Four4U+: Rediscovering History

This thematically connected list has been expanded beyond four titles (#44U+) so readers have more choices and can continue their exploration of the theme. And because the history major in me found it such an interesting topic to investigate ... :-)

A number of books have been published in the past few years offering opportunities for rediscovering history from a different perspective. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rachel Skloot (2010) kicked this off by telling the true story of one woman's unknowing and unacknowledged contribution to the marvels of contemporary medical research. Pretty Good for a Girl: Women In Bluegrass by Murphy Hicks Henry (2013) provided a cultural history of over 70 overlooked women in American music. And 2015 brought Rachel Swaby's Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science – And the World with inspiring profiles of dismissed women from the field of science.

2016 was a banner year for uncovering the stories behind women (formerly) lost to the historical record and 2017 seems to be continuing the theme. The topics of the following titles range from science to royalty to art to pirates and include a catchall title of forgotten women throughout history.

The Glass Universe: How the Ladies of Harvard University Took the Measure of the Stars by Dava Sobel (2016) - a compelling and detailed account of an obscure but true story of women's contributions to astronomy

Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly (2016) - the true story and major motion picture about the black female mathematicians of NASA who helped launch Americans into space

Rejected Princesses: Tales of History’s Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Hellcats by Jason Porath (2016) – a celebration of “inspirational, badass women throughout history ... based on (the) popular Tumblr blog” rejectedprincesses.tumblr.com

 

Wonder Women: 25 Innovators, Inventors, and Trailblazers Who Changed History by Sam Maggs (2016) - a lineup of influential women from the fields of science, medicine, espionage, innovation, and adventure

Identity Unknown: Rediscovering Seven American Women Artists by Donna Seaman (Feb 2017) - a combined biography rescuing seven forgotten female artists from oblivion, bringing their art and stories to light

Pirate Women: The Princesses, Prostitutes, and Privateers Who Ruled the Seven Seas by Laura Sook Duncombe (April 2017) - a researched history of swashbuckling female buccaneers, both real and legendary

I can hardly wait to see what other titles may be coming. :-)

Twitter: #44U or #4-4-U

Four4U: Kennedy Speculation

It's November and the forthcoming release of a nonfiction title by the granddaughter of Abraham Zapruder, got me thinking about books related to the Kennedy assassination. There are plenty of books about this event (too many to count!), so using this new title as a guide I concentrated on books that focused on the impact of JFK's assassination on an individual or family.

This led to three fiction titles covering a range of genres: time travel, hard-boiled mystery, and historical fiction, tapping into the personal impact theme of the new memoir.

11/22/63 by Stephen King (2011) - a high school English teacher learns how to time travel and is convinced he can 'fix' history for himself and others by going back and preventing the Kennedy assassination

Ask Not by Max Allan Collins (2013) - a detective investigates the deaths (suicides, accidents, murders) of Kennedy assassination witnesses who's stories all conflicted with the Warren Commission's "one-man, one-shooter" conclusion

Top Down by Jim Lehrer (2013) - at the behest of the daughter of a former Secret Service agent, a reporter investigates why the security bubble top was not in place during Kennedy's fatal ride through Dallas

Twenty-Six Seconds: A Personal History of the Zapruder Film by Alexandra Zapruder (Nov 2016) - the granddaughter of Abraham Zapruder relates how his home movie impacted her family as well as the American public

Twitter: #44U or #4-4-U

Fou4U Bonus!: 'The Tempest' Retold

Well, it's not Friday but I couldn't resist posting this Bonus #44U list ... :-)

Beginning in October 2015, the Hogarth Shakespeare series (part of Penguin Random House) began publishing re-imaginings of Shakespeare's plays with each novel being written by a best-selling novelist using contemporary settings and prose. Earlier this week, the newest title in the series was published, a re-telling of The Tempest written by none other than Margaret Atwood.

This seemed a perfect opportunity to spotlight other variations on The Tempest in a new #44U list. Each story employees a different setting: ranging from a contemporary prison, to steampunk science fiction, to the cultural conflict of the early 1960s, to a new fantasy version coming in 2017.

Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood (2016) - using a contemporary setting, Atwood envisions Shakespeare's The Tempest with a betrayed theater director plotting his revenge from inside prison and staging a production of the play to draw in those who crossed him

The Dream of Perpetual Motion by Dexter Clarence Palmer (2010) - an imprisoned writer who's only 'companions' aboard a perpetually floating zeppelin, are the disembodied voice of his mad lover, Miranda and her cryogenically frozen father, Prospero, an insane, genius obsessed with creating a perpetual motion machine.

Prospero's Daughter by Elizabeth Nunez (2006) - in the early 1960's a white scientist, exiled for performing experiments on his patients, retreats with his daughter to a Caribbean island and will have to learn to deal with the fact that his child has fallen in love with a young boy of mixed-race.

Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey (Feburary 2017) - a dark, fantastical exploration of the budding relationship between a dutiful, loving daughter and the reluctant servant her father bewitched into servitude

 Twitter: #44U or #4-4-U 

Four4U: Creepy-Crawly Horror

Spiders, and bedbugs, and ants, and ... microscopic alien parasites! OH MY!!!!

As it's October and we are heading towards Halloween, I felt a #44U list of HORROR titles might be fun. Although ... I went in a decidedly 'buggy' direction with four titles (two released this year) that are not only scary but will, quite possibly, cause an eerie itchy sensation. :-)

This creepy-crawly theme offers a broad spectrum of Horror sub-genres: from ancient evil, to genetic engineering, to psychological suspense, and finally science fiction. For insectophobics, these are the stuff of nightmares!

The Hatching by Ezekiel Boone (2016) - "A series of bizarre manifestations around the world, from a human-eating black mass in the Peru jungle and a baffling plane crash in America to unusual seismic patterns in Kanpur and a nuclear accident in China, lead to the discovery of the emergence of an ancient dormant species." (NoveList)

Invasive by Chuck Wendig (2016) - An FBI investigation into a possible terrorist attack by what appear to be genetically engineered ants leads to a billionaire philanthropist, an isolated island laboratory, scientists who resent the implication their work may be responsible, and the release of a highly aggressive bioweapon. 

Bedbugs by Ben H. Winters (2011) - A young couple are ecstatic when they find their 'dream' apartment in New York City ... until the wife starts waking up each morning with small bites on her body and is convinced the apartment is crawling with bedbugs despite the fact no one else has been bitten. 

Infected by Scott Siegler (2008) - While the CIA and CDC race to stop the spread of a mysterious parasitic disease turning people into raving, paranoid murderers, a former football player 'confronts' the infection and discovers the  triangular growths just beneath his skin want something more from him.

Twitter hashtag: #44U or #4-4-U 

Four4U: Forthcoming London Mysteries

It's Friday and as I was checking order carts and reserve ratios this week, I noticed an interesting connecting thread among several titles coming out in October, generating the idea for today's #44U list. 

All four titles are mysteries set in London: two center around real historical figures (a detective and a writer & his detective), one offers a spin on a famous British detective, and last but far from least, is a collection of short stories about an infamous London murderer.

   

By Gaslight by Steven Price - William Pinkerton, son of Allan Pinkerton founder of the famed US detective agency, comes to London to unravel his father's only unsolved case

Edgar Allan Poe and the London Monster by Karen Lee Street - a debut novel where reality and fiction mix. Writer and poet, Edgar Allan Poe travels to London to ask his friend, the famed detective C. August Dupin, to solve a family mystery

A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas - first in new 'Lady Sherlock' series. Charlotte Holmes, dissatisfied with her lot as a female in Victorian era London, deliberately makes herself a social pariah in order to pursue a calling as a detective, taking on the name of Sherlock Holmes

The Big Book of Jack the Ripper Stories edited by Otto Penzler - a massive collection of new and well-known tales dealing with the real-life London serial killer, whose identity continues to be a enigma as well as an inspiration to mystery writers.

Twitter hashtag: #44U or #4-4-U 

Four4U: A Twist on Austen

It's #Four4UFriday!

The guiding theme for this #44U list is Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, although the titles are not simply continuations or spin-offs on Miss Austen's tale. The four titles below offer a different twist on the story of Pride and Prejudice and cross over into a variety of genres: horror, mystery, historical fiction, and contemporary women's fiction. 

  

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Graham-Smith (2009) - the mash-up combining classic literature with horror, that kicked off the mash-up craze.

Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James (2011) - six years after their happily ever after, all is not well for Elizabeth and Darcy when the relatives come to visit and a murder occurs.

Longbourn by Jo Baker (2013) - looks at the downstairs life of the Bennett family servants during the time of events related in Pride and Prejudice.

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld (2016) - a fun, 21st Century re-envisioning of the classic with all the same characters in modern day roles and situations.

Give these a try and see if you don't look at Miss Austen's classic in a whole new way. Enjoy! :-)

Twitter hashtag: #44U or #4-4-U

Four4U: Little Bits and Pieces

It's a #Four4U Friday! :-)

I like nonfiction compilations that offer interesting bits of information about lots of things, all in one package. As the reader, I get to pick and choose what to explore each time I pick up the book. There's no need for a book mark - just choose a page and start!

So here are four titles with a #44U theme of Little Bits and Pieces. They cover a wide range of topics: photography, history & chronology, literature & pop culture, and (a forthcoming title about) geography & travel. 

• With these books, it's all about the subtitle! :-)

 
Finding Momo by Andrew Knapp (2014) - a colorful, little photo collection along the lines of the older children's puzzle book: Where's Waldo. The subtitle tells the reader what to do: "My Dog is Hiding in This Book. Can You Find Him?" 

 
Bad Days in History by Michale Farquhar (2015) - the subtitle says it all: "A Gleefully Grim Chronicle of Misfortune, Mayhem, and Misery for Every Day of the Year" Want to find out what bad thing happened on your birthday, then this is the book for you. 

 
Slaughterhouse 90210 by Maris Kreizman (2015) - has the very apt subtitle: "Where Great Books Meet Pop Culture" This one is for those who like to mix classic literature with present day media. 

 
Atlas Obscura by Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras & Ella Morton (coming Oct 2016) - has the subtitle: "An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders" and offers an around the globe tour of unique & amazing sites; some known, most not. 


Twitter hashtag: #44U or #4-4-U 

Four4U: Four Titles on a Theme

Trying something new that combines applying appeal factors with selections made for library collection development, two of my favorite things! :-)

At least once each month (possibly more than once), I will post a list of four titles connected by a theme, a Four4U (#44U) list. The titles could be considered as once-a-week reading suggestions and used to explore a general theme throughout the month. Alternatively, you might read them one right after the other OR simply choose a single title to peruse! Your choice! :-)

This #44U list was inspired by a post on Filmmusicreporter.com regarding composer John Williams, who will be writing the score for Steven Spielberg's film adaptation of Ready Player One, coming to theaters in 2018! 

That brought to mind three other titles set in or dealing with different aspects in the world of video games and virtual reality. Therefore, I offer three books, one just published in April, and a movie for your consideration. The film is an oldie but a goodie that still holds up even 30+ years later; especially if you've never seen it! 

So here is a #44U of Video Game Realities ...

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (2011) - this is so much fun with a plethora of pop culture references from the 70s and 80s, dealing with a virtual treasure hunt to find the mother-of-all video game prizes. It is a great read and an even better listen with Wil Wheaton, Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: the Next Generation, doing the narration! Try the audiobook for this one!

You: A Novel by Austin Grossman (2013) - a mix of reality and mystery that provides a look into how a video game is developed and marketed. The main character, hired to debug the newest version of a hugely popular game, gets so wrapped up in his job he ends up holding personal conversations with the fantasy heroes from the game. 

Arena by Holly Jennings (April 2016) - pampered, superstar pro athletes train full-time to compete in a fully immersive virtual sport! The corporate-sponsored, Virtual Gaming League members fight (to their virtual death) in a gladiatorial elimination tournament to determine which team will take the world championship.

The Last Starfighter (1984) - a motion picture starring Lance Guest, Dan O'Herlihy & Robert Preston (Yes, Robert Preston of The Music Man fame, in a role you would not have expected). A young video game virtuoso is taken into outer space to defend Earth and the Universe from the aliens featured in his favorite game.

Twitter hashtag: #44U or #4-4-U