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"And when, on the still cold nights, he pointed his nose at a star and howled long and wolflike, it was his ancestors, dead and dust, pointing nose at star and howling down through the centuries and through him."
from The Call of the Wild by Jack London
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Browsing all staff pick reviews written by 'Hui-Lan'
Reading Grapes of Wrath in the 21st Century
Title: The Grapes of Wrath
By: John Steinbeck
According to Steinbeck scholars, the Grapes of Wrath is the most thoroughly discussed novel in 20th century American literature. But a reading in the 21st century can enable us to have deeper discussions, such as the practice of bank foreclosures and their aftermath. Lured by the promises on handbills, the ... [Read more]
Posted by Hui-Lan on Jan. 22, 2013
Tags: fiction, classics
0 Comments
All about Justice, All about Politics
Title: Another Time, Another Life: the Story of a Crime
By: Leif G.W. Persson
I read and recently listened to Another Time, Another Life by Leif G. W. Persson, and I was struck by its refreshing political humor and reality. Through solving a cold murder case, the book reveals a strong sense of justice on the part of the Swedish secret police, especially its ... [Read more]
Posted by Hui-Lan on Dec. 6, 2012
Tags: fiction, mystery
0 Comments
Title: The Art of Happiness at Work
By: Dalai Lama XIV
The Art of Happiness at Work (2003) is the second collaboration by His Holiness Dalai Lama and Dr. Howard C. Cutler, an American psychiatrist, following their The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living (1988). It focuses on finding happiness at work, a topic touching the lives of the majority ... [Read more]
Posted by Hui-Lan on Aug. 29, 2011
Tags: non-fiction
0 Comments
Title: The Ignorance of Blood
By: Robert Wilson
Robert Wilson’s The Ignorance of Blood not only ends Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón Seville quartet, but more importantly, completes the full recovery cycle of the protagonist’s troubled life. Javier Falcón’s troubled life is revealed in the first part of the quartet, The Blind Man of Seville (2003). While investigating the ... [Read more]
Posted by Hui-Lan on June 23, 2011
Tags: fiction, mystery
0 Comments
Title: Roseanna
By: Maj Sjöwall
After purchasing the complete set of Martin Beck mysteries on audio for the library, I found my curiosity piqued by the lasting charm of the series by Maj Sjöwall and her husband Per Wahlöö. During the period of 1965 to 1975, the couple wrote one 30-chapter mystery every year. The ... [Read more]
Posted by Hui-Lan on May 12, 2011
Tags: fiction, mystery
0 Comments
Title: City of Fear
By: David Hewson
Rome was under siege in the heat of tourist season and on the eve of the G8 summit. In the name of the Blue Demon to revive Etruscan civilization, a group of terrorists started a series of deadly attacks on the city’s officials and people, the presidential palace, the conference, ... [Read more]
Posted by Hui-Lan on May 5, 2011
Tags: fiction, mystery
0 Comments
When Two Brothers Love the Same Woman
Title: Nemesis
By: Jo Nesbo
Harry Hole is not an unfamiliar detective inspector to many Scandinavian mystery readers in Santa Cruz. The redbreast (2006) begins with Harry and his partner Ellen on surveillance detail. Oslo happens to be the scene of an international summit meeting. The devil's star (2005) finds Harry taking on a murder ... [Read more]
Posted by Hui-Lan on Dec. 30, 2010
Tags: fiction, mystery
1 Comment
Title: The Honourable Schoolboy
By: John LeCarre
Recently, I have re-read John Le Carré’s The Honourable Schoolboy, and gained some deeper understanding of George Smiley, a unique British character who plays an essential and indispensible role whenever a crisis occurs, but is forever forgotten by bureaucratic machines for any career promotions or advancement, despite every single victory ... [Read more]
Posted by Hui-Lan on Aug. 19, 2010
Tags: fiction
1 Comment
Title: The Price of Love and Other Stories
By: Peter Robinson
Inspector Alan Banks is a familiar character to many of Peter Robinson’s readers. He is mostly known as an experienced, persistent but sometimes lone detective. We can see his career growing from Gallows View (1987) to All the Colors of Darkness (2009). However, what was he like before joining the ... [Read more]
Posted by Hui-Lan on July 29, 2010
Tags: short stories, fiction, mystery
1 Comment
Title: Davenport Cement Centennial
By: Alverda Orlando & Robert Piwarzyk
Librarian Alverda Orlando has been an authoritative historian on Davenport, California for decades. This is the first time she has collaborated with Robert Piwarzyk, a limestone expert/engineer, to compile a complete history of Davenport Cement Plant, one of the few cement plants existing in California. It will be of even ... [Read more]
Posted by Hui-Lan on March 1, 2010
Tags: non-fiction, history
0 Comments
Title: Arctic Chill
By: Arnaldur Indridason
Arctic Chill opens with the stabbing death of Elias, a half-Thai and half-Icelandic boy of ten. Paralleled with Elias’ death is the murder case of a new wife by her unfaithful husband. Unlike his previous four mysteries, Arnaldur’s fifth book is haunted by a series of polemic clashes. Apart from ... [Read more]
Posted by Hui-Lan on Feb. 5, 2010
Tags: fiction, mystery
0 Comments
Title: The Eye of the Leopard
By: Henning Mankell
Henning Mankell, the creator of Kurt Wallander mysteries, does not restrict himself just to the boundaries of Sweden, his native country. By working as director at Teatro Avenida in Maputo, Mozambique since 1985, he has truly made Africa his second home. The Eye of the Leopard has shown us a ... [Read more]
Posted by Hui-Lan on Dec. 9, 2009
Tags: fiction
1 Comment
Pathways to Santa Cruz County & Its People
Title: Pathways to the Past: Adventures in Santa Cruz County History
By: Alverda Orlando and 21 others
Pathways to the Past is not the first book on the history of Santa Cruz County. As a matter of fact, at the time of this writing, our library catalog alone shows 135 titles on its history from early ones like Illustrations of Santa Cruz County, California, with historical sketch ... [Read more]
Posted by Hui-Lan on Aug. 29, 2009
Tags: non-fiction, history, biography
1 Comment
Title: Lime Kiln Legacies
By: Frank A. Perry, and others
Lime Kiln Legacies is the first complete history of the lime industry in Santa Cruz County. The rise and fall of the lime industry in Santa Cruz County coincides with the developing history of California. In the first half of the 1800s, only small amounts of lime began to be ... [Read more]
Posted by Hui-Lan on July 1, 2009
Tags: non-fiction, history
3 Comments
Correspondence from the German Occupation
Title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
By: Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Upon a strong recommendation and kind provision of the book, I started to embark on the reading of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. However I had a slow start. For some reason, I was deterred by its format consisting of letters or correspondence between the protagonist Juliet ... [Read more]
Posted by Hui-Lan on Feb. 17, 2009
Tags: fiction, history
6 Comments
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