Lemuria Books – Page 163

Page 163 of 257

Photo Love

On May 10, 2011

The photo section in Lemuria has always been above par for sure. There is a vast array of well known photographers and then some not well known who maybe should be. Recently we have gotten some incredible photography books in and I just have to spread the good word, as it were.

The first I have to mention is a retrospective of the amazing Michael Kenna’s career. I was first introduced to Michael Kenna by my amazing photography professor Gretchen Haine. Kenna’s photographs are what I would call , environmental portraits. His photos are completely devoid of human or animal life. I’m serious folks these photographs are not what the normal human eye sees. They are stunning and totally simple.

The complexity lies within the frozen moment in time that Kenna has somehow captured just at, what seems to be, the truly magical moment. I had a friend come over to my house a few weeks ago and he is a fellow photographer. I put this book in front of him and as he started to flip through it actual tears began to form in his eyes. Yeah it’s like that.

Michael Kenna: Images of the Seventh Day (Skira, 2010)

Book number 2 is a documentary style book by someone I have never heard of before. I just happened upon this book during Christmas when a customer asked about it. Well I looked it up and the computer showed that we indeed have a copy. I went to get it and was completely in love upon seeing the cover of the book.

The Projectionist by Kendall Messick is a photographic record of a year in the life of Messick’s childhood across-the-street neighbor. Gordon Brinckle appeared to be your everyday husband and father. He was the night projectionist at the local movie theater in his hometown of Middletown, Delaware for years.

However, during all that time he Gordon was constructing a miniature version of the movie palaces of times past. There was no detail that went unnoticed in Brinckle’s “picture palace of renown,” as he referred to it. This book is amazing and beautiful in every way a book can be. It tells an amazing story through rich, intimate photos.

The Projectionist by Kendall Messick (Princeton Architectural Press, 2010)

And finally for the third book. This book is a collaboration between the photographer Michael O’Brien with poetry by Tom Waits. I, personally, can get behind anything that has Tom Waits’ name attached to it. Just the cover of his book will suck you in. The photograph of the homeless gentleman on the front is completely haunting.

Upon opening the book you find that all the photos are of this same intensity and are accompanied by poems from Tom Waits. It’s good stuff. I found a little snippet of a review that could describe the purpose of this book much better than i can:

Waits and O’Brien’s 184-page book, Hard Ground, seeks to create “a portrait of homelessness that impels us to look into the eyes of people who live ‘on the hard ground’ and recognize our common humanity.”

Hard Ground with photos by Michael O’Brien, poetry by Tom Waits (University of Texas Press, 2011)

There are many many more fantastic photography books in this store. I have merely scratched the surface with this blog.

-Ellen

You’ve got to be there

By Former Lemurians

On May 9, 2011

In Newsworthy

by Kelly Pickerill

This week at Lemuria we’ve got some great events. The books, one about an Episcopal priest who was an integral force in the civil rights movement, another a collection of letters between one of Jackson’s most beloved authors and the editor of The New Yorker, and the third a chronicle of the blues people and places that shaped Mississippi music, are all worth checking out. The events themselves, however, are what will be most exciting. They’ll all be in our Dot Com building, and each will be a unique experience, featuring either a guest speaker, great food and fun, or live music.

First up, on Tuesday, May 10th starting at 5pm:

Araminta Stone Johnson presents And One Was a Priest: The Life and Times of Duncan M. Gray Jr.

Duncan M. Gray Jr. served various Mississippi parishes from 1953 to 1974, when he was elected bishop of Mississippi. But the story of his life is more than a story of his religious commitment to the Episcopal Church in Mississippi. Gray was a devotee of civil rights and a great player in the fight for racial equality. During our event, not only will Araminta Stone Johnson speak about her book and the life of Gray, but Bishop Duncan M. Gray Jr. will also be here to answer questions and sign the book. Book Friends of the University Press of Mississippi are hosting the event.

Then on Thursday, May 12th starting at 5pm:

Suzanne Marrs presents
What There Is to Say We Have Said: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and William Maxwell

Marrs is best known as Eudora Welty’s friend and biographer, and her new book contains never before published letters between Welty and William Maxwell, the editor of The New Yorker, of whom Welty wrote, “For fiction writers, he was the headquarters.” Reading their letters gives one a personal peep into the life of writers of the time, including James Thurber, William Shawn, Katherine Anne Porter, J. D. Salinger, Isak Dinesen, William Faulkner, John Updike, Virginia Woolf, Walker Percy, Ford Madox Ford, and John Cheever. There will be food and wine and lots of good literary talk.

And to end the week with a bang, on Friday, May 13th starting at 5pm:

Roger Stolle presents
Hidden History of Mississippi Blues

Stolle’s book focuses on the blues musicians who shaped our music heritage and those who keep it alive. Cathead Vodka, born in Mississippi and a proud supporter of live music, is co-sponsoring the event, which will include performances by Jimmy “Duck” Holmes before and afterwards. Come out to hear the blues, talk about music, and drink our famous $1 beer.

chuck palahniuk

By Former Lemurians

On May 8, 2011

In Fiction

so i received our advanced readers copy of palahniuk’s newest novel, damned, that will be coming out in october the other day. this man knows how to market himself. the advanced readers copy doesn’t just come in a box with several others from the publisher like most do. he sends us a big box filled to the brim with candy, a greeting card, some sort of toy (this time a plastic devil’s mask) and the book.

i haven’t started reading it yet as i am unable to read more than one book at a time without getting seriously confused. however, once i do get into it i’m sure a blog will follow shortly after.

here’s a blog that i did about palahniuk quite awhile ago that was a part of a series of my favorite authors favorite books.

by Zita

Scorecasting

By Former Lemurians

On May 7, 2011

In Sports

Last time I said I would be back with a post all about the new baseball books this year. I’ve decided to postpone that for another week or two – there are just so many new baseball titles that it’d be a shame to leave any out, and I want to read and check out as many of them as possible before revisiting the topic here.

In the meantime, I figured I would cover a book that I nearly included in the last post. I’m glad I didn’t, as it covers a broader spectrum of topics than just baseball and it’s worth devoting a separate post to it. The title is Scorecasting, and it’s squarely in the pop-economics genre popularized by “Freakonomics” a few years ago – this is confirmed by the cover blurb by Steven Levitt declaring it to be the “closest thing to Freakonomics I’ve seen since the original.”

That’s a pretty fair comparison – it’s a similar brand of behavioral economic analysis, but applied to a host of sports and sports-related issues. The first chapter, for example, is entitled “Whistle Swallowing,” and examines the phenomenon of referees and umpires preferring to err on the side of failing to make a call, than actively making an incorrect call. In terms of influence on a basketball game, there isn’t much difference between an actual foul that goes uncalled, and a phantom foul that is mistakenly called, but referees openly admit they’d rather not call an actual foul, than mistakenly call a foul where there isn’t one.

Likewise, it’s been determined (using Pitch f/x) that baseball umpires call a much smaller strike zone for an 0-2 pitch than they do for a 3-0 pitch – essentially, they are more comfortable making the passive mistake (failing to call the ball or strike that results in the at-bat continuing), than making the active mistake (mistakenly calling the ball or strike that results in a walk or strikeout). Examples abound across all sports – the officials, in their desire not to mistakenly affect the outcome, strongly prefer errors of omission to errors of comission.

What makes this revelation doubly interesting is that it seems fans as well as officials prefer this inherent bias. The loyal fan may complain when his favorite player is fouled and it goes uncalled, but not nearly so loudly as when he complains that the referee has changed the outcome by calling his favorite player for a non-existent foul. Fans know that referees will make mistakes, and it seems that they are more comfortable with the officials occasionally failing to make a call when they should, than if they change the outcome by actively making calls they shouldn’t.

I couldn’t help but think about Armando Galarraga’s near-perfect game when I read this chapter, as it stands as possibly the most striking and tragic counter-example in recent memory. On June 2nd of 2010, Galarraga was one out away from completing the 21st perfect game in Major League history. The 27th batter, Jason Donald, hit a slow infield roller that first baseman Miguel Cabrera fielded and flipped to Galarraga for the (apparent) final out at first base. Umpire Jim Joyce signaled that Donald was safe, but replay confirmed that Donald was in fact out by half a step.

Perhaps Joyce really was convinced that Donald was safe. But somehow, I can’t help but think that somewhere, in the back of his mind, he was worried about falsely awarding a pitcher with an undeserved perfect game. Joyce, an umpire widely regarded for his professionalism and class, was inherently biased against creating an historic outcome with a mistaken call – one can imagine him steeling himself to make the unpopular “safe” call if the circumstances demanded it. He was so concerned over this possibility that when the seemingly inevitable split-second play occurred, he was more ready, more willing, to make the unpopular “safe” call, even in error.

The easiest thing in the world would have been to call the 27th and final out on any close play – even if replay proved him wrong, nobody would have complained too loudly. But in his desire to make the correct call, in any situation, he was willing to risk taking away a perfect game from a 28 year old journeyman pitcher, to take away the historic moment of glory from a pitcher who would be demoted and then traded away for two minor leaguers in the offseason. Jim Joyce bucked the inherent bias; he did not swallow his whistle.

No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July

By Former Lemurians

On May 6, 2011

In Fiction

I first read this collection three or four years ago–I’m guessing when it first came out in paperback, but I can’t say for sure (I really need to start dating my books after I’ve finished them). Well, at the time, let’s guess that I was probably a naive freshman in college, I remember being shocked by some of these stories, maybe even a little repulsed by some of the characters. I didn’t dislike the collection, but I finished it, thought it was weird, and put it back on my shelf. Let’s chalk that up to my naivete and the fact that I probably bought it because my 18 year old self thought it’d be cool to read a book by indie filmmaker and artist Miranda July.

Last Sunday when I was getting ready for work, I spotted it above my desk and suddenly felt the urge to pick it up and re-read it. So I did. I re-read the entire collection in one afternoon, and I’ve re-evaluated my college freshman assessment. Certainly July’s characters are quirky, as anyone who knows her work might expect. And no doubt there is something a little bit repulsive about some of them, but then you realize, that what’s repulsive are their faults, and those faults are so human–things like the inability to leave your house sometimes no matter how much you want to, miming happiness with your significant other, having a birthmark removed because everyone says “she’s so beautiful except for…” and then missing that part of yourself that you got rid of because of some silly societal standards that you’re not even sure you agree with. These are struggles that I think we usually internalize and because we so rarely see them outside of ourselves, maybe we recoil a little when someone has put them out in the open as July does in this collection.

But to put it simply, I think these stories are wonderful and weird and sad. They make you feel a little bit lonely, but they also make you feel like you’re not alone in your loneliness and so it’s okay.

Miranda July is a performance artist, writer, actress, musician, and film director (yes, she does it all). She starred in and directed the film Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) as well as The Future, which debuted at Sundance this year. July is also one of the founders of the online arts community Learning to Love You More. Find out more about her and her work on her website here. -Kaycie

Suggestions for Mother’s Day

By admin

On May 5, 2011

In Newsworthy

She Walks in Beauty: A Woman’s Journey Through Poems by Caroline Kennedy (Harper, April 2011)

I enjoyed Caroline Kennedy’s talk with David Letterman this week. I was even more charmed when I flipped through this collection of poetry. As Kennedy notes in the introduction, poetry “shapes an endless conversation about the most important things in life.” She has collected poems familiar and unfamiliar and arranged them into sections which mark the stages of a woman’s life. Beautiful.

The Paris Wife by Paula McClain (Random House, February 2011)

I have not heard one negative comment about this book. Our staff and many of our customers LOVE this book. Nan had this to say in her blog:

“Told from the point of view of Hadley, the first wife, or the “Paris wife”, this novel gives an “up close and personal” view of Hemingway, the man, and his newly emerging career. As he and Hadley travel throughout Europe, and particularly Spain, the reader watches as the writer gathers details for his first short story collection In Our Time, and for his first novel The Sun Also Rises”

This is a fantastic read for fans of Hemingway or readers who are just looking for a “good” read. Read more of Nan’s blog here.

A Classical Journey: The Houses of Ken Tate (January 2011)

With A Classical Journey Ken Tate gives us his first book since 2005. Filled with photographs of homes across Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, Journey sets an easy pace into Tate’s world of “intuitive classicism” with beautiful foldout reflections, poetry, quotations and mini-interviews. Read more on Ken Tate here.

Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks (Penguin, May 2011)

I couldn’t put this one down. Brooks inspiration for the novel stems from this one historical fact: In 1665, a young man becomes the first native American to graduate from Harvard College. Her story revolves around this young man, Caleb, and a young woman named Bethia who befriends Caleb at a young age. As they both grow up, they must make cultural choices that will affect them for the rest of their lives.

Two Wonderful Cookbooks: A Southerly Course by Martha Hall Foose and Sara Foster’s Southern Kitchen (both new this April)

A Southerly Course has beautiful photography, recipes and stories by Martha. Sara Foster’s Southern Kitchen stays true to the simple southern tradition of cooking. I would have a hard time picking between this two. I’d want both!

Deer Proof Plants

By Former Lemurians

On May 4, 2011

In Gardening

Even though I live a few miles away from Jackson in a semi country-side, I have never had trouble with deer eating any of my flowers or plants, UNTIL this past fall. I guess I bragged to my neighbors, who had been battling the deer non-stop for many years, too much! So, I planted my beautiful yellow pansies one weekend last fall, and a couple of nights later, when I got home from work after dark, I noticed that they had all wilted even though I had watered them. Correction….I THOUGHT they had wilted.

Well, the next morning, I was in for a surprise: the pansies had not wilted, the delicate flowers had been EATEN and only the leaves remained. Boy, was I mad! I had liked deer up until then, being an animal lover, and I would often slow down, roll down my window and gaze at their beauty, but now, I don’t feel as lovable toward them as I did! I am told that pansies are like candy to deer. Well, if they like that kind of candy, I can’t satisfy their wish!

So, now I am in the category of other gardeners who try to plant deer resistant flowers and plants. We are really lucky in one area at least: deer hate daffodils and other bulbs, so at least I’m safe there. But, now I have to think about one more thing besides light and water requirements when I buy new flowers: I have to think about the deer too! To help my search with deer proof vegetation, I use two books we have in the gardening section at Lemuria: Deerproofing Your Yard & Garden by Rhonda Massingham Hart and Deer Resistant Landscaping:Proven Advice and Strategies for Outwitting Deer and Other Pesky Mammals by Neil Soderstrom.

Deer Resistant Landscaping includes chapters on how to outwit other pesks such as voles, which Mississippi gardeners battle often, and crafty squirrels as well! In both of these excellent comprehensive manuals, many plant lists appear which help the gardener make wise choices. So, if we have another hot summer, which, of course, is a given, and if we experience a drought, which also may be a given, then the deer will be hungry and thirsty. Make them find somewhere else besides your yard to have their next feast! Come take a look at these books–I think you’ll want both on your gardening bookshelf. -Nan

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

By Former Lemurians

On May 3, 2011

In History

Erik Larson is back again but this time it is 1933, Hitler is rising to power and William E. Dodd has been assigned to Berlin as the United States Ambassador to Germany.

Dodd is a frugal professor from Chicago and brings his wife, son and daughter, Martha, along with him to have the opportunity of a lifetime. Very soon, Martha becomes seduced by the extravagance of the ‘New Germany’ and becomes involved with many men including the first chief of the Gestapo and a Soviet spy. Dodd, of course, comes into contact with many high ranking Nazi officials including Hitler and while having to attend all these glittering parties becomes gradually suspicious and some might say paranoid that what is being presented to him might just not be all there is to this “New Germany”.

Meanwhile, back at the State Department there is a growing faction of people working against Dodd and they continue to ignore his letters and telegraphs that voice these concerns. Dodd and Martha continue through the year to find their lives gradually transformed and beliefs changed until the fateful night that reveals to the world Hitler’s true character. Larson has once again written an excellent historical narrative that “sheds fresh light on why America stood by as Hitler rose to power”.

Even if you normally do not read nonfiction but are interested in this era of history, you will certainly find this book informative and simply thrilling to read.

In the Garden of Beasts will be available on May 10.

Desert Island Books: Science Fiction Picks

By Former Lemurians

On May 2, 2011

In Science Fiction

I mentally sorted through a ridiculous number of books to get this post down to five favorites, but I think they’re all good starting points for non-genre readers. If I had to hand someone a stack of books that would be guaranteed to get them to come back for more, these would be it.

The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell

When I first read this book, someone described it as “Jesuits in space”. While that description is technically true, this book has endured as one of my favorite books in any genre.

When eerily beautiful music is picked up by an observation station, Father Emilio Sandoz is charged with the task of going to find the people (or non-people) who wrote it. Along with a kind but raggedy band of scientists and linguists, he sets off for Rakhat. What follows is an alternatively gentle and violent meditation on religion, humanity, colonization, and how even our best intentions can destroy the things we love.

Russell is a consistently poetic and thoughtful writer, and her own questions regarding religion and culture shine through in the book. What is our duty to each other? When do you really understand people who are different from you? Ultimately, The Sparrow supplies very few definitive answers, but will stick with you long after you’ve read it.

Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis

These two books are listed together because they represent one very long manuscript that was split in two for publication. A word to the wise: there is no cliffhanger at the end of Blackout, and no recap in All Clear.

These books are also up for every big science fiction award this year, and are two of the best books I’ve read in years.

Polly, Eileen, and Mike are graduate students studying WW2. As time traveling historians, they can go back in time and observe, but are protected by the static laws of time travel. Eileen is sent to the countryside to observe the evacuated children, while Polly works as a shop girl during the Blitz. Mike is embedded as a reporter at Dunkirk so he can study every day heroes. It quickly becomes clear that something has gone terribly wrong. Their return routes won’t open, and one or all of them may have done something to change the outcome of the war.

The book is more a study of the courage and chaos that ordinary people displayed during the Blitz, as well as a great historical novel that focuses on how individual actions can have a huge effect on history. The characters are likeable, and the dangers seem very real. If you’re into WW2 history, this is a great way to see it in a new light.

Cordelia’s Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold

Lois McMaster Bujold is singlehandedly reinventing the space opera genre with her Miles Vorkosigan series. Instead of focusing on high drama with aliens, she’s written a lengthy series that puts character, plot, and great writing above the hallmarks of the genre. She’s got some great female heroines as well.

Cordelia Naismith is a biologist exploring new eco-systems. Aral Vokosigan is affectionately known on his planet as “The Butcher of Komarr”, and has been left for dead by his mutinous crew on the same far off planet as Cordelia. They’re from entirely different cultures politically and ideologically, and as in most great romances, hate each other on sight. However, the desire to live can overcome many obstacles, so they end up working together to outsmart both assassins and a political coup to return home.

The strength of these books isn’t the plot (which is a light take on the normal political scheming and murder that you find in space opera), but the characters. Cordelia and Aral are real people with thoughts and opinions, and Bujold smartly explores the cultural and political differences between them.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is a literary star, and Neverwhere is a fantastic example of why he is so popular. Originally a BBC miniseries, it was turned into a wonderful novel later on.

Richard Mayhew is an average London executive whose life is turned upside down when he nurses an injured homeless woman back to health in his apartment. The next day, he discovers that no one seems to be able to see him and that his job and his apartment have been given away to other people. He embarks on a quest to find Door and discovers a world where abandoned tube stations contain a community of people who are not what they seem.

Neverwhere is full of memorably creepy characters and an innovative use of the London subway system. You’ll never look at a map of London the same way again.

Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley

Rose Daughter is the most traditional science fiction/fantasy book on this whole list, and Robin McKinley is a first rate fairy tale goddess. YA readers may know her as the author of the classic “The Hero and the Crown”, but she also writes stunning adult novels.

Rose Daughter is based on Beauty and the Beast, so don’t expect to be surprised by the plot. The meat of the story is in the characters and the incredibly detailed settings (the botanical descriptions are lengthy and gorgeous). Beauty and her three sisters move to a small cottage with a garden full of dead roses. Each of the sisters is struggling with themselves: Beauty is timid and hides out with her flowers, Lionheart is a tomboy, and Jeweltongue is too smart for the men in the town to take seriously. When Beauty finds herself traded for her father’s freedom, she also finds another garden that can be brought back to life. At its heart, Rose Daughter is a book about unconventional passions, whether that be flowers or Beasts or books. -HJ

Panther Tract: It’s about boars, but it’s really about Mississippians

By admin

On May 1, 2011

In Adventure, Art/Photography

Last week Lisa wrote a blog entitled It’s not your typical day at Lemuria about our event with Melody Golding and the Panther Tract crew. Well, she was right, it wasn’t any kind of normal around here. The Panther Tract folks have been touring all over the state in the last week and if you haven’t heard of the book, here’s the deal: the books is full of photographs and stories of the tradition of boar hunting in Mississippi – it’s wild boar, hunting dogs, knives, guns, horses, but most of all the people who love the sport.

So, to get the idea of the book project across to those of us who are uninitiated Melody isn’t just doing signings, no, she’s bringing the boar hunting culture to each event. That’s right, a whole bunch of hunters showed up in their hunting garb with a mounted boar head, a video of the hunt, they decorated the store with prints from the book and bamboo, and they were all guzzling beer and telling tall tales and hunting stories. I think you get the idea. I’ll tell you what though, this book is a cool document of a part of southern culture, but it’s also documentary evidence of what all Mississippians believe – it’s all about the people. Thanks Melody.

Page 163 of 257

Photo Love

You’ve got to be there

chuck palahniuk

Scorecasting

No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July

Suggestions for Mother’s Day

Deer Proof Plants

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

Desert Island Books: Science Fiction Picks

Panther Tract: It’s about boars, but it’s really about Mississippians

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