Reading
Recommendations

Newsletter Archive

 June 2003   

Among the many new and interesting additions to the library this month are the following books....take a look...

The art of reading...
Throughout the years, a number of novels have been inspired by famous works of art.  A Girl with the Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier and The Girl with the Blue Hyacinth Dress, by Susan Vreeland center around the classic Vermeer paintings.  Most recently, two very different yet equally fascinating books entwine the worlds of art and literature:

John Singer Sargent's portrait of "Madame X" caused scandal and outrage at the 1884 Paris Salon.  I am Madame X, by Gioia Diliberto, is based on its subject, the vivacious Virginie Gautreau.  Born in New Orleans to a well-to-do Creole family, she feels to Paris with her mother and young sister during the Civil War.  She soon breaks into the grand society world of Belle Epoque Paris.  Virginie, with her incredible beauty, flamboyance and promiscuous personality, finds herself being not only the subject of Sargent's artwork, but also of vicious Parisian gossip.  Based on historical sources, actual text reviews of the painting and family files of the Gautreau family descendants, this highly readable account immerses the reader in the captivating background of this famous painting and life in nineteenth century Paris.  (Sargent's "Madame X" is currently exhibited in New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art.)

In The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown, the aging curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum.  Clues are uncovered in the works of Leonardo Da Vinci which lead investigators to both the killer and a secret society existing for several hundred years.  This is a fast-paced, extraordinary suspense novel with an unpredictable, startling conclusion.

Play Ball!
The resonant sound of a bat hitting a homerun, the brilliant green turf of the outfield, the mingled smell of hot dogs, peanuts, beer, and CrackerJacks -- it's baseball season!
And in the starting lineup of the Northvale Library...

-DiMaggio: Setting the Record Straight, by Morris Engelberg
-Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy, by Jane Leavy
-The Teammates: a portrait of friendship, by David Halberstam
-The Last Good Season: Brooklyn, the Dodgers, and their final pennant race together, by Michael Shapiro
-Wild Pitch, by Mike Lupica
-Baseball: A Literary Anthology, edited by Nicholas Davidoff
-New York Yankees: one hundred years - the official retrospective
-Amazin' Met Memories: Four decades of unforgettable moments, by Howard Blatt

Add to your "Must-Read" list...
In addition to the latest from your favorite authors such as Nicholas Sparks, Janet Evanovich, Sue Grafton, John Grisham, and Mary Higgins clark, check out some of these new novels:

An American Summer, by Frank Deford is a touching story of the unique frienship between a fourteen-year-old boy and an incredible young woman stricken with polio and living in an iron lung.  Set in the mid-50's, Deford fills this coming-of-age tale with heartwarming nostalgia which will appeal to readers of all ages.

And...
-The white-knuckle page turner, No Second Chance, by Harlan Coban
-Historical novels:    
                The Jester, by James Patterson
                Star of the Sea, by Joseph O'Connor
                Forever, by Pete Hammill
                Wintering: a novel of Sylvia Plath, by Kate Moses
-Biographies:
                Chopin's Funeral, by Benita Eisler
                Remarkable Changes, by Jane Seymour
                Are You Hungry, Dear?, by Doris Roberts
                My Anecdotal Life, by Carl Reiner
-New in Non-Fiction:
                A Patriot's Handbook, by Caroline Kennedy
                Who's Your Caddy?, by Rick Reilly (Sports Illustrated columnist)
                The Mad Dog 100: the greatest sports argument of all-time, by Chris Russo
                Cook's Illustrated Annual hardbound editions, 1993-2002
                The Sweet Potato Queens' Big-Ass Cookbook, by Jill Conner Browne

On order with an expected arrival in late June...
                Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling