Westport Public Library BOOK blog

Page’s amateur sleuth Faith Sibley Fairchild is in her late twenties when we first meet her in the first story, The Body in the Belfry (1990), and happily married to Thomas Fairchild, "a New Englander born and bred, and, to make matters worse, a minister".

Each book has recipes at the back and her and Page’s publisher’s website has a feature called Recipes from Have Faith in Your Kitchen by Faith Sibley Fairchild which is called “A Work in Progress” and this fan can only hope that it is the promise of a
cookbook to come.

Good news for Page’s fans. The Body in the Sleigh – book number eighteen – is promised for October, 2009.

Katherine Hall Page will also be joining the group of authors assembled for the Murder 203 mystery festival to be held on April 18th-19th. Check the event website for registration information and further details or call Jane Murphy at 291-4836.

If ghost stories give you thrills, Joe Hill is your man. His 2007 novel Heart-Shaped Box is about a collector of macabre artifacts who buys a suit owned by a haunted man now deceased. The suit arrives by UPS in a heart-shaped box with the dead man’s spirit very much alive inside it. Action-packed confrontations with the dead ensue. Hill wrote a short story collection, 20th Century Ghosts and a graphic novel with art by Gabriel Rodriguez. Welcome to Lovecraft will be enjoyed by horror devotees and graphic book readers. Joe Hill’s website.

Joe Hill’s full name is Joe Hillstrom King; his parents are authors Stephen & Tabitha King. Sibling Owen King is also a writer. We’re All in This Together is his 2005 novella & short story collection. In this interview, Owen King mentions another brother Joseph with whom he is working on a screenplay.

Julie and Romeo is a light-hearted love story for older chick-lit fans. Jeanne Ray has written other similar books, including a follow-up story about Julie & Romeo. Jeanne Ray launched her writing career when most people think of retirement. A registered nurse for 45 years, she had her first novel published after she reached her 60th birthday.

Ray is the mother of two daughters, one of whom is Ann Patchett. Patchett’s Bel Canto published in 2001 is still a favorite for Library users and book groups. Patchett’s 2007 novel Run addresses issues of politics, religion, family and class values & race in a story about a Boston widower and his adopted sons. She writes for numerous publications and her biography Truth & Beauty is a poignant telling of her friendship with a college friend (since deceased) who had Ewing’s Sarcoma. More about Ann Patchett.

The Ten-Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer takes the reader into the world of new mothers, who have put their careers on hold to tend to their families. It’s the most recent of her novels about family relationships in contemporary settings. Meg Wolitzer’s blog gives a sense of the life of a writer.

She is the daughter of novelist Hilma Wolitzer whose most recent novel (2007) is Summer Reading. Her book The Doctor’s Daughter was published after a 12-year writer’s block. The NYTimes review.

Lisa See writes literary novels which often nudge their way up the bestseller lists and are frequently chosen for book club discussions. Her most recently published was Peony in Love. Set in 17th-century China with all its traditions and rituals, this look at love in its many manifestations adds the dimension of universal themes (friendship, the power of words & a vision of afterlife) to a passionate love story.

Her previous novel Snow Flower & the Secret Fan is a touching re-creation of female friendship among older married women living in 19th century China. Snow Flower is part of the Library’s Speaking of Books collection. Your book club can borrow multiple copies, along with a discussion guide.

See has a new book due out in May; set in 1937, Shanghai Girls follows the lives of two sisters, as Japanese bombs fall on their home town. For more about Lisa See.

Perhaps you remember the novel Golden Days (1986) by Carolyn See. Combining feminist fiction with a tale of nuclear apocalypse, See set her story in California with a gimlet eye on the lifestyle there. See has authored nine books and writes for the Washington Post. And she is the mother of Lisa See. For a conversation with mother & daughter.

We have a quartet of children’s books at the Library written by David Updike…yes, that Updike. John Updike’s son also writes short stories. His 1988 collection Out on the Marsh maps the development of heart & sensibility from youth to almost-adulthood. This NYTimes review gives a strong sense of his writing talents. David Updike has a new collection of stories to be published in July: Old Girlfriends, which “plough(s) the same ground as his father…and if he doesn’t have quite the finesse, his is an updated sensibility” according to Library Journal.

Want to re-visit John Updike's work? It may turn into an extended sojourn.

One does not usually think of Sarasota as a hotbed of criminal activity, but there is not just one, but two, popular mystery series set in this southwestern coastal Florida city.

Lew used to be an investigator for the State Attorney's Office in Cook County, Illinois, but when his wife was killed by a hit-and-run driver he quit his job, “packed his grief and headed south” to Florida. For $50 a day, plus expenses, “He tends to get involved, though he prefers to be left alone, with helping women and children in trouble.”

Although they have their lighter moments – mainly due to an entertaining assortment of odd characters – these books are generally dark in tone, and psychologically complex, dealing with questions of grief and depression.

Fonesca is just one of Edgar Award-winning Kaminsky’s distinguished and diverse protagonists: a Russian policeman (Porfiry Rostnikov), a Chicago police detective (Abe Lieberman), and a 1940s Hollywood private detective (Toby Peters).

The latest book – the sixth title in the series – is Bright Futures, which received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. The New York Times Book Review said “Pacing a series is a tricky maintenance job. Move too fast, your hero loses credibility. Move too slowly, your readers get bored. Move just right, you produce Denial.”

Fonesca is digging for the truth on two cases: A recent graduate of a public high school for the gifted has been arrested for the brutal murder of a local curmudgeon who was campaigning to end state-sponsored school funding and a semi-retired and much beloved singer of children's songs is being threatened with exposure as a sexual predator.

And then there is Blaize Clement’s sleuth Dixie Hemingway – no relation to “you-know-who” – who has given up her stressful job as a sheriff's deputy in Sarasota to become a professional pet sitter.

Dixie, still mourning the loss of her husband and young daughter in a freak accident three years earlier, finds a good friend in her new neighbor Laura Halston in Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof, the latest – and fourth – book in the series. When Laura is stabbed to death in the shower, Dixie suspects her soon-to-be ex-husband, “a sadistic surgeon” who is known to wield a mean scalpel.

Although definitely lighter than the Kaminsky novels, Clement’s books should not be dismissed out-of-hand as just another humorous feline mystery series. According to Publishers Weekly “Clement blends elements of cozy and thriller to produce an unusual and enjoyable hybrid.”

By the way, “you-know-who” – Ernest Hemingway himself – will make his detecting debut next August in Hemingway Deadlights by Michael Atkinson. Set across the state in Key West (in 1956) Papa H. – while dodging tourists and autograph hunters – investigates the suspicious death of a local who is found impaled on a harpoon.

Imagine reading one complete book each day! I know someone who is doing just that. Nina Sankovitch contacted me to thank the Library for providing such a rich supply of books. She has completed 143 books with her project so far and she told me that she often finds just the right title on the Library’s Express book shelves.

Express Books are duplicate copies of those with many reserves or those that will probably have many reserves. Most of the books on the Express shelves are newly published, although some might be 4 or 5 months old.

What’s the point? Express is a browsing collection. When you visit the Library for whatever reason, you might find the popular book that you have been waiting to read. (There are no holds on Express books, so when Express copies are in the Library, they are available.) You might satisfy your curiosity with a quick look and decide either to check it out or cross it off your list.

Your first three borrowing days are free. Then, it’s 25¢ for each day after that. Certainly more economical than a trip to the bookstore!

How do we decide which titles go into the Express collection? Titles with five or more holds are added, unless they have too many pages (500+.) For brand new books by proven authors like Danielle Steel, James Patterson, Jodi Picoult, Deepak Chopra or Suze Orman, Express copies are included in the initial purchase order.

To see which titles have the greatest number of holds at the Library, take a look at the list posted on the end of the Express shelves. It’s a quick way to see what everyone is reading- our version of the weekly New York Times Bestseller list.

If you are curious about Nina’ s 365 project, here’s the link to her website. It includes her reviews of each of the books she has read.

Recently, I revisited Maureen Howard’s book Natural History published in 1992. As soon as I opened it, I remembered the challenge of the unusual writing style, but this time my interest was held by my greater familiarity with the setting of the story. It opens in 1940s Bridgeport and what fun it is to recognize the streets, stores, churches and characters there. I was reminded of how much familiarity with the setting can enhance the reading experience. If you grew up in Bridgeport or with someone who told you all about it, Natural History will intrigue you with its story of a Catholic, working class family, the detective father, the actor son and the days of the great PT Barnum.

One of James Patterson’s co-writers, Andrew Gross has a new thriller which starts out with a drive-by shooting at a service station in Greenwich. Landmarks and neighborhood details are sprinkled throughout the investigation which leads the police detective from Greenwich to Foxwoods and back to the wealthy and powerful citizens of Fairfield County. Don’t Look Twice is the author’s tenth novel.

And as spring finally arrives and our beaches beckon, I think again of Floating Dragon by Peter Straub who so skillfully described Westport - especially the Burying Hill area where he lived. I think of the spooky scenes in that book every time I drive to the beach. Other places and people around town (circa 1980s) set that story firmly in our midst.

Do you have a favorite novel with a familiar setting that resonated with your life?

While a student at Oxford, Day-Lewis became part of W. H. Auden’s literary circle and helped him edit Oxford Poetry 1927.

In 1935 Day-Lewis needed a new roof for his house and decided to supplement his income from his poetry and teaching by writing a detective novel.

Using the pseudonym Nicholas Blake he became one of the leading writers in the “Golden Age” of detective fiction.

Blake wrote 20 detective novels between 1935 and 1968, 16 of which feature “private enquiry agent” Nigel Strangeways. Strangeways, an Oxford graduate, is the nephew of an Assistant Commissioner at Scotland Yard, and puts his services at the disposal of Inspector Blount of the Yard, the British Secret Service, and his many friends.

These novels are full of literary references, from Shakespeare to Blake, Keats, and A.E. Housman.

Among Day-Lewis's best mysteries is The Beast Must Die (1938), the story of a father seeking revenge on the hit and run driver who killed his child. One of Day-Lewis's own sons was almost run over in circumstances similar to those in the story.

Critic and award-winning mystery writer H.R.F. Keating included The Beast Must Die on his list of the 100 best crime and mystery books ever published.

The Blake novels have been out of print for a long time, but our friends at The Rue Morgue Press have re-issued A Question of Proof and will be publishing other titles in the series. Visit their website
for a thoroughly detailed narrative on Nicholas Blake.

As reported in the Irish Times, a recent survey found that two-thirds of people lied about reading books they have not actually read. Why? The main reason was to impress someone.
Top ten claims:
1-1984 by George Orwell
2-War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
3-Ulysses by James Joyce
4-The Bible
5-Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
6-A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
7-Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
8-In Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust
9-Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
10-The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
Also mentioned were other classics by Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Herman Melville.

So, how many of these have you read? Honestly!

Long before cozy culinary mysteries were in vogue, Rex Stout’s readers were treated to cooking tips, food lore and gastronomical miscellanea. Besides orchids, the mainstay of his detective Nero Wolfe's leisurely existence was the enjoyment of good food. Wolfe (frequently described as weighing "a seventh of a ton") dined on three generous meals a day.

Wolfe had an unquenchable thirst for beer, usually downing at least 6 quarts per day. In a foreshadowing of the Weight Watchers counting points system, he kept the bottle caps in one of his desk drawers to track his daily/weekly consumption.

Wolfe's confidential assistant Archie Goodwin recorded the detective’s cases in 33 novels and 39 short stories over a forty year period from the 1930s to the 1970s, and most of them are set in New York City where the detective resides in a brownstone on West 35th Street.

There are a number of related works, including The Nero Wolfe Cookbook (1973), which contains 237 recipes and a wealth of pertinent quotes from the books and is smartly illustrated with vintage New York City photographs.

Wikipedia has an exhaustive entry on Nero Wolfe that includes a section on my favorite topic – Wolfe’s origins. In 1956 a theory emerged that Wolfe was the offspring of an affair between Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler, although there is not a hint of it in any of the stories aside from the painting of Holmes that hangs over Goodwin's desk in Wolfe's office. There is, however, the curious coincidence of the same vowels appearing in the same order in the names "Sherlock Holmes" and "Nero Wolfe” as noted in 1957 by Ellery Queen.

Some have suggested Mycroft Holmes as a more likely father for Wolfe, and yet another camp came up with the French thief Arsène Lupin, citing that Lupin resembles the French word for wolf(e), loup.

Enjoyable speculation!

If you are a fan, you might want to join the Usual Suspects next Sunday, March 15th, for a discussion of The Golden Spiders, published in 1953. The group meets at 2 p.m. in the Seminar Room at the end of the hall on the top floor.

New faces are always welcome. To reserve a copy of the book, call 291-4821.

The keynote speaker at the 2009 seminar was Geraldine Brooks. Ms. Brooks has written several historical novels that have captured the attention of book clubs. Her most recent novel is People of the Book, a story that traces the journey of a rare illuminated manuscript. Inspired by a true story, this is an adventure that spans five decades. Ms. Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize in 2006 for March, a story she created based on the absent father from Luisa May Alcott’s Little Women. She based her character on the journals and letters of Alcott’s own father. Year of Wonders was Brooks’ first historical novel. In 1666 the plague had spread from London to a small village in England. This tale is told through the eyes of a young housemaid as she recounts the story of the plague year and how life was turned upside down by this.

Anchee Min was also a participant of the seminar this year. Best known for her memoir Red Azalea, the story of her childhood in communist China, Ms. Min has written a series of historical novels about Chinese women. In the Empress Orchid and The Last Empress Ms. Min has given us a fictionalized account of the life of Tzu-Hsi, often referred to as the ‘Dragon Lady’, who ruled China for four decades in the late 19th century. Both books combine history, culture and the female perspective to provide a fascinating look at women in Chinese history.

There were many other novelists of history present at this year’s seminar. Sena Jeter Naslund, Peter Matthiesen, winner of the 2008 National Book Award for Shadow Country, Joyce Carol Oates and Marilynne Robinson, to name a few. Next year’s theme will be poetry, with seven U.S. Poets Laureate already signed up. It sounds to me like Key West might be the perfect place to take an annual January vacation. What could be more fun than three days of sun, warm weather and a festival of literary greats? How about a road trip for your book club?

Rozan is the author of the acclaimed novel Absent Friends, set in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and the stand-alone novel In This Rain, in addition to her award-winning mystery series which features Lydia Chin, a Chinese American private eye, and Bill Smith, whom the author describes as “the classic American voice-over PI”.

She has said that “Lydia was created at first as a sidekick for Bill, and to be as different from him as possible … but she wouldn't sit still for that sidekick business.”

The Shanghai Moon revolves around a little known historical footnote -- about 20,000 Jewish refugees fled to China beginning in the mid 1930s to escape the horrors of Nazi Germany.

Estranged for months from fellow P.I. Bill Smith, Lydia Chin is brought in by her former mentor Joel Pilarsky to help with a case. In Shanghai, excavation has unearthed a cache of European jewelry dating back to World War II. The jewelry was clearly identified as having belonged to a Jewish refugee and then immediately stolen by a Chinese official who fled the country.

Hired by a lawyer specializing in the recovery of Holocaust assets, Chin soon learns that The Shanghai Moon, one of the world's most sought after missing jewels, reputed to be worth millions, is believed to have been part of the same stash.

After Pilarsky is murdered, Smith comes into the story and he and Smith work together again to unravel the truth about the events that surrounded the jewel’s disappearance sixty years ago. They follow the trail back home to Manhattan's Chinatown, where they eventually put the curse of the luminous Shanghai Moon to rest.

S.J. Rozan will be speaking at the library on Thursday, March 12th at 7:30 p.m. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

She will also be joining us for Murder 203 in April, along with thirty-four additional authors. Hope to see all of you then for the first-ever Connecticut mystery festival.