Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende

This was a great historical fiction read! Set in the slave plantation of Santo Domingo, it is the story of not only the Haitian slave rebellion, but also offers insights into the variety of ways in which whites kept power over slaves and former slaves alike and also the confusing web of family relations. A great read!

Sarah's Key by Tatiana DeRosnay

This book was riveting! I loved the format and, since I am a "new" history buff, I found that learning more about the time period in which this story took place to be eye-opening. I will not spoil any of the plot. That is all I will say except to mention that we are very fortunate to live in a civil society. How long can that last...?

Well written, heart-felt and thought-provoking. Not for children under 12, some sad realities that they may linger and cause them to feel vulnerable.

I will find the author's name - she is French.

Serial

It was time for a quick fiction read for the beach, so I selected a murder mystery by local author N. E. Castle. The first paragraph describes the protagonist's drive up the Plantation Street on-ramp to 290 and her speeding through the S-curve at Holy Cross (complete with the bumps in the road)--What fun! Unfortunately, I found Castle's descriptions of the setting sun shining on Union Station and the traffic snarled at Kelly Square more believable than her characters and their relationships. Mistakes, beginning with the Chevy "Camero" repeatedly misspelled in the first chapter, also detracted from my enjoyment. Even so, the familiar locations make the story seem so close to home, I'll make a point of checking out any of Castle's future works.

Serial is available in print at the SPL.

Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (And What It Says About Us)

Calling to mind Malcolm Gladwell’s popular non-fiction books (The Tipping Point, Outliers, Blink), Tom Vanderbilt delves into human behavior, engineering principles, and transportation studies to deliver an interesting analysis of how we move from place to place. He includes a brief history, compares traffic around the world, and comments on the often-unintended consequences of attempts to improve safety on the road.

A Library Journal review begins, “If only all traffic proceeded with the ease and flow it does here with Vanderbilt in the driver's seat.” I liked it, too!

Traffic is available in print at the SPL and on CD through interlibrary loan.

The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google

Nicholas Carr begins with a history lesson on electricity...how it evolved from water wheels to utilities that centralized production and transmission. The result was a shift in how business could be conducted, and the eventual rise of the middle class in America. Carr compares that water wheel to early computer systems used by single companies, and predicts how the shift to Internet-based networks (the World Wide Computer) may impact all of society. I found his analysis of the effects of YouTube, Wikipedia, Flickr, and the like fascinating!

"Carr's book is persuasive, well-researched, authoritative and convincing. He's reasonable in his conclusions and moderate in his extrapolations. This is an exceedingly good book. " --Techworld

"The first serious examination of 'Web 2.0' in book form." --The Register

The Big Switch is available in print at the SPL.

The Troubleshooter's Guide to Do-It-Yourself Genealogy

The sub-title says it all--Creative Techniques for Overcoming Obstacles, Removing Roadblocks & Unlocking Your Family History! Written for the intermediate genealogist, W. Daniel Quillen’s latest book demystifies some sources likely overlooked by even experienced researchers. By the time I was finished, the book was sprouting a headdress of yellow sticky notes, and I’d made plans to check out alien registration records, passport applications, and land grants, to name just a few. Quillen even devotes chapters to comparing different types of family tree software and subscription databases, and he ends every chapter with a helpful checklist. The book was published in 2010, so the appendix listing books and websites is up-to-date.

The Troubleshooter's Guide is available in print through Interlibrary Loan, but I may just have to buy a copy of my own!

When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present

The book opens in 1960 with a secretary, sent to court to pay her boss' speeding fine, not allowed to carry out her mission because she's wearing slacks. From clothing to careers, education to athletics, civil rights movement to anti-war movement, When Everything Changed focuses on the women, famous and not, who worked to advance the cause of gender equality.
Having lived through the time period, I found the stories compelling. I may not have recognized all of the sexist attitudes as such at the time, because they were the norm, but I was delighted when a classmate at SHS challenged the dress code by wearing jeans to school. (Two days later, many of us had jumped on the bandwagon; The female teachers weren't far behind.) I think the book would also be of interest to younger folk who may not often think about a time, not so long ago, when female doctors were scarce and when a woman needed her husband's permission to apply for a credit card.

Author Gail Collins is a New York Times columnist. In 2001 she became the first woman ever appointed editor of the Times' editorial page. When Everything Changed is available on CD at the SPL and in print through interlibrary loan.

Film connection: "Mona Lisa Smile"...Check out the "What Women Wanted in 1953" special feature on the DVD (also available at the SPL.)