Reader's Shelf

The Reader's Shelf

From Library Journal

Let's Talk about the Weather

Wuthering Heights By Bronte, Emily Editor Jack, Ian Introduction by Small, Helen 2009-12 - Oxford University Press, USA 9780199541898 Check Our Catalog "Wuthering Heights" is one of the most famous love stories in the English language. It is also one of the most potent revenge narratives. The passionate tale of Catherine and Heathcliff is presented here in a new edition that examines the qualities that make it such a compelling novel. …More

Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster By Krakauer, Jon 1999-10 - Anchor Books 9780385494786 Check Our Catalog A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster. By writing Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons and lay to rest some of the painful questions that still surround the event. He takes great pains to provide a balanced picture of the people and events he witnessed and gives due credit to the tireless and dedicated Sherpas. He also avoids blasting easy targets such as Sandy Pittman, the wealthy socialite who brought an espresso maker along on the expedition. Krakauer's highly personal inquiry into the catastrophe provides a great deal of insight into what went wrong. But for Krakauer himself, further interviews and investigations only lead him to the conclusion that his perceived failures were directly responsible for a fellow climber's death. Clearly, Krakauer remains haunted by the disaster, and although he relates a number of incidents in which he acted selflessly and even heroically, he seems unable to view those instances objectively. In the end, despite his evenhanded and even generous assessment of others' actions, he reserves a full measure of vitriol for himself. This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guideAnatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy. "I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day," writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. "What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients." As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer recounts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I. In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters--a prestigious prize intended "to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment." According to the Academy's citation, "Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer. His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation afterchallenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind." …More

Light Boxes By Jones, Shane 2010-05 - Penguin Books 9780143117780 Check Our Catalog In this poignant and fantastical first novel, a god-like spirit who lives in the sky, named February, is punishing a town for flying. As endless February continues, children go missing and adults become nearly catatonic with depression. But others find the strength to fight back. …More

The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea By Junger, Sebastian 1997-01 - W. W. Norton & Company 9780393040166 Check Our Catalog It was the storm of the century, boasting waves over one hundred feet high - a tempest created by so rare a combination of factors that meteorologists deemed it 'the perfect storm'. When it struck in October 1991, there was virtually no warning. 'She's comin' on, boys, and she's comin' on strong', radioed Captain Billy Tyne of the Andrea Gail off the coast of Nova Scotia, and soon afterward the boat and its crew of six disappeared without a trace. In a narrative taut with the fury of the elements, Sebastian Junger takes us deep into the heart of the storm, depicting with vivid detail the courage, terror, and awe that surface in such a gale. Junger illuminates a world of swordfishermen consumed by the dangerous but lucrative trade of offshore fishing - 'a young man's game, a single man's game' - and gives us a glimpse of their lives in the tough fishing port of Gloucester, Massachusetts; he recreates the last moments of the Andrea Gail crew and recounts the daring high-seas rescues that made heroes of some and victims of others; and he weaves together the history of the fishing industry, the science of storms, and the candid accounts of the people whose lives the storm touched. The Perfect Storm is a real-life thriller that leaves us with the taste of salt air on our tongues and a breathless sense of what it feels like to be caught, helpless, in the grip of a force of nature beyond our understanding or control. We know, on the strength this stark and compelling journey into the dark heart of nature, what it feels like to drown. …More

The Grapes of Wrath By Steinbeck, John Introduction by Demott, Robert 2006-04 - Penguin Books 9780143039433 Check Our Catalog Now available in a Penguin Classics edition, Steinbeck's classic comes with a completely revised Introduction and, for the first time, detailed notes by leading Steinbeck scholar Robert DeMott. …More

Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History By Larson, Erik 2000-07 - Vintage Books USA 9780375708275 Check Our Catalog September 8, 1900, began innocently in the seaside town of Galveston, Texas. Even Isaac Cline, resident meteorologist for the U.S. Weather Bureau, failed to grasp the true meaning of the strange deep-sea swells and peculiar winds that greeted the city that morning. Mere hours later, Galveston found itself submerged by a monster hurricane that completely destroyed the town and killed over 6,000 people in what remains the greatest natural disaster in American history -- and Isaac Cline found himself the victim of a devastating personal tragedy. Using Cline's own telegrams, letters, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the science of hurricanes, Erik Larson builds a chronicle of one man's heroic struggle and fatal miscalculation in the face of a storm of unimaginable magnitude. Thrilling, powerful, and unrelentingly suspenseful, Isaac's Storm is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets the uncontrollable force of nature. …More

Masterpieces of Mystery and the Unknown By Christie, Agatha 2006-02 - St. Martin's Griffin 9780312351489 Check Our Catalog Agatha Christie is the world's most popular fiction writer; her works have been outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Best remembered for her classic crime novels such as "Murder on the Orient Express" and "And Then There Were None," her works have been cherished by generations of readers. Christie, however, was also a master of the short story and this volume collects some of her finest short pieces. With such masterpieces as 'Witness for the Prosecution' (the basis for the classic film) and 'Three Blind Mice' (the basis for her "Mousetrap," the longest-running play in history), as well as some of her lesser known works, including all of her supernatural suspense tales, this collection of twenty-eight ingenious tales displays Agatha Christie's full range as an author. …More