The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating

The title of this delightful little book refers one of many evenings when the author, seriously ill and bed-ridden, was unable to sleep. She had been casually observing a small snail that a friend had dropped into a pot of wild violets, as it nightly crept over the edge of the pot in search of food and water. She noticed that it had munched through some envelopes and, thinking it sought more nourishment, she started leaving it wilted violets that had fallen from their stems (it would not eat the fresh ones from the plant). As Bailey describes the experience,

"It [the snail] made its way down the side of the pot and investigated the offering with great interest and then began to eat one of the blossoms. A petal started to disappear at a barely discernible rate. I listed carefully. I could hear it eating. The sound was of someone very small munching celery continuously."

The author proceeds to relate many of the things she then learned about gastropods, as she read her library books and watched the little visitor, now in its own terrarium, explore its world. She--and we--learn about the chemistry and functions of the snail's slime, its teeth, and how it perceives its environment through its three senses. She compares her life, now so immobile, with the snail's activities, its body's functions, and physical capabilities--how it can move, balance and navigate blindly, relying chiefly on its sense of smell. She imbues the snail with life; it appears puzzled, it has memory, it can make an epiphragm, "...the snake is home but is not accepting visitors."


Elisabeth Tova Bailey has written a book that is at once philosophical and highly informative. It is the perfect book to take readers away from their hectic lives and experience another specie's world as nineteenth-century naturalists.

a mercy

Pulitzer Prize winner Toni Morrison's newest novel, a mercy, portrays a 1650's farmer, Jacob, who becomes rich off the rum trade and decides to build an extravagant mansion, complete with 13 rooms, a marble fireplace and an iron wrought gate embellished with two intertwining serpents. There are other voices in the story including Lina: a Native American woman whose tribe was killed by the "disease of the white man," Florens and Sorrow : two young African slaves, and Rebekka: Jacob's wife, who came to America to escape the religious crisis brewing in her home country. In this Eden on Earth, it is the three women whose cries resemble the voice of reason whilst their husband/master spends his money on unnecessary accessories for his new home. The irony unfolds when during the mansion's construction, Jacob falls deathly ill, dies, and leaves the half-built house to his pregnant wife and three servants to fend for themselves in difficult times.

In a mercy, Morrison crafts her story into short, distilled chapters which, in conjunction with her terse writing style, creates an easy to read yet masterful interpretation of one of the most turbulent eras in our country's history. Her story can be enjoyed at surface level, yet is full of deeper metaphors and allusions that only become clear after a closer reading. Morrison's writing is an attractive option for both genders because she writes the book with characters from both perspectives. In a mercy, Morrison asks age-old questions on the effects of slavery as well as the consequences that come along with indiscriminate acts of mercy. At only 167 pages, a mercy can easily be read in one sitting over the weekend but forces the reader to ponder the story weeks after one has returned the book. I would highly recommend this literary treasure and only regret the fact that I didn't read it sooner.

City of Veils

The body of a woman, violently murdered and possibly tortured, washes up on a beach in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The local police initially don't want to bother investigating, as the woman was probably just a non-Arab domestic servant killed by her employer. But forensic scientist Katya Hijazi is determined to find the murderer, and draws in Nayir Sharqi, a desert guide who helped her in a previous case. It turns out that the victim was a free-lance photographer, who pushed the boundaries of the conservative Muslim society while pursuing stories on the status of women and a possible alternate version of the Quran. Leila (the victim) was also connected to an American security guard who has mysteriously disappeared, leaving his wife, Miriam, isolated and fearful in a male-dominated world.

Katya and Nayir first appeared in Ms Ferraris book, Finding Nouf. They are constantly at odds--with mutual attraction vying with society's expectations and obligations regarding communication between the sexes and with the proper role for women in an Orthodix Islamic culture. In this second book the author has added another character, Inspector Osama Ibrahim, who also struggles to balance his progressive views on women with traditional expectations for a wife and family.

The mystery is compelling and the descriptions of life in and Islamic society and moving and insightful. I highly recommend both Finding Nouf and City of Veils.

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

This was a great book for a three-day weekend (400+ pages). Incarceron refers to prison-world, created as a perfect society to isolate and at the same time care for felons and others deemed dangerous to the Outside. But the society has devolved into a grim, violent tyranny, where technology is now used to repress and spy on the subservient population and deceit, murder and thievery are necessary to survive. Prisoner oath-brothers Finn and Keiro, along with the former slave Attia and the Sapient Gildas, join forces in a quest to escape from Incarceron, using Finn's visions, belief in a better world, and the possession of a magic key.

On the Outside, there is a matching key, which enables its owner to communicate with those inside the prison. Claudia, the daughter of the Warden of Incarceron, discovers it when she sneaks into her father's private study. Claudia and and her tutor Jared (another Sapient) struggle to solve its mysteries and to save the prisoners. At the same time they must also contend with her father's ambitious marriage plans for her and with the politics and plotting that govern life in the Outside.

The story lines weave together, as Finn and Claudia realize they depend on each other for their freedom. The futuristic world is creepy and cautionary, with questions about life, loyalty and human frailty.

Carbon Diaries 2015

What with news this past summer of extreme drought in Russian, disastrous monsoons in Pakistan, more flooding in China and heat waves in Canada and the U.S., this might be a good time to consider what effects such massive climate events might have on a typical teenager in, say, London in 2015. This is the premise of an entertaining book by Saci Lloyd. On the one hand, the diary tracks the implications of major climate events on Britain, including rationing of energy by tracking hot water consumption, computer use, cell phone charges, etc. Food becomes more scarce and showers get colder. Students -and their parents-- must stop driving and start riding the bus or their bicycles. Things get worse as temperature levels in homes and public buildings (i.e., schools) plunge first to the low 60's and eventually to freezing. If you try to cheat or you use up your points, it's carbon re-education camp. Londoners are confronted with storms, tidal surges and drought. Basic survival is a real worry. On the other hand, this is still a teenager's diary. Can Laura's nu-punk band, the dirty angels, ever get a gig? Why won't the lead singer use Laura's lyrics? Will the cute boy next door ever notice her? Will her parents' marriage survive, given her mom's inability to deal with reality and her dad's weird mutation into a farmer with a pig? Will Laura fail out of school? Lloyd manages to consider serious issues without preaching. Laura is great character--clever and ambitious for her band, embarrassed by her parents, contemptuous of school, and aching to communicate with her mum and her sister. Much of the writing uses British slang, but fortunately there's a grammar guide at the end.

P.S. Lloyd has published a sequel, The Carbon Diaries 2017, also available at the library.

Imperfect Birds by Anne Lamott

Lamott's book is a "crossover" novel, with appeal to both older teens and to adults. It is the story of a family heading towards disaster. Mother Elizabeth is a recovering alcoholic, still shaky and lacking confidence in herself. She adores her daughter and wants desperately to connect with her. Step-father James is struggling with his career as a writer. He tries to balance the constant demands of his work and the responsibility of emotionally supporting his wife and setting effective boundaries and expectations for their daughter. Basically, neither parent knows how to handle Rosie, a bright, witty and seemingly responsible teen (she works for a Bible summer school and coaches tennis) who, despite self-denials and repeated assurances to her parents, is falling deeper into the local drug culture and a life out-of-control. The relationships are vividly described, as the three swing between overwhelming love for each other and an urge to kill. James and Elizabeth want to trust their daughter and so repeatedly fall for her stories about where she's been and what she's doing. Even when they try to discipline her, by grounding her and administering random urine checks for THC, Rosie outsmarts them. By the end of the summer it is clear that something has to be done to save Rosie from herself. The book is packed with emotions--anger, hatred, humor, desperation, and affection between the characters, and the tale is suspenseful and cautionary. This is a challenging but worthwhile read.

The Last Summer of the Death Warriors

The Last Summer of the Death Warriors is written by Francisco X. Stork, whose last book was Marcelo in the Real World. Both books deal with the dilemmas and choices that confront teens who are already faced with difficult circumstances. In Marcelo, the lead character, who has autism, is forced by his father to take a summer internship at a law firm. Not only must he work doubly hard to understand what is expected of him and to overcome others' assumptions about his abilities, he also observes what he suspects is unethical behavior in the firm and feels an obligation pursue the truth. Marcelo's voice is unique, and his insights into his view of the "real" world are at times profound and moving.

The Death Warriors focuses on the growing friendship between two very different teens. Pancho is an orphan, whose sister has just died under suspicious circumstances. Sent to an orphanage, Pancho is given the job to be a companion/helper to a another seventeen-year-old who has brain cancer. D.Q. wants to be friends, but all Pancho wants is to brood about the unfairness of life and how he can avenge his sister's death. D.Q. knows his cancer is terminal; his challenge is to die on his own terms, even though he is still a minor and his mother is convinced he can be saved if he continues with debilitating and painful treatments. Can he persuade Pancho to reject violence and join him in the pursuit of a life well-lived? Stork adds themes of romance, abuse of the developmentally disabled, racism, the contrast of wealth and poverty and the unexpected appearance of good and evil in this novel about faith and friendship.

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden by Helen Grant

Do NOT plan your reading time for late evening if you're even close to Chapter Forty-two. At this point in the story, friends Pia and Stefan (StinkStefan to most of his classmates) have decided to finally take action to solve the mystery of what has happened to several young girls who have simply disappeared in Bad Munstereifel. Believe me, nothing good can come of two kids sneaking out on a dark, wintry night to investigate the forces of evil behind the kidnappings!

Pia retells this story of her childhood from the perspective of an adult (whew!-she survives). In the beginning, she has been ostracized because of the freakish nature of her grandmother's recent death; her only friend is the least popular boy in school. Her home life is equally distressing; her parents quarrel constantly about whether to move to England (Pia's mother is English) to keep their children safe. Stefan has problems, too; his parents are drunks and his cousin is a town bully. The only other person who understands and cares for the two children is elderly Herr Schiller, who regularly entertains them with scary legends of their town, tales that warn them of still-lurking dangers as well as advise them how to be strong.

The events are set in a small town in Germany. Pia interjects German words, phrases and information about the local culture throughout the book. She shares many of her problems growing up in a culturally-mixed household. She can be at once incredibly perceptive about people--the old gossip Frau Kessel, for example, and at the same vulnerable and naive.

This is a great book!

Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

If you're willing to commit to 576 pages of a gripping fantasy-historical novel, then this is your book. Kay has recreated 8th-century China in an adventure set in medieval "Kitai." The story begins with a introduction to Shen Tai, who is mourning his father, General Shen Gao, by living in a remote valley between the frontier outposts of Kitai and Tagur, site of one of the general's greatest battles, where over 40,000 men lost their lives. Tai, aspiring poet and scholar, Kamlin warrior-priest and former soldier himself, has spent two years burying the dead of both sides. In honor of his efforts, the Taguran princess White Jade gives him 250 Sardian horses, known for their beauty, size, speed and incalculable value.

Tai quickly realizes that the horses are a burden as much as a gift, one that could easily cost him his life. Whoever possesses the horses has the potential power to decide a battle and ultimately the fate of an empire. Having arranged that the Tagurs will only deliver the horses to him, Tai sets out to offer the herd to the emperor in Xinan. Along the way he meets a young female Kanlin warrior, Wei Song, whom he hires for protection; the empire's greatest poet, Sima Zian; and a host of characters from the imperial court, including the beautiful and intelligent chief concubine Wen Jian, the prime minister, Wen Zhou, and the barbarian general Roshan. The story is told from several perspectives: that of Shen Tai; his sister, Li Mei, and his former lover, Spring Rain.

On the surface all affairs are conducted with a rigid regard for honor, ceremony, tradition and subtlety, enhanced by beautiful settings, costuming and poetry. However, underneath there are also acts of scheming, betrayal, violence, cruelty and the overarching ambition which drives the villains. The author, Guy Gavriel Kay, uses a mix of fantasy and history to tell his version of the An Shi rebellion that led to the downfall of the Tang Dynasty.

Ship Breaker, continued

This turned out to be fabulous adventure story! Nailer rescues a rich girl, Nita, from a sinking ship, and decides to help her find her way back to her people who head a large trading firm. His goal is complicated by the need to avoid his dad, a morally twisted and incredibly adept fighter and killer who wants to claim Nita as salvage. The setting is a fairly credible (except for the deliberately mutated half-men) post-environmental apocalypse world. The relationship between Nailer and Nita is challenging, given the vast difference in their social classes and education. A variety of other characters and and situations pop into and out of the this fast-paced narrative. All-in-all, a fun read.

In Process ...

I've just started Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi. So far, I know it's about a boy named Nailer, who works with a crew of kids to strip copper wire and other usable parts from wrecked oil tankers in the Gulf of Mexico. Life is grim . . . is there any chance to escape?

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

There are two teen-age Will Graysons in the Chicago area. Both are struggling with their social lives. Will feels trapped by his emotional distance from everything and everyone. His best friend, Tiny Cooper, is constantly distracted--producing his own musical and looking for new boyfriends. For Will, a girlfriend would be nice--but is it worth the risk to get involved? The other Will Grayson is desperately unhappy,isolated and emotionally vulnerable. His one "sorta friend" Maura betrays and humiliates him. Fortunately, Will meets Will, and through him, the incomparable Tiny. The characters and their struggles are an entertaining blend of soul searching and humor. Good summer read!

Rereading the "Classics"

Sometimes it's simply amazing how prophetic a writer can be. The wow factor is pretty strong when it comes to the social satire in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. The pursuit of "being happy," the hours spent in a TV room with screens on all sides and the confusion between entertainment and reality seem increasingly a part of our lives (think video games, American Idol and Deadliest Catch). The debates on media inspired and government controlled news versus contemplative reading and serious debate could just as easily be held between troubled fireman Montag and his fire chief, Beatty, as in editorial pages and classrooms today. It's well worth it so spend an afternoon reading about Guy Montag's evolution from someone who enjoys destroying books into someone determined to read and save them.

Non-fiction for Cavers

We have several books on mountain climbing in the library--check No Shortcuts to the Top, Into Thin Air, Dead Lucky, High Crimes in the catalog--but until now we didn't have anything on caving, or extreme caving. Blind Descent is a book about caving explorers and scientists seeking to become the first to find the lowest place on earth. To succeed (and survive), they must deal with waterfalls, underground rivers, hypothermia, and the ever-present danger of losing their lights, if not their minds. The author, James M. Tabor, a sports journalist, delivers a fast paced and compelling adventure.

America the Beautiful

Two of the new books in the library deal with the lives of teens who came to the U.S. with their families to pursue the "American Dream."

In Girl in Translation Kimberly Chang must first deal with basic survival. She and her mother are virtual slaves in a garment factory (yes, there are still sweatshops in the U.S.) and they work and live in appalling conditions. Everything depends on Kimberly's success in school. Told in the first person, the story reveals Kim's gifts and challenges--she's good in math but struggles with her English and with the ridicule of her classmates. How and why does she keep going? Can she still be a teen and find friends and love? Author Jean Kwok speaks as one who was herself an immigrant. She movingly conveys the dreams, failings and sacrifice of this one immigrant family and community.

The second book, Crossing, also is a first-person account, in this case of ninth-grader Xing Xu, who tries desperately to fit into his high school, to avoid the bullies and endless cracks about his accent and his appearance. He has only one friend, Naomi Lee, who wants him to open up, speak to his teachers and classmates, and, in so doing, to stop being so weird. Life, though, is not particularly fair for Xing. His father was killed by a hit-and-run driver; his mother is clinically depressed; they are poor; no one understands him. Things change for Xing, however, as several students mysteriously disappear. What has happened to them? How does it affect Xing? Author Andrew Fukuda grippingly evokes Xing's growing frustration, confusion, loneliness, and ultimately the enormous consequences for this kid who just doesn't fit in.