By now, the annual hoopla over the Academy Awards has died down. We've gotten our kicks making fun of the tacky gowns (what was she thinking?) and weighed in on the merits of Jon Stewart's monologue. As I look back over the list of films nominated for Best Picture, I can't help but notice that three of the five were based on works of fiction. What was the big deal about the writer's strike, you might ask, so long as there are novelists out there to inspire filmmakers?

In case you missed any of the nominated movies, and don't want to wait until the DVDs are released, you might want to go back to the source and read the works in their original format. This year's Best Picture award went to No Country for Old Men based upon the excellent novel by Cormac McCarthy. Another Best Picture nominee was Atonement based upon Ian McEwan's novel of the same name, which also garnered a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Saoirse Ronan. And Daniel Day-Lewis won the Best Actor award for his work in "There Will be Blood," based upon the novel "Oil" by Upton Sinclair.

Even more novels provided the basis for movies in which several actors turned in nomination-worthy performances. Casey Affleck was nominated for his role in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford which was based upon the novel by Ron Hansen; Philip Seymour Hoffman was recognized for Charlie Wilson's War, based upon the book by George Crile; and Hal Holbrook for Into the Wild based upon author Jon Krakauer's book by the same name. Veteran actress Julie Christie was recognized for her performance in "Away from Her," which was based on Alice Munro's short story, "The Bear Came Over the Mountain," from her collection entitled Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship Marriage, and Amy Ryan was nominated for her role in the film adaptation of Dennis Lehane's mystery, Gone Baby Gone.

I have to admit, I haven't seen any of these films...yet... but I have read a number of the books. And while my rule of thumb is that the book is always better than the movie, that may not necessarily be true this year. And for even more movie-related reading, check out our "Lights! Camera! Hollywood!" display in the Readers Services area.
CH

Posted by Readers Services at 04:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Earlier this week someone asked if I knew of any software that could be used to keep track of books she read. It would need to be usable from the St. Charles Public Library and from home and accessible online. I thought immediately of LibraryThing.

LibraryThing is a wonderful online resource for book lovers. If you have not yet discovered it, do check it out. The folks at LibraryThing have set up a tour for you, so you can see how it works.

You can set up a free account and record, for free, up to 200 books. You can use LibraryThing to share your favorite books with others, write brief synopses or reviews, join a group, or find other books you might like.

If you see me on LibraryThing, please send me a message on LibraryThing and tell how you like it.

Jeanhl

Posted by Readers Services at 03:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I love a good heart-stopping, page-turning espionage thriller, such as Robert Ludlum's series featuring Jason Bourne. However, I've also come to appreciate some "quieter" spy novels, particularly the work of Charles McCarry. Don't get me wrong, there's still plenty of secret agent action, but the works are more literary and focus more on story and character development.

The first McCarry book I tried was Tears of Autumn. Originally published in 1975, it was re-released in hardcover in 2005 and the Chicago Tribune ran a review that indicated it was possibly "the best political thriller ever written." With an endorsement like that I had to try it for myself. I wasn't disappointed. Filled with exotic locales, Tears of Autumn provides one of the most shocking and intriguing explanations of the Kennedy assassination I've encountered. I was hooked!

Unfortunately, McCarry is not a prolific author, but his original works are being republished (I can't wait for The Better Angels set for re-release next month) and he has continued writing enough to bring Christopher and his cronies into the modern world. He also wrote Christopher's Ghosts which gives a glimpse into the events that shaped Christopher, including growing up in Germany at the outset of World War II.

P.S. If you're a spy fan like me, and want some more "classic" author suggestions, you might enjoy The Book of Spies: An Anthology of Literary Espionage, which gives excerpts by some of the greatest writers in the genre.

marlise

Posted by Readers Services at 04:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Phyllis Whitney died on February 8 at the age of 104.

Amethyst Dreams was her last book, published in 1997 when she was 94 years old. One of the most prolific authors in recent history, Whitney wrote romantic suspense novels for adults as well as mysteries for young people and books about writing.

Read more about Whitney on the Phyllis Whitney web site.

Posted by Readers Services at 03:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The movie The Lives of Others is set in 1984 East Berlin, five years before the Berlin Wall came down. Captain Wiesler, a surveillance expert for the East German secret police, known as Stasi, is given the job of spying on a playwright and his girlfriend, a noted actress. Finding himself in a dilemma of conscience, and torn between his humanity and loyalty, Wiesler takes surprising actions with unpredictable consequences.

This compelling film, in German, subtitled, reminded me of the Iron Curtain, the oppression of the East German people under the German Democratic Republic (GDR), and the desperation that droved them to attempt escape to the West. I wanted to revisit that time and place and found these materials at the Library:

The Story of My Disappearance by Paul Watkins (FIC WATKINS) is a novel about Paul, a young East German who is recruited by the Stasi (GDR secret police). His assignment is to gather information for the state and, by association, the U.S.S.R. Paul's assignments take him to Afghanistan, where he is imprisoned and tortured by the Mujahadin. Years later, the Berlin Wall comes down while Paul is living in the United States under an assumed name, and he is very uncertain of what the future holds. This very short novel (213 pages) offers a glimpse into the psyche of a reluctant Stasi recruit trying to make sense of his role in the world and a unified Germany.

The Berlin Wall: a World Divided, 1961-1989 by Frederick Taylor (943.1552087 TAY) offers a history of the period, from the time East Berliners were first cut off from the West by barbed wire to the erection of the 103-mile-long Wall and finally its collapse.

The Lost Border: The Landscape of the Iron Curtain by Brian Rose (943.10879 ROS) is a told in words and photographs. Rose traveled along the Iron Curtain's Wall before and after its demise. His travels took him from the Brandenburg Gate to Checkpoint Charlie and beyond. Some of his most compelling photographs capture visitors chipping away at the Wall after Germany's unification.

Parents and children may enjoy a book published by New York Times, When the Wall Came Down: The Berlin Wall and the Fall of Soviet Communism by veteran journalist Serge Schmemann (J 943.1087 SCH).

Jean

Posted by Readers Services at 08:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Last week was a treat for me. I had a pretty impromptu opportunity to fly out to San Fransisco for a few days and decided to do a VERY informal poll of what people were reading along the way. As you are probably well aware, airports equal a lot of wait time, and therefore a lot of wonderful opportunities to READ! Personally, aside from my travel guide, I brought along two books, one for "fluff" the other, Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns, which I absolutely loved. Well, if I were to sum up the results of my study, I would do it with one word: Bestsellers. With the help of my dutiful husband, we spied some interesting titles (along with many a newspaper) in the hands of unsuspecting readers including: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, and The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky.

The best part of this whole experiment? Hearing total strangers strike up a conversation based upon a book someone was holding in hand. No doubt that there is still a passionate love of reading out there which draws us all together.

Jill

Posted by Readers Services at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)