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Andrew
Duncan
The
Pickup Artist
by
Terry
Bisson
 In
the future, a series of terrorist attacks on museums and libraries protesting
a glut of popular culture leads to the creation of the Bureau of Arts
and Entertainment (BAE), an organization that orchestrates the deletion
of artists and their bodies of work from the public record in order to
make room for something new. Hank Shapiro works for the BAE as a pickup
artist. He drives around collecting items by artists who have been erased,
then takes those items back to the BAE to be destroyed. Shapiro's life
is turned upside-down when he comes across a copy of a Hank Williams record
he just can't make himself give up, and his quest to hear the album unceremoniously
throws him into a bizarre and hilarious adventure.
Bisson's
outrageous and highly entertaining novel is a memorable vision of the
near future that recalls the economy and imagination of Kurt Vonnegut
and the subtle satire of Philip K. Dick. The scary part is the trick Bisson
pulls off: as the plot gets more and more preposterous, the book's central
concept of eliminating culture seems more and more plausible.
Linda
M. Castellitto
Up
by
Lisa
Jones
 This
book caught my eye because, well, the cover has eyes on it. (And yes,
they're looking skyward.) So, I flipped over to the back cover, and read
two positive blurbs...from the author, and the author's friend. That made
me laugh, and so did this book: It's a kooky tale of the adventures of
recent college grad Becky Pine, who decides she wants to become more than
a theoretical lesbian, and also procure herself a real life. She sets
out for L.A., and gets a job at a car dealership where, amidst her semi-smarmy
coworkers and the smell of exhaust, she learns a bit about life, love,
and what "Up" means in car-sales lingo. It was a fun read -- and I feel
better-equipped for my next foray into car-buying!
Patti
Neske
 Aquarius
Descending
by Martha
C. Lawrence
I am decidedly not a mystery reader and I have never had any interest
in the paranormal or astrology; but when an acquaintance, whose opinions
I respect, enthused over this book I determined to give it a glance. Besides,
he claimed one of the characters was based on him. To my surprise, I found
it quite an enjoyable read. The characters are interesting and quirky,
and the plot moves along quickly. The evil cult at the center of the novel,
and its villainous leader are entertainingly over-the-top. I had fun reading
Aquarius Descending, and I even guessed correctly which character
was based on my friend!
Scott
Nafz
 Incredible
Cross-Sections
by Stephen
Biesty
Well, I guess it eventually had to come to this...the first cross-section
book that got me started on my cross-section collection, which now includes
wonderfully illustrated books on planes, trains, boats, spacecraft, and
a host of other vehicles and structures. Though not all of the books in
my collection are by Mr. Biesty, certainly the best and most detailed
illustrations are the ones to be found in his line of large-format, hardcover
titles. Incredible Cross-Sections was the first in a series that
has since included a book on castles, a book on a 19th-century Man-o-War,
and a book on the human body, among others. All of these are, well, for
lack of a better word, incredible! This first title includes cross-sectional
drawings (in amazing detail!) of a WW II tank, a German submarine, the
Empire State Building, the Space Shuttle, even a coal mining operation,
for cryin' out loud! You'll learn something new on every page, or you
can just sit in a comfy chair, and get lost in the minute detail of each
plate for a couple of hours. This book is the next best thing to climbing
inside and poking around the crawl spaces of a Boeing 747...which, uh,
ain't gonna happen!
Gavin
J. Grant
Summer makes
me think of reading big, trashy books at the beach. Yet whenever I'm at
the beach all I want to do is swim, play volleyball, or more and more
commonly, sleep! So maybe I should forget reading at the beach and the
kind of books it doesn't matter if I spill my ice cream on and pick some
others I'll read in nice, cool air-conditioned rooms...
 The
Green Knowe Chronicles
by L.M.
Boston and illustrated by Peter
Boston
So
far I'm only two books into this five-book series, but since there are
only the five of them, I don't want to hurry. The first book, The
Children of Green Knowe, introduces us to Toseland -- Tolly --
who's been sent to spend the holidays with his great-grandmother at her
house, Green Knowe. There is a painting of a family, two parents and three
children, in the front hallway and Tolly is fascinated with the way their
eyes follow him. As his great-grandmother tells him stories about the
three children, he learns of the history and the magic that has always
been a part of the house.
 In
the second book, Treasure
of Green Knowe, Tolly returns to Green Knowe for the summer and
can hardly wait to meet up with his friends again. However, the three
children have disappeared and Tolly is bereft. His great-grandmother may
have to sell the painting of the three children, so it is on view in London
-- and the children have gone with it. Tolly wanders around the house
and the gardens, peeks into corners he hadn't explored before, climbs
trees, and listens to the stories his great-grandmother tells him while
she makes a quilt. Treasure of Green Knowe is even more satisfying
than the first book. There's
a calm and wonderful magic in these books so that, after you've read a
couple of pages, you'll find yourself drifting into the hazy timelessness
of seemingly endless summer holidays. I'm looking forward to the next
three books, but I'm not going to hurry through them.
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