Welcome, dear readers, to our first Five Book Friday post of the New Year!
I don’t know about you, but the holiday season, though lovely, just gets a bit….relentless….at times. Which is why we at the Library love Blanket Fort Reading, about which, much more later. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t celebrate, right? So here are some holidays in January that can be savored without a great deal of fanfare:
January 8: National Argyle Day
We all know the diamonds-and-stripes pattern of argyle from socks, golf sweaters, and Bert’s sweaters on Sesame Street. But do we know why they are so familiar? The argyle pattern is actually the clan colors of Clan Campbell, from Argyll, in western Scotland. Though familiar in Scotland for centuries, it first gained popularity in the United States after the First World War. As the US was a military ally of Great Britain, the American media began focusing heavily on the royal family and their doings. And King George loved to wear argyle sweaters while golfing. So today, sport a little Clan Campbell pride today!
January 13: National Rubber Duckie Day
And speaking of Sesame Street….according to the 1973 Sesame Street Calendar, January 13 is the birthday of Ernie’s very best pal. Rubber Duckie, who made his television debut in 1970. The rubber duck has quite a history, as you can see here, but today, it’s ok to have this song stuck in your head…
January 20: National Cheese Lovers’ Day
All hail cheese! Though I haven’t been able to dig up why we celebrate those who love cheese on this particular day, I am not going to let such as auspicious occasion pass. Cheese, after all, is one of the oldest foods mankind has sampled, with records going back into prehistoric times. If you are really a devotee of all things cheese, then you can feast on this fact: The world’s largest cheese was presented at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, weighing in at over 34,000 pounds.
January 23: National Pie Day
Oh, happiest of days! For all those who, like me, believe pie to be the most perfect of all foods, may all your crusts be ever flaky, your fillings be piping, and may your epicurean delights be unending! Like cheese, pies, in some form or another, have been around since approximately 9500 BC. The pie-in-the-face gag has been around since Ben Turpin received one in Mr. Flip, a silent film from 1909.
And, since every day in the Library is New Book Day, here are some of the books that danced their way onto our shelves this week for your delight and enjoyment:
Lady Claire is All That: Maya Rodale’s latest Keeping Up with the Cavendishes novel is a nifty spin on the old Pygmalion story, with the “creator” falling in love with his “creation” (and vice versa), but also a great tale about learning to appreciate yourself and your uniqueness in a world of conformity. Lady Claire is a brilliant non-conformist who has dulled suitors to tears with her talk of mathematics. While on the hunt for a newly married Duke with whom she intends to discuss equations, she encounters Lord Fox, an athlete and recently jilted suitor whose interest in math is nil–but whose interest in Claire is quite high. Because Fox has made a bet that he can transform Claire into the bell of the season. But Claire has plenty of other ideas in mind for her lessons with Fox–and soon their conniving leads to a love that neither ever expected. Rodale is a master of funny, feminist romances, and this simmering tale of opposites attracting is another jewel in her metaphorical crown. Publisher’s Weekly agreed, giving this book a starred review and saying “Romance readers weary of insta-love stories will glory in the slow, eminently believable development of physical and emotional intimacy between Claire and Fox. Rodale expertly blends sensuality and genuine admiration in this superb romance.”
Avid Reader: A Life: You might not know his name, but I can guarantee you that you are aware of the enormous influence that Robert Gottlieb has left on publishing. He began his career editing The Columbia Review, and working in the greeting-card department of Macy’s before landing a job at Simon & Schuster, and becoming the first head of Alfred A. Knopf 12 years later. He was responsible for publshing Catch-22, among other bestsellers, and has worked with such noteworthy authors as Toni Morrison, Doris Lessing, John le Carré, Michael Crichton, Lauren Bacall, Bill Clinton, and Miss Piggy. While this book is about his life, and his later work as editor of The New Yorker, Gottlieb’s book is also very much about the act of reading, the art of publishing…and his love of dance. While inspiring in his success, Gottlieb’s work is also enthralling because of his sheer love of what he does. The New York Times Book Review had a similar observation, noting “Robert Gottlieb’s buoyant memoir of his indefatigable editorial career proves Noel Coward’s observation that work is more fun than fun.” …Would that we can all be so lucky.
Piano Tide: Do we belong to the Earth or does the Earth belong to us? The question raised by Chief Seathl almost two hundred years ago continues to be the defining question of our age–and in Kathleen Dean Moore’s debut novel, it sparks a startling confrontation in the wilds of rural Alaska. Axel Hagerman has made his fortune in the forestry and fishing industries, and has recently decided to add to his takings by selling the water from a salmon stream, a quest which brings him face to face with Nora Montgomery, who has just arrived on the ferry with her piano and her dog. Nora is eager to disappear into the Alaskan landscape, having left everything about her life in the continental United States behind. But as Axel’s business operations move to more dangerous ventures–namely, a bear pit, Nora finds herself more and more involved, and increasingly ready to take a dangerous stand. Moore is an award-winning naturalist, philosopher, activist, and she brings all her talents to bear in this novel, creating a story that is very much about nature, mankind’s violence towards it, and the dangers such acts pose. But it’s also a brilliant character study that is as engaging as it is thought-provoking. As Booklist notes in its starred review, this novel is “Moore writes so eloquently and with such passion about the natural world, from tiny tide pool inhabitants to giant grizzlies and towering hemlocks, that she leaves the reader in wonder and awe.”
Selection Day: Aravind Adiga was awarded the Man Booker Prize for his novel The White Tiger, and this novel, a deeply moving coming-of-age novel set in the slums of Mumbai, is receiving similarly rave reviews for its insight, wisdom, and impressive scope. Fourteen-year-old Manjunath Kumar knows he is good at cricket–if not as good as his older brother Radha. But their obsessed father drives both boys nevertheless, determined to make cricket stars of them both, regardless of Manjunath’s love of science and all things related to CSI. And when Manju meets Radha’s great rival, a mysterious Muslim boy privileged and confident in all the ways Manju is not, he is forced to come to terms with who he really is, and what that will mean for his family, as well. A funny, heartfelt story that deals as much with privilege, class, and global ideologies as it does with inter-family relationships, this is book was lauded by The Atlantic‘s Mark Greif, who called it “The best novel I read this year… In its primal triangle of rival brothers and a maniacal father, hell-bent on success in cricket in India, Adiga grips the passions while painting an extraordinary panorama of contemporary sports, greed, celebrity, and mundanity. As a literary master, Adiga has only advanced in his art since his Booker Prize-winning The White Tiger.”
Taste of Persia: In this stunning cookbook, Naomi Duguid takes us on a culinary and visual journey through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Kurdistan, reveling in their religious, ethnic, cultural and geographic diversity, and celebrating all their delicious tastes. The photos in this book are truly breath-taking, and Duguid has a knack for writing about food, its preparation, and its deeply personal meanings, in a way that is both hunger-inducing and surprisingly emotional. This book has been named the Best Cookbook of the Year by The Boston Globe, Food & Wine, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, The San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal, and is definitely one that needs to be seen to be fully appreciated. The Wall Street Journal also notes “With one foot in the old world and one in the new, Ms. Duguid does a beautiful job of translating complex concoctions into accurate, easy-to-follow recipes that reflect not just the flavors but the spirit of the countries that once made up the Persian Empire.” As ever, we at the Library stand ready and willing to taste any of the culinary delights produced from these recipes.
Until next week, beloved patrons–happy reading, and happy new year!