Book Talk

Reasons to Smile

After the gloom of last month’s update I feel I owe you a little humor. Happily, some popular authors have cooperated.

Kick back with the master of easy-going, Jimmy Buffett. His newest, Swine Not?: a Novel Pig Tale has a southern family trying to hide their pet pig in a posh New York City hotel. The adventure is told through the eyes of Rumpy, the pig, and Barley, his boy.

Many of us have had the misfortune to know a bride from hell and Laura Levine captures one perfectly in Killing Bridezilla.  Obnoxious Patti Devane taps former schoolmate Jaine Austen to write the vows for her upcoming wedding; she wanted something like Romeo and Juliet but without the death scene. Patti, however, had racked up a LONG list of enemies and one of them had unscrewed the bolts holding the balcony railing…

The Devil Wears Prada author Lauren Weisberger contributes Chasing Harry Winston.  Emmy, Leigh and Adriana are living out their dreams of successful careers and perfect social lives, BUT they are nearly thirty and realize that something seems to be missing. Two take a vow to radically change their lives in the next year. But it is uncommitted Leigh who has the most to lose.

Unearthing a rare fossil on a building site can cause all sorts of problems, especially if it is important in the fossil record of Darwinian evolution, and the building is for a new conservative megachurch. Soon Hollis Farley, the backhoe operator, is shot dead with an arrow in his back, and there is a long list of suspects.  Nothing is sacred in Holy Moly by Ben Rehder.

Even when writing about golf Carl Hiaasen is funny. After a 32 year absence from the links, Hiaasen decided to return to the game. This is a mystery because it was a sport at which, even when young, he didn’t excel. And of course he agrees to play in a tournament against golfers who can actually hit the ball. If you see yourself in any of this read The Downhill Lie!

Just the thought of Yogi Berra can make you smile. No one has misused the English language so ably. In You can Observe a Lot by Watching: what I’ve Learned about Teamwork from the Yankees and Life, he shares lessons he’s learned from the people he’s known and the players he’s been associated with.

We all know what we mean when we say nerd, but who can really define nerdom? Benjamin Nugent gives it a try in American Nerd: the Story of my People. He seeks out assorted subgroups of nerds to try to find the common thread. What do medieval reenacters have in common with debate team kids? Or ham radio enthusiasts? And, perish the thought, is admitting to nerdiness becoming trendy?

A perfect book for nerd is Mental Floss: Scatterbrained. Who else but a nerd would know that if you add up the numbers on a roulette wheel you get 666 (the mark of the beast)? Or that exactly ZERO deaths have been attributed to swimming after eating without waiting an hour.  Enjoy!

Reminder! Summer programs will be starting soon and even adults may participate. The Summer Reading Packets will be available on June 23. Consider this your formal invitation to participate.

Virginia Cooper
Adult Services Librarian