Staff Recommendations
Sheryn Morris
Pages
-
Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays
by Didion, Joan.
May 5, 2020
Call Number: 973.92 D556 2008
During this century, Joan Didion has become somewhat better known for personal tragedies, which she wrote about in The Year of Magical Thinking. When it was published, I could not finish reading it, and still have not. Long ago, in the last century, the first book of hers that I read was Slouching Towards Bethlehem, a collection of essays. It may have been assigned in a high school English class, or I found it in a small local... Read Full Review
-
The widow Clicquot : the story of a champagne empire and the woman who ruled it
by Mazzeo, Tilar J.
March 16, 2020
Call Number: 663.2092 C636Ma
This biography of a woman and a wine, takes place in the early 1800s, in France, at a time when women did not conduct business, let alone take over their husband's business. However Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin was no oridnary woman. She had witnessed the French Revolution, lived through the Napoleonic Wars, national banking disasters, and the death of her husband, possibly from typhus or by suicide. Monsieur Clicquot had a dream of making a superior champagne, which his young widow was determined to make a reality. With determination, innate savviness, and advice from her own family... Read Full Review
-
Incidental inventions
by Ferrante, Elena,
March 2, 2020
Call Number: 858 F373
Over the past few years Elena Ferrante has become very well known for her Neapolitan Novel Series, and for the recent television dramatization of the books, which LAPL owns: part one. Season two begins March 16 on HBO. She has written other novels which can be found... Read Full Review
-
The American story : conversations with master historians
by Rubenstein, David M.,
February 24, 2020
Call Number: 907 R895
These conversations with master historians were the result of a “spur of the moment” idea that came to philanthropist David M. Rubenstein, who is a major supporter of The Library of Congress and The National Book Festival, as well as supporting other projects which preserve our national heritage. This would be, “ A series of interviews with accomplished American historians about their books, in front of an audience principally comprising members of Congress."... Read Full Review
-
Anthony Bourdain remembered.
February 10, 2020
Call Number: 641.092 B768An
Anthony Bourdain was a charmer, armed with wit and brilliance, and a mischievous smile, and probably broke many female hearts with his passion for everything in life. On television, his walk was a joy to watch, with long arms and legs striding along, venturing forth to get somewhere, to see, to experience, and enticing and encouraging us to come along. With his decision to cut out early (Anthony Bourdain died in early June, 2018, an apparent suicide), he has broken all of our hearts, for those of us who watched his television programs and read his books, and delighted in what he... Read Full Review
-
Mighty justice : my life in civil rights
by Roundtree, Dovey Johnson, 1914-2018,
February 3, 2020
Call Number: 347.092 R859
Dovey Johnson Roundtree was an African American civil rights leader and activist, an attorney and an ordained minister. Her life and contributions are not that well known. Born in 1914, she came of age in a time when African Americans could take nothing for granted about their personal safety, and had no expectations at all about fair and equitable treatment in their personal or professional lives. Roundtree's life is a reminder of how things were, and what it took for her to endure and persist to bring about change. This is Roundtree's autobiography, a life that was rich with courage,... Read Full Review
-
How to raise a reader
by Paul, Pamela,
December 9, 2019
Call Number: 372.4 P324
Pamela Paul and Maria Russo provide helpful advice and guidance about how parents can raise children to be readers, and how to keep those children reading. They lay out methods, guidelines, book lists and positive motivational techniques for parents to follow. In the introduction they present two different reading situations that children and parents face: "School is... Read Full Review
-
Midnight Chicken: (& Other Recipes Worth Living For)
by Risbridger, Ella
November 26, 2019
Call Number: 641.59 R595
Even though this book has recipes with good directions, it is not exactly a cookbook. It is part memoir with an appreciation about having a family made of friends who are reliably there for the good and bad times--no matter what. The book is wholeheartedly a paean to life and the love that makes it jubilant when things are going well, and bearable when things are not going so well. It is noticeably British; the recipes are written with a mix of metric and centigrade measurements; and there are Britishisms throughout the text which readers will be able to figure out. The book... Read Full Review
-
Mexican American baseball on the Westside of Los Angeles
by Santillan, Richard,
October 15, 2019
Call Number: 796.231 S235-5
This book is part of a series of books that document Mexican American baseball. They are photographic essays which include meticulously researched information. The focus is baseball, but the books are more than a history of the sport as organized and played by Mexican Americans. The text and photographs present a cultural history of prejudice and exclusion of Mexican American players from all-white leagues. The books also document the participation of women in ... Read Full Review
-
Feels Like Home: Reflections on Central Library
October 1, 2019
Call Number: 027.47949 L881Fe
One year ago, on September 13, 2018, the Los Angeles Public Library celebrated Central@25. This event commemorated the 25th anniversary of the reopening of Central Library. The day of appreciation, celebration and honors was the idea of Christina Rice, Senior Librarian, LAPL Photo Collection. Preliminary planning began approximately six months before the event. There were many staff suggestions to make the day grand and wonderful, but Ms. Rice suggested a book. At the time, I thought it was an impossible dream that a book of any value... Read Full Review
-
Happiness is Baking: Cakes, Pies, Tarts, Muffins, Brownies, Cookies: Favorite Desserts From the Queen of Cake
by Heatter, Maida
August 26, 2019
Call Number: 641.71 H442-2
This is the most recent cookbook from the Queen of Cake, Maida Heatter, which is a collection of her favorite recipes. In the introduction she writes about how determined a baker can be to get a recipe, and how much satisfaction there is in baking and giving desserts to others. This cookbook is different from her other works only in its new format that has a very bright colorful layout and illustrations by Alice Oehr. Everything else is the same as in her other cookbooks: table of contents, complete index, meticulous easy-to-follow directions and an opening chapter, "Before you... Read Full Review
-
What Moves at the Margin: Selected Nonfiction
by Morrison, Toni
August 12, 2019
Call Number: 818 M882
Toni Morrison possessed and shared with us knowledge about ourselves, through the power of words.The work of the grande dame of Black American Literature has always commanded our attention. Great fiction writers create stories expressed through characters, plot and language that speak truth to all of us. Their work takes our breath away by making us look at life we never thought about, and even denied existed. Toni Morrison was a great writer who wrote about the lives of Black Americans.The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution legally abolished slavery, but it did not... Read Full Review