Shaun Tan

The Arrival by Shaun Tan is a wordless graphic novel that captures the immigrant experience with remarkable emotional intensity. In a series of sepia images, we follow a father as he departs his homeland and travels to a strange and distant metropolis. Fleeing unpleasant circumstances at home, represented by the scaly and shadowy dragon tails in the streets, he is thrown together with strangers, separated from his wife and child, and carried to a strange land. When he arrives, he finds an unusual written language, radically different architecture, fascinating modes of transport, and some very distinctive animals. The book’s visuals convey his culture shock and force us to share it, because there’s little here that we recognize.

Many of the illustrations expand the story and establish a broad relevance. Endpapers show us people from many lands, in different styles of dress, suggesting that the experience of the man at the center of the story is representative. “Flashback” black and white illustrations show us scenes representing war, persecution, and forced labor, depicting the reasons why three of the immigrants featured in The Arrival left their homelands. If you look closely enough, you might recognize Ellis Island and Manhattan, as seen through the eyes of a newly-arrived and culture-shocked immigrant to the U.S in the early twentieth century.

Family is a critical component of this story. Tan skillfully depicts the emotional depths of separation and reunion, and makes it clear that the bonds of family are strained by distance, but not broken. The Arrival ends with a subtle and potent inter-generational suggestion that everything is going to work out fine, and shows the process of immigration and integration to be a consistent and evolving one.

The Arrival is a masterpiece of the graphic novel form. Reserve a copy today.

John Jewitt – Savage Branch

Editor’s note: Highly Recommended wishes you a Happy New Year! We will return on Friday, January 2.

I was browsing through the World music collection the other day when I saw this CD and grabbed it up right away, intrigued by the couple dancing, looking so carefree and into the moment. I absolutely love music from other countries so I thought, what the heck? You can be a lot more spontaneous with music when you’re at your local library.

As soon as I popped Euro Groove in my car stereo on the way home from work, I knew I’d found something special…something understated and alluring. Take the opening track, "Destins and Désirs" by Jeanne Added. It loses no time enveloping you in sultry French sounds, melting away the stress that comes with rush hour. Light percussion and a whimsical flute give this a unique touch that you definitely won’t find on your local radio station. I hit repeat several times, fascinated by its odd mix of something you’d find in a Fred Astaire film and a modern "come hither" rhythm. 

Other songs, like "Mädchen mit Plan" by 2raumwohnung and "Le Shin" by Deladap, are candy for your musical soul…so delicious you can’t believe it took your ears this long to find them. The producers weren’t kidding when they put "groove" in the title. That’s exactly what you get with this. Lots of smooth and relaxing stuff that doesn’t insult your intelligence or make you feel like you’re trapped in an elevator. Other hypnotic tracks include "Nuit Magique" by Jazzamor and "Jacob’s Ladder" by Chumbawamba.

That couple on the cover? They may look a little corny, but the expressions on their faces capture just how good you’ll feel after listening to this collection.

Angie Engles – Central Library

John Baxter

I devoured this little treasure in about four hours during the Thanksgiving weekend – trips to Philadelphia are good for that. Immoveable Feast: a Paris Christmas is a gentle, heartwarming holiday treat. The author, John Baxter, is an ex-pat from Australia who immigrated to the United States, fell in love with a French woman, and moved to Paris. A writer by trade and a foodie by avocation, Baxter recounts anecdotes as he prepares to cook a lavish Christmas dinner for his adopted French family at their country estate. The book’s chapters weave the different times of his life into the type of reminiscent conversation that often happens when good friends get together. I found myself reading little nuggets aloud to entertain my husband while he was driving. (I’m sure he appreciated my thoughtfulness.)

When asked by friends from all over the world about where to spend Christmas in Paris, Baxter honestly says it’s the worst time of year to visit the City of Light. Baxter explains that Christmas for the French greatly resembles Thanksgiving for Americans. At Christmas, all the shops and attractions close because everyone goes home. An intimate holiday, the big Christmas dinner is the ultimate family celebration. As Baxter assembles the menu for the feast, he takes the reader on a culinary tour of France’s delicacies: from fresh foie gras, to the Loire’s vineyards, to oysters just harvested from the Atlantic. This gem of a book reads like a cross between Peter Mayle’s odes to French country life and the classic cooking movie Babette’s Feast.

Bon appetit and Joyeux Noel!

Kristen Blount – Administration Office

Editor’s note: Highly Recommended will return on Friday, December 26. Happy Holidays to all!

It takes a secure man to spend an entire movie dressed in yellow tights and a green tunic. Will Ferrell fits the bill as he plays the title character in Elf, a comedy about a boy raised by elves after he crawls into Santa’s bag and lands in the North Pole. As he grows older, Buddy finds out that he’s not actually an elf. Now he must learn about humanity. So the elves send him to New York City to find his original father. Along the way, Buddy teaches his family and others about the meaning of Christmas. Bob Newhart takes a great turn as his adoptive elfin father, and James Caan, as his human dad, makes the Grinch look festive.

I enjoyed this movie because it tells the story of a man just trying to fit in. At the North Pole, Buddy is too big to be a part of the elves’ world, while In New York City, he’s too trusting and joyful to truly be part of the Big Apple. But friends and family (and the viewer) soon warm to his innocence, and Buddy eventually gains acceptance.

It’s also a story about family. No matter how crazy Buddy might act — like eating spaghetti with maple syrup — his father tries really hard to tolerate their differences. Santa and the elves also act as a surrogate family to Buddy when they teach him about the joys of Christmas and love of mankind.

In the end, Elf is mostly a story about the love and joy of the Christmas season, even when the holiday seems stressful and over-commercialized.  And so we cheer Buddy as he finds his family, gets the girl, rescues Santa, and is a big-hearted hero in everyone’s eyes. 

Robert Bates – Glenwood Branch

Kevin Fitzhugh and
Tammy Brown

Dance instructors from local studios showcase their expert moves, including West Coast Swing, salsa, bop, hand dance, Lindy Hop, and cha cha. Meet instructors and find out about their classes. Take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to check out some of the best dance masters in the area — including Kevin Fitzhugh and Tammy Brown, who recently competed in the 2008 U.S. Open Swing Dance Championships in Annaheim, California.

Elaine Johnson – Central Library

David Sedaris

David Sedaris’ latest volume of essays, Holidays on Ice, contains twelve stories, some written as fiction, and some in Sedaris’ signature first-person observational style. All reflect on the holiday experience. The most substantial tale, Santa Land Diaries, is an insider exposé of the life of a Macy’s Elf. Sedaris’ “Elfin diary” is crammed with reality checks that bring the North Pole back to Herald Square with a bump, and contrast the commercial aspects of Christmas with the meaning and intent of the holiday. He uncovers these contradictions with humor and directness, as when he recalls being given “the code names for various posts, such as ‘the Vomit Corner,’ a mirrored wall near the Magic Tree, where nauseous children tend to surrender the contents of their stomachs.” Peeking behind the curtain to glimpse the commercial organization making the holiday magic is both wonderful and tragic at the same time. Sedaris walks this line as skillfully as anyone.

Sedaris’ wit is most barbed when focused on his family. In Holidays on Ice, we ride shotgun with Sedaris as he participates (unwillingly) in his sister Lisa’s Christian act of charity towards her colleague, Dinah. We also experience once again his classic exposé and comparison of various international holiday traditions, especially those of the Dutch:

“Saint Nicholas would kick you?”

“Well, not anymore,” Oscar said. “Now he just pretends to kick you.”

In addition to this sly take on the holidays, Sedaris has written several volumes of biographical essays, including Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, and When You Are Engulfed in Flames. He also narrates audio versions of these books, and, as the author, provides a pitch-perfect experience for the listener. Once you read or listen to a Sedaris essay, you’ll be hooked by his self-deprecating wit and skill at observing contradictions and then brutally revealing them. As a timely seasonal introduction to Sedaris’ signature style, check out Holidays on Ice.

John Jewitt – Savage Branch

It’s that time of year again. Between the hustle and bustle of crowds, I need to find a little time to watch some classic holiday movies. Not sure what to watch? Well, here are the top three movies that have seen the inside of my DVD player this season.

A perennial favorite is  Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! It could be, perhaps, that it is fun and light. Or maybe because Boris Karloff’s voice is just right. But I think that the most likely reason of all is because this movie is perfect for the tall and the small. Many may consider this a children’s movie, but I still enjoy it every year. Whoever thought to cast Boris Karloff as the Grinch was a genius. Dr. Seuss’ rhymes still appeal to me and the message, albeit cliché, still rings true. "Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more!"  So if you don’t have a lot of time to watch a movie but need to get into the spirit, set aside an hour for the Grinch and I promise you won’t be disappointed.

A new favorite on my DVD playlist for the holidays is actually an oldie but a goodie: White Christmas starring Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye. With these two talented song-and-dance men at the helm, you know you are in for a good time. Add in a splash of Irving Berlin’s great songwriting, a pinch of Rosemary Clooney’s heavenly voice, a dash of Vera-Ellen charm, and you have a classic that spells C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S. I just discovered another reason why this movie is a favorite — although uncredited, Bob Fosse (my top dance man) did the choreography.

My last pick is a bit unconventional when it comes to a typical Christmas movie. Love Actually is a fun little romantic comedy that hosts a plethora of great British actors: Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, and one of my all-time favorites, Professor Snape, aka Alan Rickman. Follow the escapades of a washed-up singer trying to make a comeback, a recently widowed father trying to connect with his stepson, or the newly elected, very single Prime Minister (if only Gordon Brown looked that good). It is light, funny (even made my British husband laugh in places, which isn’t easy to do) and of course ends on an upbeat note (well most of it). It is a fun reminder that not only at Christmas but throughout the year, love is all around us.

These are my three picks for holiday DVD viewing. I would love to hear about some of your favorite holiday movies so that I can expand my repertoire.  Please leave me a comment below.

Beth Tribe – Central Library

Marilynne Robinson

This is a book that longs for a holiday reading, not only because of its theme of the prodigal son — in this case, Jack Boughton — coming "home," but for its message of flaws, frailties and the inherent grace and forgiveness in each of us. Robinson writes about the simplest and most mundane activities, but she manages to infuse such profound implications in such brilliant prose that reading Home is like being ensconced in the comforts of…home.

Home also narrates the story of Gloria, who returns from a failed relationship to take care of her ailing father, Rev. Robert Boughton. I believe that Gloria is the strongest character in this book. She tries to piece together her family’s former life with the realities of the present.

As Home recounts the tale of the Boughtons, Gilead focuses on Rev. John Ames, the other patriarch and childhood friend of Robert Boughton. The two books speak of events that happened in both households in the mythical town of Gilead, Iowa, some fifty years ago. Gilead, released in 2004, won Robinson the Pulitzer Prize after a 25-year hiatus since her writing of the critically-acclaimed Housekeeping.

Gilead and Home unearth our prejudices, our religious hypocrisies, and our unspoken guilts and joys. Home is unblinking in its discussion of race and religion, while unstinting in its joy and belief in grace and redemption.

As Jack Boughton says: "Is religion simply an accident of birth? Do you think people are intentionally and irretrievably consigned to perdition?"

Cristina Lozare – Central Library

Tony Hawks

Okay, it’s happened to me again. I was shelving in the new book area when A Piano in the Pyrenees literally jumped into my arms and the rest, as they say, is history. I’m once again in reader’s heaven.

I regularly fantasize about spending an extended period totally immersed in a foreign land. I would speak the native language fluently, surround myself with a new group of stimulating friends, capture the visual flavor of the area with my camera, haunt the produce markets, and prepare the regional delicacies with ease, all the while as strains of local music pique my creative muses. When I finally return home, I would have internalized a certain worldly panache that other savvy travelers would recognize and applaud.

Tony Hawks has beaten me to the punch. Already an accomplished and humorous travel writer, Hawks decides he’s at that stage in his life where he’s ready to move beyond his comfort zone of London. He’s toying with the notion of a second home, possibly in the French mountains. Before he’s even wrapped his psyche around the idea, the consummate abode in a charming village with a stunning view of the Pyrenees presents itself. Hawks throws caution to the wind and jumps.

Convinced that the abounding natural beauty will inspire him, Hawks has high hopes of perfecting his skills as a pianist. But best laid plans are set aside as he instead gets acquainted with his neighbors, the village, and the French way of life – each of which brings him more pleasure than he could ever have anticipated.

Do I think you would equally enjoy A Piano in the Pyrenees? Mais oui, naturellement!! (Just practicing for the future.) And when I do finally make my move to that exotic locale, you’ll all visit, won’t you?

Fritzi Newton – Miller Branch

The other day I needed a pick-me-up that didn’t involve caffeine or artificial sweetener so in I popped We Started Nothing, one of the best and most energizing albums released this year. The Ting Tings kick off their CD and set its entire pace with the incredibly infectious "Great DJ." The refrain would be rather ordinary without its pounding rhythm and ironic intonation on "Imagine all the girls/and the boys/and the strings/and the drums, the drums, the drums . .." The way that last word echoes is what makes this ditty so addictive.

And since there’s tons more where that came from, the only problem with We Started Nothing is deciding which tracks to rave about. "That’s Not My Name" is funny and easy to dance to (in fact, it’s impossible NOT to!) and makes me think of something Blondie might have done back in the day, though it has reminded many critics of Toni Basil’s catchy 80s hit, "Mickey." "Shut Up and Let Me Go" (a must-have for disco lovers!) is not about a bad break-up, but about the duo’s harsh take on the music industry and breaking recording contracts. The toothsome duo slows down enough for the cute and slightly pining "Be the One."

Additionally amazing tracks that I’m equally crazy about include the mesmerizing "We Walk" and the fluffy "Traffic Light." On the latter, lead singer Katie White sounds younger and more innocent than on any other song…it’s a bit disconcerting at first listen, like another singer showed up in the recording studio. But it’s sweet and will definitely make you feel good, especially when the string section shows up in the middle.

I like what Rolling Stone writes in the closing of their review: We Started Nothing has a certain edginess. But it’s just a front: An album that’s as joyful as anything by Gwen Stefani or Kylie Minogue doesn’t need indie cred. And The Guardian chimes in with this: it captures the dizzy transcendence of chemically enhanced dancefloor euphoria. Both reviews have got it down right and so I’ll leave with this direct order: GO OUT AND CHECK THIS OUT RIGHT NOW! It’s totally awesome!

Angie Engles – Central Library