Staff Book Picks

Ina Garten's cookbooks are always gorgeous to look at and chatty reads. She heads all of her recipes with a short paragraph about where the recipe came from or why she created it.  So far I've only made one recipe, Salted Caramel Brownies, and it was a hit at Thanksgiving.  Foolproof is a good name for this book; all of the recipes are well written and I wouldn't have a moment's hesitation in making any of them for the first time for company. I'll be making the  Mustard and Gruyere Batons for an upcoming party and there are a couple of soup recipes I'd like to try soon. Check Our Catalog

The latest William Monk mystery follows the well established pattern of an early arrest but with lingering questions and a scramble for more information during trial.  With these books I find I'm not so much concerned with "whodunnit" as I am with the background history of the time period.  This story deals with early pharmacy reform and the the use, abuse and increasing addiction to opium in the 1860s.  I always enjoy Anne Perry's stories for their period detail. Check Our Catalog

In this breathtaking sequel to Kepler’s The Hypnotist, we find Swedish detective Joona Linna investigating the mysterious murder of a young woman.  The story switches between a terrifying chase scene played out over semi deserted islands, and the political intrigue of international arms deals.  Linna at times comes off as larger than life, but you want to know what he is doing and thinking.  Follow Loona and his colorful cast of heroes and villains in this excellent sequel.  Check Our Catalog

The winners of this year's National Book Awards were announced on Wednesday night. Local poet, David Ferry of Brookline won this year's award for Poetry with his collection 'Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations'. Louise Erdrich's 'The Round House' won for best novel. This story of racial injustice that takes place on a reservation in North Dakota beat out some stiff competition. Katherine Boo's story of the poverty in the shadow of India's luxury hotels, 'Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity', won the non fiction award. Read more about these and the rest of the awards at nationalbook.org.

I've wanted to read this book ever since I first saw the cover and it was just as good, better even, then I thought it would be based on that skimpy criteria.  This is the kind of book I love.  Lots of intertwined characters jumping  back and forth through time from 1960's Italy to present day Hollywood.   It begins on the coast of Italy at the Hotel Adequate View as the proprietor Pasquale's life is changed by the arrival of beautiful American actress, Dee Moray, who is in Italy to film Cleopatra.  What follows are stories of love in many incarnations involving the friends and relations of Pasquale and Dee, including Richard Burton who is amusingly portrayed as an boozy narcissist. Check Our Catalog

A different kind of mystery.  Billy Webb, a recent college grad, gets his first job as an editor for a dictionary publisher located in a small town in western Massachusetts.  From the details it is obvious the author has worked as a lexicographer herself.  Researching the word "editrix" in the enormous citation file that includes snippets from books and magazines showing words in use, Billy and co-worker Mona come across a quotation from a novel entitled The Broken Teaglass that appears to be set in their office.  Intrigued, they try to track the book down only to find that it appears the book was never published so they begin looking for more citations in the files.  Word by word they begin to piece together a very odd murder mystery.   For a mystery the book is slow paced and measured. The layering of the story within the story will have you flipping back to check on details that seemed insignificant on first appearance. Check Our Catalog

Chef Jeremy Papier struggles to keep his first restaurant afloat in between visits to his anthropologist father, who is living with and researching the homeless residents of Vancouver B.C.'s 1,000-acre Stanley Park. In his day job, Jeremy negotiates with a profit-driven corporate financier in the city and creates radical cuisine menus for the diners at The Monkey's Paw Bistro. During his few off-hours, he glimpses the unseen lives of the Stanley Park denizens and applies his French cooking school training to the preparation of wild squirrels and starlings over a campfire.  The novel climaxes when his two lives come together in the suspenseful opening night gala of his new upscale restaurant, Gerriamo's. Woven into the story is an exploration of a 40-year-old unsolved murder case involving two young children whose bodies were discovered deep in the Stanley Park woods. This funny, thoughtful, and satisfying story mocks modern "foodies" and global corporate culture while exploring the real meaning of family, tradition, culinary roots, and a deep sense of place. Check Our Catalog

Someone is playing strange and nasty pranks on the citizens of Elvestad, and Inspector Konrad Sejer is called in to investigate. What begins as unnverving (one elderly woman reads her own obituary in the newspaper, and a dying man answers the door to find the hearse has arrived to pick him up) becomes increasingly sinister as the novel progresses. Fossum examines the impact of evil on the human mind in this psychological thriller--and provides no comforting conclusion. Another standout book from this Scandinavian author (try The Indian Bride as well). Check Our Catalog

In Eggers’ first novel in six years, we are taken to a fledgling Saudi Arabian city. Here Alan Clay, a middle-aged middle manager, is making what could be his last chance effort for financial and mental stability. Gone are the days of his salesmanship excellence and achievement, now he is divorced, broke, and trying to pay for his daughter’s education. We follow Clay as he tries to keep his Saudi deal together, and himself together. Check Our Catalog