Staff Recommendations
Pages
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The fold
by Clines, Peter, 1969-
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryAugust 17, 2015
Call Number: SF
Teleportation is a staple of speculative fiction whether in short stories, novels, films or television. It also crosses the boundaries between fantasy and science fiction. In fantasy, it is generally accomplished by magic (which, as any good reader of speculative fiction knows from Arthur C. Clarke’s three laws of prediction, is indistinguishable from any sufficiently advanced technology) although, there may be some limitations. In the Harry Potter series, teleportation is referred to as apparation or disapparation, and you have to secure a license before you can perform the spell to ensure... Read Full Review
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Although of course you end up becoming yourself : a road trip with David Foster Wallace
by Lipsky, David, 1965-
Reviewed by: David B., Librarian, InfoNowAugust 11, 2015
Call Number: 813 W188Li
In 1996, David Lipsky, a New York-based Rolling Stone writer, traveled to the Midwest--Bloomington, Illinois and Minneapolis/St. Paul Minnesota--to hang out with novelist David Foster Wallace at the tail end of his Infinite Jest book tour. The proposed feature never made it into print that year (it would have been Rolling Stone’s first author profile in ten years), but Lipsky held on to his tapes of their rendezvous. He decided to publish the interviews in book form after Wallace’s tragic suicide in 2008. The book, which came out in 2010, is the basis for the new... Read Full Review
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Strong Female Protagonist: Book One
by Mulligan, Brennan Lee,
Reviewed by: Andrea Borchert, Librarian, Koreatown Media LabAugust 3, 2015
Call Number: 740.9999 M959 v.1
When Alison Green developed superpowers as a kid she did what anyone in her position would do, donned a costume and fought crime! But now that Alison is growing up and gaining a bit of maturity, the black and white world of superheroes and supervillains is getting more and more complicated, and even more difficult to navigate. The exact lines between hero and villain, friend and enemy keep changing, and Alison is forced to wonder if her typical wild street brawls are really doing the good she hoped they would. When Alison takes off her mask and goes to college she manages to turn her old... Read Full Review
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Go set a watchman : a novel
by Lee, Harper,
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryJuly 27, 2015
Go Set A Watchman, the second, and only other novel published by Harper Lee, Pulitzer Prize winning author of To Kill A Mockingbird, and the new novel is already shrouded in controversy: Did Lee REALLY want the book published? Was she competent to make the decision? WHY was the book being published now? Was this a sequel to To Kill A Mockingbird? A prequel? Or was it something entirely different? The literary furor increased just prior to the publication date as reviewers began to make claims about the book's worthiness, and that well known, established... Read Full Review
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What if? : serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions
by Munroe, Randall,
Reviewed by: Andrea Borchert, Librarian, Koreatown Media LabJuly 20, 2015
Call Number: 500 M968
I was a little kid when I saw Superman, the movie, for the very first time. It was a strange and heady experience. You see… “There’s an alien who looks exactly like a normal human being.” “Really, Ok!” “And he can fly.” “Yes!” “And he’s super strong.” “Of course!” “He uses his powers to fight crime” “This makes complete and utter sense!” “…in a blue and red skintight outfit.” “All right, I’ll buy it!” “And he turns back time by flying around the earth really, really fast!” “….Wait. That isn’t. That doesn’t….... Read Full Review
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Time salvager
by Chu, Wesley.
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryJuly 13, 2015
Call Number: SF
What will the 26th century be like? In Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World people are under the strict control of a World State. Vin Diesel’s films, Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick and Riddick, show a universe of advanced technologies, interplanetary space travel and different types of bad guys and beasties. Joss Whedon’s television series Firefly, and motion picture Serenity, focus on the crew of a small ship providing services on the fringes of a large,... Read Full Review
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Amherst
by Nicholson, William,
Reviewed by: Robert Anderson, Librarian, Literature & Fiction DepartmentJuly 6, 2015
British author William Nicholson is well known as a screenwriter, playwright and novelist. Recently, Nicholson has been writing a series of novels about an extended British family between World War II and the present. Amherst brings back some of the characters from this series (though no knowledge of earlier episodes is necessary) and uses them to examine an improbable real-life literary romance: the 12-year love affair between Emily Dickinson's brother Austin and Mabel Loomis Todd, the much younger woman who edited the first volumes of Emily's poems after her death... Read Full Review
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My Brilliant Friend
by Ferrante, Elena.
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionJune 30, 2015
My brilliant friend is the first in the Neapolitan Novels series by Italian author Elena Ferrante. (My brilliant friend; T... Read Full Review
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Men explain things to me
by Solnit, Rebecca,
Reviewed by: Eileen Ybarra, Librarian III, Electronic ResourcesJune 22, 2015
Call Number: 301.412 S688
Written through a feminist lens, this book is a series of short essays--most of them meditations on how men and women relate to each other. What is most striking to me about this book, is the simplicity and cogency with which Rebecca Solnit presents how women are sometimes treated inequitably and discriminatorily in the public sphere. She speaks to the struggle for gender equality in a simple, non- preachy, eloquent manner, at times humorously as well. The title of the book is taken from the opening essay that originally was published in 2008. Not long after the essay... Read Full Review
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Fairest : Levana's story
by Meyer, Marissa.
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryJune 16, 2015
Call Number: YA
Villains! We love them, but we also love to hate them. Often works of speculative fiction, whether they are books, television series or films, hinge upon the effectiveness of the villain. And as our culture has become more entranced with the “bad guys/girls” in our favorite works, authors and filmmakers have brought them out of the darkness and into the light, at times placing them center stage for explorations of their origins and motivations. When this is done, there is the risk of disappointing fans if the back story doesn’t really match up, or seems to fit the scoundrel we... Read Full Review
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The thrilling adventures of Lovelace and Babbage
by Padua, Sydney.
Reviewed by: Andrea Borchert, Librarian, Koreatown Media LabJune 8, 2015
Call Number: 740.9999 P125
Charles Babbage is widely credited with inventing the first computer, depending on your definition of “computer” and “invent”. You see, he never actually finished his masterpiece, the Analytical Engine. Ada Lovelace, the daughter of Lord Byron, was a mathematician who wrote programs for this nascent computer, making her the first computer programmer. Together they were innovators and eccentrics with genuine affection for one another. What could be more fun than a book based on their lives and collaboration? How about a graphic novel based on their story? How about a graphic novel full of... Read Full Review
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Call me Debbie : true confessions of a down-to-earth diva
by Voigt, Deborah,
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionJune 1, 2015
Call Number: 789.14 V891
There are so many stereotypes about opera and opera singers which Deborah Voigt debunks through her own autobiography. With a wonderful sense of humor and playfulness, especially evident when writing about dire situations, she counterbalances anecdotes about her heavy drinking, eating, and live performance mishaps with sharp personal smackdowns.
Deborah Voigt loved to sing and her father claims that she sang before she talked. Brought up in a strictly religious Southern Baptist family, it was fine to sing in church, but anything else was not acceptable... Read Full Review