Tattoo Machine

Today’s post is from Ellen at Parr Library:

Tattoo Machine: Tall Tales, True Stories, and My Life in Ink  by Jeff Johnson

The author of this bawdy tale has been a professional tattoo artist for 18 years and is the co-owner of the Sea Tramp Tattoo Company in Portland, Oregon.  He reflects on everything from his days as an apprentice to some of the great inkers in the trade.  He tells of trying to keep artists sane and sober enough to keep his business running.  His shop is a “street shop.”  Opening at noon and staying open late into the night, the business attracts interest from late night partiers, gangsters, college girls looking for a tramp stamp, as well as just the curious.  The resulting encounters are sometimes hilarious, sometimes frightening, and always entertaining.

If you’ve thought about getting a tattoo, this book may help sway your decision.  Not for the faint of heart.

Narrow Dog to Indian River

Today’s post is from Ramarie at Harrington Library:

Narrow Dog to Indian River  by Terry Darlington

I didn’t want this book to end!  I love travel memoirs, and this one traces the exploits of an English couple who sail their narrow rowboat (a canal boat) down the eastern Atlantic coast along with their dog, a whippet named Jim.  America is a “savage land”, with its fierce sea and tides that are a menace to the gentle sailing of their vessel.  The wildlife and insects are a constant wonder and fright, and the people they meet along the way are their own special species.  Terry Darlington, the husband, writes the book with great doses of poetry and humor, some of which had me laughing out loud.  I was anxious to visit their website after finishing their book, to see photos, and to especially see their dog Jim who is definitely the third character in the book.  It seems they are now workinig on a new book about sailing their narrowboat in Scotland in search of the Loch Ness Monster.  I can’t wait for it!

The Lost City of Z

Today’s post is from Annie at Parr Library.

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann

The author is a staff writer at the New Yorker magazine, who doesn’t even like to camp out.  This is his first book and it has been optioned by Brad Pitt’s production company and Paramount Pictures for a possible movie.

 In 1925, at age 58,  the intrepid British explorer Percy Fawcett , along with his 21 year old son Jack  and Jack’s friend Raleigh Rimmel, set out into the Amazon jungles in northeastern Brazil in search of “Z”, Fawcett’s name for the highly advanced civilization he was sure existed in the depths of the Amazon.  They vanished without a trace.  In subsequent years, dozens of expeditions ventured into the jungle in search of Fawcett, including Percy Fleming, brother of Ian Fleming, and an English actor of the day, Albert de Winton, found years after he set out, floating naked and crazy in a canoe, by Indians who promptly killed him.  All in all, it is estimated that 100 would-be-rescuers lost their lives in the jungle looking for Fawcett.

 Grann himself must be counted among these “Fawcett Freaks” because while researching this book, he leaves wife and child and attempts to follow Fawcett’s trail.  Fortunately he lives to tell the tale.  And what a tale it is!  Grann, who had access to Fawcett’s diaries, travel logs, and correspondence, meticulously recreates this Victorian man — a soldier, sometime spy, expert surveyor and dashing explorer—and his obsession with Z.  Fawcett was the Indiana Jones of his day and the inspiration for Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World.  Grann intersperses details of Fawcett’s jungle hardships (malaria, cyanide-spitting millipedes, flies whose maggoty larvae burrow under the skin and fester, vampire bats, near starvation) with his own adventures in the jungle.  He comes closer than anyone to determining Fawcett’s fate.  And as for Z—that’s the surprise at the end of the book.  A great story.

Down Around Midnight

Today’s post is from Lynn at Parr Library.

Down Around Midnight: A Memoir of Crash and Survival by Robert Sabbag

Down Around Midnight is the story of the crash of Air New England Flight 248 on June 17, 1979. There weren’t many wild places left on Cape Cod at the time and even fewer now, but that plane crashed in one of those hidden and remote places. The pilot, who should not even have been flying that night, was the only one killed. But the lives of all the survivors were irrevocably changed.

Sabbag was one of those survivors who, despite his own injuries, struggled valiantly to get the other passengers moved from the wreckage to places of safety. Thirty years later he still questions whether he did the right thing by moving severely injured sisters away from the fuselage which could have exploded any minute. Did his decision to move them out of harm’s way cause them even more severe physical damage?

In this memoir, Sabbag attempts to come to terms with his own decisions that horrible night and seeks out the other survivors to find out how their lives were affected by the crash.

Down Around Midnight is an interesting read that made me think that those who survived supposedly unscathed still have hidden scars.

How the States Got Their Shapes

Today’s post is from Brent at Schimelpfenig Library:

How the States Got Their Shapes   by Mark Stein

Back in elementary school we all wondered, at least I did, why do some of the states in the United States have nice long straight borders and others appear like the surveyor got lost in the woods, or was drinking and surveying simultaneously. This fun book answers all those questions that have been nagging at the back of your brain for oh so many years.  If you read this book you will know why Rhode Island is so small and Texas is so big.  It could have been bigger and so, so much more.  Have your friends marvel at the trivia that you will know after you finish this book.  You can be the center of attention at your next party, as you share why there is that little bump in the bottom corner of Missouri.  So even if geography was never your favorite subject, this is an enjoyable and informative book to spend a couple of evenings with.

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired

Today’s post is from Cynthia at Harrington Library:

 

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008) directed by Marina Zenovich

The main threads of Roman Polanski’s life are well known. Living alone on the streets in Poland after his parents died in the Holocaust.  Polanski’s tragic loss when Sharon Tate, his pregnant wife, was murdered by the Manson family in 1969. In 1977 Polanksi was arrested and tried for unlawful intercourse with a minor. He was also charged with supplying her with drink and drugs. Later Polanski fled the country to avoid prison and continues in exile to this day. The 1977 arrest and trial are the focus of this well structured and surprising documentary. Most of the principals appear in the film, including defense attorney Douglas Dalton, former assistant District Attorney Roger Gunson, and Samantha Gailey Geimer, the victim, who’s now middle aged with three children. Polanski appears only in clips from the era and his films. Dalton and Gunson, the attorneys, have not previously spoken publicly on the facts of the trial. The only missing principal is Judge Laurence J. Rittenband.

Make no mistake, what Polanski did was wrong and there is no defense for it. The central question of the documentary is: was justice served by the trial?  The behavior of Judge Rittenband is at best questionable. Both prosecutor Gunson, a straight laced Mormon, and defense attorney Dalton agree that justice was not served. Rittenband broke his word to both attorneys. He was more concerned with his personal reputation than in protecting the reputation and well being of the victim. Rittenbrand inappropriately discussed the case in progress with the press and other outsiders. Polanski met all the demands made by the judge until they became increasingly sketchy. Polanski pled guilty to the charge of unlawful intercourse. He accepted two psychiatric evaluations and then a third for 90 days observation in Chico State Prison. Ultimately Gunson and Dalton together would request Judge Rittenbrand’s removal from the case. Was justice served? Did Rittenbrand play a game of cat and mouse with Polanski? It is up to you to decide.

Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight

Today’s post is from Cathe at Davis Library:

Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood  by Alexandra Fuller

Alexandra Fuller, called Bobo in this memoir, was born in 1969, and reared in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Malawi and Zambia, the daughter of an English family who had lived in Africa for three generations.

She describes herself as “African by accident, not by birth,” but acknowledges that her “soul, heart, and the bent of my mind” are African.

Her book is an attempt to come to terms with her brilliant, complex, unstable mother, but it is also a tribute to her quiet farmer father, three siblings lost in babyhood, and the one older sister who shared an often difficult childhood.

Fuller writes from the point of view of the child she was, and her writing is sharp, staccato,  and vividly descriptive in capturing the distinctive sounds and smells of Africa.

One warning: her language is so blunt and many of her comments so frank that they may dismay some readers. Her book isn’t political, she says, but the cruel reality of racism and segregation in 1970s Rhodesia is explicitly described by a young girl who understood it all too well.

In this “love story for a continent,” Alexandra Fuller has written a challenging and memorable book.

Treehouses

Today’s post is from Peter at Davis Library:

Treehouses  by David Pearson

Treehouses have a diverse and remarkable history, and their natural enchantment provokes the imagination. This pleasant book showcases various styles of treehouses around the world.  Some of the woodland dwellings are large and feature modern amenities, whereas others display a simple and rustic charm.  Each treehouse pictured is accompanied by an essay detailing the personal lives and motivations of those who built them.  There is even a section and how to design and build a treehouse, with basic concepts for platforms, roofs, decks, doors, and windows.  One cannot help but marvel at these verdant abodes in perfect harmony with nature.

Lazy B: Growing Up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest

Today’s post is from Carole at Haggard Library:

Lazy B: Growing Up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest by Sandra Day O’Connor and H. Alan Day

Former U. S. Supreme Court Justice O’Connor describes her life growing up on a ranch in this unique book.  She explains every aspect of ranch life–cattle raising and roundups, horse training, water and wells, maintenance of equipment, duties of individual cowboys, trips to town, home and school life, and pets. She even describes how beef jerky is made.

She says the values on the ranch were the product of necessity. “Competence and the ability to do whatever was required to maintain the ranch in good working order…Personal qualities of honesty, competence and good humor were valued most. “

Farewell, My Subaru

Today’s post is from Lynn at Parr Library:

Farewell My Subaru:  An Epic Adventure in Local Living   by Doug Fine

This book, by journalist Doug Fine, is the true story of a city boy and world traveler who decides to live “green.”  Fine purchases a large plot of land in New Mexico and proceeds to try to get oil out of his life.  His first accomplishment is to get rid of his Subaru and buy a big pick-up which he has converted so it will run on used vegetable oil.  Then there is the issue of finding enough of the oil to keep the truck running…

He brings with him to this “green” adventure an Australian Shepherd to share this new and challenging life.  He buys two baby goats that he plans to eventually milk.  He dreams daily of chocolate ice cream made from his own goats’ milk.  Just keeping them alive is a challenge at first, not to mention keeping them from eating his rose bushes.  Next come the chickens which are at first the easiest animals to raise.  They provide protein in the form of eggs, and eggs to sell.  But the local coyotes eat the chickens whenever the dog is not around to guard the henhouse. 

Fine has a 1,400 foot well dug to provide his own water, and with the help of a local, builds a contraption to heat the water.  He installs solar panels which will pay for themselves in 73 years!  He contends with rattlesnakes, coyotes, floods, and droughts.  He even finds a girlfriend and plants a garden which is destroyed twice by hail before it produces anything to eat.  Fine obviously had either very good credit or lots of money saved up for this “green” project.  He spends many thousands of dollars getting “off the grid.”  This is a fun and enlightening book.