Recently Returned - American Dervish

Run, don’t walk to pick up a copy of Ayad Akhtar’s impressive debut novel, American Dervish.

It is the coming-of-age story of Hayat Shah, a Pakistani-American boy growing up in 1980's Wisconsin. Unexpectedly, his mother’s best friend, Mina, comes to live with his family. Before he meets her in person, Hayat is enamored with Mina's picture on the refrigerator because she is such a beautiful and mysterious woman. Once she arrives, he begins to take a keen interest in Islam. She tells him Sufi stories of dervishes from the Qur’an and encourages him to become a hafiz – a person who memorizes the holy book and thus ensures a place for himself and his parents in Paradise. Hayat happily spends most of his free time memorizing juz and practicing his religion. But soon Hayat has to compete for Mina’s attention with men who want to marry her, and his youth and jealousy cause him to act out in ways that change his family forever.

American Dervish is enlightening and gave me an idea of what it was like for someone in my generation to grow up in a Muslim household. I also learned a little bit of Arabic along the way.

Akhtar has told a tale that is sad and sweet and deserves a spot on everyone’s reading list. Find a copy in the New Fiction section today!

Recently Returned - History of a Pleasure Seeker

What was it that drew me to the new novel History of a Pleasure Seeker by Richard Mason?  Perhaps it was the fact that there was a picture of Magritte’s La Réproduction interdite on the cover.  Perhaps it was the fact that I read a glowing review in Oprah magazine.  Whatever the case, I was happy to find this book.  

It is the story of Piet Barol, a young working class man living in Amsterdam in the early 1900s.  He is so good looking that no one (male or female…) can resist his charms.  He tries to improve his station in life by applying for a job tutoring the son of hotelier Maarten Vermeulen-Sickerts.  It is obvious that the boy is brilliant and that there is not much that Piet can do to help him academically, but Maarten’s wife Jacobina is so smitten with Piet that she overlooks this small hitch and hires him on the spot.  Piet quickly becomes accustomed to the Vermeulen-Sickert’s lavish lifestyle and will do almost anything to remain in their privileged world.

This is a well-crafted piece of historical fiction that depicts what life was like for the upper class during the belle époque.  As you may guess from the title, the plot does get a bit racy – in a The Other Boleyn Girl kind of way.  Piet’s adventures and misadventures will keep you riveted and will make you hope that the rumors of a HOAPS sequel are true!

Recently Returned - The Forgotten Waltz

When two copies of The Forgotten Waltz ended up in the book drop on the same night, I sensed that I had a popular book on my hands.  This is quick, fluffy reading material... kind of like reality TV in book form.  The protagonist, Gina Moynihan, falls in love/becomes obsessed with a man named Seàn that she meets at a garden party.  The problem is that Gina is married to Conor and Seàn is married to Aileen and has a daughter, Evie, with significant health issues.  Oh, and did I mention that Gina can’t stand Evie?  Yeah, it’s complicated.

This is a book that you can happily read at the beach or by the pool, so pick up a copy before you head out on vacation. 

New Movies - In Time

If you ever wondered if Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried could carry a major motion picture on their own, worry no more!  The pair star in the surprisingly good 2011 sci-fi action thriller, In Time.  The premise is that instead of an economy based on money, everything involves time: it costs two hours for a bus ride, four minutes for a cup of coffee, one month for dinner in a fancy restaurant, etc.  In addition, humans are genetically engineered to live only 25 years plus one, so once they reach the quarter century mark they have to work, steal, beg, or borrow in order to get the time to keep living. 

In this dystopian society, the working class struggles in the ghetto and people are lucky to have 24 hours left on their clocks at any given time.  When they expire, they fall in the street and everyone walks right on by.  Conversely, the wealthy citizens of New Greenwich amass hundreds, thousands, even millions of years that give them a shot at immortality.  

Timberlake’s character, Will Salas, grows up on the wrong side of the tracks, but through a chance encounter with a rich man he meets in a bar, he is given a hundred free years.  Will wants to beat the system by giving to the poor and taking down the rich, but it’s not easy to do when gangsters and police discover his new fortune.  Things get even more complicated when he meets Sylvia Weis (Seyfried), a bored girl from a well-to-do family, and he has to keep both her and his dream of overthrowing the status quo alive.

New Movies - Johnny English Reborn

Think James Bond, Mr. Bean, and Austin Powers thrown in a blender on high speed, and you have the spy-thriller Johnny English Reborn.  It is the sequel to the popular 2003 Johnny English movie and is necessary viewing for Rowan Atkinson fans.

Johnny English comes out of retirement in Tibet in order to thwart an assassination attempt on the life of the Chinese premier.  He is probably the most bumbling agent in Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but thanks to his slick Rolls Royce, impressive gadgets, and quick-witted partner Agent Tucker (Daniel Kaluuya), he is able to make headway on the case.

This is a family-friendly film filled with slapstick comedy and dry, British humor (“Dear God, let me not die at the hands of the Swiss.”).  It is entertaining and unpredictable, since Johnny takes many missteps that complicate the plot and heighten the tension.  Johnny English Reborn is a good pick for patrons who like both action and comedy.

On Display - Short Stories & War Fiction

Browsing the short story display.

Enjoying the first few pages of De Niro's Game.

On the heels of our wildly successful "April in Paris" and National Poetry Month displays, the circulation department is back with two new collections:  short stories (at the South Main Street entrance) and war fiction (near the computer lab).  They have only been up for a short time, but books are already flying off the shelf.  Stop by and stock up for your spring reading!

Recently Returned - Hope: A Tragedy

Solomon Kugel is one of the most neurotic characters out there.  He has intrusive thoughts that an arsonist is going to burn down his house.   He keeps a notebook with him to write down ideas of what he would like his last words on earth to be.  He feels bad for shirts that don’t get worn a lot, so he puts them on even when he doesn’t want to, just to make the shirts feel better.  In short, he has issues.

Sol has always been a fearful man, but when a crisis causes him to leave Brooklyn and settle in the small village of Stockton, NY he goes off the deep end.   He, his wife, his young son, and his dying mother move into a farmhouse that has an awful stench.  They wash and sanitize every surface, but the smell becomes worse.  Sol soon discovers that the source of the disgusting odor is an unwanted guest hiding in his home… a visitor that just happens to be one of the most iconic figures of the past century.  His uncertainty about how to handle this situation causes the level of tension in his life to escalate to astronomical levels.

Shalom Auslander has written a creative tale that is at times relatable and at other times unbelievable.  There are moments that are moving and some that are blasphemous.  We watch Sol continually mess up as a husband, a father, a son, a neighbor, an employee, and a landlord, but we root for him to find a little bit of happiness and hope in the end.  If you are looking for a quick, funny, and original read, you should give Hope: A Tragedy a try.