Food on Film

Have you noticed all the hype with food lately?  Where to eat, what to cook, who cooks it best, all the cookbooks and morning TV demonstrations, and now picnic and grilling season is in full force.  Here is a list of films about food to check out at your next trip to the library.

Big Night
The story of two brothers whose Italian restaurant is on the brink of bankruptcy. Their only chance for success is to risk everything they own on an extravagant feast for bandleader Louis Prima. But their big night is complicated by a lovers' triangle, a sneaky restaurant rival, and the hilarious perfection of chef Primo.

Julie Julia
Julie Powell wants to be a writer. Trying to find a challenge in her life, she decides to cook her way through Julia Child's 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' in one year, and to blog about it. As Julie begins to find her groove as a cook, and her voice as a writer, the project takes on a life of its own, while providing an interesting biography about Julia Child herself, celebrating the life of one of America's most beloved chefs.


Babette's Feast
With the mysterious arrival of Babette, a refugee from France's civil war, life for two pious sisters and their tiny hamlet begins to change. Before long, Babette has convinced them to try something other than boiled codfish and ale bread-- a gourmet French meal! Her feast scandalizes the elders, except for the visiting General. Just who is this strangely talented Babette, who has terrified this pious town with the prospect of losing their souls for enjoying too much earthly pleasure?


No Reservations
Master chef Kate Armstrong revels in the sense of power and control her career affords. When her sister is killed in an automobile accident, her nine-year old niece Zoe comes to live with her. Kate's life is turned completely upside down and she is suddenly forced to split her focus between work and family. Nick Palmer is the fun-loving, sous chef, whom Kate perceives as a serious rival. Even as they clash, Kate is drawn toward Nick, eventually coming to the realization that Nick offers something that she needs both in her restaurant kitchen and her new life with Zoe. Based on the German movie Mostly Martha listed below.


Mostly Martha
Martha is the chef who fusses and obsesses over each dish before it leaves the kitchen. The demands of her job and her natural shyness keep her from meeting new people. When her sister suddenly dies, Martha adopts Lina, her eight-year-old niece, completely changing both lives. Martha gets unexpected help from Mario, Martha's hunky new sous chef, who is not only a whiz on the chopping block but knows sundry magic tricks and jokes to keep Lina's spirits afloat. Just as Martha starts to grow attached to the girl, Lina's erratic father shows up demanding that he take her back to Italy with him.


A Moveable Feast
Salutes traditions across the country by bringing six of America's favorite chefs together to represent the diversity of food and culture that make the United States the world's greatest melting pot. Features Chris Kimball (America's Test Kitchens), Ruth Reichl (Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie), Lidia Bastianich (Lidia's Italy), José Andrés (Made in Spain), Rick Bayless (Mexico One Plate at a Time), and Ming Tsai (Simply Ming). Bonus: Q&A with the chefs, recipes, and behind-the-scenes.


Fast Food Nation
When a marketing executive for a huge burger chain finds a nasty secret ingredient in their burger recipe, he goes to the ranches and slaughterhouses of Colorado to investigate and finds that the truth is sometimes difficult to swallow. This film will have you questioning your food choices. Greg Kinnear is fabulous in this film.

Remembering World War II: Fiction for Memorial Day

Our history is sadly defined by the wars we engage. Our collection is rife with nonfiction accounts of strategies and battles, with World War II attracting the most attention.  The actual re-telling of victories and defeats is essential to our understanding of the era.  However, it is the novels, through the authors' imagination, creativity and vision that capture the true "feelings" of war and the "mood" of the times.

Spend some time this Memorial Day weekend with the following novelists writing about

World War II:

Dream When You're Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg

After sending their men off to fight in the war, sisters Kitty and Louise Heaney join their flirtatious younger sister, Tish, in writing letters to servicemen overseas.

Shining Through by Susan Isaacs

The ordinary life of legal secretary Linda Voss explodes into passion with her handsome boss and into danger as an OSS spy caught in the heart of Nazi Germany.

Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli

Captures the hardships and cruelty of life in the ghettos of Warsaw during the Nazi occupation of World War II, through the eyes of a Jewish orphan who must use all his wits and courage to survive unimaginable events and circumstances.

When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka
A story told from five different points of view, chronicles the experiences of Japanese Americans caught up in the nightmare of the World War II internment camps.

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
In a novel of alternative history, aviation hero Charles A. Lindbergh defeats Franklin Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election, negotiating an accord with Adolf Hitler and accepting his conquest of Europe and anti-Semitic policies.

Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman
Suppressed by the KGB, Life and Fate is a rich and vivid account of what the Second World War meant to the Soviet Union.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Presents the contemporary classic depicting the struggles of a United States airman attempting to survive the lunacy and depravity of a World War II airbase.

Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell
Hiding his past as a Nazi officer while living the life of an entrepreneur and family man in northern France, Dr. Max Aue remembers horrifying acts of violence he committed during World War II.

Sword of Honour Trilogy by Evelyn Waugh

It consists of three novels, Men At Arms (1952), Officers and Gentlemen (1955) and Unconditional Surrender (1961, published as The End of the Battle in the U.S.).

This trilogy of novels about World War II, largely based on his own experiences as an army officer, is the crowning achievement of Evelyn Waugh’s career. Its central character is Guy Crouchback, head of an ancient but decayed Catholic family, who at first discovers new purpose in the challenge to defend Christian values against Nazi barbarism, but then gradually finds the complexities and cruelties of war too much for him.

The Nebula Awards

Each year the the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA)  present the prestigious Nebula Awards® for the year’s best literary and dramatic works of speculative fiction. The 2011 Nebula Awards were announced this past weekend. Six novels were nominated for this year’s honor. The winning novel was Among Others by Jo Walton.

Among Others by Jo Walton.
After the death of her twin sister, 14-year-old Morwenna, or "Mori," flees her unstable mother and her Welsh hometown to live with the father she barely knows--and never will, since he immediately packs her off to a boarding school in the English countryside. Grief-stricken and friendless, Mori takes refuge in books, eventually meeting others who share her interests in fantasy and science fiction. But Mori can't avoid her past forever. Unfolding in the form of a diary, Among Others is both a coming-of-age story full of subtle magic and a love letter to literature.

Additional nominees for best novel were:

Embassytown by China Mieville
Embassytown's human colonists maintain a fragile peace with the indigenous aliens of planet Arieka, whose literally double-tongued speech cannot be understood by humans. The colonists create "Ambassadors," cloned twins, whose simultaneous speech allows the alien Ariekei to understand human language; in turn, the Ariekei grant certain humans the ability to depict Ariekei thought to the colony's leaders during ritualized performances. Avice Benner Cho escaped a life of servitude as one of these living figures of Ariekei "speech" -- only to be lured back now, as strange new Ambassadors warp the Ariekei in insidious, world-ending ways. Surreal, immersive world-building in a true SF setting will wow fans of the author's 2009 Hugo-winning The City & The City.

Firebird (Alex Benedict Series #6) by Jack McDevitt
Alex Benedict and Chase Kolpath discover that a missing renowned physicist had several interstellar yachts flown far outside the planetary system where they vanished. Following the physicist's trail into the unknown puts Benedict and Kolpath in danger.

God’s War (Nyx Novel, 1) by Kameron Hurley

“In a ravaged war torn land, a government assassin is about to break the law. Kameron Hurley's debut

novel is part cyberpunk, and part military SF, but all action and excitement. Some days, Nyx was a bel dame—an honored, respected, and deadly government-funded assassin—other days, she was a butcher and a hunter; a woman with nothing to lose. Now the butcher has a bounty to bring in. Nyx and her ragtag team of mercenaries are about to take up a contract that will shake the foundations of two warring governments. Bugpunk at its best. Night Shade Books is proud to present the debut novel from Kameron Hurley.” (from publisher’s press release)

Mechanique by Genevieve Valentine
As a circus of performers recreated with mechanical parts treks across a chaotic world, a government man asks for the ringmaster's help in building a world of order, while two performers desire a pair of cursed magical wings.

The Kingdom of Gods (Inheritance trilogy, 3) by N.K. Jemisin
When Sieh, the ageless trickster god of childhood, befriends Shahar and Dekarta, twin scions of the power-obsessed Arameri dynasty, the trio swear a blood oath that goes terribly wrong. Sieh awakens years later to discover that he is now mortal -- and growing older. As for Shahar and Dekarta, well, it's never easy belonging to the backstabbing Arameri clan, whose rule over the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms was tenuous even before their enslaved gods gained their freedom. Although this 3rd book of the Inheritance Trilogy can stand on its own, readers will get a fuller picture of the series' world if they start at the beginning, with The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms


In addition to novels, the SFWA also honors other works of speculative fiction. To view all the Nebula awards presented this past weekend, visit the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America site at: http://www.sfwa.org/2012/05/2011-nebula-awards-announced/

Congratulations to the Edgar and Agatha Award Winners!

Announced every spring, the Edgar and Agatha Awards are given to the year's best mysteries.

Mystery Writers of America present the Edgar® Awards, widely acknowledged to be the most prestigious awards in the genre. Here are the winners announced at the end of April:

Best Novel
Gone by Mo Hayder

Best First Novel
Bent Road by Lori Roy

Best Paperback Original
The Company Man by Robert Jackson Bennett

Best Fact Crime
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard

Best Critical Biographical
On Conan Doyle: Or, the Whole Art of Storytelling by Michael Dirda

Young Adult
The Silence of Murder by Dandi Daley Mackall

The Agatha Award is named after Agatha Christie and honors the best of traditional mysteries. Here are the winners announced at the beginning of May:

Best Novel
Three-Day Town by Margaret Maron

Best First Novel
Learning to Swim by Sara J. Henry

Best Non-Fiction
Books, Crooks and Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure by Leslie Budewitz

Best Historical
Naughty in Nice by Rhys Bowen

American Classical Music Hall of Fame

 The Chicago Symphony Orchestra began in 1891 under Theodore Thomas.  It is one of today's leading orchestras and has performed in many of the music capitals of the world.  The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has earned 62 Grammy Awards.

Georg Solti (1912-1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic composer.  He has received 31 Grammy Awards as conductor and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.  He is best known for leading the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1969-91.  He is one of the leading conductors in the second half of the 20th century.

John Corigliano (1938-     ) has received the Pulitzer Prize in Music in 2001 for his Symphony No. 2; the Academy Award for his score to the 1999 film The Red Violin, four Grammy awards (including 3 for Best Contemporary Composition) and the Grawemeyer Award for his Symphony No. 1.  Some notable works are seven Concerti, three Symphonies, and his 1991 opera The Ghosts of Versailles (commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera).  He is a member of the American academy of Arts and Letters and serves on the faculty of the Julliard school.

Gregor Piatigorsky (1903-1976) was born on April 17, 1903 in Ekaterinoslav, Ukraine.  He began playing the cello at the age of seven.  By the age of 15, he was principal cellist of the Bolshoi Opera Orchestra and a member of the "Beethoven String Quartet."

After playing in the Warsaw Philharmonic and Berlin Philharmonic, he traveled throughout the world playing solo cello.  He collaborated with Igor Stravinsky, sergei Prokofiev, Paul Hindemith and William Walton.  He was the cellist in the "Million Dollar Trio" which included violinist Jascha Heifetz and pianist Arthur Rubinstein.

Chorus America is the advocacy, research, and leadership development organization that advances the choral field.

Charles Wadsworth performs with his "Charles Wadsworth and Friends" programs.  He founded the chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in 1969 and brought chamber music international popularity.    Mr. Wadsworth instituted the Society's commissioning program which included works from Boulez, Barber, Menotti, Bolcom, Corigliano, Lieberson, berio, Foss, Crumb, Corea, Harbison and Bernstein.

He was the piano collaborator for Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Hermann Prey, Shirley Verrett, Frederica von stade, Kathleen Battle, Jessye Norman and Beverly Sills.

Fairy Tales Redux

Originally, adults were the intended audience for fairy tales. In modern times, fairy tales were altered so they could be read to children. Happy endings were added to the bleak stories as not to frighten children. Fairy tales were meant to make us think, and even with happy endings they make us question our codes of conduct and re-examine our choices. Today's retold tales do so by looking at old stories in new ways. So, roll up your sleeves, check out a good book, and prepare to do some thinking while you are entertained.


Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Gregory Maguire
Set in an Oz where a gloomy Wizard battles suicidal thoughts, the story of the green-skinned Elphaba, otherwise known as the Wicked Witch of the West, profiles her as an animal rights activist determined to avenge her dear sister's death. A magical retelling of the Land of Oz before and up to the arrival of Dorothy and crew. If you enjoyed the Hobbit you will like Wicked. (Award winner: YALSA- Outstanding Books for the College Bound 2009)

White as Snow
Tanith Lee
In a dark fantasy based on the fairy tale "Snow White," Arpazia and her unwanted daughter, Coira, are lured into the woods by the elder gods, who are seeking to restore their worship in a land where a new religion threatens to change life for everyone. A new take on an old tale will engage fans of dark fantasy.

Snow Child
Eowyn Ivey
Childless couples working a farm in the brutal landscape of 1920 Alaska discovers a little girl living in the wilderness, with a red fox as a companion. They begin to love the strange, almost-supernatural child as their own. A wonderful retelling of the Russian fairy tale about a girl, made from snow by a childless couple, who come to life.

Briar Rose
Jane Yolen
Becca's grandmother tells her that she is a princess, and after her death, Becca investigates her grandmother's mementos and discovers her disturbing teenage years, including survival of the horrors of the Holocaust. Winter Rose Two sisters, one fragile and levelheaded, one rough-hewn and sensual, fall in love with an aristocrat who returns to claim his family's abandoned estate, only to fall victim to the curse of his celebrated grandfather. (Award Winner: YASLA Outstanding Books for the College Bound 1999, YASLA 100 Best Books (1950-2000)

Once upon a summer day
Dennis L. McKiernan
Borel, Prince of the Winterwood, embarks on a terrifying journey through the land of Faery toward a conflict with the dark forces of evil, drawn by his all-too-real dreams of a beautiful young woman in horrible danger.

When Beauty Tamed the Beast
Eloisa James
Linnet Berry Thynne thinks that she will easily be able to make her fiancée, Piers Yelverton, the Earl of Marchant, who is rumored to be impervious to the womanly charms, fall in love with her, but she loses her heart to him instead. James skillfully fashions a fairy-tale-perfect-romance. Readers will be clambering for more. (Award Winner: Library Journal Best Romance Books 2011)

Jack, the Giant-Killer
Charles De LintJack goes searching for giants to kill and it is impossible for him to fail, especially with the help of The Cloak of Darkness, The Cap of Wisdom, The Shoes of Speed, and The Sword of Sharpness. A contemporary retelling of “Jack and the Bean Stalk” set in Ottawa. (Award Winner: Prix Aurora Award: Best English Long Form 1988)


The Snow Queen’s Shadow
Jim C. Hines
When Snow White's enchanted mirror is shattered by a spell gone wrong, unleashing a demon that shows people only ugliness and hate, Snow White becomes the first person to fall under the demon's power. Hines expertly mixes action and adventure with romance, which should satisfy fans of Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen and Charles Perrault.

A Few More Shades of Gray...

You may not have read it, but chances are good that you've at least heard of the book Fifty Shades of Gray by E.L. James.  This steamy, erotic novel has become wildly popular with women, and here at Glenview Public Library the waiting list grows daily.  If you're one of those on the waiting list, or just someone who's curious about what all the hullabaloo is about, here are a few titles to tide you over till your turn comes up.

Nauti Deceptions by Lora Leigh.  Pbk/Romance.
After she is framed in a sex scandal and skips town, taking a new identity, Rogue meets Sheriff Zeke Mayes who is determined to win her heart, but Zeke has secrets of his own that could prove to be deadly for both of them.

The Chase by Erin McCarthy.  Pbk/Romance.
Forced into working with her racing rival Evan Monroe, Kendall Holbrook, determined to make it to the top of the racing circuit, discovers that they still have explosive chemistry, but only one of them can take home the prize.

Bond of Passion by Bertrice Small.  Romance.
A mysterious nobleman and the bride he bartered for must navigate betrayal, seduction, and a royal intrigue that may turn deadly.
 
Obsession: An Erotic Tale by Gloria Vanderbilt.  Fiction.
New York social maven Priscilla Bingham discovers a hidden cache of letters that reveal her late husband's affair with a sophisticated dominatrix who has recorded the intimate details of their relationship, a finding with which Priscilla becomes increasingly obsessed.

Ready by Lucy Monroe.  Pbk/Romance.
The victim of a twisted stalker who has threatened to harm her family, author Lise Barton flees to Seattle to start a new life, until a former Army Ranger, hired by her brother to bring her home for the holidays, enters the picture, placing her life in a whole new kind of danger.

Edge of Midnight by Shannon McKenna.  Fiction.
When an arsonist burns down her bookstore, Liv Endicott finds love amidst the ashes when a man from her past arrives to protect her from a very determined killer.

Smooth Talking Stranger by Lisa Kleypas.  Romance.
Living a life of pleasure and zero commitments, millionaire Texas playboy Jack Travis confronts responsibility for the first time in his life when an enraged aunt and the abandoned infant of one of Jack's former lovers appear on his doorstep.

In the Cut by Susanna Moore.  Fiction.
An attractive, sexually violent woman from New York begins a harrowing journey when she encounters a handsome man having sex in the basement of a bar.

Gardening time is almost here! Get your trowels ready! Here are some book suggestions to make your gardening easier this year.

Sugar Snaps and Strawberries: Simple Solutions for Creating Your Own Small-Space Edible Garden by  Amy Bellamy 

From saving seeds to composting in tiny spaces, Bellamy provides for the beginner a good start for a vegetable and fruit garden. It has a great section of which vegetables varieties will be great for small spaces and a nice section on organic pest control. She has great ideas for balconies and containers.

  
Homegrown Harvest: A Season-by-season Guide to a Sustainable Kitchen Garden  edited by Rita Pelczar 

Good for the beginner or the more experienced gardener, this photographic book is organized by season: early, mid, or late. This title has some great charts on when to harvest your vegetables and what to do with them after the harvest by either using them for storage or for canning or freezing. It is an all-around good guide for vegetables and fruit.

Grow Great Grub: Organic Food from Small Spaces by Gayla Trail 

Trail is the Canadian creator of the You Grow Girl website, and in this book she takes her garden tips and suggestions to the next level. Along with varietals that will grow in colder zones, she discusses reusing various containers, and tiny spaces for urban gardening. Canning tips and recipes (to use up your garden’s bounty) help round out this concise book.  

Success with Herbs by Yvonne Cutherbertson

From deciding which herbs to grow indoors and outdoors, to how to harvest and preserve them, this colorful photographed book makes herb growing seem easy.  There is a handy A to Z directory, and warnings about the herbs are clear to read and easily noticeable.  A great book for the beginning gardener.

So get ready and grow! I hope your growing season is long, and homegrown tomatoes here we come!

Life after 'Desperate Housewives'

Our favorite show (well mine, anyway!) is soon coming to a close, so what will we do without the tales and drama of our 'desperate' housewives?

Here are some reading suggestions that are filled with just as much mayhem, suburban life, friendship and drama that's sure to remind you of your favorite housewife (or two):

Social Lives by Wendy Walker
Social standings and dark machinations form the daily activities of wives in a privileged Connecticut community, where Roslyn counters malicious gossip targeting her promiscuous daughter, Sarah dreads the birth of another child, and Jacqueline plots to save her husband from criminal charges.

also by Wendy Walker: Four Wives:
The world of four women living in the affluent suburban paradise of Hunting Ridge begins to unravel as infidelity, abuse, and a troubled past threaten to expose the reality behind the facade of their "perfect" marriages to wealthy and successful men.

Couples by John Updike
Explores the consequences of marital infidelity in a small New England community.

Little Children by Tom Perrotta
A group of young suburban parents, including a stay-at-home dad, a former feminist, and an over-structured mom, finds its sleepy existence shattered when a convicted child molester moves back into town and two of the parents have an affair.

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates
The devastating effects of work, adultery, rebellion, and self-deception slowly destroy the once successful marriage of Frank and April Wheeler, a suburban American couple.

The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton
From their first meeting during the turbulent summer of 1968, five young California mothers--Frankie, Linda, Brett, Ali, and Kath--form a sister-like bond as they confront the ups and downs of life and pursue their mutual dreams of becoming writers.

Forthcoming Fiction for June

Here are some titles coming out this June. You can reserve these by going to our Online Catalog, or by calling the Reader Services Desk at 847-729-7500 x7600!

A Place

in the Country by Elizabeth Adler

Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews

Dead Scared by S.J. Bolton

The Third Gate by Lincoln Child

A Cowboy Under My Christmas Tree by Janet Dailey

Undead and Unstable by MaryJanice Davidson

Master and God by Lindsey Davis

XO by Jeffery Deaver

Burning Midnight by Loren D. Estleman

Wicked Business: a Lizzy and Diesel novel by Janet Evanovich

Porch Lights by Dorothea Benton Frank

Mission to Paris by Alan Furst

Bonefire of the Vanities: a Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery by Carolyn Haines

Kiss the Dead by Laurell K. Hamilton

Summerland by Elin Hilderbrand

The Line Between Here and Gone by Andrea Kane

Coming Home: a Story of Undying Hope by Karen Kingsbury

Home from the Sea: an Elemental Masters Novel by Mercedes Lakey

Let Love Find You by Johanna Lyndsey

Cop to Corpse: A Peter Diamond Investigation by Peter Lovesey

Robert Ludlum’s Bourne Imperative by Eric Lustbader

Sky Dragons by Anne Mccaffrey

A Conspiracy of Friends by Alexander McCall-Smith

Tuesday’s Child by Fern Michaels

Courageous by Diana Palmer

The Risk Agent by Ridley Pearson

The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett

Little Night by Luann Rice

Bloodline by James Rollins

Cast On, Kill Off by Maggie Sefton

Bad Faith by Robert Tanenbaum

Summer Breeze by Nancy Thayer

An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd

The Dream of the Celt by Mario Vargas Lloso

Focus On...

...Janet McIntyre, Glenview Public Library's Outreach Librarian. Janet has been a librarian for 23 years, and is well-liked and respected by her co-workers and library patrons. She has a great sense of humor, a good heart and takes her responsibilities seriously.

As the Outreach Librarian, Janet  orders large print materials, coordinates service for homebound patrons, sets up programs for seniors (the GlenEnergy series), and works with Oakton Community College to provide adult literacy classes in the library. She works with various volunteers who pick up and deliver library materials to homebound patrons - materials that she and other staff members have selected. She also works with other libraries to provide programs such as the Low Vision Fair.

On top of all that she does as the Outreach Librarian, Janet still manages to find time to work the public service desk helping patrons who either call or come into the library for assistance.

Say hello to Janet next time you’re at the Library.