Ann Oliveri

Earthquake

Five months ago, Washington was hit by snowmaggedon, shutting down the city for a week.  Now it's a 3.6 earthquake at 5 a.m.  What next? Locusts?

Summer Reading

Are you addicted to the Food channel? Do you hang out in the kitchen at parties and browse your host's cookbooks? Then you will love Notes on Cooking: A Short Guide to an Essential Craft. It is the collected kitchen wisdom of some of the greatest chefs, reducing cooking to its essence, without a single recipe.

Mercifully brief, it is perfect for browsing while waiting for the the timer to go off. Jacques Pepin said Notes was "concise, focused, and sensible... full of useful advice."For a delightful and equally succinct review, see Donna Pilato's post on about.com.

Need a seashore thriller with historical flair?  My pick is Michael Capuzzo's "pulse pounding" account, Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916.

"Although this book is primarily about the great white shark attacks on the Jersey Shore, the reader comes away with a flavor of the times just before the eventful summer of 1917 and the First World War, when America was divided by economics and differing social mores."

 

 

If you love Jane Eyre, but are not inclined to reread it this summer, pick up Sheila Kohler's novel, Becoming Jane Eyre.

The New York Times Reviewer Christopher Benfey says that "Kohler was wise to pitch the novel in a subdued mode, not vying with the passions unleashed in the Brontë novels...She has written instead a small, uncluttered novel about sibling rivalry and the various meanings of 'publication' for women writers in a straitened world where women were supposed to stay private."

I found all of these books thanks to the recommendations of the librarians at the Little Falls Branch of Montgomery County's public libraries.  On the display, I found a so many of my favorites, such as Olive Kitteridge and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, that I picked up these three. 

Based on the reviews, I also gave these paperbacks to a number of birthday boys this month: Dave Eggers' latest, Zeitoun;  the WWII nonfiction art theft thriller, The Venus Fixers;  2010 Edgar winner The Last Child; and, Go Slow England.

What are you reading this summer?