Donner, Party of 31…

The Donner Party is a large part of our collective American West mythology.  In 1846, they set out for California, but through bad luck and bad planning were caught in the Sierra Nevadas as winter storms blanketed the mountains. This in itself is an interesting story, but add in the cannibalism of some of the survivors and you have a horror story that still resonates.

Read more about the Donner Party here:

IN THE LIBRARY

Nonfiction:

The Archaeology of the Donner Party by Donald L. Hardesty

The Donner Party Chronicles: A Day-by-Day Account of  Doomed Wagon Train, 1846-1847 by Frank Mullen

The Expedition of the Donner Party and Its Tragic Fate by Eliza Poor Donner Houghton

The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride by Daniel Brown

Ordeal by Hunger: The Story of the Donner Party by George Rippey Stewart

Unfortunate Emigrants: Narratives of the Donner Party edited by Kristin Johnson

Fiction:

The American River by Gary McCarthy

The Mothers: An American Saga of Courage by Vardis Fisher

Snow Mountain Passage: A Novel of the Donner Party by James D. Houston

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ON THE WEB:

The Donner Party

The Donner Party (Nova ScienceNow)

The Donner Party (Wikipedia)

Living Through the Donner Party (Discover article by Jared Diamond)

 

Figaro, Figaro, Figggaaarrroooo

If you’re like me, your only true exposure to opera was through cartoons.  One of my all-time favorites is “The Rabbit of Seville“, which featured Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd (I especially love the way Bugs “massages” Elmer’s head, and then builds a fruit salad on top!). I’ll also bet many of us could hum several tunes without realizing they’re actually opera. This month, dare yourself to try a little of one of the most misunderstood and underrated musical genres. Here’s a few items to get you started:

Try NPR’s Curious Listener’s Guide to Opera for a start. It offers a short history, an accessible list of tunes, and  just enough information on the plotlines to get you into trouble.  Other books for beginners include Opera for Dummies (which is a tad less serious) and Opera 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Opera. For those of you with more experience, look into Getting Opera: A Guide for the Cultured but Confused or A Night at the Opera: An Irreverent Guide to the Plots, the Singers, the Composers, the Recordings. For a little art with your opera, check out Fantastic Opera by John Martinez. This is an illuminated book, with incredible pictures representing some of the most beloved operas.

Once you’ve got your feet wet, wade into our great classical music collection. Here are compilations to give you a taste of some of the most famous songs and performances:

• The Three Tenors in Concert – Carerras, Domingo, & Pavarotti
• Operatic Duets with Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti
• My Favorite Opera for Children presented by Pavarotti (for adults, too!)
• Aria: The Opera Album by Andrea Bocelli
• Opera for People Who Hate Opera (you know who you are)
• The Best Opera Album in the World- Ever!
• The Opera Lover’s Philadelphia Opera Highlights

Now you’re ready to dive into opera! Check out one of these classic operas on CD:

• Tosca by Puccini – starring the incomparable Maria Callas
• La Bohème by Puccini – the definitive recording with Luciano Pavarotti
• Madama Butterfly by Puccini – again with Pavarotti
• La Traviata by Verdi – with the legendary Placido Domingo
• Aida by Verdi – again with Domingo
• Tristan und Isolde by Wagner – starring Kirtsen Flagstad
• Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg by Wagner – with Placido Domingo
• Don Giovanni by Mozart – starring Joan Sutherland
• Cosi Fan Tutte by Mozart – done by the Royal Opera House
• Carmen by Bizet – with Jose Carreras
• Porgy and Bess by Gershwin – (my favorite, I had to put it in)

Congratulations! You have now become an amateur connoisseur of Opera. (See, it wasn’t so hard.) But in case you’re not ready to leave your new world just yet, here are a few more fun opera items:

FICTION – Novels that feature opera or singers:

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

Gramercy Park by Paula Cohen

Puccini’s Ghosts by Morag Joss

Song of the Lark by Willa Cather

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INTERNET – More opera resources:

Operabase – a database of opera performances through the years

Opera-Opera – plot summaries for most operas

Opera Glass – a compendium of all sorts of opera-related items from Stanford University

 

Get Out Your Horned Helmets…

the Vikings are coming! (And I’m not referring to the football team.) October 9 is considered Leif Ericson day; named after the Norse leader who was probably the first European to visit North America – about 500 years before the other guy who gets a national day this month. In honor of this, here are some interesting resources about Vikings, as well as a few fun, sometimes violent books of fiction. I mean, what’s the use of honoring a Viking without a little bloodshed for old times sake?

IN THE LIBRARY:

FICTION

The Soul Thief, The Witches’ Kitchen, and Varanger by Cecelia Holland

The Whale Road by Robert Low

The Last Kingdom, The Pale Horseman, Lords of the North, and Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell

Odinn’s Child by Time Severin

The Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay

The Beothuk Saga by Bernard Assiniwi

Devoted and Beguiled by Alice Borchardt

War of the Gods by Poul Anderson

Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton

NONFICTION

Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga edited by William W. Fitzhugh and Elisabeth I. Ward

Encyclopedia of the Viking Age by John Haywood

The Vikings by Jonathan Wooding

Hagar the Horrible’s Very Nearly Complete Viking Handbook by Dik Browne with Christopher Browne

Vikings! by Magnus Magnusson

DVD

Erik the Viking

The Vikings in North America

Secret Voyages of the Vikings

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ON THE WEB:

PBS – The Vikings

Smithsonian – Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga

BBC History – Viking Quest (cool, interactive game – I’ve played it!)

Wikipedia – Viking Age

 

The Fall Classic and the Boys of Summer

Baseball playoffs gear up this week, leading to the ultimate prize: the World Series trophy. In the past, the second week in October was when the World Series took place – in fact, a number of memorable incidents occurred:

• Oct 7, 1945 – A goat was removed from Wrigley field during Game 4 because of its odor. It’s owner claimed the the Chicago Cubs would not win – and they haven’t, thanks to the Billy Goat Curse.
• Oct 8, 1956 – Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game during a World Series. (And one of only 18, ever.)
• Oct 9, 1919 – The Cincinnati Reds “won” the World Series as a result of the Black Sox scandal.

In honor of all of the craziness, and because I’m a big fan, here are some great resources to celebrate the end of the season.

IN THE LIBRARY:

Autumn Glory: Baseball’s First World Series by Louis P. Masur

The Best Game Ever: Pirates vs. Yankees, October 13, 1960 by JimReisler

Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series by Eliot Asinof

The Fall Classic: The Definitive History of the World Series by Eric Enders

Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top by Seth Mnookin

The First World Series and the Baseball Fanatics of 1903 by Roger I. Abrams

Fisk’s Homer, Willie’s Catch, and the Shot Heard Round the World: Classic Moments from Postseason Baseball, 1940-1966 by G. Richard McKelvey

The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-from-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series – and America’s Heart – During the Great Depression by John Heidenry

Mind Game: How the Boston Red Sox Got Smart, Won a World Series, and Created a New Blueprint for Winning edited by Stephen Goldman

Miracle Ball: My Hunt for the Shot Heard ‘Round the World by Brian Biegel

October, 1964 by David Halberstam

DVD: Eight Men Out

DVD: Fever Pitch

ON THE WEB:

MLB’s World Series

Baseball Almanac’s World Series History

Ken Burns’ Baseball on PBS

 

“In the book of life, the answers aren’t in the back.” – Charlie Brown

Who knew almost 60 years ago, a little comic strip called Peanuts would turn into such a philosophical powerhouse? On October 2, 1950, Charles M. Schulz published the first of what would be almost 18,000 strips. Of course, the popularity of the comic inspired television specials, music, and even theater;  You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown even won two Tony awards. To this day, I cannot hear the theme song “Linus & Lucy” without smiling (and thinking of autumn!). Here are a few great resources celebrating this American icon:

IN THE LIBRARY:

BOOKS:

A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition by Charles M. Schulz

A Charlie Brown Valentine by Charles M. Schulz

The Complete Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz (2 volumes published every year through 2016)

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night, Snoopy by Charles M. Schulz

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schulz

Peanuts: A Golden Celebration: The Art and the Story of the World’s Best-Loved Comic Strip by Charles M. Schulz

Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography by David Michaelis

MUSIC:

A Charlie Brown Christmas by Vince Guaraldi

Jazz for Peanuts: A Retrospective of the Charlie Brown TV Themes by David Benoit

Joe Cool’s Blues by Wynton Marsalis

Linus and Lucy: The Music of Vince Guaraldi by Vince Guaraldi

Snoopy! Original London Cast by Larry Grossman

MOVIES:

Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

A Charlie Brown Christmas

ON THE WEB:

Charles M. Schulz Museum

Peanuts (Wikipedia)

Snoopy.com (Official Peanuts Site)

 

Tricks and Traitors

Before beginning this post, I sat thinking about the word traitor. Was it like the word sailor, in which a sailor is one who sails? That would mean a traitor traits, which didn’t make any sense. So, I did what all good librarians do – I looked it up in the dictionary. It seems that traitor derives from the Latin verb tradere, which means “to betray”. The word tradition is a relative (interesting…). It seems that there’s always been someone willing to betray their traditions for the sake of their own wants or needs.

IN THE LIBRARY:

The Dark Eagle: The Story of Benedict Arnold by Clifford Lindsey Alderman

Fallen Founder: A Life of Aaron Burr by Nancy Isenberg

Patriotic Treason: John Brown and the Soul of America by Evan Carton

The Spy Next Door: The Extraordinary Secret Life of Robert Philip Hanssen, the Most Damaging FBI Agent in U.S. History by Elaine Shannon and Ann Blackman

The Rosenberg File: A Search for the Truth by Ronald Radosh

My Life as a Spy: One of America’s Most Notorious Spies Finally Tells His Story by John A. Walker, Jr.

Faith and Treason: The Story of the Gunpowder Plot by Antonia Fraser

Countdown to Valkyrie: The July Plot to Assassinate Hitler by Nigel Jones

Traitors Among Us: Inside the Spy Catcher’s World by Stuart A. Herrington

Molehunt: The Secret Search for Traitors that Shattered the CIA by David Wise

 

We the People…

Happy Constitution Day! (Well, technically, it was yesterday, but I think we need to celebrate it everyday.) On September 17, 1787 was completed in Philadelphia by the Constitutional Convention, after having worked through a long summer to draft the laws for the new government. An amazingly flexible document, it has served as the foundation of the U.S. for more than 200 years – it is the oldest written constitution in the world.

IN THE LIBRARY:

America’s Constitution: A Biography by Akhil Reed Amar

A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution by Carol Berkin

The Constitutional Convention: A Narrative History from the Notes of James Madison edited by Edward J. Larson and Michael P. Winship

Our Constitution by Donald A. Ritchie

The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution by David O. Stewart

The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation by John Hennessey and Aaron McConnell

Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution by Woody Holton

The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution by Linda R. Monk

ON THE WEB:

The United States Constitution

The National Archives

Wikipedia’s Constitution Entry

The Library of Congress

The National Constitution Center

 

Stormy Weather – Hurricanes

Here in Twin Falls, we rarely have to deal with severe weather;  our major thunderstorms or snowstorms are definitely survivable. Not so for people living, say,  in “Tornado Alley”. For people on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, hurricanes are another torment – wind and water whipped into a frenzy is not  a happy combination. As the busiest months of the hurricane seasons (for both the Atlantic and Pacific) are coming to an end, we thought we’d share some information and stories about one of Mother Nature’s most deadly weapons. (Something Idahoans can be thankful we don’t have to worry about…)

IN THE LIBRARY:

• 1 Dead in Attic: After Katrina by Chris Rose
• Category 5: The Story of Camille, Lessons Unlearned from America’s Most Violent Hurricane by Ernest Zebrowski and Judith A. Howard
• Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes by Kerry Emanuel
• Eye of the Storm: Inside the World’s Deadliest Hurricanes by Jeffrey O. Rosenfeld
• The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Douglas Brinkley
• Inside the Hurricane: Face to Face with Nature’s Deadliest Storms by Pete Davies
• No Ordinary Heroes: 8 Doctors, 30 Nurses, 7,o00 Prisoners, and Category 5 Hurricane by Damaree Inglese with Diana G. Gallagher
• The Storm: What Went Wrong and Why During Hurricane Katrina: The Inside Story from One Louisiana Scientist by Ivor van Heerden and Mike Bryan
• Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle Over Global Warming by Chris Mooney
• DVD: When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

ON THE WEB:

• The National Hurricane Center FAQs
• Wikipedia’s Hurricane Entry
• NASA’s Hurricane Page
• Ready.gov (useful for other emergencies, too)

 

The Secret Life of Cities

For some reason, I’ve always been fascinated by what goes on underneath a city. Whether looking at excavations of ancient sites or simply the workings of transportation, water, or electrical systems, the idea that there is something more under the surface is intriguing. Here is a collection of resources that open up what is going on “down under”.

BOOKS:

Beneath the Metropolis: The Secret Lives of Cities - Alex Marshall

The City Beneath Us: Building the New York Subways – New York Transit Museum with Vivian Heller

Lost Civilizations: Rediscovering Ancient Sites Through New Technology – Austen Atkinson

Splendors of the Past: Lost Cities of the Ancient World – National Geographic Society

The Urban Treasure Hunter: A Practical Handbook for Beginners – Michael Chaplan

Underground – David Macaulay

The Works: Anatomy of a City – Kate Ascher

WEBSITES:

Guerrilla History and Underground Exploration

History Channel – Cities of the Underworld

 

Speak Softly… and Build a Big Ditch?

On August 15, 1914, the Panama Canal opened for business after a decade of construction and the deaths of countless workers (especially from malaria). Today, the canal sees thousands of ships pass through its gates a year, carrying a good chunk of the world’s exported goods.

Here are a few interesting resources on this modern engineering wonder:

Inside the Library:

The Canal Builders: Making America’s Empire at the Panama Canal by Julie Greene

Panama Fever: The Epic History of One of the Greatest Human Achievements of All Time – The Building of the Panama Canal by Matthew Parker

The Darkest Jungle: The True Story of the Darien Expedition and America’s Ill-Fated Race to Connect the Seas by Todd Balf

The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 by David McCullough

A Man, A Plan, A Canal, Panama (video)

On the Web:

The Official Panama Canal Site

Wikipedia’s Panama Canal Entry

Panama Canal Museum

“From Ocean to Ocean: Through the Panama Canal” 1939 Video