Candy Emlen
"It wasn’t until I started reading Zorro by Isabel Allende that I realized how little I knew of this character and his story. I vaguely remembered the TV Zorro from the 50s and 60s and although I had seen the 1998 movie, The Mask of Zorro, I hadn’t remembered the details. This book is a great introduction to the man and his legend. The story is leisurely told. Allende takes her time setting the stage, introducing the characters, and getting the historical context just right. Her research seems impeccable and she has a great sense of place. In some ways I felt more bonded to the physical locations and era than I did to Zorro. That may be the fault of the translator, Margaret Sayers Peden. The telling seems a bit stiff though rich in historic details and graphically realistic. For me the timing of this book is perfect. It will be fun to see the new movie, The Legend of Zorro, and compare its interpretation to Allende's."
Susan Plimpton
"I'd like to recommend John Lennon: All I want is the truth: a photobiography by Elizabeth Partridge. For me, this is a very nostalgic book but... I think it will interest young people. In spite of the amazing level of fame achieved by the Beatles, they began as kids with all the issues and difficulties kids face today. John had plenty of family problems, could barely play the guitar at first and had no idea how to run a band, but followed his heart and the pull of rock n roll, which spoke to him more strongly than art or literature, the two subjects he pursued in higher education. He was a very strong reader and writer! The beginnings of rock n'roll are also clearly explained. Photos and text make this rich and accessible. I'm loving it!"
Sara White
"I read children's books. No time for myself these days!
The Warlord's Puzzle
By Virginia Pilegard
Illustrated by Nicolas Debon
This is a charming children's book - with a very subtle message that sometimes the hardest things in life can be conquered easily and you don't have to be a rogue scholar to put the pieces together.
An artist creates a beautiful blue tile for the Warlord. While admiring the tile the proud artist trips and drops the tile and it breaks into pieces. The Warlord is very angry, since the tile pleased him very much. He threatens the artist that he must fix the tile or be sent to prison. The artist tries and tries, but fails. He suggests that the Warlord begin a contest for whomever can put the tile back together may live in the Warlord's castle forever. The Warlord agrees and many people line the streets to get a chance to fix the puzzle (which happens to be a tangram.) At the very end of the very long line is a monk and scholar... the artist is sure that one of them will be able to solve the puzzle. Down in the ravine, a peasant and his son fish in the river. The boy suggests that his father join the line so that they may live in the castle if he can solve the puzzle. In the castle, the monk and the scholar are unable to fix the tile. While the Warlord rages, the peasant looks on and his son sits down on the floor to play with a puzzle there. He puts the tile together with ease. The artist is free and the boy and his father get to live in the castle.
At the end of this book it has a template of the puzzle to trace onto paper and cut out so that you may try the puzzle yourself."
Charlotte Morrill
"I have been having a wonderful time reading Lindsey Davis’ Marcus Didius Falco private eye series. Marcus is a "gumshoe" or "gumsandal" in Emperor Vespasian’s Rome of about 70 AD. The books are well written, the hero is endearing and the scholarship accomplished. The Southwest Harbor Public Library has several of the books and I have borrowed the others through Interlibrary Loan on Minerva.
Several of us have been watching HBO’s Rome series on television that, along with the Falco books, has increased our interest in Ancient Rome.
So, of course, we had to dash out and get:
Ancient Rome: Monuments Past and Present
By R.A. Staccioli
This book is fun because there are good photographs of ruins in Rome overlaid by clear acetate sheets of paintings that fill in the blank spaces and show how the buildings looked when they were originally built.
And then there is:
The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens & Rome
By Peter Connolly & Hazel Dodge
This book has good drawings & pictures and helps me with what I want to know without making a huge project of it. I bought mine from Amazon, but it is available in several libraries.
And, just for fun, see:
Rome In Spectacular Cross-Section
By Stephen Biesty
I bought this for my grandson who was into computer strategy games about roman warriors and liked it so much I bought one for myself.
Our library has several of Stephen Biesty’s books, but not this one. Other libraries in the system have it, however.
The Southwest Harbor Public Library does, however, have a patron who cares passionately about Ancient Rome. This site was recommended to us by patron, Jonah Swersey, and you will find EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about The Roman Empire.
CLICK HERE and enjoy!and
CLICK HERE for the last word in Roman Emperors.Bob Cawley
"I just finished Mr. China by Tim Clissold from the Library's new books section. Very interesting personal history of China's industrial expansion. I plan to suggest to my cousin who grew up in Shanghai.
Also, I've enjoyed Ulysses S. Grant Personal Memoirs his history of Mexican & Civil wars with very interesting comments on men and issues of those events.&
Judy Obbard
"Books I have liked:
Life of Pi by Yan Martel
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
My daughter in law, Julie, is reading this for her book group...it is excellent for discussion. While I was Gone by Sue Miller. Have you read this one? Good for discussion."
Sam Felton
"My favorite current book, which I read earlier this year, is China Hands: Nine Decades of Adventure, Espionage, and Diplomacy in Asia, by James Lilley, former US ambassador to China.
This fascinating memoir covers his childhood in China, his Yale years in the US, followed by decades of service in our CIA when he served in different countries in the Far East. From the CIA, he shifted to the State Department for a distinguished diplomatic career that included our senior posts in Taiwan, South Korea, and China. This is a blunt, readable work that can help all of us better understand the Far East and the strategic importance of China and the foreign affairs policy implications in this rapidly growing part of the world.
Lilley will be the Camden Conference's opening keynoter at its 18th annual foreign affairs conference this coming February - an event I and 17 other MDI’ers, known as The Blackberry Gang, will attend.
My second book, just completed, is (at last) The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown. It needs no further elaboration. It's indeed a lightning-fast, page-turner, and once you start, it is almost impossible to put down."
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE CAMDEN CONFERENCEVicky Vendrell
"First - Skull Mantra by Eliot Pattison - a mystery taking place in China where many of the Tibetan Buddhist llamas are in prison. There is a murder and one of the prisoners happens to have been a government investigator (before he fell out of favor) and is "released" to solve the crime. Very intricate story; wonderful introduction to Tibetan Buddhism
Second - A Year to Live by Steven Levine; he and his wife took a year off and lived it as though it were their last; offers month by month practices -- always helping one to learn to live NOW
Third - The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche - a beautifully written spiritual classic written in excellent layman's terms
Fourth - NonViolent communication, A language of Life by Marshall B Rosenberg - guides one in how to speak objectively through observation and not evaluation, expressing feelings and taking responsibility for one's feelings, and requesting that which would enrich life..."
Return to Previous Page