Back by popular demand, local author and psychiatrist Dr. Gordon Livingston returns to Howard County Library to discuss his latest book How to Love.

Dr. Livingston opens with the astute observation that although everyone has relationships, we typically only receive on-the-job training in this area of our lives. Since there is no formal training process for relationships, he urges people to use pattern recognition: "The object is to recognize what traits and behaviors get us more of what we want in life – happiness – and less of what we seek to avoid – emotional pain, especially loneliness." With his characteristic straightforward and humorous style, Dr. Livingston explores the types of people we should avoid, the ten character traits we should look for in people, and ways to improve existing relationships.

The chapters are broken into short, easily digested sections, with themes such as: “When all is said and done, more is said than done,” “The trouble with parents is by the time they are experienced they are unemployed,” and (my favorite) “If it weren’t for marriage, men and women would have to fight with total strangers.”

Register online and join us on December 3, 7:00 pm at the Central Library to learn "how to love."

Andrea Misner – Administration Office

In 2004 at age 36, Kathleen Flinn sets out to fulfill her dream of attending Le Cordon Bleu, the famous cooking school in Paris. Having been fired from an executive position, Flinn is free to travel to Paris, the epicenter of the cooking world, and enroll in the Basic Cuisine class. In a few months, her boyfriend quits his own job and joins in the adventure. Together, in their small flat, they mount a map of Paris to plot their excursions around the city.

The aromas seem to waft off the page, as she prepares succulent chicken dishes, sea bass with coconut milk, or French onion soup (all recipes detailed at the end of chapters). Equally enticing are the visits to food venues around the city, such as the supermarket inside the Bon Marche department store — with its “81 brands of olive oil” and “214 types of cheese” or an outdoor market near the Eiffel Tower — where Flinn learns the art of selecting the freshest fish and meat.

But, in addition to relating the sensory pleasures of her experience, Flinn describes the fear of failure driving the Cordon Bleu students. She is instructed, upon arrival, to cut onions without crying, a skill which, according to one chef, requires a “coutreau tres pointu” (a very sharp knife). And it’s clear that all students must balance on a knife-like edge as they cope with complex menus and demanding chefs. Meanwhile, she suffers the distraction of moving to another apartment, the arrival of unexpected guests, and, later, more serious disruptions to her personal life.

In recounting her training in Paris, Kathleen Flinn serves up an appetizing, focused narrative of life at Le Cordon Bleu. No dilettante masquerading as chef in training, Flinn unveils the behind-the-scenes rigor in the classroom kitchens. And what I liked best? Her desire to become the best student without sacrificing her sense of humor or good nature. The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry is a fresh, contemporary look at this time-honored school and profession.

Ginny Leslie – Miller Branch

Are we really defined by the music of our youth? No matter how much we mature, both as adults and listeners of pop music, it sometimes feels like we return to our whirlwind teen years….at least in that magical instant when we’re caught off guard and hear an old and all-too-familiar song on the radio.

In the mid 80s I didn’t listen much to Madonna, with the exception of two of my favorite songs — "Into the Grove" and "Live to Tell." But around the time of "Like A Prayer," I started appreciating her brassiness, her unwillingness to bend to "normal behavior" and, yes, her emotional depth.

Madonna’s latest release Celebration, a collection of her biggest and best hits, has just about everything you could ever want. There’s the feel good "Holiday" (years later still putting a smile on our faces, every note crystal clear, defying us not to celebrate); the very bouncy and contagious "Like A Virgin" (it doesn’t sound so wild now, when we’ve got the Black Eyed Peas singing about their humps); and the haunting "Live to Tell" (as delightfully fresh as ever).

What IS missing (and it’s a shame!) is the endearing and sweet "Angel," the wicked "Hanky Panky" (from the sometimes overlooked I’m Breathless) and the autobiographical "Keep It Together" (a 1990 success usually left off lists when people recall Madonna’s top 40 hits.)

Lucy O’Brien’s intriguing book Madonna: Like an Icon takes a look at the Material Girl in a way that’s more pop culture 101 than biography. O’Brien reviews the singer’s work up to and including the 2006 non-stop dance sensation Confessions on a Dance Floor. Hard Candy, released two years after O’Brien’s book, doesn’t make an appearance, but is hardly a loss, especially when you consider that many critics (and even serious fans) consider it one of her weaker albums and no match for the powerhouse Confessions or chillaxin’ Ray of Light.

After listening to Celebration AND reading O’Brien and THEN discovering underrated albums like Bedtime Stories and Music (the former a surprisingly strong foray into R&B, and the latter a nice blend of techno pop and vulnerable love songs), you might come away with a completely different take on a singer who’s anything but immaterial. She’s caused many a commotion in her lifetime, but she’s still around and thriving because she’s never willing to compromise or break her stride when it comes to reinventing herself and her music.

Angie Engles – Central Library

Congratulations, you’re getting married! The clock is now ticking for you to plan while spending an ungodly amount of money on a one-day event that you and your beloved will remember for the rest of your lives. All family members will weigh in with their opinions, you will suddenly become obsessed with things like "pin lighting," and, as the day approaches, you’ll find yourself having little panic attacks when, at 3:00 am, you realize you forgot to specify you wanted cotton napkins, not satin. Before this wave of insanity hits you (and I fervently hope that it never does), I suggest you pick up a copy of Bridal Bargains: Secrets to Throwing a Fantastic Wedding on a Realistic Budget. The information out there for engaged couples is overwhelming, and so much of it is geared towards making you spend as much as possible. This book was written to give you choices and to let you know that you can have a beautiful wedding without having to take out a bank loan.

One criticism of the book is that the authors tend to hammer home just how much the industry is trying to dupe or scam you out of your money. It can be pretty pessimistic, but I took it as a grounding rod to the fluffy bridal magazines I’ve read. As the book points out, it is so difficult to comparison shop for something like a wedding. This will (hopefully) be the only wedding you’ll ever have, so you can’t really compare it to anything else, as you would a house or a car. You can do research on the best deal for your car, so why shouldn’t you research for the best deal for your wedding? A bargain does not mean a bad wedding!

Hopefully, you’ll read this book, save some money, and have a gorgeous event!

Jennifer Johnson – Glenwood Branch

Lately, it seems more and more books are being published that are based on blogs. Take for example, Julie and Julia, the book detailing Julie Powell’s blog about her attempt to "cook through" Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking — which also went on to become the first movie based on a blog. Or, consider I Can Has Cheezburger? An LOL Cat Collekshun by Eric Nakagawa, and its sequel "How to Take Over teh Wurld : A LOLcat Guide 2 Winning," both based on the hilarious LOL Cat blog.

The blog book that I’d like to introduce today, however, is called Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong by Jen Yates.  I can’t remember who first brought www.cakewrecks.com into my realm, but whoever you are, thank you. I haven’t laughed this hard in my entire life.

The concept is simple: sometimes the cake you order from the bakery isn’t quite the cake you end up with. For example, when the baker asks what you’d like written on the cake, and you reply, "Nothing," you might be dismayed to find the word "NOTHING" written on your otherwise beautiful cake. Or when you ask for a cake that looks like Curious George, and it turns out looking like Teen Wolf, something doesn’t add up. Blogger Jen Yates began bringing photographs of these confectionery conundrums to our attention back in May 2008, and finally has a book out to commemorate the hilarity. The book doesn’t disappoint even the most faithful follower of the blog, with the majority of cakes being never-before-seen wreckage.

Jen’s running commentary throughout is brilliant. Sometimes, to appreciate a "wreck" in it’s fullness, you need a bit of a back story, which Jen doesn’t hesitate to provide when helpful. Some of the humor is off-color (no pun intended) at times, but the book mostly relies on wholesome human error.

I laughed (a lot), I cried (a little), and, more than once, I performed a facepalm. But, in the end, I found myself with a contented smile and a greater appreciation for the little things in life that go right, but could have gone horribly, horribly wrong.

Dan Curry – Savage Branch

Anyone know what’s going on with Jon & Kate this week? Or where Megan Fox ate dinner last night? How’s Mischa Barton doing after, you know, the thing? How was your sister’s date with that guy? Did she text you from the restaurant? Have you uploaded those pictures of the kids to Flickr yet? Have you pulled up the real time traffic for your commute?

Moving beyond “how to” guides, Hal Niedzviecki’s provocative new book The Peep Diaries is one of the first efforts (that I’m aware of) to marshal the latest evidence and ask a deeper question about this surfeit of information. If technology and the “instant update” have radically changed both our information appetite and our information diet, what are the social consequences?

Starting at the point where pop culture and technology intersect, Niedzviecki catalogs the emergence of what he calls “peep culture” and argues that “we’re all learning to love watching ourselves and our neighbors…. You need to know. You need to be known.” Niedzviecki cites blogging, reality television, celebrity gossip, and social networking as the pillars of peep. He argues that this “perfect storm” of new media developments and new technology has radically changed both the rules and possibilities for the exchange of personal information in society. In aggregating our fractured pop culture this way, Niedzviecki holds a mirror up to our appetites and concerns. “Suddenly, all things once sacred and private… are to be observed and consumed.” As we indulge the impulse both to watch and be watched, Niedzviecki argues that our identities and values are challenged and transformed.

Niedzviecki’s investigation is a must-read. He uses a range of examples (some of which, by way of warning, are mature in theme and content) to suggest that recent changes in our attitudes toward celebrity, privacy, media, and technology are pervasive and transformative. Ultimately his is a thesis about our voracity for information and knowledge in the twenty-first century, and about our changing perception of what constitutes valid or essential knowledge. Take a look at The Peep Diaries, then come back and share your comments about peep culture.

John Jewitt – Savage Branch

The first page of Team of Rivals finds attorney Abraham Lincoln restless in his modest, sparsely furnished home in Springfield, Illinois, with wife Mary Todd, young sons Robert, William and Tadd, and various other loyal friends. It was May 18, 1860 — the day when the fledgling Republican Party made its decision for a presidential nominee.

Meanwhile, a confident William Henry Seward, the jovial Senator from the state of New York, waited in Auburn, certain that the Republican nomination was his; Ohio governor Salmon Chase gathered his two daughters for a morning reading of Scripture while awaiting the balloting returns; and devoted family man Judge Edward Bates and wife Julia waited with confidence and security for the nomination results.

The election decision — that Lincoln was the nominee — stunned the nation. But this unknown, self-made man raised in poverty became the leader that the country desperately needed as Southern states seceded from the Union and civil war threatened.

His affable, tolerant personality led Lincoln to include Republican rivals in the close embrace of his inner circle. How he accomplished this — and then guided the country through the more difficult years of its history — comprises Goodwin’s 2005 political biography. Included also are the stories of the Lincoln family, as well as the three rivals and their families.

Barack Obama is a fan of this treatment of Lincoln’s presidency. The book gained national recognition after his 2008 election when he announced he was using the model from  A Team of Rivals as a template for the formation his own cabinet.

Doris Kearns Goodwin has won the Pulitzer Prize in history for No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. Her other works include bestsellers Wait Till Next Year, The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys, and Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream.

Please join the Eclectic Evenings Book Discussion in reflecting on Team of Rivals. Meet on November 10 at 7:00 pm in Howard County Central Library’s story room. Team of Rivals is available for pick-up in Playaway format and on CD, as well as in print at the Central Library Fiction Desk. For further information, call 410.313.7834.

Jeanie Pfefferkorn – Central Library

Judith Scott

Judith Scott, a former English teacher and Ellicott City mother of three, has written an honest, inspiring, and totally absorbing memoir chronicling her daughter Emily’s story and how this little girl changed and molded the story of her marriage and her family. Out Came the Sun is written so artfully, in short chapters in the present tense, that I felt as though I was experiencing everything right along with Judith. I couldn’t put down her book until finally, at 2:00 am, I finished it, moved to tears and completely awake.

A few months after Emily’s birth in October of 1996, the Scotts receive a devastating diagnosis: Emily suffers from Partial Trisomy 13, a genetic mutation so rare – involving a duplication and inversion of genetic material on the 13th chromosome – that Emily’s doctors have no experience treating patients with this particular anomaly.

What comes next is Judith’s journey in learning how to care for Emily, to cope with her daughter’s myriad physical and developmental issues, and to help her realize her unrecognized potential, soaring far beyond one doctor’s initial proclamation that she “will not walk or talk or read.” The Scotts’ story is one of hardship, struggle, and pain, but also one of understanding, hope and ultimately, joy and acceptance. Emily exceeds all expectations, learning to walk, read, and talk with a special assistive communication device. Now 13, Emily attends school in Howard County, where she is enrolled in an Academic Life Skills class. She is also a big sister to Lauren and Evan Scott.

Judith’s eloquent words speak for themselves:

You can see that the book came from a place of great pain, trumped ultimately by peace. I am so inspired by Emily every day, yet mindful that our arduous journey with her will never be over. I hope my book reaches anyone who has struggled (and who hasn’t?) but still can find reserves to continue on. That’s my genuine "voice" in the book, telling our story in the present tense, since the entire experience is always present to me.

Meet Judith Scott at 7:00 pm on November 3 at Central Library, where she will read from and discuss Out Came the Sun. Books available for purchase and signing. Register here or by calling 410.313.7800.

Lisa Bankman – Administration Office

My Father’s Roses: A Family’s Journey from World War I to Treblinka by Nancy Kohner is a tricky little book to quantify. It’s part journal, part family letters, and part reminiscences.

The author spent years organizing and annotating the boxes of family papers and photos she discovered after her father’s death. She hired a translator to help with language and handwriting for some of the older documents, among the more than 40 years worth of correspondence from her father’s and grandparents’ generations. The book’s chapters alternate between letters and the author’s thoughts and memories of her childhood.

Kohner’s father was born the youngest of three children in a Jewish family in a German-speaking region of what is now the Czech Republic. The letters recount the family’s mundane life of owning a shop, tending their garden, educating the children, and surviving both World War I and its repercussions. Eventually Kohner’s father and other family members escaped to England, but (as the title warns) many others died during the Holocaust.

This book is most simply a labor of love — to remember the author’s beloved father, the family she never knew, and her Jewish heritage. In a final awful irony and as her daughter writes in the book’s prologue, the author died of cancer before the book was published. It’s a quiet book. Full of daily life and terrible moments, My Father’s Roses will stick with me for a long time.

Kristen Blount – Administration Office

Texas Congressman Ron Paul’s The Revolution is a political manifesto for a return to small government, personal responsibility, and individual economic ingenuity.

While I sympathize with Paul’s politics, I held off on reading this book for a long time because of the title.  To me it sounded arrogant.  Why couldn’t he just say ‘A Revolution’ instead of implying that there was only one revolution worth working toward?  After reading it though, I was struck by Paul’s heartfelt concern for the future of the United States, but more importantly, for the future of United States citizens.

First, Congressman Paul asks us to consider whether or not we have been presented with a false choice of legitimate political parties.  Aren’t the Democratic and Republican parties worlds apart on every conceivable issue?  Paul would have us believe that they are not.  His objection is that both parties operate under the same false assumptions when it comes to understanding the Constitution.  Against this backdrop, Paul begins to present his own system of political thought.

This is a short read, clocking in at 208 pages, cover to cover.  In it, Paul deftly tackles such pressing topics as foreign policy, interpretation of the Constitution, economic freedom, personal freedom, and money (i.e., how the United States monetary system has shifted from a gold standard to a Federal Reserve system).  Even if you ultimately disagree with him, Paul’s words exist to challenge some of the most fundamental assumptions of modern American politics. And isn’t exploring opposing viewpoints intellectually honorable?  If you want a great introduction to Libertarianism, I would highly recommend starting here!

Dan Curry – Savage Branch