The recent release of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, written by Yale law professor Amy Chua, has caused quite a stir with the media and a swath of American parents who have taken issue with her rigid approach to motherhood. Chua, who chose to raise her two daughters the Chinese way, expected nothing less than academic perfection from her children and banned participation in sleep overs, video games and school plays so that the girls could spend arduous hours practicing their musical instruments. There is no arguing this mother got results, her daughters, now 15 and 18, are straight A students and the oldest has performed at Carnegie Hall. Yet, Journalists and parents have criticized Chua for being cruel and unnecessarily strict, amid grumbles about calling social services. In interviews, Chua has explained that the book was supposed to be funny, she intended it to be a sort of satire of her experience with motherhood, and admits that was less of a slave-driver in real life. Somehow, knowing this does not make reading about her screaming rants at her children any less unpleasant for some. But that is here in the U.S., how are her methods viewed in China? Read more…

During the summer of 2008, as journalist Ted Gup sifted through the dusty contents of an old suitcase once belonging to his grandfather, he made a surprising discovery. A trove of letters, heartfelt pleas for help written during the dark days of the Depression, was uncovered. Further investigation found that Gup’s grandfather, Sam Stone, had placed a small ad in a Canton, Ohio newspaper days before Christmas in 1933 calling on people to write to him about their need, and offering “Financial aid”. Stone used the alias, B. Virdot, and promised all the letter writers confidentiality. Good to his word, the man sent $5 to 150 families, about $12,400 translated into today’s money. These honest, raw letters and his grandfather’s simple act of kindness served as the impetus for Gup’s book A Secret Gift (The Penguin Press HC, 368pgs). Read more…

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Stacy Schiff searches for the real woman behind the centuries old myths in the new biography Cleopatra: A Life (Little, Brown and Company, 384pgs). Historical propaganda has often painted the Egyptian queen as a scheming beauty who seduced powerful men like Julius Caesar and Marc Antony for political gain. But Schiff’s research revealed a much more intelligent and nuanced personality. “It’s astonishing how tenacious a myth is. I mean, Plutarch is the first to say that her beauty was by no means as remarkable as was her charm and her intellect. And here we are 2,000 years later and we’re still stressing the beauty,” says Schiff in an interview with SFGate. “Here you have an incredibly ambitious, accomplished woman who comes up against some of the same problems that women in power come up against today. Cleopatra plays an oddly pivotal role in world history as well; in her lifetime, Alexandria is the center of the universe, Rome is still a backwater.” Read more…

Avi Steinberg’s intelligent and amusing new memoir Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian (Nan A. Talese, 416pgs) recounts his two year stint working as a librarian at Boston’s Deer Island prison library. The poorly motivated, but highly educated Harvard grad found the job posted innocuously listed on Craigslist, and was hired even though he did not hold a degree in Library Science. Despite poor conditions, strict prison regulations and interacting with felons on a daily basis, Steinberg found the job oddly appealing. In addition to duties common to most librarians such as checking out books and helping patrons with research, the 20-something academic also had the more colorful duties of examining books for “kites”, prohibited messages traded between prisoners of the opposite sex, and keeping an eye out for any library materials that could potentially be fashioned into weapons. “I am living my (quixotic) dream: a book-slinger with a badge and a streetwise attitude, part bookworm, part badass,” quotes a review in USA TODAY. Read more…

By Siddhartha Mukherjee
Scribner | 592pgs
Release Date: November 16, 2010

Summary:
Cancer physician and acclaimed science writer Siddhartha Mukherjee delineates the history of cancer in his new book The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. To tell the detailed story of this insidious disease, the oncologist cites research and treatment methods from physicians through the ages, beginning with an ancient papyrus written by Egyptian physician Imhotep around 1600 B.C., which contains the oldest known written cancer diagnosis. Mukherjee also touches on the birth of chemotherapy, the groundbreaking advances made by Dr. Sidney Farber in treating childhood leukemia, and his partnership with philanthropist Mary Lasker to increase awareness and advance cancer research. Nearly 600,000 Americans will be killed by cancer this year. Worldwide, almost seven million cancer victims will die. The author illuminates this terrifying topic to educate readers and de-mystify the illness. He writes with the deep knowledge and compassion of one who has spent years working directly with people stricken with this dreaded disease. Read more…

Amy Sedaris, sister to humorist David Sedaris, brings her own brand of comedy to the crafting world with her new book Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People (Grand Central Publishing, 304pgs). This tome, along with her previous title, I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence, establishes Sedaris as a sort of lifestyle maven for the warped home-maker. “Crafting, or ‘making things,’ has always been a delightful pastime of mine because it requires putting common elements together in order to achieve a lovely something that nobody needs,” she states in the book. The crafting guide blends a mixture corniness and odd practicality with a dash of the truly strange to create unique projects such as a doll wig doorknob and a miniature cardboard ghetto for a dying mouse. The projects are divided into nutty sections like “Knowing Your Knack for Knickknacks”, “Sausages” and “The Joy of Poverty”, and are peppered with photographs of Sedaris as various characters that tie in with the crafts. Read more…

By Antonia Fraser
Nan A. Talese | 336 pages
Release Date: November 2, 2010

Summary:
In the heartfelt memoir Must You Go?: My Life with Harold Pinter, celebrated historical biographer Antonia Fraser shares intimate moments with her husband Pinter, the renowned playwright. The two Brits met at a party in 1975, though both were married to other people at the time. Fraser was wife to Tory member of Parliament and mother to six children, while Pinter was wed to an actress and had one child. Their romantic relationship had a somewhat scandalous beginning, but deepened into a love that spanned more than three decades. The couple lived together from August of 1975 until the end of 2008 when the Nobel Prize winning dramatist succumbed to cancer. The narrative, mainly culled from events recorded in Fraser’s diaries, offers private glimpses into the lives of two very public people, and reveals a marriage blessed with success and joy, yet tempered near the end with the challenge of illness. Read more…

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Boardwalk Empire, the HBO series set on the Atlantic City boardwalk during the 1920′s, garnered rave reviews from its first airing and boasts some of Hollywood’s top talent. Along with the contributions of director Martin Scorsese, writer Terence Winter and actor Steve Buscemi, the valuable skills of a local librarian were called upon to help authenticate the details of Prohibition-era Atlantic City. Heather Halpin Perez, an archivist for the historical Alfred M. Heston Collection at the Atlantic City Free Public Library, was contacted by the show’s lead researcher. “I was one of the historical consultants who was working at providing details about some of the sets and costumes,” she tells American Libraries. The series, which centers around Nucky Thompson, a fictionalized version of real-life crime boss Enoch “Nucky” Johnson, combines fiction with historical fact, and draws on the library’s archives to accurately re-create set pieces such as newspapers and boardwalk attractions. Read more…

By Ron Chernow
Penguin Press HC | 904pgs
Release Date: October 5, 2010

Summary:
Award-winning author Ron Chernow delves into the life of another iconic figure of American history in Washington: A Life. George Washington, the most revered of our nation’s founders, is portrayed as a man of volatile temper, deep passions and incredible political genius. Drawing on vast amounts of historical research, Chernow goes beyond the fables of cherry trees and wooden teeth to show a living, breathing human being rather than a two-dimensional reference in a history book. The tome spans the entirety of Washington’s life, following his difficult childhood, victories as a young soldier in the French and Indian War, participation in the Constitutional Convention, and his terms as the first President of the United States. Chernow also sheds light on Washington’s personal relationships, touching on his youthful romance with Sally Fairfax, the prickly relationship with his mother, and his marriage to Martha. The author examines the first President’s interior life through all of his professional and personal challenges and triumphs and reveals him to be a man of “deep feelings” who struggles to control his emotions throughout his life. Read more…

English professor Yunte Huang unravels the true story behind the creation of Charlie Chan, the Chinese detective of books and film who has alternately entertained and offended the American public. Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History (W.W. Norton & Co., 354pgs) follows four main story threads, the first being Chang Apana, the real man on which author E.D. Biggers based the fictional Chan. Apana was a Chinese detective who worked in Honolulu during the late 19th and early 20h centuries, catching criminals with his signature bullwhip. The second thread focuses on Biggers’ story, a small town boy from Ohio who graduated from Harvard and went on to create one of detective noir’s most prominent characters. The third thread centers around Chan’s incarnation on film and the insidious racial stereotypes that Hollywood propagated. Lastly, the author discusses “Chan’s haunting presence during the era of postmodern politics and ethnic pride in contemporary America.” Read more…