Staff-recommended books and materials are currently one of several displays near the front desk at McAlester Public Library.
Here are the book and video recommendations from Frances Snowder of the Interlibrary Loan desk:
*The Perfect Corpse DVD–Two ancient corpses, mummified by immersion in an Irish peat bog, show evidence of torture and violent death. Were these Iron Age felons or human sacrifices to Druid gods? Forensic investigation of the 2,000 year old remains reveals the social class, diet, and hairstyles of the victims, while the reason they were brutally put to death remains a mystery.
*Story by Robert McKee–Robert McKee is the master mentor for anyone attempting to write a novel or screenplay. No formulas or vague platitudes, his is the practical voice of experience. Many of McKee’s students have taken Hollywood’s top honors. McKee advises how to avoid clichés and come up with original ideas to develop into compelling stories book editors and filmmakers will fight over.
This is the most thorough and inspirational book on plotting, writing powerful dialogue, and creating memorable scenes I have ever encountered.
*Matters of Life and Death DVD–An overview of medical progress in the last 100 years, this documentary will leave the viewer optimistic about future breakthroughs.
From the revelation that pellagra was a dietary disorder easily be cured by eating foods containing niacin to the current challenge of finding a cure for cancer, this Science Odyssey highlights the defeat of Bubonic Plague, the fortuitous discovery of penicillin, the development of insulin for diabetics, the politics of organ transplantation, and machinery that makes open heart surgery possible.
*In the Realms of the Unreal DVD–Henry Darger seemed–to the few people who knew him–to be an ordinary, taciturn old man barely surviving on the meager pay of a janitor for a Catholic church in Chicago. After he died, his landlords discovered piles of his unique collage-style artwork and the largest novel ever written in the English language.
*Pompeii: Buried Alive DVD–Have you ever wondered why the people of Pompeii, who lived on the coast of southern Italy, didn’t just run into the harbor from their erupting volcano? After all, that’s what the eye witness chronicler of the event, Pliny the Younger, did. He sailed out of there.
As a result of the Pompeiian disaster, archeologists know a great deal about one day in this Roman era resort town. Carbonized bread loaves and wall art were preserved in buildings that remained pretty much intact. Archeologists were even able to tell what the people were wearing and what they were doing. They poured plaster into hollows in the hardened ash where the charred bodies left impressions. The writhing bodies of the wealthy citizens and their slaves are now on display, complete with details of clothing, teeth, and jewelry. Grim and glorious!
*Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel–I didn’t read this book when everyone else did, but I made up for it by reading the entire series. The main draw is Ayla, a strong admirable heroine and, over the course of the series, one of the most psychologically in-depth fictional characters ever written. This first book of the series is the best, ironically, because its success gave Auel the leverage to make her editors back off.
*Three Hands in the Fountain by Lindsey Davis–This witty, satiric mystery/adventure–my favorite of the fifteen plus books in the Falco series– finds Marcus Didius Falco and his beautiful patrician girlfriend, Helena, studying the plumbing system of ancient Rome for clues to the identity of a serial murderer. At one point, Marcus longs to be a plumber traveling the countryside unplugging clogged fountains rather than risking his neck as a poorly paid gumshoe. The life of the ancient plumber seemed a pretty idyllic to me, too.
*Keeping Watch by Laurie King–A departure from her two other mystery novel series featuring female detectives, the protagonist of this one is a Vietnam veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Allen, in an attempt to heal himself, uses his war experience to capture child abusers. Written so vividly that I would swear the author had been a soldier fighting in the jungle, this powerfully-written book challenges the wisdom of obeying authorities and following rules in all circumstances.
NEXT TIME: Forrest’s picks!
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