Staff Reviews: Books, Films, Music, and More

Aly Wepplo, Media and Digital Librarian, recommends Der Hund Von Baskerville (The Hound of the Baskervilles), a silent film directed by Richard Oswald.

I’m thrilled to be a part of The Liberty Theatre Company’s upcoming play, The Hound of the Baskervilles. It’s a modern adaptation of the classic Sherlock Holmes mystery, and it’s brought to life by just three actors – playing almost 20 parts.

The story is a classic of English literature. In it, Holmes and Watson investigate the legend of a supernatural hound who haunts the moors surrounding Baskerville Hall. Sir Charles, the hound’s most recent victim, died of a heart attack as he fled in terror from the beast. Now Henry, Charles’ nephew, has come to carry on the family name. But something’s afoot in the sleepy village surrounding the Hall, and Henry’s life is clearly at risk. Can our heroes solve the mystery before the hound claims another victim?

Something’s afoot…and Henry’s life is at risk. Can our heroes solve the mystery before the hound claims another victim?

In the staged version, I play Dr. Watson, Holmes’ closest friend and confidant. It’s been a delight to research the archetypical Watson, and what better place to research than the Community Library? I studied Sidney Paget’s illustrations in the original book, of course, and I was delighted to discover Der Hund Von Baskerville (The Hound of the Baskervilles), a silent film available on Kanopy. Der Hund…, produced in 1914, is the first film adaptation of Doyle’s book. It strays quite a bit from the original plot, but it is delightful to see its silent movie magic crafted with sound effects, music, and a dog in a sparkly cape.

Watch the movie on Kanopy. or check out this title in print, ebook and eaaudiobook here.

And get tickets to the show at https://www.libertytheatrecompany.org/.

Pam Parker, Circulation Manager, recommends The Candy House by Jennifer Egan. 

The Candy House (2022): Highly recommended for those that like to wax philosophic and unravel complex plots as they read.  Be prepared for a dose of gritty reality. 

Jennifer Egan’s newest work of fiction, The Candy House, is unusual.  

Published as a novel, it reads more like a series of related short stories. A number of the characters appear in several stories but at different periods of their lives. Egan also revisits some favorites characters from her Pulitzer Prize-winning A Visit From the Goon Squad, which makes this technically a sequel though it can be read as a stand-alone. 

The net effect is a fascinating exploration of the near future where a technology akin to the internet increasingly impacts people’s lives. A candy house is a drug house in urban lingo. But the premise of this novel involves a mind-tapping cube that downloads memories. Hence, Egan seems to be asking us, ‘Has technology become our drug of choice?’  

While an alluring idea on the surface, it obviously bodes ill for some who recover what perhaps was better left forgotten. 

We meet again with Bix Bouton, the young engineering student from Goon Squad. He found mega-success as the founder of Mandala, a social media company inspired by behavioral theories of Miranda Kline, a reclusive anthropologist. He goes on to develop a revolutionary new service, “Own Your Consciousness” that lets people download and share their memories in exchange for access to others’ memories. While an alluring idea on the surface, it obviously bodes ill for some who recover what perhaps was better left forgotten. 

The Candy House is clearly a metaphor for the addictive lure of the internet and social media. Egan seems to be asking us what role memory has in our consciousness – and how augmenting it will impact the human experience. Not coincidentally, the most evolved characters in The Candy House find solace in academia and art – and an underground emerges that aids people who decide to ‘opt-out’ of The Collective. 

This complex, insightful work may demand deep reading and perhaps a return to The Visit from the Goon Squad (FICTION Egan, 2010) to fully appreciate. But curious readers will be rewarded with plenty of mind candy along the way. 

Find it in print, ebook, and eaudiobook, here.

Sara Zagorski, Gold Mine Thrift Retail Manager, recommends Nettle & Bones by T. Kingfisher.

So, a pseudo-nun, magical mortician, evil fairy godmother, convicted murderer, and a dog made of bones walk into a bar…

Nettle & Bones is a fairy tale turned on its head, as told from the perspective of Marra, the third-born princess of a small city-state. Her home is under constant threat, surrounded by far larger domains eager to get their hands on the Harbor Kingdom and the valuable trade channels it contains.

Her mother, the queen—being politically minded and determined to protect both the land and her people—promises her eldest daughter to the Northern Kingdom’s prince. A textbook move in the medieval world, guaranteeing their security and that someday the Northern King’s blood will sit on the throne.

All goes according to plan, until the princess dies, having fallen down a staircase not long after her arrival in the north and union with the prince. Marra is too young to truly grasp her sister’s passing, but after a brief mourning period, she notices a change in her remaining sister, Kania. And then she realizes—with no heir provided by his deceased wife, the prince will take another, and Kania is next in line.

As the pieces start coming together to form a grim, larger puzzle. . .Marra knows she must do something. She must kill the prince. She just has no idea how.

Though timid by nature, defiance towards the system hellbent on controlling women and using them as breeding stock has her rallying against her mother’s plan. As a result, she gets sent to a distant nunnery, where she grows up relatively peacefully, performing all the duties of a not-quite nun.

When she’s suddenly summoned to the north, she learns her sister Kania has gone into labor. Sadly, the baby is lost. While mourning alone together, Marra notices dark bruises covering her sister’s forearms when her long sleeves fall back. As the pieces start coming together to form a grim, larger puzzle, suddenly—for the first time in her life—Marra knows she must do something. She must kill the prince. She just has no idea how.

This book is a satisfying, humorous, and sometimes brutal retelling of all your childhood tropes. Marra is a refreshing, unconventional lead and the cast of characters she encounters are as equally enthralling. My long-winded synopsis didn’t even get to the best parts, so you should definitely read it.  

Find it in print, here.

Children’s and Young Adult Library Director, DeAnn Campbell, recommends Mushroom Rain by Laura Zimmerman. 

Mushrooms, to me, have always been enchanting. Maybe it is the prominence of red roofed mushroom houses for tiny mice that were the backdrop in children’s stories, or the magical appearance of a mushroom fairy ring in my middle school reading of Where the Red Fern Grows, but mushrooms have always sparked my curiosity. Yet, I don’t know an awful lot about them, and when I don’t know a lot about something, I often find that a children’s nonfiction book is a good start.  

“What can smell like bubble gum, glow neon green at night, be poisonous. . . and even help create rain?” Mushrooms, of course.  

Mushroom Rain by Laura Zimmerman is a very easy nonfiction book accessible to even a very small child. It reads like a picture book with very sparse text about these fungi. Want to explore even more? The back matter of the book provides information for an older, perhaps school-age reader. A bibliography provides others sources you might want to check out for a deeper dive into the world of mushrooms. The book is beautifully illustrated by Jamie Green.  

The book is factual but every bit as enchanting as the fairy tales of talking mice using mushrooms as umbrellas and refuge from a rainfall. I love how Zimmerman makes something scientific easily accessible to a young child, sparking a curiosity that will grow into larger more complicated texts. I also love that when I’m ready for more information about mushrooms, the library’s collection can provide. We have 110 books about mushrooms ranging from this one (one of the simplest) to those that advance in reading level and complexity. From the smallest child to the most advanced and ardent mushroom expert, there is a book about mushrooms at The Community Library for you.  

Find it in Children’s New – J EASY ZIM. 

Buffy McDonald, Reference Librarian, recommends The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.

Have you ever wondered how habits are created? Well, Charles Duhigg has written a book that digs into the science behind how habits are formed. He describes the process with interesting and illuminating stories that help you to understand how habits work—both how to acquire new habits and how to eliminate old ones.

Over time our habits have an enormous impact on our health, productivity, financial security, and happiness. To begin to understand how new, life-enhancing habits are developed, it is important to know how a decision becomes an automatic behavior.

The Habit Loop:

New habits are formed by cultivating a craving that drives the habit loop. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!

• The cue is the first step in the habit loop. It is the trigger that begins the set of behaviors that make up the habit. Things like getting up and taking a shower or getting up and checking email show how this trigger works. Getting up in the morning is the cue.

• The routine is the set of behaviors that make up the bulk of the habit—the showering, checking email, brushing teeth, etc.

• The reward is what comes after the routine is completed. An example might be feeling hungry at 3:00 p.m. and grabbing a candy bar from the vending machine. The enticing reward helps your brain remember this routine and therefore set the habit. Over time this routine becomes automatic.

• The craving comes as an anticipation of the reward. This craving is key to setting new habits.

If you understand how habits work, you can then change existing habits or build new ones.

If you want to break the daily candy bar habit, for example, you’ll want to keep the reward, but change the routine.

This will take a little bit of planning on your part. Let’s say you stash an apple and some pretzels in your backpack.

So when the 3:00 p.m. “I’m hungry” cue happens, you’ll still get a yummy reward, but you’ll reach into your backpack for a healthy snack instead of automatically heading for the sugar-soaked vending machine.

Reading the book will help you better understand how this process works and help you to set better habits.

The Power of Habits is available in CD and eaudiobook.

To access the eaudiobook version, download the Libby app and start listening. If you need help doing this, let us know.

You can also get a good overview of the book in this audio interview with David Allen.

Peter Matschek, Gold Mine Processing Associate, recommends The Alienist by Caleb Carr.

Note: The term “alienist” comes from the fact that, prior to the twentieth century, people who were mentally ill were considered to be “alienated” from society. Those who studied them were therefore called alienists. It was not a field that received a lot of support at that time.

The Alienist takes place in 1890s New York City in the slums. In some of the seediest establishments, there are children who dress up as women and prostitute themselves. And somebody is killing them. 

Since the police at that time were heavily corrupt and couldn’t be trusted, the police commissioner (who was hired to clean up the corruption) put together a team to work outside the system. This team consisted of an investigative reporter who was familiar with the criminal underworld, a woman who was smart, ambitious, and hoping to advance beyond her present secretarial job, and an alienist who was brilliant but beyond arrogant. They had to work in secret locations in the evenings and weekends to avoid getting caught. They faced constant hostility from several sources, not the least being the police (since the police-being unable to locate the killer-felt threatened). 

They started out with the alienist’s theory that peoples actions as adults are influenced (or dictated) by their life’s experiences as a child, which was a very controversial view at that time. They tried to get inside the mind of this evil person and answer the question: How could somebody do this to children and why?  They brainstormed ideas and as the murders continued, they were able to create a plausible psychological profile of the killer. Then, through good old-fashioned detective work, they were able to pinpoint a likely suspect (after many failed attempts) with the hopes of catching him before he could kill again.

I liked this book since it is a classic detective story which focuses of the team’s investigation of the murders rather than focusing on the murderer himself (or herself). It does not describe the crime scenes, so we are spared the gory details of the murders, thank goodness. It’s also a period piece of 1890s New York, which was pretty interesting as well. 

Find it in print, eaudiobook, and ebook here.