Books and beyond

Need a reading or listening recommendation? The folks at Belmar are always reading something good! Here are some current examples:

Judy, a librarian in Information Services, just finished listening to the audio version of The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman. She high recommends this true account of the Warsaw zookeeper and his wife that managed to hide 300 Jews in the zoo during the WWII Nazi occupation of Poland.

Marjorie, the library manager, found yet another cookbook that she must have: Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours by Dorrie Greenspan, Alan Richardson. Greenspan takes classic (or newer) French recipes and makes them do-able, yet still divine.

Arra, Teen Librarian (on loan from Lakewood Library), is reading Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things by Randy O. Frost and Gail Steketee. Filled with stories of people who keep everything from animals to garbage, this book offers fascinating insight as to why people hang on to objects the rest of society might consider trash. 

Allison, Teen Librarian, is enthused about The Year We Were Famous by Carole Estby Dagg. In 1898, an impoverished mother and daughter set out to walk from Seattle WA to New York in order to win $10,000. Based on a true story.

Ronnie in Circulation is reading Jean Auel's Earth’s Children series and is currently on the sixth and final book, The Land of Painted Caves. She says it is very interesting and well-written, and also very human. 

Karen in Circulation just re-listened to the funniest book she’s ever read: The Thing About Jane Spring by Sharon Krum. After a watching old Doris Day movies while she is trapped in a snowstorm for three days, Jane decides to transform her life and “'catch a man” the way Doris would do it.

Chris, Adult Services Librarian, enjoyed The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell. Hoping to make his fortune, Jacob de Zoet accepts an appointment to a remote trading outpost of the Dutch East India Company in this beautifully written and poignant novel set in 18th Century Japan.

Jennifer, Children Services Librarian, recommends the children's audiobook The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex, in which a girl called Gratuity searches for her mother, who's been taken by aliens.

Dave in Information Services enjoyed The Well of Lost Plots, the third installment of the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde. In this alternative British history, everyone is very literate, time travel is possible, and there is movement between the "real" world and literature. It's fast-paced,  with snappy dialog, a likeable heroine, and lots of literary allusions.