Book Uncle and Me

Book Uncle and Me by Uma Krishnaswami

Book Uncle and Me is a childrens book about a street corner librarian in India and a young girl who visits him every day to get e new book to read. When Book Uncle gets into trouble she rallies to his defense.
This is a great book for librarians to share with young readers. It shows young people how they are never powerless or too young to speak up against injustice. It also shows how important free access to books is to a community
It has great illustrations by Julianna Swaney.

A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

I have long been a fan of movie versions of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, enjoying watching one or more versions every holiday season. This year I saw the Disney version which claimed to be the most true to the text movie adaptation made. That got me wondering what gets left out of Dickens' original work when Hollywood decides to put their ow spin on it. So this year I downloaded the text onto my iPhone and read the story as he told it in 1843. I am glad I did. I will keep watching new movie adaptations in years to come, but now I will know I am rooted in the original text.

I did find one exchange that I have never seen in any Hollywood retelling. I found this anti-church exchange between Scrooge and Christmas Present while they watched the poor people of the town bringing their holiday dinners to be cooked in the bakers' ovens, a routine activity in the 19th century for those too poor to have their own ovens.

“Spirit,” said Scrooge, after a moment’s thought, “I wonder you, of all the beings in the many worlds about us, should desire to cramp these people’s opportunities of innocent enjoyment.”

“I!” cried the Spirit.

“You would deprive them of their means of dining every seventh day, often the only day on which they can be said to dine at all,” said Scrooge, “wouldn’t you?”

“I!” cried the Spirit.

“You seek to close these places on the Seventh Day,” said Scrooge. “And it comes to the same thing.”

“I seek!” exclaimed the Spirit.

“Forgive me if I am wrong. It has been done in your name, or at least in that of your family,” said Scrooge.

“There are some upon this earth of yours,” returned the Spirit, “who claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us, and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived. Remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us.”

Scrooge promised that he would …

Man-Size in Marble

Man-Size in Marble by E. Nesbit

Man-Size in Marble is a short story by Edith Nesbit. It was first published in the December 1887 issue of the Home Chimes magazine. The story was later collected in Nesbit's 1893 anthology Grim Tales. This edition was published by Books of Wonder in 1997 in their Classic Frights series of short booklets with illustrations by Jeff White.
In it, a young newlywed couple seeking inexpensive lodging rent a small cottage that, unknown to them, comes with a mysterious curse. The husband hires a local housekeeper who tells him the legend of two man-size in marble prone statues of knights in a lonely country church nearby. She says on All-Hallows Eve at 11 pm the statues rise up and walk to their old home, which is the ruins on which their cottage was built. He dismisses the story as a local legend with no truth and decides to not worry his wife.
While a simple tale, it is well written in Nesbit's simple style that she developed as a children's author.
The text of the story is available in Wikisource at: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Grim_Tales/Man-size_in_Marble

Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Dracula

Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood's Dracula by Koren Shadmi A well done biography of Bela Lugosi, the Hungarian born actor who played Dracula in Hollywood movies. Starting with his play acting with other children in Hungary, this book covers the rise and fall of one of Hollywood's most iconic actors. While showing his faults as well as his triumphs, the author always provides a sympathetic look on Lugosi's life.

William and the Lost Spirit

William and the Lost Spirit by Gwen de Bonneval & Matthieu Bonhomme

This English translation of a French graphic novel is a version of the hero quest adventure. The local lord, William's father, has died and his sister has disappeared when whe went searching for her father who she insisted was not dead. Also his mother has married the man he thinks killed his father. So he sneaks past his step-father's guards and goes on a quest to find his sister and his father's spirit. Along the way three companions join him: a goat, A mysterious kight, and a troubador. Together they travel from a magical version of Medieval France into stange lands with unusual creatures and people. Beautifully illustrated, this is a delightful story that I found enjoyable to read.

Fine: A Comic About Gender

Fine: A Comic About Gender by Rhea Ewing

Author Rhea Ewing interviewed over 50 people about the topic of Gender, then organized their statements into 15 subject chapters and illustrated them into graphic novel format to make an outstanding book that explores this complex and often misunderstood topic. The approach can be daunting as people talk about this most intimate side of themselves and you see them through the eyes of the author's expressive cartoons. At first, I had to take this book in a few pages at a timebecause the content is so raw and emotional. As I read on I began to see the broader picture and could read through to the end.
If you want to know more about Gender beyond the simple binary male/female, this is a great place to start. No philosophy or theory, just the direct words of over 50 people who are living with the question in their own lives organized into meaningful short statements under broad subject categories like adolescence, hormones, changing pronouns, bathrooms, feelings about your body, and other topics.
This book is powerful and comes with a lists of Content Warnings, places to get more information, and further readings.

The Italian Secretary: A Further Adventure of Sherlock Holmes

The Italian Secretary: A Further Adventure of Sherlock Holmes by Caleb Carr

Caleb Carr takes on the challenge of writing a further adventure of the famous 19th century detective Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr. Watson. He follows a traditional format with the story starting in London at the Baker Street home of Sherlock Holmes with Dr. Watson visiting and Mrs. Hudson in attendance. Here Holmes presents Watson with a telegram from his brother Mycroft Holmes asking him to come to Scotland to work on a case.
It seems Holmes is being asked to investigate a real life ghost story that is said to haunt the HolyRoodHouse castle of Mary Queen of Scots. It seems that Mary's husband, suspecting her of infidelity with her Italian secretary, had the man pulled from her rooms while they dined and repeatedly stabbed by a group of assassins. His ghost is said to haunt the castle down to the present day.
In the story, Queen Victoria uses the castle as her official residence in Edinburgh, and has commissioned an architect to restore the Queen Mary's tower. However, the architect and his assistant are murdered in the same manner as the Italian secretary. The local people think the ghost is taking revenge on his murderers, but Mycroft, suspecting political intrigue and worried for the safety of the queen, calls on Holmes to investigate.
I enjoyed reading the book although I didn't feel that the author was able to capture the style of Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of the characters. An important detail for a book that adheres closely to the original author's format. He does write of the 19th century well and the plot is sufficiently interesting for a murder mystery. So, while I enjoyed the book, I do not think it one of the better additions to the works about the famous detective.

Agatha: The Real Life of Agatha Christie

Agatha: The Real Life of Agatha Christie by Anne Martinetti, Guillaume Lebeau, & Alexandre Franc

This is a full color graphic novel biography of the great mystery writer Agatha Christie with references to the books she wrote as their writing ccured during her life. However only some of her most significant titles are mentioned. An interesting feature of this book is that she has a long imaginary relationship with her character Hercule Poirot, with briefer appearances of Miss Marple and Tommy and Tuppence, talking to them as if they are there with her. The authors tell of Christie's trips on the Orient Express, and her journey up the Nile River which became research for two of her most famous books. The book ends with a three page timeline of her life and a three page bibliography of her published works.

The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt: A Tyranny of Truth

The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt: A Tyranny of Truth by Ken Krimstein

This book tells the life story of Hannah Arendt, philosopher, political philosopher, author, and Holocaust survivor, in graphic novel format. Krimstein brings Arendt's story to life with his illustrations and dialog. I highly recommend it as an easy introduction to one of the major intellectuals of thee 20th Century.

Flung Out of Space

Flung Out of Space: Inspired by the Indecent Adventures of Patricia Highsmith by Grace Ellis and Hannah Templer

This is a biographical graphic novel of the life of Patricia Highsmith, the lesbian author of the first lesbian novel with a happy ending, The Price of Salt, republished 38 years later in 1990 as Carol under her own name, and later adapted into the 2015 film of the same name. In telling Highsmith's story, the authors illustrate the difficulties faced by lesbians in the 1950s, when being a lesbian was an illness, a sin, and against the law.

The Third Person

The Third Person by Emma Grove

In this graphic novel Emma Grove tells the story of her experience with a transgender therapist whom she sought out to get approval for hormone replacement therapy, only to be diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder. She and the therapist discover she has three personalities: Edwin, Emma and Katina. She finds she has to deal with her multiple personalities and the childhood trauma that caused them to exist before she can succesfully continue with her transition.

The Solstice Gift: Behrouz and Lucky on the Longest Night by Avery Cassell

The Solstice Gift: Behrouz and Lucky on the Longest Night by Avery Cassell

Behrouz and Lucky are a lesbian couple living together in Northhampton, a college town in Western Massachusetts. One year they decide that their Solstice gift to each other will be a threesome on Solstice night, the longest night of the year, with one of the local residents. Planning the evening and deciding on who they will invite, they develop a ritual that they continue to refine and repeat over the coming years.
The Solstice Gift won the the 2020 Pauline Reage Novel Award from the National Leather Association (NLA).

The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio and translated by Wayne A. Rebhorn

The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio and translated by Wayne A. Rebhorn

Boccaccio claims to have written this book for women, and seven of the ten characters are young 14th century women who are accompanied by three young men. This is a novel of these ten youths who flee their city which is overrun with the Black Plague, and who take refuge in a country estate for two weeks. To pass the time, each of the ten tells a story on ten consecutive days (allowing weekends off for cleaning and rest). The result is this book of 100 stories set within the framework of their excursion. The stories show how much customs have changed and also how so many things remain the same.
Long recognized as a classic of Western Literature, The Decameron has suffered by difficult to read translations until now. Wayne Rebhorn has provided a translation into modern English that does not diminish the story or modernize it, while providing words that beg to be read aloud, as is fitting for stories that are told out loud in the book.
If you have ever wanted to read The Decameron now is the time to do it and this is the version to read.

Ann Tenna

Ann Tenna by Marisa Acocella Marchetto

When gossip columnist Ann Tenna has a near death experience and is confronted by her higher self she faces aa challenge to change her life for the better. Hopefully, the message to love and forgive yourself and others will reach this book's readers without the need for such drastic measures.

Torpedo Volume One

Torpedo Volume One by Sanchez Abuli & Jordi Bernet

Torpedo is a Spanish graphic novel series written by Enrique Sánchez Abulí and drawn by Jordi Bernet. Torpedo is the nickname for hitman Luca Torelli in Depression Era New York City. This is the first of five volumes published in English between 2009 and 2014. This volume includes the first two entries in the series illustrated by Alex Toth. This is great comic noir and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

Embers

Embers by Sándor Márai

Embers was written in Hungary in 1942 but this English translation was published 59 years later in 2001. The original Hungarian title is A gyertyák csonkig égnek, which means "Candles burn until the end". It tells the story, mostly through his own words, of one day in the life of a 75 year old Hungarian nobleman referred to as the General. His world has shrunk to a single room in an old castle at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains where he lives with his 91 year old nanny as his main contact.
This confined existence is broken after many years when he learns that his closest friend since he was ten years old has come to the village to see him after 41 years away. The General has the servants prepare a dinner at the table where they sat at their last meal before their separation. The two talk through the night as the candles burn down to the end and the fire in the fireplace is reduced to embers. They discuss about what happened on that day long ago to cause their break, what happens to feelings over time, and how things look different in old age.
A masterful novel and a great translation by Carol Brown Janeway.

Nothing: A Very Short Introduction

Nothing: A Very Short Introduction by Frank Close

Frank Close is an Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford who has been awarded the Institute of Physics' 1996 Kelvin Medal and Prize for "for outstanding contributions to the public understanding of physics". Nothing is just one of many books he has written that explains complex topics in particle physics to the average layperson. So he is highly qualified to write an introduction to Nothing.
Nothing doesn't seem much to write about, so one might not expect a short introduction to Nothing to be 145 pages and requiring a decent knowledge of modern particle physics. Fortunately Dr. Close has been able to do this without one formula or mathematical expression.
He takes the reader on a history of the concept of Nothingness, starting with the idea of a Vacuum and then starts looking deeper and deeper into particle physics, finally ending up with the statement that Everything comes from Nothing.
I still don't understand what Nothing is but I have a deeper appreciation and realize that there is Much Ado About Nothing, as Shakespeare once said.

The Memoirs of Dolly Morton

The Memoirs of Dolly Morton by Jean de Villiot (pseudonym)

The Memoirs of Dolly Morton is English language flagellation erotica originally published in Paris in 1899. It is subtitled The Story of a Woman's Part in the Struggle to Free the Slaves, an Account of the Whippings, and Violences that Preceded the Civil War in America, with Curious Anthropological Observations on the Radical Diversities in the Conformation of the Female Bottom and the Way Different Women Endure Chastisement. It's author was probably Hugues Rebell, a French author of flagellation literature who wrote erotica under the pseudonym "Jean de Villiot". The book contains a Preface by the publisher Charles Carrington that provides details on the Underground Railroad and the flight of escaped slaves from their captivity.
In the book which is set in the late 1850s Dolly Morton accompanies a Quakeress Abolitionist who rents a house in Virginia to establish a station on the Underground Railroad, the clandestine route that runaway slaves of the American South used to escape to the Free States of the North or Canada. Little do they know that their landlord is Mr. Randolph, the owner of the largest plantation in the area. When Randolph meets Dolly out walking, he is taken with her beauty and attempts to have his way with her. She fights off his advances, so he tells her he knows of their illegal efforts. He offers to look the other way regarding the Quakeress's work if Dolly will be his live-in mistress, and again she says no. He leaves saying that she will regret refusing his offer.
Several weeks later a mob of 15 men come to close the Underground Railroad Station and to punish the two women. They are stripped, raped, and whipped, then left to ride a split rail with the threat that worse will happen if they don't leave the state of Virginia. After the mob leaves Randolph shows up offering to free Dolly of the painful rail if she will become his mistress and submit to his advances.
In excruciating pain, Dolly submits to his demands and he takes her home to his plantation house which is staffed by lovely mulatto, quadroon and octoroon female slaves, all of whom have been used sexually by Randolph. Randolph maintains order by whipping or paddling his slaves if they do not perform as required. While Dolly is treated with fine dresses and a lovely bedroom, she is not given any opportunity to escape her confinement and Randoph's frequent "pokings".
This book is an example of late 19th century erotica that portrays a licentious plantation owner and the sexual freedom he might take with the enslaved women under his control. Being told with the voice of a white woman witness, it does get to express some of the injustice of slavery while still satisfying the interests ot readers of flagellation/spanking literature.

Out of the Shadows: Six Visionary Victorian Women in Search of a Public Voice

Out of the Shadows: Six Visionary Victorian Women in Search of a Public Voice by Emily Midorikawa

The Nineteenth Century was not a good time for outspoken women, but Emily Midorikawa finds, in the Spiritualist Movement of that period, a group of women who used the movement to gain a voice in a male-oriented society that was not interested in what women had to say.
She starts with Maggie, Kate and Leah, the three Fox sisters of upstate New York, who used "rappings" to convince people that they were communicating with the spirit world. Next she tells the story of Emma Hardinge Britten, a clairvoyant who was born in England, but who became one of the leading authors of the American Spiritualist Movement.
Victoria Woodhull and her sister Tennessee Claflin are the next women of the Spiritualist Movement that Midorikawa presents. Woodhull claimed to be advised by spirit guides throughout her life and became the president of the American Association of Spiritualists. Claflin was a healer, and together they started the first stock brokerage on Wall Street to be run by women. They also published a leading liberal newpapers the Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly when it was rare to have women in the press. Woodhull was for a while a leading spokesperson for women's suffrage, addressing a Congressional committee and being the first woman to run for president of the United Staes. Her views on Free Love and Euthenasia make her a difficult figure, both in her time and the present.
Midorikawa's last spiritualist is Georgina Weldon, a British singer who ran orphanages, and whose husband tried to get her involuntarily committed for her spiritualist beliefs. The book ends with a chapter on the waning of the Spiritualist Movement at the end of the 19th century.
Midorikawa's research separates the sensationalistic rumors from the knowable facts, and presents a well-balanced approach to the lives of these women to whom Spiritualism provided a way for them to make a name and space for themselves in a restrictive society.

Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration

Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration by Bryan Caplan and illustrated by Zach Weinersmith

Bryan Caplan is professor of economics at George Mason University, a research fellow at the Mercatus Center, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and a self-described "economic libertarian". In Open Borders he presents the case for worldwide open borders. He argues that opening all borders would eliminate poverty and usher in a booming worldwide economy, greatly benefiting all humanity.
If you are concerned about the restrictive immigration policies of rich countries, this book will provide you with compelling arguments against them. If you are worried that open borders would bring ruin to first world countries, maybe this book will assuage your fears.
Both economic and moral arguments are brought forward to show how opening all borders would make this world a single prosperous place to live and eradicate poverty and the crime associated with it. Caplan spends a good portion of this book addressing the potential criticism to his theories, making it a well-balanced presentation of what some may consider a radical idea. Wonderfully illustrated by Zach Weinersmith, this book is accessible to people with little or no background in economic theory.