A few favorites

Originally published in the Ketchikan Daily News, August 2006; written by Lisa Pearson.

As a librarian, one of the questions that we frequently get asked is “Have you read any good books lately?”. And while you would think that a librarian, of all people, should have an easy answer, I find it impossible to answer that question on the fly (apparently the pressure gets to me – so much for my career as a Jeopardy contestant). So to redeem my reputation and self-esteem, I’ll tell you about a few of the books that I have enjoyed recently.

My hands-down favorite at the moment is “A sense of the world: how a blind man became history's greatest traveler” by Jason Roberts. This book is a biography of James Holman, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy at the beginning of the 19th century (think Jack Aubrey and Horatio Hornblower), who dealt with a sudden onset of blindness by traveling all over the world. I could not put this book down. It has a little something for everyone: travelogue, naval history, 19th century politics, even a little romance. In fact, one interesting part of this story is how Holman’s love-life took a precipitous upswing after he went blind, since men saw him as harmless enough to leave alone with their wives, and women saw him as a heady mix of military dashing (he wore his naval uniform throughout his life) and sensitive vulnerability. All of his romantic encounters were initiated by the woman, which gives you an idea of his appeal. Holman comes across as a Zelig-like character who did everything, met everyone, and went everywhere. He was, at various times, a naval lieutenant, a medical doctor (for what it was worth at that time), a famous author, a member of the Royal Society, circumnavigator of the globe, co-founder of an African colony and a Knight of Windsor. He befriended scientists, authors, explorers, and politicians. His biography is unbelievably gripping, and the author does a wonderful job of connecting all the events in his life in a well-written narrative. This is a must-read book.

On the other end of the frivolity spectrum is “Free gift with purchase: my improbable career in magazines and makeup” by Jean Godfrey-June. Written by the current beauty editor of Lucky magazine, this book is actually more interesting than you would think. She manages to walk the fine line between taking herself too seriously (we are talking about makeup, here) and filling the pages with snarky comments about her co-workers. There are a few unflattering portraits, and I would love to know who she’s talking about, but I am tragically out of the loop when it comes to fashion, beauty, and anything else that smacks of sophistication. There are some good tips interspersed throughout her book – i.e. free makeovers at the cosmetics counter will invariably make you look like Norma Desmond, and you’ll end up buying products you shouldn’t use – and a lot of behind the scenes gossip about Elle magazine – her first gig as a beauty editor. It’s not great literature but it’s a fun read and will make you feel better about not living in New York, if not your whole beauty regimen in general.

Another book that I recently enjoyed is “Don't try this at home: culinary catastrophes from the world's greatest chefs” edited by Kimberly Witherspoon and Andrew Friedman. This is not a new book, but it caught my eye going across the check-in counter. A collection of over three dozen horror stories from world-renowned chefs, this book will show you what can happen in the kitchen of even a 4-star restaurant on a bad day. And some of these days were pretty bad – rancid lobsters for a event of 3,200 people, sprinkler systems going off, drunken cooks and waiters, fistfights among the customers and staff – everything you could possible imagine going wrong in a restaurant. Some of the stories are more entertaining than others (Anthony Bourdain never fails to please), and some of the chefs either have a lower tolerance for catastrophe than I do, or have been relatively lucky that worse hasn’t happened to them. But with the runaway success of the Food Channel, and the way that new cookbooks fly off the shelves of the library, I’m sure that many people will enjoy thumbing – and chuckling - through these stories.