LOOKING AT PICTURES by Joy Richardson is a grand introduction to art appreciation for the older child. It’s filled with great illustrations from London’s National Gallery and pointers about how to “read” a painting as well as basic fun facts about historical origins, genres, and artists of many pieces. (Hardcover, $21.95). Recommended by Kelly.
For those of you struggling to reconcile your own religious faith with all we now know (or if you have relatives on either side of the fence who you have a hard time talking to), THANK GOD FOR EVOLUTION by Michael Dowd might just be the ticket. He joins an ever-broadening circle of writers who believe when religion and science divorced many centuries ago, both have suffered mightily for it. From an evangelical background himself, Dowd has done the hard work of “translating” traditional Judeo-Christian doctrine into a form that requires neither spiritual nor intellectual dishonesty and encourages the reader to revel in the magnificence and mystery of the cosmos. (Paperback, $16.00). Recommended by Kelly.
SEPTEMBER 9 Wednesday 7PM
@ THE LAWRENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY
Co-sponsored by The Raven
READING & SIGNING
Bryce Benedict
Jayhawkers: The Civil War Brigade of James Henry Lane
Author Bryce Benedict brings us the first detailed investigation into the activities of the ragtag group of free-state fighters who followed the mercurial U.S. senator into many skirmishes and raids along the Kansas-Missouri border during the early part of the Civil War.
Bryce Benedict served for twenty-one years in the U.S. Army and the Kansas National Guard and is now lead defense counsel for the Kansas State Self Insurance Fund. His historical articles have appeared in the Plains Guardian, the newspaper of the Kansas National Guard. Read about the book.
HARDBALL, Kansas native Sara Paretsky’s newest V. I. Warshawski novel is due out September 22, 2009. Call us to hold a copy of the book for you (785-749-3300).
Sara will be at the Lawrence Public Library for a reading and signing co-sponsored by The Raven Book Store on Friday, September 25th, to launch HARDBALL. The event starts at 7PM. See our events page for more information.
The publisher describes HARDBALL:
Chicago politics-past, present, and future-take center stage in New York Times-bestselling author Sara Paretsky’s brilliant new V. I. Warshawski novel.
Chicago’s unique brand of ball is sixteen-inch slow pitch, played in leagues all over the city for more than a century. But in politics, in business, and in law enforcement, the game is hardball.
When V. I. Warshawski is asked to find a man who’s been missing for four decades, a search that she figured would be futile becomes lethal. Old skeletons from the city’s racially charged history, as well as haunting family secrets-her own and those of the elderly sisters who hired her-rise up to brush her back from the plate with a vengeance. A young cousin whom she’s never met arrives from Kansas City to work on a political campaign; a nun who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. dies without revealing crucial evidence; and on the city’s South Side, people spit when she shows up. Afraid to learn that her adored father might have been a bent cop, V. I. still takes the investigation all the way to its frightening end.
DEAFENING by Frances Itani, winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize, is an engrossing novel centered on the world of the deaf as well as the horrors and sacrifices of World War I. Relationships among various generations ring true; the characters’ inner and outer worlds come alive in the hands of an experienced and talented writer. This novel, set in Canada, will call to you until you finish the last page. (Paperback, $14.00). Highly recommended by Martha.
Many of you may be familiar with Charles Todd’s popular post-World War I series featuring Inspector Ian Rutledge. The author (a mother and son writing team) has a new series, beginning with A DUTY TO THE DEAD. It is 1916 and Bess Crawford, a volunteer with the nursing corps, promises a dying soldier that she will take a message to his family in England. Independent and frank, Bess finds herself drawn into the family’s secrets and discovers intrigue and murder in a small English village. (Hardcover, $24.99). Recommended by Rochelle.
Obsessions are hard to explain and even harder to justify if you’re a woman and they take you away from your family. Harder still if your obsession is “just” about birds. That’s why Olivia Gentile’s biography of Phoebe Snetsinger LIFE LIST is such an important book. Clearly, one of the world’s greatest birders, Snetsinger didn’t begin her career until she was 34 and had a suburban home, husband and four children. Therein lay the problem. To be the best birder in the world, you must embrace risk, overcome tremendous physical challenge, and you cannot–and Snetsinger would not–stay home. This is a fascinating book. (Hardcover, $26.00; due in paperback March, 2010). Recommended by Kelly.
