Staff Reviews: Books, Films, Music, and More

Sara Zagorski, Gold Mine Thrift Store Retail Manager, recommends Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman.

Do you like intense character development, rebellion against the system, humanoid, sentient reptilian creatures and mystical adventures? Well, have I got the book for you. 

Tess is a twin sister in an affluent family who’s resigned herself to the official title of black sheep. After spending her youth seeking out all the things women of her rank have no business being affiliated with—sneaking out to lectures concerning the world and its mysterious workings, hanging with boys in taverns, making friends with the creatures the rest of society has deemed “lesser”—until an accident leaves her forever disgraced in the eyes of her staunchly religious mother.  

Tess of the Road made me feel a full range of emotions—sad, happy, annoyed, angry—a range I certainly didn’t give it permission to make me feel but…here we are. 

Tess spends years coping by losing herself in wine while trying to take up as little space as possible in the shadow of her perfect twin sister. That is until, on the eve of her being shipped off to a nunnery, she finally loses what tenuous control of herself she’s maintained all these years and runs away.  

While on the road, no destination in mind, she connects with friends both new and old, makes peace with her past, and accomplishes more than she could’ve ever dreamt had she stayed locked in the confines of what other people believed she should be.  

Tess of the Road made me feel a full range of emotions—sad, happy, annoyed, angry—a range I certainly didn’t give it permission to make me feel but…here we are.  

And I am very thankful to have experienced them all. Please give this book a read if you’re in need of a well-rounded heroine growing into herself and battling personal demons while in the midst of an exciting adventure. I have also, just now, learned there is a sequel! So it appears I have another book to check out. 

Find it in print here.

Andrea Nelson, Library Assistant, recommends The Library Book by Susan Orlean.

Ahh, Los Angeles in the eighties! Such a study in contrasts. At once glittering, decaying, innovative, desperate, brilliant and dark. Shining stars, black holes, and all manner of people. In the twentieth century, dreamers from every corner of the planet flocked to L.A. By the mid-eighties, the City of Angels was both a cultural mecca and its own stylized cliché, but at its heart stood one true thing, steadfast and dependable: a wonderful public library. The Los Angeles Central Public Library was not just any library, mind you. It supplied the entire sprawling metropolis with books. Its complicated transportation network ensured that a steady stream of knowledge and literacy would flow in and out of the many satellite libraries that popped up to enrich its ever-expanding suburbs and boroughs.

Once considered an architectural masterpiece, time had not been kind to the Central Library. It needed costly renovation, expansion and safety upgrades. As always, such things were expensive, and the City Council had many budgetary demands. The fabled landmark that boasted some of the largest and most important collections in the Western United States began to decay. One day in 1986, a charismatic storyteller and aspiring actor with a memorable mop of bright blonde hair may– or may not– have visited the library. On that day, a fire started.

On that terrible day, countless stories were forever erased from recorded history.

Over the next seven days, firefighters battled the worst library fire in American history. Once the flames took hold in the stacks, the fire quickly grew. Unchecked, it tore through the old shelves, staircases, and airducts. Pages glowed, curled and crumbled, reducing irreplaceable collections to ash. Sticky, black smoke decimated print stock. At one point, the temperature inside the library reached two thousand degrees, blowing out windows, melting book covers, and snapping spines. Some charred pages survived, floating down to the streets below, into the hands of crying patrons and traumatized librarians. Ironically, the very swords that killed the beast—the firefighter’s hoses—caused the most damage to the library’s precious contents. In the end, more than a million books, maps, transcripts, films, and other unique items were lost. Many artifacts were one of a kind—many books long out of print. On that terrible day, countless stories were forever erased from recorded history.

Although the fire of 1986 remains an important page in Los Angeles history, the tragedy never made headlines, because a more pressing event dominated the news cycles that week. A nuclear meltdown at a major Russian plant in Chernobyl threatened to send a deadly cloud of radiation across Eastern Europe, becoming the humanitarian disaster of the decade.

In 2018, brilliant researcher and award-winning journalist Susan Orlean finally gave the library fire it’s proper place in history. The Library Book tells the captivating story of the Los Angeles Central Public Library through time, illuminating it’s fascinating origin and quirky, colorful staff through the ages. In true Orlean style, the fire is only the splash at the center of many rippling rings, from the bizarre statements of the sole arson suspect, Harry Peak, to the mesmerizing behavior of the fire, to the complex and multifaceted character of the city itself.

Orlean has a gift for turning years of painstaking research into a riveting read. Of her many books, The Library Book is her Opus. Chances are, if you’ve read this blog to the end, you share my love of libraries. This one’s for you.

Find it in print, large print, eaudiobook, and CD here.

Karen Little, Library Assistant and English Language Learning Instructor, recommends The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy (available in English and Spanish).

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” asked the mole?

“Kind,” said the boy.

This is just one of many musings from a curious cadre of friends who are on a journey questioning life and what the future holds in the graphic novel, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. The contemplative boy is one of four unlikely characters that Charlie Mackesy, author, artist, and illustrator, brings together for an adventure into “the wild.”

“Nothing beats kindness,” said the horse. “It sits quietly beyond all things.”

 The book follows the conversations between an inquisitive boy, an erudite mole, a withdrawn fox who wants to belong, as well as an insightful horse. During their amblings, the friends share hopes and fears and engage in straightforward, down-to-earth, and heartfelt exchanges, such as:

• “Asking for help isn’t giving up,” said the horse. “It’s refusing to give up.”

• “Most of the old moles I know wish they had listened less to their fears and more to their dreams.”

• “We often wait for kindness…but being kind to yourself can start now,” said the mole.

• “Is your glass half empty or half full?” asked the mole. “I think I’m grateful to have a glass,” said the boy.

• “What do you think is the biggest waste of time?” asked the boy. “Comparing yourself to others,” said the mole.

• “Nothing beats kindness,” said the horse. “It sits quietly beyond all things.”
  
• “I’m so small,” said the mole. “Yes,” said the boy, “but you make a huge difference.”

• “Do you have a favorite saying?” asked the boy.
  “Yes,” said the mole.
  “What is it?”
  “If at first you don’t succeed, have some cake.”
  “I see, does it work?”
  “Every time.”

The friends are all different, yet they connect and find common ground through acceptance, vulnerability, curiosity, respect, and kindness.

Each time I read this story, I discover another wonderment or revelation. The handwritten font and original drawings are delightful, and the script is a change from the traditional formal font found in most books. It is a refreshing read, particularly in the unsettling and fractured times we live.

This is a book for all ages and there is something for everyone, especially when one ventures into “the wild” and explores beliefs, thoughts and values that unite us: Friendship. Acknowledgment. Cooperation. Patience. Inclusion. Empathy. Gratitude. And Kindness. 

The friends are all different, yet they connect and find common ground through acceptance, vulnerability, curiosity, respect, and kindness.

We’ve seen many acts of kindness in the past few weeks, as our community has come together in extraordinary ways to offer relief to those who suffered from the fire at the Limelight Condos. A couple dozen individuals lost their homes and possessions, and people in our valley have provided places to stay, money, food, physical help, and material necessities. The Gold Mine Thrift Store continues to offer free shopping for victims of the fire to help restore some of what was lost in the tragedy.

Our world can always experience a little more kindness. 

Find it in Graphic Novel Fic MAC; Available in English and Spanish.

Kelly Noble, Gold Mine Processing Manager, recommends Assassin’s Strike by Ward Larsen.

I enjoy reading espionage thrillers, especially those that are written well and contain plausible plots. Ward Larsen is among the best writers in the genre. His David Slaton novels are exciting, adventurous, action packed and riveting. When reading thrillers of this type, I always examine the story for its authenticity. Are the countries real? Does the author understand the current geo-political climate of the area? Is the plot even possible? There is nothing worse than a poorly researched thriller. 

In Assassin’s Strike, our hero is David Slaton, a former Israeli Mossad member now working for the CIA. Trained to enter the world’s most dangerous places, Slaton is always at the top of his game. In this novel he is asked to help a Russian linguist escape war-torn Syria. Ludmilla Kravchuk is an interpreter for the Russian president. All seems to go well until a session between the Russia President and the President of Iran. Ludmilla’s counterpart, a young Iranian woman, is killed before her eyes. Ludmilla escapes into the city where she finds help from old friends.  

These espionage thrillers contain a wealth of information about the world in which we live and travel.

As the novel unfolds, Slaton contacts Ludmilla and sets up a plan to help her escape to the West. Of course, no mission goes as planned. In the process of leaving the city of Damacus, Ludmilla brings along a friend and her young son. Instead of one person to save, Slaton has three. At the same time as this adventure is underway, a second plot unfolds in the story. Terrorists have received a chemical weapon and plan to use it to destabilize the Middle East. As soon as Slaton finishes the first part of the mission, he is off to help stop a global war. 

Assassin’s Strike is highly recommended. I find most readers of this genre deeply knowledgeable about current world events. These novels depend heavily on knowledge of geography, politics, and current events. There is so much a reader can learn from fiction. These espionage thrillers contain a wealth of information about the world in which we live and travel. These novels are not science fiction. They represent potentially deadly problems for the world. Like Gerald Seymour once said, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”  For all its worth, Ward Larsen has done an excellent job crafting an exhilarating novel.  

Find it in Adult Fiction here.

Janet Ross-Heiner, Library Assistant and Engilsh Language Instructor recommends What You Have Heard Is True: A Memoir of Witness and Resistance by Carolyn Forché.

Over the past six years I have cultivated relationships with many patrons who have a great passion for reading. I invite you now to read, What You Have Heard Is True: A Memoir of Witness and Resistance by Carolyn Forché. Her incantation with writing has a tone that is scorching and poetic. I felt spellbound when reading her. Forché has also written a book of poems. A distilled form of poetry after seven extended trips to Salvador, In the Lateness of The World (811.54 FOR).

Her works are ingrained by her testimony of the El Salvadoran 12-year civil war during the late 1970s into the 1980s, in which tens of thousands were murdered. A clarion work that took her to Salvador with seven extended stays where she experienced grave atrocities. I connected immediately with her storytelling and hypnotic writing as I do with Eduardo Galeano, Rigoberta Menchú, Isabel Allende, and Pablo Neruda, because of my own epistemological experiences in Central America and Latin American studies.

Forché presents truth as something personal and individual, verified by physical senses and therefore impossible to ignore.

Forché presents truth as something personal and individual, verified by physical senses and therefore impossible to ignore. Her memoir suggests that those who truly take the time to walk in the shoes of others will themselves be changed, and that when they speak out against suffering, they do so with authority. What You Have Heard Is True is a beautiful and important book of one poet’s awakening to the suffering of others and to the power of words.

Carolyn Forché lived in Mallorca, Spain, where she spent a summer translating poems of Claribel Alegria, a self-exiled Salvadorian who was Nicaraguan. The book begins when Carolyn, at 27, hears a knock on her door. It was a man whose name was Leonel Gomez. In the back of his car were his two young daughters. Gomez’s name was vaguely familiar to Forché. She remembered Claribel speak of him. He urged her to travel with him back to El Salvador, where she could write for the voiceless. She was a writer, a journalist and an extraordinary poet. Gomez believed a war was inevitable and that the United States had something to do with it. During their first conversation, he spoke of his conviction that poetry could convey across borders the suffering of others and their hope for a better life.

The war Gomez predicted turned out to be just that, a blood bath, sparked by the inequity between the majority living in squalor with a meager subsistence and the wealthy elite that controlled the country. The civil conflict was between Marxist resistance groups fighting against the U.S. backed conservative government. The Government death squads terrorized the country; more than 700,000 people were massacred. The U.S.-backed sanctions and soft coups continue today. Nicaragua is a recent and current target.

Her memoir suggests that those who truly take the time to walk in the shoes of others will themselves be changed, and that when they speak out against suffering, they do so with authority.

I, too, experienced firsthand the covert and illegal insidious U.S.-sponsored Contra War during the 1980s. Living in Nicaragua, I peeled away misinformation and disinformation mostly shared in mainstream news media. Was it alternative truth?

I asked myself often during the 80s when living in Nicaragua: What is a Freedom Fighter and who is the terrorist? 

The Community Library hosted an event on September 1, 2022: ARGO: Behind the Scenes with Jonna Mendez. CIA mastermind and current Hemingway Writer-in-Residence, Jonna Mendez, took us behind-the-scenes in a film about the Iran hostages and the Contra War supported as a covert illegal act. While the event isn’t available for replay, you can check out the film or the book in ebook or eaudiobook from our Digital Collections here.

“Walker, there is no path. You make the path as you walk.”

Antonio Machado

Epilogue: Forché lived in Salvador, 1978-80. Forché’s collection of poems, The Country Between Us, which opens with a series of poems about El Salvador, begins:

In memory of Monsignor Oscar Romero:

Caminante, no hay camino
Se hace camino al andar.

“Walker, there is no path. You make the path as you walk.” ~Antonio Machado.

Find What You Have Heard Is True: A Memoir of Witness and Resistance here.

Will Duke, Information Systems Manager, recommends Razzmatazz by Christopher Moore.

Sammy “Two-Toes” Tiffin is back in the sequel to Christopher Moore’s sequel Noir.  Now, if you haven’t read Noir, go do that right now.  I’ll wait. 

Okay, good book, right?  Well, you’re in for more of the same in Razzmatazz.  Eddie’s back trying to start a driving school with his girlfriend, while his crazy uncle is trying to save his opium den business while hiding from the Tongs long enough to get Sammy to retrieve the dragon to appease them. There’s a new top cop in town, no spoilers on what happened to the old cop in Noir, good thing you just read it, but anyway, there’s a new cop now, and he’s got an agenda. Unfortunately, that agenda isn’t to find the murderer.

Murderer? Yeah, someone’s killing Drag Kings, and Sammy’s been conscripted into finding the killer. His reward? Housing. Yeah, some things are timeless. 

Anyway, the local Madam’s trying to put on a Christmas party, but that new cop is watching her too closely. She wants Sammy to help her out, too, since he did such a bang-up job with that other cop. 

Of course, there’s a new dame in the mix that Sammy has been hired to find; thank goodness for rich fathers that finance everything else in this adventure.  But she’s been hanging out with the Drag Kings, so The Cheese goes undercover to investigate. 

Moore has a delightful way with language and humor that is sweet, irreverent, and a rollicking good time. 

Oh yeah, don’t worry, Stilton “The Cheese” is back, and in a big way. Sure, she still loves Sammy, and he’s crazy for her, but in addition to her new detective gig with Sammy, she’s got a side project building something for Scooter, Wendy-the-Welder style. If you don’t remember who Scooter is, back you go to Noir.  I can’t say here, as it could be a huge spoiler! I can say that even Scooter is a hustler. He has convinced everyone that his people’s greeting rituals involve some rather intimate contact. 

Don’t worry, some things don’t change. Meatloafs are eaten, New Years is still celebrated nightly, Government men are afoot, and there’s plenty of supernatural activity to entertain you. 

That’s not everything, but it should give you a feel for how this all goes down in post WWII San Francisco.  It’s sort of like a medley of Tom Waits music about Bugs Bunny and the gang in a Raymond Chandler novel.  Moore does a fantastic job of keeping his tongue in his cheek, and not making fun of anyone, whilst making light of everything. He reserves his contempt for those who are so strait-laced they can’t see the humor of it all. And humor abounds. Moore has a delightful way with language and humor that is sweet, irreverent, and a rollicking good time. 

Find it in print here.