Don’t get me wrong, Norah Jones is a great singer. But if you want someone just as lovely and jazzy AND with a little more grit, look no further than the fabulously cheeky Nellie McKay and her album Get Away from Me. Wow(!) is the first word (unoriginal, I know) that comes to mind when you listen. Can she really have been only 19 when she recorded this? Her witty, energetic observations and mature tones suggest she’s lived several lifetimes.

The tracks have wide musical variety, from the ironic lounge sounds of "I Wanna Get Married" to the wonderfully feminist-without-being-militant-about-it "It’s A Pose."

Every song has something to offer, but some of the best ones include: "David" (the anti-love song?); "Waiter" (offers more "traditional" pop sounds with lyrics that make you do a double take); "Baby Watch Your Back" (rap and jazz merge; if you listen to the lyrics carefully, you will probably find yourself relating to the love/hate relationships that many of us have lived through); and  "Dog Song" (my favorite — it’s a perfect example of how McKay can make things we take for granted, like walking our dogs, into something meaningful and witty).

What I really like about Nellie McKay’s voice is that it’s classy even when the songs may have some explicit language. The critics say she’s a cross between Doris Day and Eminem. Well, I like Doris Day, but Nellie McKay is much more like Rosemary Clooney or Susannah McCorkle.

Angie Engles – Central Library

Peter Straub’s Ghost Story tells the tale of the Chowder Society and the horrific events taking place in the small upstate New York town of Milburn. The Chowder Society is a group of four elderly men — Ricky Hawthorne, Sears James, Lewis Beneditk, and John Jaffrey  — who meet often to sip a glass of whiskey, smoke cigars, and tell stories about the worst and most frightening things they have ever seen or done.

As the men begin sharing the same dream, farm animals are slaughtered by an unknown intruder in the middle of the night; a beautiful young girl from New York City moves into the local hotel; and a terrible blizzard blankets the town in gray isolation. Something sinister is happening to the town of Milburn and the men of the Chowder Society believe they know the cause. As the story progresses, the town itself becomes consumed by so much fear and dread that it begins to act like one of the story’s antagonists. The town quarantines its inhabitants from the rest of the world, as they are helplessly toyed by whatever unexplainable force is menacing them.

With Ghost Story Peter Straub has written one of the scariest and most effective horror novels I have ever read. He exploits a fear that anyone of any age can understand. Imagine looking out of your window at a dimly lit street, filled with snow-covered, Victorian-style homes. Now imagine that you see something looking back at you. That idea of being watched and hunted by a presence you cannot understand is at the heart of what makes Ghost Story so terrifying. It deserves a spot next to such classics of modern horror as Salem’s Lot, The Exorcist, and Rosemary’s Baby.

Mike Dwyre – East Columbia Branch

Come Early Morning opens with Lucy Fowler (an exceptional Ashley Judd) insisting on paying for the motel where she spent the night, after what we assume is yet another in a series of drunken one-night stands. As she begins the long drive home (and back to a sober reality), Malcolm Holcombe’s "Killing the Blues" plays over the credits. Close-ups show us Lucy’s feelings of guilt, shame, and regret as she drives, and by the time her green and white truck pulls into her driveway, we’re hooked. What’s going on with Lucy?

The movie answers that question by gradually revealing the details of Lucy’s life. Her roommate Kim (Laura Prepon), Lucy’s closest friend, lends a comic element in the movie, saying those things that only your closest friend can say. Kim also provides balance for Lucy’s more extreme behavior. As we get to explore Lucy’s situation in greater depth, we meet the many strands of her dysfunctional family — her boss at the construction company, and eventually Cal Percell, (Jeffrey Donovan, Burn Notice), who is new in town, and might see Lucy as a romantic prospect, rather than simply a conquest. Cal’s pursuit prompts Lucy to examine her life and to make some changes, although they may be different than expected.

Written and directed by Joey Lauren Adams and filmed in her hometown of North Little Rock, the movie feels authentic and respectful, which makes Lucy seem all the more real. This is a deliberate and brilliant film providing drama and a moving story, along with a close-up examination of an ordinary life. Check out a stellar characterization by Ashley Judd in Come Early Morning.

John Jewitt – Savage Branch

When it comes to fiction, I tend to love any title that’s both humorous and tells an engaging story. That’s not to say I don’t appreciate a good tear-jerker, but it’s harder to make me laugh out loud than it is to make me burst into tears. (Just kill off a kid or a dog and I’m a river.) I saw a book returned to the library that had an interesting cover and a weird title, so I picked it up. Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy had me laughing so much I was scaring people around me, and then scaring them even more when I followed them saying, "No, no, let me just read to you this one part; it’s fantastic!" I took the book with me on vacation and was sad whenever I had to leave it in my hotel room, unfinished.

The story focuses on 12-year-old Stephanie, niece to Gordon Edgley, a reclusive author who has just died. A mysterious man clad in a fedora, scarf, and trench coat is at the reading of the will, and thus enters our hero. Stephanie inherits her uncle’s estate, and the story jumps on a roller coaster ride from there. Skulduggery Pleasant is the fedora-wearing stranger whose sense of humor is so wonderful; I truly wish I could have him as a friend.

An extra fun bonus was reading the author’s information on the back sleeve — "The reason Derek writes his own biographical blurb is so that he can finally refer to himself in the third person without looking pompous or insane." To let readers know, this is a young adult book, but I recommend it for both teens and adults. If you’re looking for something light and hilarious, Skulduggery Pleasant is one title you just might like to pick up.

Jennifer Johnson – Glenwood Branch

Higher temperatures and drought conditions are making our usual gardening practices impractical and less effective. Can the concept of xeriscaping, which employs water conservation as its goal, be helpful in keeping our gardens flourishing under adverse environmental conditions?

Register online for Master Gardener Aylene Gard’s class — on Wednesday, April 1, 7:00 pm at the Miller Branch — to learn about xeriscaping your garden.

Dryland Gardening: Plants that Survive and Thrive in Tough Conditions is one book in Howard County Library’s collection which explores circumventing water shortage problems, while still growing spectacular gardens.
 
Cynthia Cedeno – Miller Branch

If you’re tired of listening to the depressing nightly news and reading books you feel are sad or gloomy, then try Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon by Debbie Fuller Thomas. It is a Christian novel, but never "preachy."

I loved single mom Marty, who learns that her daughter Ginger, whom she raised and loved for the past 13 years and who has since died, was not really hers. Ginger was switched at birth with recently orphaned Andrea. Marty decides to petition for custody of "Andie," not knowing just how that change will affect her life. In order to deal with the daily stress (looming bills, custody of Andie, an unreliable truck, a troubled teenage daughter), Marty bakes all kinds of scrumptious goodies. I could almost smell the scent of the cookies, brownies, and cakes baking in her kitchen. (She dreams of opening a bakery someday.)

Marty’s other children, Deja, a moody teen, and Winnie, the youngest, are also lively characters, adding their own problems to the mix. The writer’s descriptions of the family’s interactions and the way they deal with obstacles make this a heartwarming story.

Michele Happel – Miller Branch

I am a quick reader. By way of explanation I read the final Harry Potter book in one sitting. Secondly I finished Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin – all 916 pages – over a weekend.

So let me explain why The Hemingses of Monticello took me three months. It was gloriously and compassionately written; it was rich in details (I was in the footnotes and back to the family tree frequently); and, finally, because reading this story altered me at a fundamental level.

Dr. Gordon-Reed writes like a poet; her sentence structure and word choices are elegant. As the reader, you are carried through the story by an informed and compassionate guide; the voice you hear in your head is knowledgeable and human.

The lives that Gordon-Reed presents were lived without much documentation. Using books on southern life and culture, Reed adds flesh to a skeletal understanding of generations of Hemings. Beginning with the public and detailed life of Thomas Jefferson, she uses his records of slaves’ births and lives, their work assignments, and oral histories, to add structure to our understanding of life at Monticello. She augments this structure with an exploration of slave culture and local history. Even without any photographs, the faces of the Hemings family emerge clearly in your mind.

This book altered me in two ways. First, I was sad. I was sad that the Hemings family was separated as they were – both during the President’s life and after his death; these separations were the reality of slave society. When Critta Hemings Colbert — wife of Burwell Colbert — died, existing letters from the Jefferson family discussed the division of their children as if they were livestock. It was hard to read and even harder to fathom. Secondly, this book made me wonder about my own life and how it will be judged.

I closed this book wondering which lifestyle realities that you and I live every day will, in 250 years, sadden a reader as deeply as the Hemings family life in slavery saddened me.

Amy Begg De Groff – Central Library

Straight-arrow Nayir al-Sharqi, a Bedouin-raised desert tracker, is stunned and saddened when, after an intense manhunt in the Saudi Arabian desert, missing 16-year-old heiress, Nouf ash-Shrawi, turns up dead.

Cause of death in the blazing desert inferno? Drowning.

Witnesses? A faithful young camel may be the last creature to see her beloved mistress alive.

Evidence found? A solitary hot pink stiletto.

None of it makes sense until Nayir glimpses the kafan-shrouded body as it’s finally laid to rest: the victim’s back faces Mecca, signifying that Nouf was pregnant — and in a society where public conversation between an unmarried man and woman is stringently policed, Nayir’s gut tells him that Nouf may have been murdered.

But the prominent Shrawi family opts to shut down the investigation, compelling Nayir and an unlikely ally, forensic lab technician Katya Hijazi, to pursue the killer on their own.

Zoe Ferraris, who was herself once a Bedouin wife, explores with delicacy, humor, and rich empirical detail, the chasm between genders. Devout and pious Nayir cannot even look at a woman’s feet without feeling he has committed an act of sexual sin or zina, while Katya, unmarried at twenty-nine, is not so devout. Contemptuous of men like Nayir, her refusal to, more often than not, wear the veil signals something else: the outside world is slowly struggling to find its way into the birthplace of Islam.

Finding Nouf is a fine first mystery. But it is the more complex mystery inside it — that of an ancient and astonishingly traditional society — that will draw readers in.

Aimee Zuccarini – East Columbia Branch

It has been years since the publication of Sister Souljah’s last literary masterpiece The Coldest Winter Ever. Souljah, a gifted storyteller and social commentator, is much wiser than her earthly years. As an educator/advisor to at-risk urban youth, she is an ardent spokesperson. Her latest offering Midnight: A Gangster Love Story represents a fictional account of a handsome Sudanese youth’s complex adjustment to the often brutal life in the slums of New York City.

When just seven years old, Mayonaka and his pregnant mother Uumma are sent to America by his father to avoid the political strife and human devastation in Sudan. Prior to the civil unrest, their family enjoyed a life of wealth and relative tranquility. Mayonaka’s father, educated abroad, was a brilliant advisor to Sudan’s Prime Minister. His father taught him how to conduct himself with dignity, guard his family at all costs, and practice the Muslim faith.

Once in New York, Mayonaka is responsible for protecting his mother and baby sister, while dealing with the cultural shock of American urban life (gang violence, disrespect of the elderly, crooked police). Through all of his trials, Midnight – dubbed this name as he frequently played basketball well into the night — remains calm, thoughtful, and courageous. While working at a fish market in New York’s Chinatown, 14-year-old Midnight meets 16-year-old Akemi, a stylish Japanese student in the U. S. on an art scholarship. The two forge an instant friendship, although Akemi does not speak English.

Midnight will send chills up and down your spine. The more you read, the more you will be shocked and amazed. The author cleverly uses the first person narrative to heighten suspense. Because of the myriad of issues that are covered, this is a wonderful novel for book discussion.

Excerpt:
"Everything you have ever seen or heard about Africa is wrong. My African grandfather taught me that the storyteller is the most powerful person in the world after God. My grandfather said be careful who you listen to and what they are saying. The storyteller is clever and masterful and has already decided exactly what he wants you to think and believe."

Author Sister Souljah scores another hit right out of the ball park with her latest tour de force. Awesome! Bravo! (Due to its range and explicit language, Midnight is recommended for sophisticated readers.)
 
Elaine Johnson – Central Library

Elizabeth Moon

Please join us for a live video-conference with Elizabeth Moon, author of the 2003 Nebula award-winning novel The Speed of Dark, and this year’s Howard County Book Connection selection.

Lou Arrendale, the honest and good hero of this futuristic novel, has high-functioning autism. He and his colleagues are working at a pharmaceutical company when a new manager, Mr. Crenshaw, comes along with plans for cost-cutting changes. Instead of making expensive accommodations for these intellectually gifted employees with autism, Crenshaw tries to coerce them into undergoing a treatment cure that has heretofore only been tested on chimpanzees.

Moon has created a story with a fast-moving plot, plenty of suspense, and fascinating characters who, because of their autism, lie outside the range of what’s considered “normal”. You’ll see the world and its patterns through Lou’s eyes. You’ll understand how impossible deciphering metaphorical language can be, and how the normal social cues that we take for granted are actually amazingly complex and finely-tuned.

Moon writes from experience. Her son, born in 1983, has autism. To read more about her life and work, check out her web site, MoonScape, which includes the eloquent essay Autism: Past, Present, Future, Speculative.

The video-conference will take place on Tuesday, March 31 from 12:30 – 2:00 pm at the Monteabaro Recital Hall, Horowitz Center, Howard Community College, 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway. We invite you to read the book if you haven’t already, and come with comments or questions to ask the author. This event is cosponsored by Howard Community College and Howard County Autism Society.

Hope to see you there!

Lisa Bankman – Administration Office