lower east side librarian

This book got me to wondering about the Ls, who moved in down the street from me when I was a kid. They were from Chile, but I have no idea if they fled oppression or sneaked out with their money. Probably the former, given the timing, but I think my parents didn't like them, so I don't know. Anyway, this book is written mostly from the point of view of the son of a Chilean political prisoner. While the father, Marcelo, was being tortured in jail, his wife, eleven-year-old son Daniel, and eight-year-old daughter Tina emigrated to Madison, Wisconsin. Eventually the family is reunited, but Marcelo is very broken. At seventeen Daniel is doing pretty well; he has a girlfriend, excels at soccer, and plays guitar in a band. His sister isn't thriving quite as handily, and I'm not sure about Mamá.

I'd read DTWOF here and there, mostly on the interweb, like especially when the main character, Mo, decided to go to library school in 2001, and the link to that strip got forwarded around the bibliosphere like crazy. But without regular exposure, I had not realized just how brilliant the biweekly comic strip is. I can't believe (okay, I can believe but don't want to) that it isn't syndicated in every newspaper that carries Doonesbury, or at least Boondocks. I'm guessing it's the title? Which is unfortunate also because this comic is relevant to all people with radical left politics. Maybe even liberals!

The story of a more or less orphaned half Danish, half African-American adolescent getting used to life in the 'hood, sometimes challenged by and sometimes rewarded for her blue eyes and good hair, The Girl Who Fell from the Sky unfortunately isn't quite as good as scintillating as I wanted it to be. It's particularly sad because the first chapter really got me.

I don't get it. Oftentimes when a book is a huge success there's an easily discernible reason. I'll admit The DaVinci Code was a real page turner, and Oprah nailed most of her book club selections back in the day. But The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo just isn't all that. It's compelling, sure, but standard thriller fare. Possibly a little more interesting for its Swedishness, but really it's just another guy written guy book where a smart middle aged guy ends up a hero with the money and the girl half his age. He throws in some statistics about violence against women and some strong female characters, yet one of the rape scenes was just a little too rapey for my feminist taste.

I've read the book's prequel Rivington Street but hadn't revisited Union Square since I bought it in a used bookstore in Guatemala in 2001. RS is a historical novel, but US reads more like a fictional history. It's full of educational examinations of Jewish life in the 1920s-40s, covering issues like Palestine, Zionism, World War II, communism, and labor politics, but also tells the stories through the lenses of art, fashion, and psychiatry. Tax used oral histories for her research, and the voices sound authentic. To me the most interesting and informative bits are the characters internal and external struggles with the party line and the multi-faceted views on the conflicting Zionist movements. The author does a good job of revealing multiple truths in these contentious topics, but you still have an idea where she's at personally. The sometimes disastrous relationship between the Communist Party and American labor, not to mention the difficulties it creates between father and daughter is sometimes painful to read, but fascinating stuff!

Just when I'm getting jaded about zines, reading and cataloging 50 of them a week, it's nice to discover a new favorite zinester. I don't understand why Thara Harris isn't more of a zine superstar, not that "superstar" is really a concept that should be associated with zines. But you know what I mean, there are some zinesters that become widely known in our small community for producing well-made, thoughtful, creative, and visually appealing works. Ms. Harris, from West Virginia is one of those writer/artists. Or maybe she does have a rep, and I just didn't know about it for whatever reason? I can't really tell because she doesn't have that much of a web presence.

The third in See's mystery collection, featuring Chinese Ministry of Public Security Inspector Liu Hulan and her American spouse attorney David Spark, takes place at an archaeological dig. The Hulan is charged with solving some unexplained deaths (some of them pretty grisly, so be warned), and David with protecting China's artifacts from a greedy marketplace. There's a large cult-like religion for them to contend with as they set to their appointed tasks and also try to salvage their marriage, which took a major hit when their 3 1/2-year-old daughter died (between Dragon Bones and its predecessor The Interior.

Whew! This one went by quickly. Well that's partially because I had to finish it before taking off for the US Social Forum in Detroit. It's a new book, so I couldn't renew it, and it's due before I'll get back. Anyway, it's the continuing saga of Cincinnati witch Rachel Morgan and her partners Jenks, a pixy; and Ivy, a vampire as they fend off coven witches, powerful elves, and greedy fairies trying to fuck with them.

I'll tell you off the bat that if you're looking for another Time Traveler's Wife, this ain't it. I'm not referring to the quality of the writing. You know what, actually I'm mystified by this book. It's the story of two sets of twins, one estranged and one symbiotic; and the residents of the building where three of the four twins lived or live. Pretty much no one in the story is sympathetic, and at least one of them is downright horrible. There's sort of a side story about a guy with debilitating OCD. Because I'm so baffled by a writer I previously so enjoyed, I'm choosing to believe that there are deeper meanings to everything that I'm just not getting. Otherwise, I just didn't care for this book. A fair amount.

The second in librarian Barbara Fister's Anni Kosinken mystery series, Through the Cracks makes me sad. Sad because it's so good, that I think Barbara could ditch librarianship and be a full-time writer. She's a really good librarian, so it would be a serious loss to the profession.