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Night of the living Trekkies
by Anderson, Kevin David
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, Central LibraryMarch 5, 2012
Call Number: SF
What if zombies overran a Star Trek convention? Would the attendees’ devotion to the franchise, and possible familiarity with the science fiction genre, give them an advantage over non-fans in surviving a zombie attack? This humorous and enjoyable question is answered in Kevin David Anderson's and Sam Stall’s Night of the Living Trekkies.Jim Pike (yes, this pun should give you an idea of the tone of the book), was a life-long, devoted Star Trek fan, until a skirmish during his second tour of duty in Iraq had deadly repercussions for his team. That deadly encounter has shaken... Read Full Review
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Ghosts of Manhattan : a tale of the Ghost
by Mann, George
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, Central LibraryFebruary 27, 2012
Call Number: M
What if the usual trappings of the Steampunk sub-genre were extended beyond the Victorian era and beyond the United Kingdom? What would an alternate New York in the 1920s look like? This is the jumping-off point for George Mann’s Steampunk-tinged, noir and pulp influenced novel.The year is 1926 in an alternate New York from our own. The streets are choked with coal-powered cars and there are bi-plane launches off the roofs of most buildings. America is caught in a Cold War with the British Empire which has kept Queen Victoria alive, through artificial means, until the age of 107, and... Read Full Review
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Hark! : a vagrant
by Beaton, Kate
Reviewed by: Mary McCoy, Senior Librarian, Teen'ScapeFebruary 20, 2012
Call Number: 740.914 B369
Over the past two decades, comics have become so much a part of mainstream culture as to be neither geeky nor cool, nerdy nor hip. However, it would seem that no one told Kate Beaton of this. These comic strips collected from her popular web comic Hark! A Vagrant embrace the perennially unhip topics of science, history, and classic literature, and make them not only accessible, but also screamingly hilarious.Beaton’s enthusiasm for her esoteric subject matter is matched by her skewed wit and breadth of knowledge. Whether she is imagining... Read Full Review
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Teenie Harris, photographer : image, memory, history
by Finley, Cheryl.
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Central LibraryFebruary 13, 2012
Call Number: 770.914 H316Fi
Charles "Teenie" Harris photographed everyone who came into his sight and was of interest to him, from people in an average neighborhood to the very well-known who came to visit Pittsburgh when it was Steel City USA, and the Hill District which was the African American community. His life and experiences cover the twentieth century--1908-1998. A charming, handsome and congenial man with ethics and an enduringly optimistic view of life, his photographs reflect what he valued: people, families, communities. Mayor David L. Lawrence gave Harris the name One-Shot because that was all he... Read Full Review
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The Paris wife : a novel
by McLain, Paula.
Reviewed by: Mary McCoy, Senior Librarian, Teen'ScapeFebruary 6, 2012
Call Number: F
Before he was Ernest “Papa” Hemingway, the big game-hunting, hard-drinking, womanizing giant of American letters, he was an unknown writer striving for the almost mythical bigness he would later attain. And before she became The First Mrs. Hemingway, an often skimmed-over footnote in the writer’s biography, she was Hadley Richardson, a St. Louis woman who played the piano, swam like a fish, and always shot from the hip.In this fictionalized memoir, Paula McLain extrapolates from letters, books, and other sources a complex inner life for Hadley, who met Hemingway in 1920,... Read Full Review
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Under the big black sun : California art 1974-1981
Reviewed by: Vi Thuc Ha, Young Adult Librarian, Lincoln HeightsJanuary 30, 2012
Call Number: 709.794 U555
Starting in 2011 and going through the middle of 2012, Southern California cultural institutions have joined together thematically to celebrate the birth of the Los Angeles art scene from 1945-1980. Pacific Standard Time, the name of this unprecedented undertaking that is funded by The Getty, celebrates the multiplicity of artists and works created during this fertile period; the diversity covered by more than 60 cultural institutions includes such topics as ceramics, racial identity, feminism, photography, local history, design and architecture. A sampling of the shows includes the upcoming... Read Full Review
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Confessions of a young novelist
by Eco, Umberto
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Central LibraryJanuary 23, 2012
Call Number: 853 E19E
At the age of forty-eight, Umberto Eco published his first novel, The Name of the Rose, the eponymous film followed, and a young novelist was born. There followed several other successful novels and the most recent, The Prague Cemetery. Long before this late-blooming career, Eco had a reputation as a medievalist, philosopher and scholar of semiology (“The science... Read Full Review
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Apollo's angels : a history of ballet
by Homans, Jennifer.
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Central LibraryJanuary 16, 2012
Call Number: 793.3209 H763
During this end-of-the-year holiday season, numerous presentations of The Nutcracker ballet are being performed with ballet dancers dressed as sugar plums, candy canes, waltzing flowers, and other holiday treats. Jennifer Homans’ Apollo’s Angels: a History of Ballet is especially wonderful to read right now. It will be of interest to everyone, not only balletomanes who may think they know everything about this dance form, but for those who know nothing about it, and in particular for those who have preconceived notions about men in tights performing daring leaps into the air and... Read Full Review
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The family Fang
by Wilson, Kevin
Reviewed by: Mary McCoy, Senior Librarian, Teen'ScapeJanuary 9, 2012
Call Number: F
Siblings Annie and Buster have spent most of their adult lives trying to escape the notorious legacy of their parents, the performance artists Caleb and Camille Fang. Growing up, they were frequent participants in the Fangs’ madcap art “happenings,” where they appeared as Child A and Child B. As a family, the Fangs infiltrated parks, airplanes, shopping malls, and beauty pageants like a pack of art world grifters.Having grown up being treated like theatrical props, both Fang children fled the family home the second they were old enough. Now Annie is a Hollywood actress and... Read Full Review
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The girl who circumnavigated Fairyland in a ship of her own making
by Valente, Catherynne M.
Reviewed by: Christa Deitrick, Librarian, Literature & Fiction DepartmentJanuary 2, 2012
Call Number:
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making may very well delight, successfully melding all sorts of creatures and conventions culled from fairy tales and folklore. Author Catherynne M. Valente, best known for adult fiction, has blown the lid off her usual style with this book, which was initially written in installments online and went on to win a Nebula Award in 2010. It strongly brings to mind the brilliantly dotty, all-ages appeal of... Read Full Review
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How to save a life
by Zarr, Sara.
Reviewed by: Mary McCoy, Senior Librarian, Teen'ScapeDecember 26, 2011
Call Number: YA
Recently named one of Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2011, How To Save a Life is a young adult novel that invites - and deserves - a wide readership. Whether you’re a teen or an adult, you’ll find a lot to like in this insightful, big-hearted novel about a grieving family struggling to move forward and a pregnant teenager who makes a desperate gamble.Since 17-year-old Jill’s father died the previous year, she’s... Read Full Review
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A first-rate madness : uncovering the links between leadership and mental illness
by Ghaemi, S. Nassir.
Reviewed by: Bob Timmermann, Senior Librarian, Science, Technology & Patents Dept.December 19, 2011
Call Number: 616.895 G411
When you look at the problems that face world leaders, especially in times of crisis, you might think, "You have to be crazy to want to do that job." To psychiatrist Nassir Ghaemi, being "crazy", or, more precisely, having some form of mental illness may be just what is needed for some leaders to be able to accomplish great things during times of great need.Ghaemi examines, in varying detail, the lives of world leaders whom he believes had some form of mental illness in their lives: Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, William T. Sherman, Martin Luther... Read Full Review