Wild Flowering

Honestly, it wasn't premeditated. I'm speaking of my choosing to read the book Wildflower in the midst of our Read on the WILD Side adult summer reading program. While it fits our theme perfectly, it was just coincidental.(What would Freud say?)

Listed as a hot summer read in the Chicago Tribune in early June, this title caught my attention. I confirm it was an engaging, nonfiction read. Love, adventure, murder, the beauty of Africa, the dark side of capitalism all in 200 pages. The author, Mark Seal, wrote about Joan Root in Vanity Fair in August 2006 and it was so popular, he kept writing. His book Wildflower fleshes out the story of Joan and her husband Alan Root. They were reknown in the film world for their wildlife and nature films of the 1970's and 80's. They partnered with great actors to narrate their films, and won an Oscar for best documentary for Mysterious Castles of Clay in 1979.

How I would love to tell you we own their films on dvd but they don't exist. A few select libraries in the U.S. own some titles on VHS. I suspect this might change soon. Julia Roberts is going to be portraying Joan Root in a feature film that is currently in production. A big commercial film may entice the right business person to make the Roots' films into dvds.

In the meantime, savor the nature films we do have in our documentary film section and find the book Wildflower in the biography section.

I haven't read a nonfiction book that I've enjoyed this much in a long time. Please comment if you have one to recommend.

Books - Summer - Life is Sweet

Just in case you're running out of books to read this summer (horrors!) I have a few more suggestions that you might have missed. They are not written by your favorite bestselling authors, but hopefully these authors will become new favorites. One exceptionally entertaining new book is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. Flavia, an 11-year-old chemistry enthusiast, stumbles over a body in the garden and decides to solve the crime. The story is filled with eccentric characters, including a librarian, a groundskeeper, and Flavia's two older sisters who live to torment her. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe is an intriguing mix of mystery, romance, and a bit of history of the Salem witch trials, told in flashbacks to the 1600's. Reading it reminded me of another good summer read, Thornyhold, by Mary Stewart. And finally, if you happen to be a fan of the classic tale of manners and romance, Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, you won't want to miss Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith. In this version of the story the quiet village of Meryton is plagued with zombies and Elizabeth Bennet must fight them off while dealing with the arrogant Mr. Darcy. Crazy fun!

What new books have you been reading this summer?

Linda Knorr - Readers' Services

A Wild Man of Classical Music

This week's question is from the Wild Men and Women of Classical Music contest, which is one of several contests you'll find on the third floor of the library. The winner of the drawing for this contest will receive a $50 gift card to the Shop & Save. (Prizes will be awarded after Summer Reading ends, on August 2nd.) Here's the question:

This singular American composer lived from 1874 to 1954. The son of a bandmaster, he grew up in Danbury, Connecticut, where he played sports as well as music. Although he made his living in the insurance business, he spent much of his time composing. He wrote symphonies, chamber music, sonatas, and more than 150 songs, including "General William Booth Enters into Heaven." According to Composers since 1900, his "first significant attempt to make use of authentic American materials" was in his Second Symphony, a technique he was to become known for. He was also, according to Jan Swafford:

proclaimed a prophet in discovering on his own, before anyone else, most of the devices associated with musical Modernism: polytonality, polyrhythm, free dissonance, chance and collage effects [etc.]

Although few heard his compositions during his lifetime, his Third Symphony received the Pulitzer Prize in 1947. Other compositions include The Unanswered Question, Central Park in the Dark, Variations on “America,” and Piano Sonata No. 2, "Concord Mass., 1840-60," often referred to as The Concord Sonata.

Is he:

a. Aaron Copland
b. George Gershwin
c. Charles Ives
d. John Philip Sousa

Think you know the answer? Stop by the third floor to fill out an entry and check out our other summer reading contests. Or email us the answer at Readers2@dppl.org. Be sure to include your name and phone number, too.