If variety is the spice of life, this selection of books reviewed by HCL customers will make for some tasty reading this summer. Take a trip to Botswana, contemplate the end of the world, and learn about the history of orchids!

The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith

The latest in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series does not fail to entertain with its charming portrayal of Botswana and its people. Precious and Grace travel to a safari camp to sort out a case of mistaken identity, meanwhile at home, Grace’s fiance’s aunt refuses to let Grace care for her betrothed after he suffers injuries in a bad accident. Of course, in the end, harmony is restored. The fun is in the trip of reading this book. Enjoy!

- Jill P.

Edge of Apocalypse by Tim LaHaye & Craig Parshall

This takes modern day politics, economics, and today’s headlines and incorporates it with biblical prophecy to show us how close we are to what the Bible tells us will happen. The book was exciting from the start with a Korean warship launching nuclear missiles at the USA to a "Return to Sender" laser weapon developed by the main character, Joshua Jordan. It will make you think about the truth of Biblical prophecy. I recommend this book.

- Jennifer P.

The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean

I never thought much about orchids before reading this book. Nor did I consider the specific history of Florida, or the way 18th – 19th century Europeans coveted these flowers. All of this and more are dealt with in this unusual book. Highly recommended. I learned a lot and have a new appreciation for this flower and its sad history.

- Kelly G.

Remember that each book you read is a chance to win — make sure you complete an entry form at any Howard County Library branch!

We’ve heard the line "you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover" over and over again from teachers and parents alike, but in my opinion, the advice falls short of being a maxim. In fact, I’ve been noticing a correlation between great external graphic design and internal content. Henry Schlesinger’s new book The Battery: How Portable Power Sparked a Technological Revolution, published by Smithsonian Books, provides both.

This was a really fun and well-written book about the history of the electrical battery. You know, the things that are in your cell phones, TV remotes, cars, watches, iPods, computers, flashlights — I think you get the point. We know what they are and have a basic understanding of how they work, but how many of us know where they came from? As Schlesinger discovered while researching, the history of the battery is no less than the history of modern science itself.

The battery as we know it now likely began with observations made by philosophers and alchemists of old. Natural substances such as magnetic lodestones and static-charged amber were known to exist, but these properties were mysterious and widely misunderstood. It wasn’t until the 1700s that European chemists began to understand electricity as a naturally-occurring phenomenon, and then that it could be predictably generated with the right arrangement of metals and chemicals.

What you’ll find here is a lively (dare I say, "shocking?") chronological narrative involving dozens of chemists, scientists, engineers, inventors, and the inventions, circumstances, rivalries, and partnerships that both led to battery technology, and resulted from it. To help illustrate the evolution of the electrical battery, the pages are speckled with lovely old-style line drawings. There’s a fair amount of natural humor here (some of the early experiments with electricity made me snort), and Schlesinger paints a vivid context by deftly quoting famous novels which reference the emerging technology. There’s even a Metallica reference!

Dan Curry – Savage Branch

It’s an old adage: Books open doors to new experiences. Here’s a selection of books recommended by Howard County Library customers that let you travel from the comfort of your favorite chair to colonial days, the old west, and modern China. What a great way to enjoy a stay-cation!

A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World by Tony Horwitz

I liked Horwitz’s Confederates in the Attic, and this book did not disappoint. His journalistic training made for very readable, meticulously researched material. He set out to uncover European exploration of the New World (north of Mexico) between (the times of) Columbus and the Pilgrims. This period of history is often ignored, so his book really fills a void. Plus, it’s fun to read.

- Sarah T.

The Wild Girl: The Notebooks of Ned Giles, 1932 by Jim Fergus

I really enjoyed this book – although it is a work of fiction, it seems very well researched and provides a lot of insight into the Apache culture. The style of writing is thoroughly engaging and quickly draws the reader in. The characters were quirky and charming and each very upstanding (in their own way). Plus, It’s a book you continue to think about after you’ve put it down.

- Courtney W.

Country Driving by Peter Hessler

Hessler traveled through China seeing and learning how the rural villages and their people change as the courntry transforms its economy by incorporating infrastructure for East-West flow of people, raw materials, and products. He follows the Great Wall and see how it has changed through the years. He becomes close to a family in Sancha who faces their young child’s medical crises and sees how they adapt and strive for their dreams. lifestyle, and advancements. Hessler observes the migrants working in factories and entrepreneurs striving for a better life. China is making for way for the new country, changing the old for tomorrow.

- Cecile W.

Remember that each book you read is a chance to win — make sure you complete an entry form at any Howard County Library branch!

"The present chasm between the generations has been brought about almost entirely by a change in the concept of truth."

I’ve read this volume (The God Who Is There, Escape From Reason, and He Is There And He Is Not Silent) three or four times. How to describe them? Francis Schaeffer (1912 – 1984) was a Christian pastor, writer, historian, missionary, and philosopher. These works represent the foundation of his worldview, and his defense of it.

In the first two books, you will find a fascinating overview of how we (the modern Western world) arrived at where we are today — philosophically, musically, politically, artistically, culturally, socially, and religiously. Schaeffer’s holistic approach relates all of these areas to one another and demonstrates how the progress (or lack thereof) of each area first begins with a change in the ways a culture handles the basic idea of truth. Truth is either antithesis (i.e, A is A and If you have A it is not non-A) or synthesis (i.e, A is not necessarily not non-A).

By comparing these different areas of life chronologically, Schaeffer draws a timeline and seeks to demonstrate that there was a general (and rather inconspicuous) shift from antithesis to synthesis in the 20th century. As an artist and a musician, I was captivated by his discussion of how art expresses and confirms the philosophical ethos of an age.

The third book in this volume is also the shortest, and in my opinion, the most important. Here, Schaeffer considers the basic categories of answers to epistemology (how we know what we know), metaphysics (the nature of being), and morals. He starts with what Sartre called the most basic philosophical problem, the antithesis that “something exists” rather than nothing. By process of elimination, Schaeffer narrows down what that “something” is and must be. He concludes that all that is must have had its origin in an infinite-personal God. You may, of course, judge for yourself whether his treatment is valid.

What I appreciate about Schaeffer is that his methodology engages the mind and the heart, never to the chagrin of either. It stems from a lifetime of human relationships, especially at L’Abri, his ministry in Switzerland.

Dan Curry – Savage Branch

Howard County is named after John Eager Howard, yet how many of us know who he was? Thanks to John Beakes’ and Jim Piecuch’s meticulous examination of the archival and published record, John Eager Howard now has a well-deserved account of his life and significant military accomplishments. Though focusing on his war record, Beakes and Piecuch also provide an ample introduction to the young Baltimore native, and summarize his post-Revolution achievements, including his service as a U.S. senator, and Governor of the state of Maryland. In this scholarly work, the facts never overwhelm a great story, and the narrative brings John Eager Howard to life while recounting his skills as an officer and leader of Maryland’s Continental Army troops.

As a soldier Howard gained repute for his collected calm under enemy fire. He possessed the ability to visualize and seize upon tactical moments, when victory or defeat hung in the balance. Yet in 1776, at the opening of the Revolution, Howard was a newly commissioned major totally without military experience. He learned his trade quickly in the northern campaigns in New York and Pennsylvania, but was ultimately sent to fight in the southern theater, centered in North and South Carolina. Howard’s commander was General Nathanael Greene, and he fought with General Daniel Morgan, among others. These southern battles involved constant movement, ambush, and pursuit. A notable American victory at the Battle of the Cowpens was followed by tactical checks at Guilford Courthouse and Eutaw Springs that nonetheless worked to confound British military strategy. Fighting in the south was savage, pitting American citizen soldiers or militia mixed with Continental troops against the trained British professional. Some may be surprised when reading about the behavior of soldiers under fire, which makes the quality of their leaders all the more critical to the outcome of battle.

I highly recommend Cool Deliberate Courage to amateur military historians, serious students of the American Revolution, or anyone interested in learning about an outstanding Maryland soldier, praised by George Washington. The authors, having elevated John Eager Howard from obscurity, assert that this is the first of more books on military men who helped General George Washington earn victory in the American Revolution. Please, give us more!

Meet the author John Beakes at Central Library on Thursday, June 3 at 7:00 pm. Books will be available for purchase and signing. Register online, at your local branch, or by calling 410.313.7860.

Phillip Lord – Elkridge Branch

Difficult times call for great heroes — and there’s no greater hero in the folklore of North America than Paul Bunyan. Harold Felton’s Legends of Paul Bunyan dates from 1947, and was first published by Alfred A. Knopf. It was recently reissued, and provides a multi-layered look at nineteenth-century United States. 

This isn’t a work of lumber-country anthropology filled with the direct recollections of lumbermen. What it is, though, is a great selection of stories featuring Bunyan that provide a unique perspective on the making of the nation. The short extracts are collected around themes, such as "Food and the Kitchen," or "Paul and the Animal Kingdom." Many of the entries retain the exaggerations and odd details that make it easy to imagine the tall tales spun around the campfire after dinner. In response to a shortage of eggs, for example, "Paul went to work and built the largest chicken coop in the world and stocked it with eight thousand chickens. The chickens worked in three shifts, the last shift finding their nests by the aid of kerosene lamps."

Other entries, such as the poem "Paul’s Wife" by Robert Frost, show Bunyan as a literary inspiration, and play with our perceptions of the character to make him more complicated. The book closes with "Paul Bunyan is Back," an inspiring piece by Louis C. Jones from the New York Times, August 24, 1941, that brings Paul’s strength to bear on the global events of the time, and illustrates the resonance and enduring power of folklore.

If you like Mark Twain or fondly remember the Rootabaga Stories of Carl Sandburg, you’ll love Legends of Paul Bunyan edited by Harold W. Felton.

John Jewitt – Savage Branch

I had my doubts about Kate Walbert’s novel when it first came out last year. I gave the book a quick once-over, pulled in by the bleached simplicity of the cover, but still thinking to myself that it was going to be self-important tripe. After it was listed as a Book of the Year 2009 by the NYT Book Review, I decided to give it another shot and could not have been more surprised and delighted.

Within these slim chapters (one of which is a mock Facebook profile), there is a quiet brutality in the prose, and a ruthless efficiency in description. In the compacted space of fifteen chapters, Walbert describes the entirety of a century through the eyes of four generations of women.

It begins with the hunger-strike death of suffragist and mother Dorothy Trevor Townsend. Her son and daughter are split up, leaving young Evelyn at a girl’s home out in the country. What could have been a dry, boring detailing of country life is, in Walbert’s hands, a quiet meditation on grief and death. As the story progresses, jumping from character to character, decade to decade, Walbert’s tone borders on taciturn, as she lets the silences in the dialogue and story ring out on the page. But there is always a keen sense of humor which almost smirks, remarking, "Really? Really now?" as history unfurls.

A Short History of Women is a title both ironic (as it mocks a WWI-era speech given by a male "expert" on the "weaker sex") and resoundingly true. The book is tight and short, detailing a few brief moments of womanhood over the last century, marked by war, upheaval, and, most of all, a fleeting identity. The Townsend women chase themselves through floundering relationships, women’s groups, rallies, and moments of loaded silence, passed between sister and sister, mother and daughter. All the while, the ghost of their suffragette matriarch is never far off.

Since March is Women’s History Month, there is no better time to chew through this tightly-wound and bitingly detailed novel.

Khaleel Gheba – Miller Branch

Stephen Ambrose’s 1992 book Band of Brothers tells the story of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, "from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest." Developing from Ambrose’s interest in Eisenhower and the pivotal events of D-Day (June 6th, 1944) Band of Brothers takes us away from the political decision makers and grand strategists, putting the reader alongside the fighting men on the front line. Ambrose’s book collects the memories of Easy Company’s members, allowing us to share their circumstances, delights and frustrations as they were deployed — and redeployed — across Europe in the final year of the war. Easy Company’s experience is both representative and extraordinary. It was this close-up first-person detail, in combination with Easy Company’s extraordinary range of battlefield experience, that made the book an ideal candidate for development as a television miniseries.

The HBO miniseries, produced with the involvement of Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, comprises a series of connected mini-feature films. Each episode focuses on a different member of the company, and has a different tone and feel.  We first encounter Easy Company in intensive training at Camp Toccoa, GA. Subsequently, the company parachutes into Normandy as part of the D-Day offensive, fights in Holland as part of Operation Market Garden, spends the winter at Bastogne in the Ardennes, and plays a significant role as allied forces push into Germany and Austria to bring the conflict to a close. The production pays great attention to detail and reveals a larger story by telling a specific — and personal — one in each episode.

The veterans themselves are interviewed in a companion documentary, We Stand Alone Together, and the success of Band of Brothers gave a number of them a wider audience for their remarkable stories. Richard Winters co-authored Beyond Band of Brothers with Cole Kingseed, and was profiled in Biggest Brother by Larry Alexander. Easy Company veterans Bill Guarnere and Babe Heffron collaborated to produce Brothers in Battle. Each of these books offers a different perspective and additional details about Easy Company’s experiences in Europe, providing a cumulative picture of Easy Company’s experience and a window into the larger conflict.

HBO’s companion series, The Pacific, premieres in mid-March 2010. The production is  based on Eugene B. Sledge’s With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa, Robert Leckie’s Helmet for My Pillow, and the experiences of John Basilone detailed in I’m Staying With My Boys. HBO’s new show presents an ideal opportunity to revisit the European Theater after D-Day with the Band of Brothers of Easy Company, 506th P.I.R.

John Jewitt – Savage Branch

King Corn is a great documentary about economies of scale in agriculture and food. In the vein of Barbara Kingsolver or Michael Pollan, filmmakers Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis head back to the heartland — Greene, Iowa. They have a simple dream of growing one acre of corn, better understanding agriculture and food production in the process.

With help from local landowners, support from distant relatives, and funding from the Federal Government’s agricultural subsidies, Cheney and Ellis plant and tend their acre and find out about their crop. They compare their corn agriculture with that of their great-grandparents, and note the huge increase in yield from the same amount of land. Stop motion animations make the major trends in farming history easy to follow and understand. Simple graphs and charts turn statistics into readily understandable visuals. On-camera interviews with key players including farmers, feedlot owners, representatives of the corn industry, and government officials place corn in context and introduce us to the economics of food. 

On trips away from Iowa, Cheney and Ellis follow “their” corn to a feedlot in Colorado, where cattle are fattened on corn before sale, and to a convenience store in Brooklyn, where sodas sweetened with corn syrup are available by the gallon. They investigate the economic benefits and dietary pitfalls of the use of corn as both an animal food and a sweetener. Along the way, their adventure raises questions about the economic and health benefits of our twenty-first century diet, and leaves the audience interested and curious about why we eat what we eat. King Corn is both entertaining and eye-opening, and is a great cinematic companion to recent bestsellers about local and seasonal food. Watch King Corn today!

John Jewitt – Savage Branch

Imagine Studs Terkel in coffee table book format with gorgeous photographs, and you have Patapsco: Life Along Maryland’s Historic River Valley.

Writer/folklorist Alison Kahn and photographer Peggy Fox have compiled and created a narrative documenting nearly one hundred years of history in five villages along the Patapsco River Valley. Through essays, photos, and fascinating oral history accounts, the two authors vividly render the life, cultures, and peoples of the villages of Oella, Ellicott City, Elkridge (whose original name, dating back to 1700s, was Elk Ridge Landing), Relay, and Daniels.

The book features reminiscences from people of all walks of life: mill workers born in the first quarter of the twentieth century, teachers, principals, dairy farmers, business owners, doctors, police chiefs, politicians, office workers, homemakers, and more. These village inhabitants of diverse ethnicities and religions include descendants of slaves, immigrants and children of immigrants, and a descendant of the founders of Ellicott City and Clarksville, former state senator James “Jim” Clark.

History buffs, fans of memoir or oral narratives, and anyone who lives or has lived in Central Maryland will find much to savor here.

Ali Kahn and Peggy Fox discuss their book at Elkridge Branch on Saturday, December 5 at 1:00 pm. Register online, by phone, or at the branch. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Lisa Bankman – Administration Office