An American sex symbol is found floating in the Hudson River and the newspapers are reporting that it’s a murder. A famous author known for his detective series claims he will get to the bottom of the mystery. Is this another episode of Castle? No, it’s the true story of the murder of Mary Rogers, and Edgar Allan Poe’s attempt to solve the crime.

In The Beautiful Cigar Girl, Daniel Stashower captures New York’s political climate of 1841. "The beautiful cigar girl" is Mary Rogers, a sales clerk and local celebrity — many of New York’s famous men frequent the cigar store for a glimpse of her. Mary’s behavior made her a darling of the media and her death precipitated a call for reform. Also present is Edgar Allan Poe, a once famous writer for the literary magazines, now looking for his next story. Although considered brilliant, his brutally honest book reviews and erratic behavior have alienated him from society. 

I enjoyed The Beautiful Cigar Girl because of the mystery. Who did kill Mary Rogers? And why? In The Mystery of Marie Roget, Poe attempts to answer these questions through deductive reasoning. I equally enjoyed the story’s history, as well as the author’s inclusion of Poe’s biography. Stashower tells Poe’s story, from his turbulent childhood though his untimely death in Baltimore. The telling of Poe’s life is critical to both the mystery and the reason why he would care so much about writing Mary Roger’s story.  In some way, they are kindred spirits, each bent on the same destination.

Robert Bates – Glenwood Branch

I don’t usually read memoirs, especially ones about recovery. I don’t watch docudramas about medical or emotional trauma either. I tend to become horrified and depressed, instead of edified and entertained. However, Cooking & Screaming: Finding My Own Recipe for Recovery found its way onto my reading stack…I think it was a combination of the clever title and bold cover. This fascinating and honest book might even have converted me into reading other memoirs (but not watching them).

Just before graduating from UC Berkeley at age 21, author Adrienne Kane suffered a major stroke. In this memoir, Kane recounts the frustrations of physical therapy and her gradual reintroduction to independence. As she takes the reader through her road to recovery, she mixes family anecdotes, California atmosphere, and medical prognoses into an upbeat concoction, all about a strong-willed woman facing life’s challenges.

Each chapter begins with a recipe, which relates somehow to the chapter’s theme. The first chapter opens with a pasta and zucchini dish (which I have copied to try myself) from Kane’s college days. Throughout the book, recipes vary in complexity from basic spaghetti sauce to a duck dinner made in memory of Julia Child. It was fascinating to see how each recipe reflected an important chapter in the author’s recovery.

Kane discovers her passion for food and feeding people as she copes with her disabilities. Cooking and sharing her thoughts about food come to define her vocation, almost by accident. This was a delightful read…the author’s voice is highly personal, the topic astounding on many levels, and the meals mouthwatering-ly inspiring.

Kristen Blount – Administration Office

The Eternal, Sonic Youth’s 16th studio album, marks their departure from Geffen Records, the band’s label for 18 years. The Eternal was recorded with bassist Mark Ibold, formerly of Pavement, with whom the band had previously toured. Also for the first time, Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, and Lee Ranaldo share lead vocals — and quite well I might add, especially on the tracks "What We Know" and "Leaky Lifeboat (for Gregory Corso)."

"Antenna" and "What We Know" are my two favorite tracks on the album. When I first listened to "Antenna" I thought there was some strange jet flying over my apartment. I paused the song, looked out my window and saw nothing. Seconds later I realized that it was just an effect used in the song. "What We Know" is one of the album’s catchiest and more accessible tracks; it has a great chorus using Gordon and Ranaldo’s harmonized vocals.

What I find amazing about this album is that even though Sonic Youth has been recording music for more than 20 years, and certain members are approaching the age of 60, they still can create some of the loudest, most intense, and original music to date. Even more compelling is the fact that every album they have released over the past 10 years has consistently been of exceptional quality.

Sonic Youth broke new ground on 1988’s Daydream Nation, and 27 years later they show that they still have the chops to put most modern rock acts to shame. They will eternally be the kings of alternative music.

Mike Dwyre – East Columbia Branch

The Luxe by Anna Godbersen is heady young adult fiction that is not only intriguing and delectable, but sly.

Intriguing for the story itself: The world of late Victorian New York society at its most repressed and crustiest tier provides the setting in which the recently impoverished Holland sisters, Elizabeth and Diana, are both victims of their own superior status.

Delectable for the four star-crossed lovers: Godbersen has borrowed a bit from Austen and even Shakespeare, yet her characters breathe with teen angst, passion and surprising sex appeal.

Finally, The Luxe is a sly read. Female readers who may eschew historical fiction like the most tasteless low-fat snacks will be gobbling up the author’s fresh, modern narrative. They will quickly forget they have settled into an era of "rule followers and tea sippers" mainly because this addictive page-turner, set during a time of gas lamps, horse drawn carriages and Fifth Avenue mansions exploding with backstairs secrets, is not so different from today’s amoral obsession with wealth and beauty.

Think Gossip Girl meets The Age of Innocence, and you will have a fresh and sparkling twist on an often withered genre.

Aimee Zuccarini -  East Columbia Branch

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