Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff
In preparation for this month’s Barcodes Nonfiction Book Club, I read this account of Detroit’s decline into poverty. It is written from the point of view of Charlie LeDuff, a reporter who was born in Detroit, moved to New York to write for the Times, but “like salmon that swim upstream,” he returned home even though he knew of the terrible condition of his city. He tells many stories related to Detroit’s history, including that of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick who was sentenced to twenty-eight years in prison just last month for extortion, bribery, and fraud. Not only does LeDuff recount the dilapidated, burnt condition of the homes, churches, and other various buildings, but he also tells of the broken-down Detroiters living there. While this isn’t a happy story by any means, he also demonstrates the resilience of Detroit’s people. He writes in such a way that you really feel connected to these individuals. His style is a no-holds-barred tell-all that leaves me genuinely interested to see what what the future of Detroit will hold.
-Donna D., Reference
The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
Set in Australia, this novel begins by introducing the lives of three different women who live in the same vicinity of each other. One of the women, Cecilia, finds a letter from her husband to be opened by her in the event of his death. However, even though her husband is very much alive and asks her not to open it, Cecilia finds it difficult to resist the temptation. What she finds changes her life and the lives of the other two women whom she hardly even knows.
At first I found it a bit confusing trying to keep up with who is who, as there are many characters introduced early on in the book. However, once I had a grasp on the three different storylines, I found the connections between all of them quite intriguing. The story as a whole quickly grabbed my attention, and I found myself trying to read faster so that I could find out what happened next. I highly recommend this book as a very enjoyable read and something that will keep you guessing until the end. This book can be found
at Acorn or through SWAN.
-Lynn, Reference
Film
Movie lovers. Cinephiles. Film buffs. Whatever we may be called, we all have one thing in common, the love of darkness and sticky floors! No, wait, that’s not it. I meant the love of those magical projections of light that have the power not only to entertain but to reach into our deepest depths, take what they find there and tear it asunder or, perhaps, gently ease it into the light or, on occasion, send it soaring to the heavens. We, quite simply, love movies.
Now, everyone has favorites. Mine, quite obviously, is
Smurfs 2: Revenge of Smurfette. (I kid.) I never really could pick just one so, instead, I’m going to talk about another, perhaps even greater love…the making of movies.
An excellent and almost all-encompassing place to start is
The Story of Film: An Odyssey. This fifteen-hour (yes, you read that correctly…this rec is coming from someone who’s watched multiple Ken Burns documentaries as well as the seventeen-hour History of Britain!) chronological tribute to one man’s love of film takes you from the very beginning of film to the digitally recorded and increasingly unreal worlds of modern cinema. I was absolutely enthralled by this documentary with a slight lull in my enthusiasm as we entered the 1970s and slogged through to the 1990s. After that, things again brightened as we considered the future of cinema all the way to the 2040s. So, yes, an odyssey it is but one well worth undertaking.
After you’ve finished your master class in film history, you’re ready for the nitty-gritty of building dreams with light.
Tales from the Script gives you the writer’s often missing perspective on the world of film.
Directors: Life Behind the Camera gives voice to a multitude of directors on their individual visions and how they bring them to life.
Visions of Light explores the art of cinematography, where the flesh and light become one.
The Cutting Edge (alas, not the ice skating movie…and, unfortunately, available only through inter-library loan) celebrates the often misunderstood importance of editing as the ultimate device to breathe life into the stories we all love to lose ourselves in. The last stop on our journey is
Side by Side (available at Acorn) where the future of film in a digital age is dissected and discussed and where we are given hope that our beloved medium will not soon perish from the world.
- Danielle, Tech Services
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
If you are a fan of CBS’s hit sitcom,
The Big Bang Theory, there is a very good chance you will enjoy Graeme Simsion’s hilarious and heartwarming novel,
The Rosie Project. The book’s narrator and protagonist is Don Tillman, a 39-year-old genetics professor whose social awkwardness, lack of empathy, emotional shortcomings, and rigid need for rules and routine (think
Big Bang’s Sheldon Cooper) are more likely to be clear indicators of an undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder rather than just cute personality quirks. With his 40th birthday soon approaching and still unmarried, Don embarks on the Wife Project, creating a 16-page, double-sided questionnaire that will connect him to the perfect woman. Unfortunately, the young, beautiful, and free-spirited woman he meets through the project, Rosie Jarman, is totally unsuitable; yet he struggles to understand why he can’t tear himself away from her, even going so far as to assist her with discovering her biological father. While I don’t typically read romantic fiction, I was truly moved as Don slowly realizes that he has strong feelings for Rosie. Think of
The Rosie Project as Sheldon Cooper finds love and you will have a good idea of what this book is like.
The Rosie Project can be found
at Acorn or through SWAN.
-Zach, Reference
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
I've been enjoying the twists and turns of
The Talented Mr. Ripley. Tom Ripley, a man of humble stock, grand ambitions, and one seriously discombobulated moral compass, insinuates himself into the graces of the Greenleafs, a wealthy New York family. They enlist Tom to persuade their son Dickie--lolling dissolutely as an aspiring artist in Italy--to return home in order to live as a proper scion. What happens when Tom's greed, fragile ego, and gaggle of personality disorders meet Dickie's haughty carelessness? Go to
Acorn's shelves to find out!
-Megan, Reference
