Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule by Jennifer Chiaverini

I picked up Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule when I recognized the author, Jennifer Chiaverini, whose Elm Creek Quilt stories I have been enjoying for years.  In this work of historical fiction, Chiaverini focuses on the title characters and the military career of Ulysses S. Grant. If I have a criticism to make, it is that this novel is not as much about the relationship between Julia Grant and Jule, her slave, as it could be.  However, I enjoyed reading about the time period and the relationship between the Grants, a Southern belle and a West Point graduate from an abolitionist family.  In fact, I learned quite a bit as I read the book – including about Grant’s controversial General Order no. 11 which was issued in 1862 and dealt with forcibly removing Jews from the territory (Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky) he supervised.  Other recent works of historical fiction by Jennifer Chiaverini include Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker and Mrs. Lincoln's Rival. 

A Murder of Magpies by Judith Flanders

A Murder of Magpies is a fun mystery, mostly due to the clever wit of its main character, Samantha Clair who works in the London publishing field. She is juggling the needs of various writers – one who seems to be experimenting with a totally new style and another who may be charged with libel due to a tell all book about the fashion industry.

It really gets interesting, though, when a courier is killed, one of the writers goes missing, and a break-in occurs. Inspector Field enters the picture and Sam’s near-perfect, high energy, solicitor mother joins in, too.  Throughout, I found Sam’s sarcasm and wry perspective to be especially entertaining:

• "... we were going to be brave because we were all too cowardly to be anything else."
• “I briefly wondered what you called a group of editors – a chatter of editors?  I thought … and revised: a pompous of publishers, definitely.”
• “I’d felt as if life was like a play and I’d come in at the interval.  The rest of the audience knew what was going on, while I was the only one who was mystified by the dialogue.  As I got older, I worked out that that’s what everyone thought.”

Pick up Judith Flanders’ A Murder of Magpies if you if you are looking for a light, entertaining mystery. The contemporary London setting and book publishing references are a plus!  Hopefully, we will see more stories involving this amateur sleuth – they would be perfect for PBS’ Masterpiece program.  

Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King

Have you read Laurie R. King’s The Beekeeper’s Apprentice? If so, you may have been enjoying the series about Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, for 20 years! If not, you are in for a treat and have a full baker’s dozen of novels involving suspense and adventure to enjoy.  I just finished King’s newest addition, Dreaming Spies, and am definitely recommending it. The main characters are travelling from India to the western United States and stop in Japan along the way. 

Although the story starts slowly, I appreciated that this novel seemed to be a “gentler” read than some of the later titles in the Russell/Holmes series.  In fact, King includes a Haiku poem at the beginning of each chapter, further inviting the reader to speculate about the upcoming twists and turns. Set in 1924 and 1925, I especially liked the focus on an ocean voyage (a closed room mystery in a sense), all the rules of etiquette from that time period, and the visits to the reading rooms at Bodleian Library back in Oxford. While reading Dreaming Spies, I learned quite a bit (as did Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes) about Japanese culture, temperament and traditions. On board ship they meet an intriguing young woman, Haruki Sato, who involves them in an international mystery encompassing ancient poetry, a missing book and deadly blackmail.

Visit the author’s website (http://www.laurierking.com/) for more information about Dreaming Spies and others in this creative series. Looking for more mysteries to read? Try titles written by Miriam Grace Monfredo (Seneca Falls historical mysteries), Jacqueline Winspear (featuring Maisie Dobbs), and Charles Todd (set in Great Britain).

How To ... and then some ...

Our sophomore students write a “how to” essay, dissecting and cataloging the steps to complete an activity like “how to change a tire” or “how to keep your focus as a soccer goalie.” This past week I seem to have been reading several new “how to” books and thought I would briefly comment on each one here. 

How to be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis   

Ellis, a playwright, describes her take on and affection for various literary characters and writers in How to be a Heroine. My favorite part included her feminist slant and comments about Ellen O’Hara (Scarlett’s mother), but she covers much more, and cites numerous influential characters ranging from the Little Mermaid to Plath’s Esther Greenwood, Lizzy Bennet, Scheherazade, and many more. This memoir (and its copious notes) will appeal to avid readers, English teachers and aspiring writers. The Observer exclaims, “fantastically inspirational memoir that makes you want to re-read far too many books.” Yes, it certainly has that effect and could also provide some short readings for review and discussion in our Senior Writers’ Seminar.  How to be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis received starred reviews from Booklist and Library Journal.

How We Can Save Sports by Ken Reed  

Given the recent amount of attention paid to deflate-gate, NFL concussions and other sports concerns, How We Can Save Sports by Ken Reed is a very timely work.  It begins with a rant, though, in the form of a foreword by consumer activist Ralph Nader.  Reed then proposes a concept of "citizenship through sports activism,” suggests specific action steps and provides resources in an appendix. As a blogger for The Huffington Post and sports policy director for the League of Fans, a sports reform project started by Nader, Reed is an authority on a subject of interest to many of our students. 

The XYZ Factor edited by Nancy Lublin and Alyssa Ruderman
Subtitled “The DoSomething.org Guide to Creating a Culture of Impact,” newly published The XYZ Factor is an exploration of the work environment from the 20-something perspective. All of the authors work together at DoSomething.org, self-described as “the largest membership organization in the world for young people and social change.”  They explain that XYZ is a mindset and the goal of the book is to foster productivity by sharing and describing seven secrets (or traits like “we value choice”) of 20-somethings. If I had to manage several employees in this demographic, the examples (huge choice in TV channels, growth in college majors) and analysis (“constant access to choice leads us to feel bored or stymied”) would certainly be helpful in appreciating their perspective. For example, there is a section called “we move fast” that bemoans too slow decision-making and another on the importance of measureable feedback. Much of the discussion is “spot on,” though perhaps a bit more narcissistic and entitled than the editors intended. The XYZ Factor should prompt some valuable workplace dialogue between all ages.

Words Onscreen by Naomi S. Baron  

Published by Oxford University Press and written by a specialist in Linguistics, Words Onscreen has already sparked interest amongst our faculty. It deals with questions about “the fate of reading in a digital world.” Baron explains recent research and explores differences and preferences between reading hardcopy print and online. Her writing is accessible, although her tone sometimes turns strident as she explores a new normal where "computers, and now portable digital devices, coax us to skim rather than read in depth, search rather than traverse continuous prose.” Baron’s preference towards print is clear, but she raises numerous interesting questions about the act of reading, its varied purposes, its individual vs. social nature, and its relationship with writing. I am looking forward to comparing Words Onscreen with other research on this topic, especially the soon to be released Mind Change by Susan Greenfield.

Meanwhile, like those Sophomore “how to” essays, each of the above books focuses on a specific subject and has appeal for a particular audience – choose the one that best fits your interests!