Reviewer: Danielle
Interstellar, a beautiful, brain-tingling ballet of time and space that will leave you spinning in more ways than one, reaches into the depths of the universe to show us the heart of humanity.
We begin our dance in the dirt-filled near future, where humanity has devolved back to a sustenance-based existence revolving around the few crops that will still grow on Earth. We no longer strive for technological advancement, we no longer dream impossible dreams, we no longer look to the stars and reach out our hands with hope, instead “we just look down and worry about our place in the dirt.” And, the dirt is where we would stay except for the few that refuse to bend, refuse to allow the despair and desperation to win, refuse to give in to those who believe the improbable is impossible. Interstellar is the story of those few.
After the mechanics of wormholes and black holes are touched upon and after we are given a quick course in the temporal workings of general relativity, the movie rather quickly moves through time, literally, and we are transported through a wormhole near Saturn into another system that may contain potentially hospitable worlds. This part of the movie is much more reminiscent of the usual science fiction stories we’ve seen in the past. Intrepid explorers taking on the elements of new worlds and dealing with each other and those they left behind. Where Interstellar departs from the usual science fiction tropes is in the entrancing view we get into the universe-spanning connections between human hearts and the power they can wield to shape the destiny of humanity itself.
Hope is tested on both sides of the wormhole as failure, loss and death are encountered to the strains of Dylan Thomas’s most famous poem and Hans Zimmer’s rapturous score. We ultimately reach a threshold where our sense of reality and time, our sense of connection to those we love, past, future and present, start to interweave themselves into an operatic crescendo that brings together all the vibrating threads of time, fate, love and destiny in a heart-wrenching climax of connectedness, both universal in scope and intimate in depth.
We can embrace our past, we can hold it dear, but we can’t stay there. We are human and it is in our nature to dream, to strive, to connect, to become. We can see the future and the future is us. We are the masters of our fate, our hope is the engine of our salvation and love its ultimate catalyst.
Rock On!
Reviewer: Danielle
Ooh, I do love those Eighties’ hair bands, don’t you? Come on, sing it with me! “Eeee-very rose has its thorn. Just like eeee-very night has its daw-aw-awn. Just like eeee-very cowboy sings his sad, sad song…” Wow, we are really off key! We’d better move along to something even better than Eighties’ hair bands and their ballads that just reach in and wrap themselves around your heart…oh, where was I? Oh, yes…things that rock more than Eighties’ hair bands.
Let me introduce, to you, actual rocks! I’ll pause here to let you collect yourself…
Who would have thought that at a library named after a nut, you could get a pass to see a bunch of rocks! Well, we at Acorn Public Library are here to rock your world in all kinds of nutty ways. All you need to do is drop everything you’re doing and stop by the Reference desk and say, “Hey, can you rock my world!?” They love that! Or, if you’d like to go the plain, old easy route just ask about our Museum Adventure Pass.
The newest museum to join the program is the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art located in Elmhurst. But, wait, she said this was about rocks, why is she talking about lizards now? (And, she doesn’t seem to be a very good speller either!) No, my dear friends, Lizzadro is simply the family who created the museum…a museum of rocks! But, not just any old rocks. These are rocks that are transformed into beautiful works of art, some of which will leave you breathless and scratching your head at the fact that these were once like those grayish lumps you use to decorate your yard.
The museum has two floors. The impressive carved rock art is upstairs and the scientific introduction to rocks and minerals, along with a huge, petrified tree stump, is downstairs…right next to the awesome rock-hound’s delight of a gift shop! And, as if that weren’t enough, the museum is located in Wilder Park, a huge, beautiful park where there is something for young (play ground and snacks) and old (other museums and a conservatory) alike. The Museum Adventure Pass grants you half-price entry Tuesday through Sunday (it’s free on Fridays!), so get a picnic together on one of these beautiful Autumn weekends and head on out for a day of rocks and museums and nature at its finest. I’ll probably see you there. I’ll be the one looking in awe at the giant, petrified stump!
Author: Katie Davis
A New York Times bestseller, Kisses from Katie (available at Acorn) will stir your heart immediately and immensely. It’s hard to fathom how a single woman from Tennessee in her early 20s could care for so many Ugandans young and old alike. She provides food, medical attention, education, and lots of love and care. She adopted 14 girls! She tried to come back to the USA to go to college, but her heart kept calling her back to Uganda to serve the poor, the hungry, the weak, the orphans. You will be changed by reading this book.
Author: Timothy Keller
This book (available through swan) explores the secret, essence and mission of marriage. Keller provides a lot of research and personal examples. This book is deep, unlike some of the fluffy books I have read on marriage. If you would like to grow in your own marriage, I would recommend it.
Author: Lynne Kelly
This book is about a young 10 year old boy named Hastin who lives in northern India with his family in a poor village. Hastin’s sister gets ill and has to go to the hospital but the family can not pay the bill. Hastin wants to help his family and goes to the market to find work. Unfortunately he isn’t having luck until he meets a man who seems sincere and wants to help. This man tells Hastin he will pay off his sisters hospital bill if Hastin will come with him to be his elephant keeper until the debt is paid off. Having no other choice, Hastin agrees but quickly finds out that this man, who is a cruel circus owner, gives Hastin more than he bargains for.
The author did a wonderful job of showing how with perseverance, a kind heart and two special friends (one an elephant and one a human) goodness will prevail over badness!!
Author: Leon Leyson
The Boy on the Wooden Box: How the Impossible Became Possible … on Schindler’s List is a memoir by Leon Leyson. Leyson depicts his experiences as a Jewish boy in Poland at the onset of Nazi occupation. He describes life in the ghettos and labor camps, torn from his family members and from any sort of “normal” youth. Leyson was one of the fortunate ones that made it onto “Schindler’s List,” and — probably solely for that reason — survived World War II. A story of luck and perseverance, Leyson’s memoir once again opens our eyes to the horrors of the Holocaust. Though the book is recommended by the publisher for those 9 to 14 years old, I would definitely recommend this book for adults as well.
Author: Darynda Jones
First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones is the first installment in the Charley Davidson series, the story of a part-time private eye and full-time grim reaper. That’s right–from the moment of Charley’s birth, she has been the portal to Heaven for lost souls. While most people tend to write her off as crazy when they see her talking to thin air, her special abilities have helped solve countless murders. The first novel begins with the slaying of three lawyers, all partners in their firm. As Charley is attempting to solve this case, she must also deal with the fact that she is being stalked by an evil, other-worldly entity known as Reyes Farrow. Once she discovers that he is the son of satan himself, Charley must make some tough decisions. Can she find the lawyers’ killer and figure out what Reyes wants with her before it’s too late? Find out by picking the book up at Acorn or requesting it through SWAN.
Author: Lynn Sherr
Reviewer: Danielle
Everyone knew Sally Ride. No one knew Sally Ride.
In the recent biography, Sally Ride: America’s First Woman in Space by Lynn Sherr, we meet a woman, a scientist, a daughter, a sister, a pioneer, a wife, a hero. We meet someone who succeeded in slipping earth’s surly bonds while maintaining the firm grounding that defined so much of who she was. We meet an enigma understood by few but beloved by many. We meet an introvert who held the world’s attention with a quiet charisma and blazing intelligence. We meet a public woman who strongly guarded her privacy and her heart. We meet strength and integrity writ large in the gentle guise of a woman with a bright smile and eyes that looked with equal importance into the depths of the universe or into the eyes of a child whose dreams took shape beyond the stars. Seemingly made of equal parts earthy groundedness and star-filled wonder, she epitomized the best of both worlds and defined the word hero for me and countless others.
The book itself would, most likely, have made her uncomfortable in its honesty but proud of its content. Sherr considered herself a friend to Ride, and the respect and love inherent to that are evident throughout the book, but there was so much hidden in the depths of who Ride was that even those considered friends barely scratched the surface of this incredible woman. One of the depths that is given a lot of consideration in the book is the fact that Sally Ride, American hero and inspiration, was gay and in a nearly 30-year relationship that very few knew about until one line was printed in her obituary naming her partner. The author’s journey to come to terms, herself, with this revelation about her friend works itself into many aspects of the book.
A simple look at the cover of the book reveals so much in the bright eyes and impish glee momentarily caught as we see a dream come true, the moment when the idea of dancing in the sky became a giddy and awe-inspiring reality. Growing up as she did during a time when the world told women exactly what they could and couldn’t be, she quite simply said, “No.” and did as she chose. That choice resounded through a generation and will continue to resound every time another little girl steps outside, looks up and says, “Yes, I can!”. That, along with the place she holds in the hearts of those who knew and admired her, is her well-earned and well-deserved legacy…a legacy boldly written across the sky like a shooting star that burns bright, remains frustratingly unreachable but leaves in its wake a shining trail of stardust for others to follow.
Author: Chvrches
Reviewer: Dorothy Koll
Hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, Chvrches (i.e., Churches with a “v” instead of a “u”) have crafted a synthpop masterpiece in their debut album, The Bones of What You Believe. I enjoyed this album so much that I quite honestly could not remove this album from my CD player. The songs are catchy to the point of infectious, and the energetic dance-inspired beats and the ethereal vocals are perfectly offset by the reflective, oftentimes melancholy, lyrics. Think Passion Pit, M83, Depeche Mode, and 80s-influenced electropop to get a general impression of what this band sounds like, but I suggest you check it out on your own if you have even the slightest interest in this music scene. The songs “The Mother We Share,” “We Sink,” and “Lies” come highly recommended as possible entry points.
Author: Graeme Simsion
Reviewer: Dorothy Koll
If you are a fan of CBS’s hit sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, there is a very good chance you will enjoy Graeme Simsion’s hilarious and heartwarming novel, The Rosie Project. The book’s narrator and protagonist is Don Tillman, a 39-year-old genetics professor whose social awkwardness, lack of empathy, emotional shortcomings, and rigid need for rules and routine (think Big Bang’s Sheldon Cooper) are more likely to be clear indicators of an undiagnosed autism spectrum disorder rather than just cute personality quirks. With his 40th birthday soon approaching and still unmarried, Don embarks on the Wife Project, creating a 16-page, double-sided questionnaire that will connect him to the perfect woman. Unfortunately, the young, beautiful, and free-spirited woman he meets through the project—Rosie Jarman, a bartender at a local gay bar—is totally unsuitable; yet he struggles to understand why he can’t tear himself away from her, even going so far as to assist her with discovering her biological father. While I don’t typically read romantic fiction, I was truly moved as Don slowly realizes that he has strong feelings for Rosie. Think of The Rosie Project as Sheldon Cooper finds love and you will have a good idea of what this book is like.
Author: Susannah Cahalan
Brain on Fire (available at Acorn and through SWAN) is a true story about a New York Post reporter (Cahalan) who suddenly began experiencing serious health issues in her early twenties with no apparent cause. Cahalan was admitted to the NYU Medical Center when her symptoms began to include seizures and psychosis. Her symptoms resembled someone possessed, and many with her condition may have been deemed just that. While she was in the hospital for a month with no firm diagnosis, she has little to no memory of that entire time. Finally, a doctor came up with a cause of her illness just in the nick of time—a recently discovered, rare illness that affects the brain. Cahalan uses her experience as a journalist to reconstruct her time in the hospital through interviews and records, and she recounts her experiences pre- and post-illness in this very interesting memoir. Cahalan’s story reminds us of how fragile, yet resilient, the human body can be.
Author: Drummond Moir
For some of us, after we’ve spent hours and hours writing an essay or a short story or even an email, we become invested in the words written on the page. After it is finished and we’ve clicked “submit,” we read it again one more time, just in case. During that final review, we find a typo and we are devastated. After all of that time spent perfecting our work and the countless proofreads we did, still we allowed one misplaced letter, one extra comma, one too many spaces to slip past our radar. In this book, Drummond helps relieve some of that devastation by revealing typos that have a much more lasting effect than our emails, such as NASA documents, legal reports, and even lottery tickets. If you’re looking for a good laugh, Just My Typo is a must-read. It is available at Acorn and through SWAN.
