Did you watch the Emmys this past Sunday? Then you know that ‘Temple Grandin,’ the HBO biopic starring Claire Danes, won 5 Emmys.
Temple Grandin received her Ph.D. in animal science from the University of Illinois. She has written many books, including the bestseller Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior.
Her most recent book is also my staff pick (also an Indie Next pick): Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals.
The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar deftly navigates the complexities of class and ethnicity in India through Sera, a Parsi widow of the upper class, and her longtime Indian maid, Bhima.
Though the two women are different as night and day, they both harbor some dark burdens that make them more similar than at first sight.
This compelling book explores friendship and humanity in the fascinating backdrop of Bombay. This book is very highly recommended!
National-Book-Award-winning author Peter Gay’s new book, Modernism: The Lure of Heresy provides an engrossing and well-balanced insight into the cultural environment(s), motivating forces, and overall developmental arc of one of the most profound and far-reaching of all “isms.” The author’s refreshingly wide-angled goal is to probe the subject in all its varied manifestations and disciplines, from painting to music to architecture, defining and illuminating Modernism’s principal characteristics and, above all, arguing that it was, and perhaps still is, a way of thinking and working which transcends mere aesthetic principles, involving diverse social, political, and psychological forces, which have both shaped its evolution and, in turn, been themselves shaped by it. Thus, the book takes a pleasantly eclectic and un-academic approach, while remaining well-researched and supported. While, to my ears, the title gives the impression that Gay regards Modernism as something of a cultural scourge, it must be said as well that, unlike so many authors on art/cultural history, Gay has no obvious axe to grind and is very even-handed in both his praise and criticism.
Newly released as a paperback with a new afterword, Max Blumenthal’s Republican Gomorrah is a fascinating interpretation of modern conservatism that weaves the psychological theories of Erich Fromm with some of the more lurid scandals that plagued the Republican Party and its ideological allies in recent years. Blumenthal’s book is well-documented and written in a conversational style that’s perfect for the T. While conservatives surely will question Blumenthal’s use of Fromm’s schema, this book is indispensable to understanding the contemporary right.
Following the success of his previous novel Cloud Atlas, which helped to cement his reputation as a virtuoso orchestrator of multi-layered plots with a gift for poetic language, Mitchell delivers a work of a somewhat different flavor with his new novel The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. Set in Japan on the cusp of the 19th century, during the period in which increasing European presence began to undermine the isolation-induced purity of the nation’s culture, we follow the eponymous character, a young Dutch clerk who plans to earn money for several years and return home to settle down with his fiancee. The plot thickens when young Jacob is swept up in an unexpected romance and a kidnapping, with a large cast of supporting characters.
Fans and newcomers to Mitchell’s writing alike will appreciate the depth and craft of his style. However, this book is somewhat of a departure from the intricate style of interwoven storylines for which Cloud Atlas was praised. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is, instead, more of a linear, classic narrative reminiscent of the great 19th century Russian and British novels in its pace and finely wrought detail. A perfect book for summer reading of a more substantial nature, without sacrificing an exciting and engrossing plot.
Afshan Azad, who appeared in four Potter movies as Harry’s classmate Padma Patil, was allegedly attacked May 21 because her family, who are Muslim, did not approve of her relationship with a Hindu man, according to a spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service.
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And click here to see author Phyllis Chesler’s piece about how honor killings are on the rise in Europe and how nearly half the women who were attacked lived in England.
Come by and take a look at my staff pick Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, which explores gender-based violence.
Are you tired of those glitter-shellacked books featuring a bedecked and bedazzled girl with too many toys and too much clothes? Look no further. You may know Tomie dePaola’s for his prize-winning Strega Nona. But check out The Legend of the Bluebonnet, an achingly beautiful and sensitive story.
A Comanche orphan called She-Who- Is-Alone makes a great sacrifice to bring rain for her people. To appease the Spirits, she takes only thing left from her parents, her handmade buckskin doll, and thrusts it into flames.
Her selfless action ends the long drought and when she awakes in the hills, there are fields of bluebonnets around her. This tale is a breath of fresh air and a lovely way to learn about community and helping others.
So I waited and waited until summer to read this book and it was well worth the wait! If you like mysteries you need to read this book – I finished it one day on the beach! I had no trouble getting into it and enjoyed every page – it kept me guessing until the end. A must read for the summer.
With all the recent news about the E-books market’s conquest of the genuine article, it’s especially satisfying to see a series of books which are designed (impeccably) with the physicality of the book in mind. Penguin’s Great Ideas collection gathers seminal works from all periods and regions into compact (7×4 in.) and gorgeously printed books, with excellent paper and elegant typefaces. Titles range from George Orwell’s Why I Write, to Sun Tzu’s Art of War, to Darwin’s On Natural Selection. I was struck, leafing through the edition of Rousseau’s Social Contract, how the tendency has now become, particularly for the best-known writers, to condense their complete works (or something close) into monolithic tomes. It’s quite refreshing to have a timeless, classic work of literature like Emerson’s essay Nature, in one’s shirt pocket. For those loath to give up the printed page for the screen, this series should be a welcome source of relief.
I am now starting on my summer reading kick and indulging in my favorite genre . . . mystery! I am starting off with Fever Dream by Preston and Child . . . it starts out in Africa and takes you for a wild ride all over the country. With each new place comes a new piece to the puzzle of who killed Penergast’s (the main character) wife and why! I have read Preston and Child before and I love the plots they come up with – so many twists and turns – it is hard to put down!
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