Book Review: A Secret Gift

A Secret Gift by Ted Gup is a unique blend of narrative history coupled with various personal stories relating to the Great Depression of the 1930s. This time period shaped a generation and has a strong correlation to the current “Great Recession.” The reader is taken back more than seventy years to Ohio, when successful retailer Sam Stone places an ad in the local Canton newspaper soliciting families in need. Sam uses the pseudonym B. Virdot and asks individuals to write him with their stories of hardship. Over 150 families receive a small amount from “Mr. Virdot” to help make Christmas bright during this difficult time. Not until Sam’s grandson, writer Ted Gup, uncovers this hidden mystery and reveals the many hardships these families endured do we understand Sam’s motive and purpose. A Secret Gift truly makes you appreciate what we have today and how desperate people were during this life-changing era. [Also in audiobook.] -Kathy (Downtown)

Ostrich Festival

Where else can you hear live music, enjoy carnival rides and games, and see ostrich races? Only at Chandler's Ostrich Festival, March 11-13, 2011 at Tumbleweed Park. This year will also feature a sea lion show and medieval jousting, in addition to entertainment from various dance groups and music acts including Eddie Money. The Ostrich Festival Parade will officially kick off the event on Saturday morning at 10am, starting at Ray Rd and proceeding south on Arizona Ave.

Celebrating Chandler's heritage and the city's history of ostrich farming, the Ostrich Festival was established in 1989. For ticket and location information, entertainment schedules, and more, visit http://www.ostrichfestival.com/

Book Review: The Dust of 100 Dogs

Somewhere in the 17-century Caribbean, just as she is about to escape with her true love, feared pirate Emer Morrisey is murdered and mysteriously cursed with the “dust of one hundred dogs.” Three hundred years later, teenager Saffron Adams agonizes over disappointing her overbearing parents with the news that she does not intend to go to college; after all, it would be unreasonable to expect them to understand her desire to seek out buried treasure (much less her desire to torture every typical teenager she encounters). The reader soon learns that Emer is destined to live the lives of one hundred dogs before returning to this world in human form, as Saffron. The Dust of 100 Dogs, by A.S. King, follows the lives of cynical Saffron and (initially) naive Emer in alternating chapters interspersed with anecdotes about what can be learned from living as a dog. The result is a highly original and entertaining YA novel that should appeal to fans of fantasy, historical fiction and more typical young adult “problem” fiction.

In January, 2011, A.S. King was awarded a Printz honor for her most recent novel, Please Ignore Vera Dietz. - Nick (Downtown)

Book Review: Left Neglected

Lisa Genova's novel Left Neglected (also on CD book) tells the story of Sarah Nickerson, a working mother and type-A personality with a maddeningly busy life. She's determined to succeed at her job as a business executive, working 80-hour weeks and competing with coworkers who are mostly divorced men, while doing everything she can to get her three children to school and daycare in the morning and get home in time to tuck them into bed. One morning, trying to get a head start on work by making business calls while driving, she takes her eyes from the road for and instant and has to swerve to avoid a traffic backup, rolling her car at 70 miles per hour.

When Sarah wakes up she discovers that the left side of her world has vanished. The right side of her brain was damaged in the accident, leaving her afflicted with a puzzling disorder known as Left Neglect - she is unaware of the left side of her body, her left visual field is missing, and when told to turn her head to the left, she can't understand what it means. She must begin the agonizing process of rehabilitation, struggling to regain what she lost, anxious to return to work and family and terrified that she will never get her life back.

Genova uses her background in neuroscience to bring her novel to life, examining this fascinating and frustrating disorder and imagining how it might affect a person. She draws us into Sarah's world, overwhelming us with the stress of her schedule and baffling us with her injury, and following Sarah's journey as she gradually heals herself and her life. -Michelle (Sunset)

Book Review: You Had Me At Woof

You Had Me At Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness begins as a seemingly sweet book about a rescued Boston terrier who saves author Julie Klam from her self-centered lifestyle in New York City. As the book progresses, the reader learns about the dedication and volunteer hours needed to save just one pet from heartless and irresponsible owners that populate every community. I had to stop reading due to some graphic details about animal treatment, and being a dog lover, Boston Terriers in particular, this book touched a nerve for me. Klam is a solid writer, but I found some details didn’t flow with the rest of the “feel-good” storyline I had anticipated. The cover alone should capture the curiosity of a few readers, encouraging them to learn more about the unconditional love pets provide and the time it takes to truly care for an animal. - Kathy (Downtown)

Book Review: Cake Boss

Cake Boss will not disappoint loyal fans of the popular bakery show, now shooting its third season on The Learning Channel. Buddy Valastro writes an honest account of how he earned the right to call himself the chief baker and business manager for his family’s 100-year-old Hoboken establishment known as Carlo’s Bake Shop. Full of personal accounts about his four older sisters, his mother, and his father - who taught this master baker literally everything he knows about business, salesmanship, and genuine customer service - add a touch of family drama without being too invasive. The reader feels a special bond with the Valastro family, who worked hard to establish an artisan family business in the early 20th-century, and in turn carries on a lost art and tradition of from-scratch baking. Read Cake Boss for laughs and a few tears, in addition to the many mouth-watering recipes included in the back of the book. Cream puff anyone? -Kathy (Downtown)

Books on the Big Screen

Going to the movies? Several new and "coming soon" movies are based on books. Beat the crowds and place your holds now!

The Rite (scheduled release date: January 28)

Anthony Hopkins stars as an American priest studying at an exorcism school in Italy.

Based on The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist, by Matt Baglio

The Eagle (scheduled release date: February 25)

The saga of a young Roman soldier in ancient Britain.

Based on The Eagle of the Ninth, by Rosemary Sutcliff

Jane Eyre (scheduled release date: March 11)

A new adaptation of the classic novel about a plain servant and her mysterious employer.

Based on Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte (hint: look for books with call numbers of F BRONTE or YA BRONTE)

The Lincoln Lawyer (scheduled release date: March 18)

Matthew McConnaughey stars as a lawyer who conducts business from the back of his Lincoln town car.

Based on The Lincoln Lawyer, by Michael Connelly (also in Large Print)

Miral (scheduled release date: March 25)

An orphaned Palestinian girl grows up in the wake of war.

Based on Miral, by Rula Jebreal