The Library Book, by Susan Orlean

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Okay, I’m biased. I’m a librarian, sucker for all things library. And this book defines all things library! It is a magnificently researched and sensitively wrought tale of the epic 1986 fire in the Los Angeles public library. It is hard to describe more deeply than that because Orlean goes off on such a wide array of fascinating tangents. Suffice it to say that it is a beautiful love letter to libraries, librarians and library patrons everywhere. Thank you, Susan Orlean, for your important message! ~ Ms Dimmick

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The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, by Wes Moore

The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Other Wes Moore has a tantalizing premise: the lives of two boys with the same name and seemingly parallel backgrounds as fatherless African Americans being raised in crime-ridden inner-city Baltimore diverge dramatically in adulthood. One adult Wes is in prison for murder while the other is a Rhodes Scholar, White House Fellow and Wall Street Insider. How did one succeed so brilliantly while the other crashed and burned? What can we learn about Wes the author’s fate that we can apply to future Wes’s so that none of them end up in prison? Unfortunately the author doesn’t provide such a recipe, so the reader is forced to examine the facts of each life and draw his or her own conclusions. Such close examination, however, reveals that the parallels between the two Wes’s lives are superficial at best. This is not a case of, “there but for the grace of God go I,” despite what the author posits. This is an example of the powerful role that an educated, loving, mother and extended family, not to mention valuable connections, can play in ensuring that a child grows to be a responsible, respectable adult. The other Wes had none of that. Nonetheless, the book provides an important window into life in drug-infested inner-city Baltimore and how hopeless it can feel to be or to raise a child alone in this hostile environment. I admit to being a little ruffled at the author’s self-congratulatory tone, and wondered more than once whether he force-fit his alter-ego’s story into his own as a means to tell the world how successful he’s become. Read it and judge for yourself, which is precisely what Wes Moore hopes you will do. ~ Ms Dimmick

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Student Review: In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote (Reviewed by Beatrice B.)

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read “In Cold Blood,” by Truman Capote. Overall it was a great book. It follows the murder of a family and the after-math that occurs in both the small farm town where the murder occurs and the journey of the killers. It has a lot of suspence and definitely keeps you wanting to read on.

The book alternates between the investigator, the people in the town and the killers, Dick and Perry. Strangely enough, the writer is able to draw out more emotions than just resentment and hate towards the killers. The most developed character is Perry and especially towards the end of the book, I could feel sympathy towards the character. When writing the book, Truman Capote interveiwed the killers and he described feeling closer to them than he had with anyone else.

The book half way through turns from being a mystery to a man hunt, though the last few chapters focus on the trial. Capote makes you question insanity and shows you his opposition to the death penalty. This book was written very well. The language is rich and intellectual and the structure of the book is complex. I would definitely recommend this book.~Student: Beatrice B.

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Student Review: The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson (reviewed by Madison M.)

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The story follows two separate plot lines; both of young, handsome, and successful young men trying to make a name for themselves during the creation of the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. Burnham is the brilliant architect in charge of bringing the fair to life, and Holmes is a charming serial killer, using the appeal of the fair and his good looks to lure young women. As Burnham’s completion of the fair draws nearer and nearer and the number of murders mounts, Holmes becomes closer and closer to being caught.

To be honest, the bits of the architecture were slow until the middle, but the murder aspect was enthralling. However, I do think that this was an accurate representation of the timing of events. It also gave me a new look into an important time in history that is not really taught in class.

Although it is technically non-fiction, my favorite part about the book is that it feels like fiction. Larson incorporates facts as though he is weaving a story. Plus, it feels like a piece of fiction just because the story seems too crazy to be true. Much of the book is references to research and paraphrasing, but frequently Larson uses quotations from true accounts. This makes for an unbelievable story that I would definitely recommend. ~ Student: Madison M.

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Student Review: The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, by Michael Lewis (reviewed by Thomas O.)

The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Blind Side by Michael Lewis is an excellent book for the sports fan, or even the non-sports fan. The Blind Side is a very interesting true story with a great story and a happy ending. The Blind Side is the story of a talented black football player named Michael Oher, who grew up in one of the poorest areas of the country, with no father and a mother struggling with drug addiction. However, when Michael is taken away from living with his mother, he finds himself in a predominantly white Christian school in which at first he has no ability to learn. Eventually, another family at the school allows him into their house and takes care of him. The main plot of the story is Michael trying to increase his grades so that he will make it to college, and eventually the NFL. This book teaches the lesson that it is possible for anyone to achieve success if they get the help they need. Throughout the book, Lewis sprinkles in stories about the lives of other poor football players who were not as lucky as Michael. One example was Arthur Sallis, who was offered several scholarships, but could not take them due to his grades. After high school, he was killed when three men broke into his house and shot him. Lewis writes, “Arthur Sallis could have been a teammate of Michael Oher’s at Ole Miss. Instead, at the age of twenty-two, he was dead.” Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a great story. ~ Student: Thomas O.

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is yet another example of narrative nonfiction at its best. I love it when a talented journalist turns her hand to a story that can’t be captured in a short article, and her diligent research is weaved into a compelling and shocking story that challenges my worldview and makes me examine the ethics of our evolving culture. I had heard about this book from many others, and thought I already knew the story based on hearing the countless rave reviews, so I didn’t anticipate being quite so riveted by the time I got around to reading it. The story of Henrietta Lacks’ unique cells, their discovery and exploitation boggles the mind. Apparently if I had taken Biology in college, I would have heard of HeLa cells, but the millions who have used them knew nothing of their provenance until this book was published. Henrietta Lacks was a poor black woman raised in Virginia in the dwellings of her slave ancestors, married and moved to Baltimore where she bore her children and worked hard to keep them fed without much help from her unfaithful husband. She developed a virulent form of cancer, probably due to the STDs transmitted by her husband, and died young in a black ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Unbeknownst to her or her family, Henrietta’s uniquely prodigious cells were extracted for research purposes and spawned decades of scientific discovery and advancement including a myriad of vaccines and breakthroughs. Her cells were patented and yielded vast profits for strangers while Henrietta’s family languished in poverty with no health insurance. This is a fascinating and provocative read for those who enjoy science and its history, and for those who want to explore social injustice in our medical system. ~ Ms. Dimmick

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In the Garden of the Beasts, by Erik Larson

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin by Erik Larson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In The Garden of the Beasts by Erik Larson is the well-researched story of the build up of Hitler’s power in Nazi Germy as witnessed by an American diplomatic family posted to Berlin in 1933. Ambassador Dodd is an unassuming academic from Chicago and Roosevelt’s fourth or fifth choice for the unpopular post. Dodd is ill-prepared to respond to pressures from both sides: the American government wants him to ensure that the Germans make good on their debt to the US, and the German government wants him to suppress U.S. protests against Germany’s anti-Semitic regime. By contrast, Dodd’s grown daughter, Martha, is anything but unassuming. Martha recklessly engages in a series of dangerous liaisons first with Nazi officials, and later with a Soviet communist, shifting her loyalties only after the true nature of the Nazi regime becomes impossible for her to ignore. The story was pieced together through painstaking research into the characters’ lives and is liberally sprinkled with excerpts from their communications and personal diaries. While the author successfully evokes the tension of the era and clearly illustrates the willful ignorance practiced by so many eye-witnesses to the fomentation of Hitler’s power, he lost me fairly early in the book. Despite its potential, the story seemed to drag, haltingly inserting extraneous details that demonstrate the author’s authority on the subject but that add little to the appeal of the story. Larson also uses a heavy hand to forebode future events such that they are almost anticlimactic by the time they occur. This book has received very positive reviews from others, so perhaps my experience stems from a preference for fiction over nonfiction or my familiarity with the events chronicled in this book. I would recommend this to those who are interested in learning more about the build up to World War II and the Nazis rise to power. ~ Ms Dimmick

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Student Review: The Lost Boys of Sudan: An American Story of the Refugee Experience, by Mark Bixler (reviewed by Beth Y.)

The Lost Boys of Sudan: An American Story of the Refugee Experience by Mark Bixler

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

“They first saw a moving staircase” (5). As 3800 men from Sudan came to the United States, they all saw an amazing thing: An escalator. These men known as “Lost Boys” experienced a remarkable and shocking journey during the second Sudanese Civil War. In 2000, the United States began accepting the Lost Boys so that they could lead a different lifestyle and ultimately achieve the “American Dream”. The Lost Boys of Sudan by Mark Bixler focuses on four of the lost boys and how they first encounter the daily life of an American citizen. Jacob Magot, Peter Anyang, Daniel Khoch, and Marko Ayii are among 150 other lost boys who came to Atlanta, Georgia to live their new lives. The “Lost Boys” are repeatedly faced with ongoing problems and challenges that American citizens would not think twice about. These men came to America knowing nothing about air conditioners, flushing toilets, or automobiles. This book also focuses a lot on the history of Sudan, international aid politics, and the people who guided the Lost Boys through their settlement in America. Following every step of the Lost Boys’ journey was compelling at times, but the majority of the book was uneventful and not very captivating. It was also a confusing read because the book kept on going from past to present which made it harder to follow the characters. I would only recommend this book to those who are intrigued by the history of Sudan and the Lost Boys. ~ Student: Beth Y.

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Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, by Katherine Boo

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an important book that will fill you with anger, disgust and a feeling of powerlessness, but you will still be glad you read it. Katherine Boo is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who turns her keen observational powers towards the underclass eking out their survival in the slums of Mumbai, India. Narrated in the third person, this documentary-like story focuses on a diverse array of inhabitants (it’s hard to remember that they are indeed people, and not “characters” in a novel) of Annawadi, a shanty town that has grown up on the outskirts of the Mumbai airport. They live in squalor at the edge of a sewage lake that shines with the reflection of the luxurious hotels above, but are hidden from wealthy travelers by billboards advertising “Beautiful Forever” floor tiles. As the global economy spurs Mumbai towards prosperity, the reader becomes hopeful that the slums’ inhabitants will rise with that tide, only to be crushed like the Anawaddians by the realization that endemic corruption, greed and social injustice will continue to prevail. Beyond simply documenting the appalling lives of the Anawaddians, Ms Boo chooses a murder and court-based plot line that moves the story along at a swift pace and earns it the categorization of compelling narrative nonfiction. The story is at times so unbelievable that I would advise readers to start at the back of the book with the author’s note to learn how she managed to stay true to her journalistic roots, despite the times when the book seems to veer deep into fictional territory. If you are interested in expanding your worldview, this book is a fine place to start. ~ Ms Dimmick

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Student Review: American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China, by Matthew Polly (review by Leo O.)

American Shaolin: Flying Kicks, Buddhist Monks, and the Legend of Iron Crotch: An Odyssey in the New China by Matthew Polly

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

American Shaolin by Matthew Polly is a strange and intriguing book. Matt struggles to find himself. Trying desperately, he decides to train in Chinese Shaolin Kungfu at the Shaolin Temple in China. Matt is a junior at Princeton University, a very prestigious school and decides to leave for 2 years to the Shaolin Temple, the place where kungfu was founded. Along the way, Matt starts to find himself and steadily starts to get rid of the things on the “Things That Are Wrong With Matt” list. It is a great coming of age story as Matt discovers himself and who he really is. Before Matt goes to the Shaolin temple, Matt describes it as “… A venerable institution that specialized in turning scrawny, ninety-eight-pound weaklings like me into badasses (15).” Matt thinks that the Shaolin Temple will be a kungfu paradise with no hardship. Little does he know what he’s in for. As time passes Matt changes steadily. The reader will learn a lot about China, living abroad and what “eating bitter” is. Lots of monks and kungfu tales go on throughout the book. The cover doesn’t have much to do with the book but it brings attention and makes you want to read it. American Shaolin doesn’t disappoint and provides a strong storyline. Matt is one of select few that follows his childhood dream so such a story is one in a million. This truly is a story you should read.–Student: Leo O.

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