Book Rec of the Day 11/27-12/03/08

PILGRIMS’ PRIDE

National Book Award-winner (for In the Heart of the Sea) Nathaniel Philbrick turns his attention to one of America’s great founding myths and gives us an account of the real Miles Standish, the Indian Squanto, and all the rest of the cast that shows up in Thanksgiving pageants. The book recounts the sailing of the Pilgrims, their trials in the New World, and their relations, friendly and otherwise, with the original inhabitants. This is an exceptional work that gives the Pilgrims their due but also shows that they were no more innocent than their descendants who eventually overran a continent.

MAYFLOWER: A STORY OF COURAGE, COMMUNITY, AND WAR, by Nathaniel Philbrick (Viking, 2006)

GREAT JOURNALISM

This anthology of stories “killed” by various editors accomplishes several things: It airs some of the best journalism of the century, which otherwise we would never be able to read; it serves as an index to some of the hottest issues in the world today; and it exposes some of the forces behind the distribution of news. Most of the selections are still topical, or just removed enough still to shed light on the present (pieces on Reverend Moon and the Body Shop), and there are also wonderful glimpses into the near past via George Orwell, Betty Friedan, and Terry Southern. A thought-provoking collection and great reading.

KILLED: GREAT JOURNALISM TOO HOT TO PRINT, edited by David Wallis (Nation Books, 2004)

A COZY MYSTERY
In the second novel of Winspear’s Masie Dobbs series, psychologist and investigator Masie is hired to find Charlotte, the missing daughter of a wealthy businessman. Soon afterward, three of Charlotte’s friends are found dead—will Charlotte be next? Winspear paints the post-World War I scene with a light but convincing touch. This is one of those easy, comfortable mysteries that you can settle in with on a cold, late, autumn night.

BIRDS OF A FEATHER, by Jacqueline Winspear (Penguin, 2005)

ABOVE IT ALL

On the cover is a photograph of an exquisite tree house—complete with dormers, verandas, and curlicues. Inside the book are imaginative tree houses found in America’s backyards, some just little shacks on a branch, and others elaborate constructions that are two and three stories high. Beside Paul Rocheleau’s outstanding photographs are tales of those who have played in these arboreal mansions, how the structures were built, and even some construction plans and how-to info.

THE TREEHOUSE BOOK, by Peter and Judy Nelson with David Larkin (Universe, 2000)

A BOOK LOVER’S GIFT
From airports to tree houses, factories to museums, and, especially, exciting and beautiful innovations in single-family housing, this gorgeous pictorial survey of architecture features 1,052 projects completed since January 1998 in 75 countries. The sumptuous photography is bolstered by streamlined scholarly text and by sections on world data, building data, and architects’ biographies. A wonderful adornment for (and almost as big as) the coffee table.

THE PHAIDON ATLAS OF CONTEMPORARY WORLD ARCHITECTURE, (Phaidon Press, 2004)

JAZZED

The book’s title is honestly representative of the goods inside. It’s a sprawling, undisciplined, jazzy piece of work about a half-Irish, half-Puerto Rican girl named Vidamia Farrell. Her father, a former jazz pianist who lost two fingers during the Vietnam War, lives on New York’s Lower East Side with a second family and a host of lively, well-drawn characters. Vidamia, who grew up in the suburbs, is attracted by the bohemian life of her father’s world and by a black jazz-sax player who’s a part of it.

NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU PROMISE TO COOK OR PAY THE RENT YOU BLEW IT CAUZE BILL BAILEY AIN’T NEVER COMING HOME AGAIN: A SYMPHONIC NOVEL, by Edgardo Vega Yunque (Picador USA, 2004)

FAVORITE SERIES

British mistress of mysteries James gives us the 13th in the Adam Dalgliesh series. Dalgliesh is still pondering his new romantic involvement with Emma (the focus of 2003’s The Murder Room) when he is sent to Combe Island, an elite retreat, where well-known novelist Nathan Oliver has been found hung. Things become even more interesting when Dalgliesh comes down with SARS, leaving much of the legwork to his deputies, Kate and Francis, and introducing an element of tension into their lives. A thoughtful, haunting entry from James that’s filled with her trademark character studies.

THE LIGHTHOUSE, by P. D. James (Knopf, 2005)