This past Thursday, author David Ohle participated in the Raven’s Big Tent Reading series. It was a real treat. Afterward, more than one audience member was overheard saying they thought they were going to pee their pants from laughter. Mr. Ohle recently released a book titled BOONS & THE CAMP, which is available at The Raven along with his cult classic MOTORMAN. Derek White at 5cense, who did the artwork for the book, also created trailers for BOONS & THE CAMP. Enjoy.

THE CAMP

BOONS

Kansas Reads is a project of the Kansas Center for the Book at the State Library of Kansas that encourages all Kansans to read the same book and come together to discuss it. This year’s featured book is Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama.




From the Lawrence Public Library’s website:

Obama once said that his extended family is “like a little mini-United Nations. I’ve got relatives who look like Bernie Mac, and I’ve got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher.” In Dreams from My Father, Obama introduces us to that family - his mother and grandparents from Kansas, his father and half-siblings in Kenya.

The book is also a coming of age story as Obama takes us along on his personal journey to form his own identity and find his place in the world. Written before he first ran for public office, the book offers a glimpse into the formation of the character of the man who would become our president, and the events that set him on a course of public service.

The Raven has copies of both DREAMS FROM MY FATHER: A STORY OF RACE AND INHERITANCE and the reader’s guide.

Many events revolving around the book will be held at the Lawrence Public Library, including book discussions and lectures.  These take place between February 1 and March 1, more info can be found at the library’s website.

WALKING ON WATER by Madeleine L’Engle

I read this book years ago and was reminded of it after recently reading Wrinkle in Time.  L’Engle is an author who submitted that novel 23 times before it was accepted, so she knows intimately the struggle between staying true to your inner vision and compromising to produce a salable commodity. She writes about her Christian faith and its intersection with creativity, but the book transcends the limit of a single faith perspective: it deals with the creative process flowing through the writer, artist, photographer, etc. when they allow themselves to be “vessels”.

An inspiring book for all the artists amongst us.  It reminded me of the fun I had with clay when I didn’t worry about the end product – like being a freed child.  (Hardcover, $13.99) Julie recommends.

A random murder is the catalyst to jump into New York City’s Lower East Side in Richard Price’s LUSH LIFE. The neighborhood in question is illustrated as a place of conflict between the young, hip, and mainly white artistic crowd with the socially marginalized rainbow of poor, project-bound immigrants and tragic youth.

My favorite thing about this book are the fully fleshed characters — many are very well rounded, with noble qualities, flaws, and fears fully exposed. The dialogue is organic and pure pleasure to read. Price effectively constrains the reader to the life of those without power. Many of the important decisions in the story are made by powerful names whose characters are never revealed. The reader, like the story’s characters (detectives, criminals, waiters, the victim’s family) receive information only as it trickles down from the top. LUSH LIFE succeeds in slowly unraveling a case while keeping true to the way most of us must live -– in the shadows of the decisions made by those with the power and position to do so. (Paperback, $15.00) Recommended by Judd.

Winner of the 2010 Newbery Award. The first and most important thing for me to tell you about this book is that you MUST read it.  Do not miss this book, especially if you are 9-14 years old.  It is spellbinding. It’s kind of a mystery, and it’s kind of a time travel book.  It’s very realistic, it’s funny, and all the characters, including parents and a dentist, are interesting and distinct and real. Miranda, the twelve year old protagonist who tells the story, lives with her mother in New York City and she reads and re-reads one book, WRINKLE IN TIME. She helps her mother practice for a game show she is going to be on, she wonders why her best friend and neighbor Sal has dropped her, and she tries to understand why she is getting weird, tiny notes stuck in books and her backpack telling about events ahead of time that no one could  know about.  Once you read the first page you will not put this down.  A really unusual book, a future classic.  The only thing about the book that isn’t fabulous is the title, which I can never remember.  Just remember Rebecca Stead, the author.  (Hardcover, $15.99) Recommended by Pat.

LITTLE HEATHENS: HARD TIMES AND HIGH SPIRITS ON AN IOWA FARM DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION by Mildred Armstrong Kalish is a wonderful memoir of her childhood in the 1930’s. Times were hard, but she experienced much love and kindness and also learned the importance of frugality and ingenuity. This isn’t a depressing tale of suffering: she recalls her family’s day-to-day activities that helped build her character and instill self-confidence that would carry her throughout her adulthood, and also remembers the many joys of close contact with the natural world. Written with good humor and affection, it’s a lovely world to step into for an all too brief time. It was chosen ‘One of the Ten Best Books of the Year’ by the New York Times Book Review.

Winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize, WOLF HALL is a complex, multi-layered novel about the time of religious tumult of the 1530s and a story of the life of a moderate, brilliant counselor and financier, Thomas Cromwell. Bookpage wrote that “Mantel’s crystalline style, piercing eye and interest in, shall we say, the darker side of human nature, together with a real respect for historical accuracy, make this novel an engrossing, enveloping read.” ($27.00, hardcover).  Highly recommended by Pat.

DeLillo chronicles life in the United States during the Cold War. The story weaves through forty-plus years of lives private and public (including J. Edgar Hoover and Lenny Bruce), illustrating the fears brought by both the world at large (random violence, nuclear tensions) and through personal choices (relationships, art) in the lives of its myriad of characters. From baseball to the art world to poverty-strangled neighborhoods to hyperbolized TV news, DeLillo captures many different viewpoints of what it is to be an American living in uncertainty. UNDERWORLD is rewarding not only because of its successful realization of the mammoth scope it undertakes, but more so because DeLillo has crafted every paragraph into a showcase of how language can edify how we relate to the world. The book is a pure pleasure to experience. ($17.95, paperback).  Judd recommends

For those of you currently or formerly religious gals and blokes who’ve been frightened by its reflective cover and less-than-subtle title, THE GOD DELUSION by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins is a brave, compelling, and only occasionally arrogant deconstruction of centuries of religious belief. Your eyes won’t bleed; your fingertips won’t be singed. If you’re a thinker, delve in.  ($15.95, paperback) Kelly recommends.