor social skills while trying to become a functional adult.  I especially enjoyed the depiction of Hannah's relationships with her more together sister Allison and her beautiful but irresponsible cousin Fig, which seemed pretty true to life. 

Courting Greta by Ramsey Hootman (2014).
Find it in the catalog!
I'm a sucker for a man with thick glasses, so naturally this book called to me from the book cart.  However, the main character Samuel Cooke didn't turn out to be the bespectacled hunk the cover alludes to.  Instead, he's a cantankerous 34-year-old disabled computer geek turned public school teacher.  In spite of their age and size difference, Samuel quickly develops a crush on Greta "Cass" Cassamajor, a 46-year-old, tough as nails gym teacher and girls' basketball coach.  In spite of her tough exterior, Samuel decides to ask her to dinner, thinking she will immediately rebuff him.  Much to his surprise, Greta agrees and the two start an awkward and uncertain romance (aren't they all?).  Both Samuel and Greta has a whole host of issues.  Samuel is super neurotic, bitter, and doesn't really take care of himself in the way that he should.  He also has never been in a relationship before.  Greta is a woman of very few words, a lot of rules, and she's been badly hurt by men in her past.  However, despite her tough attitude, Greta is very caring and fiercely loyal.  This is a very sweet romance, but Hootman doesn't spare the character's darker sides or the awkwardness of their courtship.  The book is also frequently funny, especially Samuel's jaded perspective on life.

Downton Abbey for the Devoted

Calling all Downton Abbey fans! Join us on Saturday, November 9 at 2 pm for "Behind the Doors of Downton Abbey" (to ensure your spot, please register). The program will feature behind-the-scenes anecdotes, hidden details and historical context. 

Also, we've got plenty of books that will fill the void until the new season begins in January. Try out some of these titles:


 Fiction:

• Ashton Park by Murray Pura 
• The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly (also available as an e-book) 
• Summerset Abbey by T.J. Brown

Non-fiction:

• Upstairs & downstairs: The Illustrated Guide to the Real World of Downton Abbey by Sarah Warwick

• Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, downstairs" and "Downton Abbey" by Margaret Powell

• The Chronicles of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes

• The World of Upstairs, Downstairs by Mollie Hardwick

• Lady Almina and the real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by Fiona Carnarvon (this is also available as an e-book)

• The World of Downton Abbey: The Rivalry and Romance Revealed, the Secrets and History Unlocked by Jessica Fellowes 

• Behind the Scenes at Downton Abbey by Emma Rowley

• Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey by Fiona Carnarvon

• Edwardian Cooking: 80 Recipes Inspired by Downton Abbey's Elegant Meals by Larry Edwards

• The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook: from Lady Mary's Crab Canapés to Mrs. Patmore's Christmas Pudding: More Than 150 Recipes from Upstairs and Downstairs by Emily Ansara Baines 
• Secrets of Highclere Castle (DVD)

And, of course, Downton Abbey Seasons 1-3 on DVD:

• Season 1

• Season 2

• Season 3

Recent Reads

You Before Me by JoJo Moyes
Call No.: FICTION MOYES
Find it in the catalog!
I initially checked out this book just to see if I was right about the ending (I was), but it proved to be a really great read.  It's about a working class English girl Louisa (Lou) Clark who lives a relatively sheltered life and works at a small local cafe.  However, when the cafe closes shop, Lou is forced to take a job care-taking for a wealthy cantankerous quadriplegic, Will Traynor.  Will used to be an adventurer and shrewd businessman before being badly injured in a motorcycle accident.  Despite their differences and Will's perpetual bad mood, the two soon become friends.  However, Louisa discovers that Will has a shocking deadline.  This book is a real tearjerker, but there is humor throughout the book.  I really enjoyed Louisa's somewhat contemptuous relationship with her single mother sister, Katrina- the "smart one" of the family. 

The Movement of Stars by Amy Brill
Call No.: FICTION BRILL
Find it in the catalog!

Set in the mid 1800s in a Quaker community in Nantucket, this novel follows 24 year-old Hannah Price who dreams of one day discovering a comet.  She works as a librarian and spends the evening observing the stars. Overall, Hannah is pretty happy with her existence until her father announces that he is moving to Philadelphia to remarry.  As an unmarried woman, Hannah is forced to either leave her observatory and the island she's lived all her life, or marry a man she doesn't love for stability.  Things are further complicated when Hannah takes on a student Isaac Martin, an ambitious sailor from Azores.  Martin is not white, and his relationship with Hannah causes problems for them both even in the relatively liberal Quaker community.  This book is slower paced, but moody and romantic.  Hannah is sometimes a bit too stubborn, but it was hard to not be sympathetic to her plight and inspired by her accomplishments.  I definitely rooted for Hannah and Isaac's relationship.  Hannah is very loosely based on a real life "lady astronomer" Maria Mitchell.

The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVeigh
Call No.: FICTION MCVEIGH
Find it in the catalog!

The premise of this book sort of reminded me loosely of W. Somerset Maugham's Painted Veil.  In spite of her father's Irish working class roots, Frances Irvine has led a life of privilege in London until her father dies suddenly.  Before his death, her father had made some poor investment choices and Frances is left with nothing.  Frances must choose between either working as caretaker for her aunt or marrying a distant cousin Edwin, a doctor in South Africa.  Frances doesn't really like Edwin all that much, she finds him rather serious and boring.  However, after initially rejecting his proposal, she changes her mind and agrees to the arrangement.  Edwin pays for her to travel to South Africa by ship.  While en route, Frances meets the charming and handsome diamond miner William Westbrook.  Frances falls hard for William, but finds out he's engaged to wealthy woman in Kimberley.  Once Frances arrives in South Africa, she finds life with Edwin even worse than she expected.  He lives in relative poverty, and insists of investigating a potential smallpox outbreak in Kimberley despite the express displeasure of the powerful mining boss.  Will Frances leave Edwin for the more dashing William? 

Frances can be a difficult character to sympathize with, mainly because she makes some really poor decisions.  One of the guys is so clearly great and on the right side of history and the other guy is an obvious jerk and up to no good.  However, the setting of the book is really interesting and I found the plot quite compelling.

Shakespeare's Richard III

The discovery of Richard III's [1452-1485] remains beneath a Leicester, England parking lot has not only spurred a resurgence of interest in Richard the historical figure, but also, not surprisingly, the charismatic fictionalized anti-hero of William Shakespeare's play The Tragedy of King Richard III. Writing at a time when the Tudor dynasty was necessarily portrayed as the benevolent embodiment of divine sovereignty, Richard's reign had to presented as an aberration. In perpetuating this myth, Shakespeare created one of the most sublimely duplicitous characters in all of literature, a character "determined to prove a villain and hate the idle pleasures of these days." This determined villainy has thrilled audiences for over four hundred years, on stage and eventually on film. The definitive screen version of Richard was given by Sir Laurence Olivier in the 1955 adaptation, though Sir Ian McKellen's performance in the 1995 adaptation should not be missed.

Christopher Hitchens: 1949-2011

Christopher Hitchens, prolific author and journalist, died Thursday, December 15, after a long bout with esophageal cancer. He was 62 years old. A renowned columnist and literary critic for such publications as Vanity Fair and The Atlantic, Hitchens is probably best known for his controversial stance on, well, virtually everything. As erudite as he was outspoken, Hitchens wrote frankly and with a wicked sense of humor on myriad topics. His views on religion, politics, foreign affairs, and world history, were often divisive, but always frankly stated and elegantly written. Hitchens own life was, in many ways, as complicated and courageous as any of his written work.

What follows is a list of highlights from the author's extensive bibliography:

Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens

Hitch-22: A Memoir

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

Thomas Jefferson: Author of America

Love, Poverty, and War: Journeys and Essays

Thomas Paine's Rights of Man

The Quotable Hitchens: From Alcohol to Zionism

Frances Hodgson Burnett

Author Frances Hodgson Burnett was born November 24, 1849, in Manchester, England. She immigrated to the United States with her family in 1865, living near Knoxville, Tennessee. To help with her family's finances Frances started to submit stories to women's magazines, which lead to her publishing children's books, novels, and even plays.

In honor of her birthday, here are some materials in our collection you may want to check out. For the books, the years in parenthesis denote the original publication date.

The Secret Garden (1911)
Norton Critical Edition:
PB CLASSIC BURNETT (other versions also located in JUV FICTION BURNETT)
Find it in the catalog!

The Secret Garden is one of my favorite books. Mary Lennox, a spoiled, bratty girl, is sent to live at her reclusive uncle's Yorkshire estate in England after her parents die of cholera in India. Mary is transformed into an independent, active girl through her time spent out in nature in the gardens and develops close friendships with Martha, Dickon, and her cousin Colin.

We have two movie adaptations at the library. I love the 1993 movie adaptation, starring Kate Mabley and Maggie Smith:

The Secret Garden (1993)
J-DVD FICTION SECRET
Find it in the catalog!

The Secret Garden (1975 TV adaptation)
Find it in the catalog!

Other books by Frances Hodgson Burnett:

Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886)
JUV FICTION BURNETT
Find it in the catalog!

A Little Princess (1905)
PB CLASSIC BURNETT
Find it in the catalog!

The Lost Prince (1915)
JUV FICTION BURNETT
Find it in the catalog!

Sara Crewe: Or, What Happened at Miss Minchin's (1888)
JUV FICTION BURNETT
Find it in the catalog!

Biography:
Frances Hodgson Burnett: Beyond the Secret Garden
by Angelica Shirley Carpenter
JUV BIOGRAPHY BURNETT
Find it in the catalog!

An Education

An Education by Lynn Barber
NEW BIOGRAPHY BARBER
Find it in the catalog!

Lynn Barber's memoir An Education is an extension of an article Barber wrote for Granta magazine, which was the basis for the Nick Hornby-penned movie of the same name starring Carey Mulligan and Peter Skargaard. Mulligan was nominated for an Oscar for her performance as a teenager wooed by an older (married) man. Last year I watched the movie in the theater, so I decided to pick up the book to read.

Reading this memoir you see how Lynn's parents were complicit in her having a relationship with an older man, Simon. I think that the movie showed Lynn's parents as being a bit more hesitant about the relationship, so I was surprised to read how, after grooming Lynn for years to attend Oxford University, they no longer saw the point in her attending university if she was engaged to be married. The reactions of her parents greatly affected Lynn, as she felt she could no longer trust what they said, or anything they told her throughout her childhood. Barber recounts how while at Oxford and majoring in English Literature she never went to lectures and lost interest in book work and instead "studied" the opposite sex.

An especially engaging part of An Education is Barber's recollections of her experience in the publishing world, working at publications including Penthouse, Independent on Sunday, and the Observer. Barber also talks about her husband David's battle with myelofibrosis.

Barber's writing style is quite conversational and I definitely recommend this to readers looking for a quick read.