Westport Public Library BOOK blog

Here are a few musical mysteries for mystery fans who want to keep pace with the excitement of this year’s Westport Reads which features Mark Salzman’s The Soloist.

There are three titles in the Sara Selkirk series by Morag Joss. Sara is a cellist who lives in Bath and often plays in the Pump Room at tea time.

Batya Gur’s Jerusalem detective Michael Ohayon is a classical music aficionado. In Murder Duet, when his cellist friend's father and brother who are also well-known musicians are murdered, an unknown Vivaldi requiem provides a rock-solid motive for the crime.

Gregory Crowne, whose real name happens to be Crown Prince Gregory of Hirtenstein, is a concert agent turned amateur detective in Tessa Barclay’s series. In the series opener, Farewell Performance, Crowne steps in when a maestro's priceless cello is stolen.

In The Rainaldi Quartet by Paul Adam, when a violin maker in contemporary Cremona, Italy is murdered after dropping hints about a search for a rare and magnificent violin, a police detective who plays with him in a string quartet investigates.

If historical settings are your thing, try the Tito Amato series by Beverle Graves Myers. Amato is an 18th century Venetian opera singer.

And, cozy fans, there is one for you, too! In Sara Hoskinson Frommer’s Death Climbs a Tree, Joan Spencer, manager of the local civic symphony, is up a tree herself when one of her top violinists deserts the orchestra right before a concert and then turns up dead.

We look forward to seeing you at some of the many Westport Reads events throughout the month.

John March is back in his third gritty mystery, Red Cat.

I was discussing last week’s piece about the “new noir” with someone who said to make sure I had local author Peter Spiegelman on the Noir fiction list.

Later that same day I came across a review for Red Cat that called Spiegelman’s writing “fuel-injected prose.”

If you are already a Spiegelman fan, check his website and you will find a number of upcoming Connecticut appearances within the next few days!

I was just about to write on Howard Norman’s new book, Devotion, when I saw the NY Times book review by Michiko Kakutani. It is not a positive review! Kakutani says Norman “never makes the reader care a whit…” Well, I cared!

But I am a fan of Norman’s writing. Devotion is set in Nova Scotia which becomes almost another character among the family and friends whose misunderstandings lead them to act in ways that compound the misunderstandings. Love and hate simmer as Norman writes in unadorned and intelligent language, building universal truth out of everyday life. And the swan images linger.

If you have not sampled Norman’s writing, you may want to start with The Bird Artist. Narrator, Fabian Vas is a successful bird artist and a murderer living in a tiny coastal Newfoundland village. A story of art, inspiration, passion, violence and religion unfolds in spare, image-laden prose. This title is part of the Library’s Speaking of Books collection; your book club may borrow multiple copies and a discussion guide for The Bird Artist.

For an interesting article about Howard Norman. To see his other titles.

At yesterday's PageTurner discussion of Thrity Umrigar's The Space Between Us, we talked about exploitation and the way Umrigar used two women in India to bring attention to the universality of this problem. Many were inspired by the toughness of Bhima; others could not understand what made her go on. Others found Sera's life unfulfilled with little or no happiness. What is your opinion of these two women? Perhaps we can learn more when Thrity Umrigar speaks at the Library next Wednesday at noon.

If the Kafka’s Soup wasn’t enough to warm you up, why not try a taste of Key Lime Pie … Murder?

Let Joanne Fluke’s latest mouthwatering Hannah Swensen mystery take you away! Actually, it is set in Minnesota, but it is summer there and the mosquitoes are buzzing, so you are still ahead of the game.

You can find a key lime pie recipe on page 89 or grab one from the internet.

I suggest the one found on gourmetsleuth.com which is a recipe for "real" Key Lime pie.

“Real Key lime pie is not green and it does not have a soft pudding texture.” So put away that jello box.

You can find lots of tasty reading suggestions under the subject Culinary mysteries in our catalog.

Murders involving jello … another niche waiting to be filled!

From World War II through the 1960s, paperback hard-boiled crime novels were one of the best-selling book publishing genres.

They were written by well-known authors such as Erle Stanley Gardner and Mickey Spillane as well as by promising young writers including Lawrence Block, Elmore Leonard, and Donald Westlake.

This literary form has been resurrected by the Hard Case Crime series, which includes lost masterpieces as well as new novels by today's hot new writers, all complete with stunning original cover art in the grand pulp style.

Noir crime novels are also making a tremendous comeback.

One of the more interesting new noir critical successes is an author who is an established academic with several scholarly studies of Samuel Johnson to his credit.

Richard B. Schwartz is a Professor of English and Dean at the University of Missouri, Columbia and also taught at West Point and Georgetown.

We meet his fictional character, Jack Grant, in Frozen Stare.

Grant is a Vietnam vet turned Los Angeles P.I. who spends his days busting small-time insurance defrauders.

When his latest client turns up dead in a tub of ice and another body is found in a downtown meat freezer, Jack is plunged into a murky underworld of Chilean exiles.

In The Last Voice You Hear, Grant is called in when a body turns up at Disneyland impaled in the same way as the victims of a killer who is terrorizing London.

When he discovers the killer's identity, Grant is caught in an ethical dilemma because he understands and even sympathizes with the murderer's cause.

Absolute noir!

The third book in the series, Proof of Purchase, is expected in March, 2007.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a prodigy is "a person endowed with some quality which excites wonder; especially a child of precocious genius." This meaning was first cited in Eveleyn's Diary entry of January 27, 1658.

The history of music is filled with child prodigies including Ludwig van Beethoven, Felix Mendelssohn, Midori, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Itzhak Perlman, Franz Schubert, etc.

One of the themes of the WestportREADS 2007 selected book, The Soloist by Mark Salzman, explores the feelings and passions of a child prodigy whose extraordinary gift is playing the cello. Coincidentally, the February 24, 2007 concert of the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra features three child prodigies, Staples High School cellist Carlyn Kessler, Amity Middle School violinist Jenny Liu, and Chariho Middle School pianist/violinist Ann-Frances Rokosa. These gifted musicians, who were selected by audition during a six-month search, will be heard in the first movement of Pergolesi's Trio Sonata in G Major. Additionally, they will speak about their musical experiences at the pre-concert talk with Norwalk Symphony conductor, Diane Wittry.

The Westport Public Library invites you to read The Soloist and to sample the works that will be performed by the Norwalk Symphony. The program includes Ernest Bloch's Concerto Grosso No. 1, George Frideric Handel's Concerto Grosso Op. 3, No. 2, and Igor Stravinsky's Pulcinella Suite.

note: Thanks to Margie for this musical posting.

The book most in demand by book clubs this month seems to be Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. This highly acclaimed novel set in Nazi occupied France during World War II seems to have captured everyone’s attention at the same time. Recently discovered and published after 64 years, Suite Francaise is a compelling picture of life in France under the occupation. Written with an eye for the details of everyday life, Nemirovsky managed to combine the historical events taking place around her into a novel that could actually be considered the first piece of fiction written about World War II. Suite Francaise is the first two parts of what was to be a five part novel. Unfortunately Irene Nemirovsky died tragically in Auschwitz in 1942 before her story could be finished. She has left behind this moving piece of work for all to read. You can read more about her life and works in the recently published book Irene Nemirovsky by Jonathan Weiss. If your group needs a discussion guide or would like to order copies of Suite Francaise for an upcoming discussion, you may use the book request form or contact me.

Just the thing for a cold winter's day. Find the recipe in Kafka’s Soup: a Complete History of World Literature in 14 Recipes by Mark Crick.

If you would like to spend a little time in the kitchen with Raymond Chandler “roughing up” some eggs and putting “the squeeze” on the lemon, check out recipe #1, “Lamb with dill sauce.”

This book is the latest addition to our literary cookbooks collection.

Mystery lovers will find The Nero Wolfe Cookbook there, as well as Dining with Sherlock Holmes: a Baker Street Cookbook.

Kay Scarpetta fans take note. She has her own cookbook entitled Food to Die For.

Kinsey Milhone does not have her own cookbook, but the recipe for her peanut butter and pickle sandwiches can be found in a A Taste of Murder, a collection of recipes including contributions by Lilian Jackson Braun, Donald E. Westlake, Anne Perry, Tony Hillerman, and Parnell Hall.

Last evening Roxanne Coady was here at the Library. As owner of R.J. Julia Booksellers in Madison, CT, she has hosted many book-touring authors - around 2000 such programs through the years. For The Book That Changed My Life, Roxanne asked 100 of those authors to contribute 500 words each on the book that matters most. Seventy-one writers responded. Profits from the compilation go to Read to Grow, a literacy project founded by Coady. Connecticut's literacy rate is surprisingly low; Read to Grow provides 2000 gently used books per week to children in our state.
Answering audience questions, Coady said she reads about ten books at same time, often in the middle of the night, but her "100 page rule" has been diminshed to a "paragraph rule," as in "why am I wasting my time?" Some of the titles she suggested were Denial of Death, recommended by two of the contributors, by Ernest Becker (about the legacy you wish to leave behind) and Blindness by Jose Saramago (profound, but so unremittingly dark, that she recommends reading it in the bright sunshine on the beach with someone who will discuss it with you.) Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates reminds Coady of stories about life in Westport and Lorrie Moore's short stories Birds of America was endorsed for its humor. Coady cited a quotation from Parallel Lives by Phyllis Rose to underline her belief that even when the details of what you read elude your memory, you have embedded the significance in your consiousness.
Do you have a book that matters most to you?

The book review journal Kirkus Reviews featured mysteries and thrillers in its February 1, 2007 issue, and listed what they referred to as “The 10 Biggest Brands.”

The “brand” that really caught my eye was “Kitty Sleuths.”

Ever since Mr. and Mrs. North's cat Pete helped solve a mystery all the way back in 1939, feline flatfoots have grown in popularity.

Shirley Rousseau Murphy has her Joe Grey, Carole Nelson Douglas has her Midnight Louie, Lilian Jackson Braun has her Koko and Yum Yum, and Rita Mae Brown (along with her feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown) has her Mrs. Murphy.

There are also plenty of good canine mysteries out there for dog fanciers.

Tonight after Westminster why not curl up with a barking good dog story?

Laurien Berenson’s character Melanie Travis is a Connecticut dog trainer. Carol Lea Benjamin’s P.I. Rachel Alexander and her pit bull sidekick Dash (short for Dashiell) cover ground in New York City familiar to all of us. And if it isn’t cold enough for you here, you can let Sue Henry’s Jessie Arnold and her sled dogs “mush” you out into the Alaskan wilderness.

I remember reading an old Perry Mason mystery called The Case of the Perjured Parrot, but I don’t know of any series featuring bird detectives. Now there’s a niche just waiting to be filled!

Yes, it's sad. It is a posthumous love letter, after all. But, what a love letter!
I'm talking about Calvin Trillin's newest About Alice.
Maybe you were here at the Library when Calvin Trillin received the annual Booked for the Evening award in 2001.He entertained with dry wit and humor taking dead aim at the targets of his disdain. But readers have glimpsed his softer side through the years in all his writing about his family and his beloved wife, Alice. Alice passed away later in 2001. Trillin says his writing is diminished, as Alice was also his trusted editor.
This book, a gift to his late wife and to his readers, glistens with an abiding love of the kind that inspires envy among many. I heard Trillin express surprise that the readers contacting him were not the widows and widowers he expected to hear from, but rather mostly young women yearning for the kind of love he and Alice shared.
Trillin concludes with a description of Alice as "an incorrigible and ridiculous optimist." What better book to celebrate the optimism of true love ?

Another interesting newspaper piece this week!

In his February 6th Bookshelf column of the Wall Street Journal entitled Watching the Detectives, Tom Nolan discusses how the social and political climates of an era are often reflected in the personalities of its fictional detectives.

It's not good news for any of us that the 21st century detective exhibits "wobbly emotion and crippling self-doubt."

One of the titles he discusses is William Landay’s compelling new crime novel The Strangler, which suggests that the Boston police got the wrong guy! On his website Landay writes “Years ago, back when I was a prosecutor, I first heard a rumor that Albert DeSalvo might not actually have been the Boston Strangler.”

Sebastian Junger’s 2006 book A Death in Belmont also re-examines the Strangler case.

Junger suggests that the Boston police arrested the wrong man for the murder of Bessie Goldberg, who was strangled to death in her suburban Belmont home in March of 1963 during the Strangler's killing spree.

Roy Smith, who was working in Goldberg's house that day, was convicted of her murder on strong circumstantial evidence.

The chilling twist in Junger’s story is that another man was working in Belmont that day: Albert DeSalvo was doing construction work in the home of Junger's parents.

Junger considers evidence for and against Smith or DeSalvo being Goldberg's killer and also reviews the more familiar case for and against DeSalvo being the Strangler.

Anyone care to weigh in on the question?

Did everyone see the New York Times piece Murder Most Suburban in the Connecticut section yesterday?

I am halfway through McMansion, one of the titles mentioned. It is the fourth installment of Justin Scott’s Ben Abbott series.

How is this for a plot? A greedy developer determined to ruin the charm of a small Connecticut town is found dead -- run over by his own bulldozer. When the police arrest a young environmental activist for the murder, his lawyer asks Abbott, realtor-cum-PI, to dig around.

One more title for the Mysterious Connecticut list!

This book was published by Poisoned Pen Press, an independent publisher specializing in mystery publishing.

They are one of many publishers that provide an on-line mystery newsletter that you can subscribe to.

You can also sign up for mystery newsletters at Harper Collins, Random House,
Penguin Books, and just about any major publishing house.

People often ask me how they can find out what is coming next from their favorite author. The best bet is to check the author’s publisher’s website! They are often even more up-to-date than the author’s own website.

Have you tried to download a book yet? WestportREADS 2007 selection The Soloist by Mark Salzman may be downloaded from the Library catalog to your computer or MP3 player. To learn more about downloading digital audiobooks, come to a demonstration on Wednesday February 7 at 10 am. The Soloist is just one of almost 2000 titles available.

If you prefer the paperback in your hands, copies of The Soloist may be purchased at the Library store or borrowed from the Library collection. Are books on CD your preference? You can listen to The Soloist, also.

You may want to discuss the book after you read it. Come to the Page Turners on Tuesday March 20 at 10:30 am or 7:30 pm - or- get your friends together to talk about the topics in the book and check out the events planned for March.

For a discussion guide or to schedule a discussion facilitator or for other WestportREADS questions or comments: contact me.

What color is the number 700? How does the word "poignant" taste? If these questions make sense to you, you may be somewhere on the spectrum of people with synesthesia. It's a scrambling of the senses often found to be part of the creative process. In The Soloist by Mark Salzman, both cellists, teacher and student, see the sounds of the music they make. What do you see when you listen to music? Scenic vistas? Geometric shapes? Come to the WestportREADS program at the Library on Tuesday March 6 at 7:30 pm to explore this concept with the Norwalk Symphony Woodwind Quintet.

Recent publicity has brought autistic savant Daniel Tammet to attention. He solves complicated mathematical problems with astonishing facility and says he sees the computations as colored shapes. His story is Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant.

To learn more about synesthesia, read The Man Who Tasted Shapes by Richard E Cytowic or Blue Cats and Chartreuse Kittens by Patricia Lynne Duffy. For younger readers, there is the novel Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass, in which a 13-year-old synesthete's confusing and beautiful view of the world is presented along with all the complications it causes in her life.

P.S. Want to learn more about the senses? I suggest you spend some quality time with Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman, one of my favorite writers, for fascinating facts wrapped in beautiful language.