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Candice

Candice

My Books

Dead woman walking

by S. J. Bolton

MYSTERY Bolton S. J.
Suspense, Mystery

The twelve sightseers in a hot-air balloon are drifting over Northumberland. They're passing over an isolated farmhouse when Jessica and her sister, Bella see a man killing a young woman. Everyone in the balloon is watching the man when he looks up and spots them. He only has one option-- to kill them all. After a furious crash the balloon crashes, and Jessica's the only survivor. She's seen his face-- and he won't rest until he's eliminated the only witness to his crime.

I love all of Sharon (S.J.) Bolton's works, some of which are in the Lacey Flint series, others are standalones. Her books have a modernity, seriousness, and depth that I enjoy, and often some unique element that sets the story apart. This book is no different, from the unusual beginning where a crime is witnessed from a hot air balloon, to the way the intended victim turns the chase around. -Candice

Four Seasons in Rome : on twins, insomnia, and the biggest funeral in the history of the world

by Anthony Doerr

914.5632 /Doerr
Travel, Biographies

"The recipient of an American Academy fellowship, Doerr, his wife, and their twin newborns are on their way to Rome for a year. Cultural isolation, the death of John Paul II, struggles to complete a novel, and the tales of first-time parenthood uniquely blend together as Doerr meanders his way through a one-year Roman holiday. Along the way, he meets Romans quick to praise his twins, Romans quick to prejudge an American, and Romans happy to share the secrets of their city with him. Set against this backdrop, Doerr finds it difficult to focus on the novel he plans on writing; instead, like so many other visitors, he falls for the Eternal City. For readers who have been to Rome, Doerr's reflections will leave them longing for a return trip. For those who have not, Doerr's stories of piazzas and pizzas will have them checking travel arrangements. Either way, this memoir is a wonderful combination of a writer's two dominant struggles: cultural identity and family."--

Anthony Doerr (author of All the Light We Cannot See) was a brand-new father of twins when he was granted a sabbatical in Rome. He takes on the Eternal City and the newborns all in one go, and is rewarded for it. A sort of epic love poem to Rome and family, and all there is to be aware of and savor. -Candice

Death in Florence : the Medici, Savonarola, and the battle for the soul of a renaissance city

by Paul Strathern

945.51 /Strathern
History

"By the end of the fifteenth century, Florence was well established as the home of the Renaissance. As generous patrons to the likes of Botticelli and Michelangelo, the ruling Medici embodied the progressive humanist spirit of the age, and in Lorenzo de' Medici (Lorenzo the Magnificent) they possessed a diplomat capable of guarding the militarily weak city in a climate of constantly shifting allegiances between the major Italian powers. However, in the form of Savonarola, an unprepossessing provincial monk, Lorenzo found his nemesis. Filled with Old Testament fury and prophecies of doom, Savonarola's sermons reverberated among a disenfranchised population, who preferred medieval Biblical certainties to the philosophical interrogations and intoxicating surface glitter of the Renaissance. Savonarola's aim was to establish a 'City of God' for his followers, a new kind of democratic state, the likes of which the world had never seen before. The battle between these two men would be a fight to the death, a series of sensational events--invasions, trials by fire, the 'Bonfire of the Vanities', terrible executions and mysterious deaths--featuring a cast of the most important and charismatic Renaissance figures." --

A detailed, and engrossing, recounting of the period of time in Florence, Italy, when the Medici family's control was faltering, and a preacher named Savonarola was beginning to exert power through his foreboding sermons. It didn't go well. -Candice

America's favorite holidays : candid histories

by Bruce David Forbes

394.26973 /Forbes
History

"America's Favorite Holidays explores how five of America's culturally dominant holidays--Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, and Thanksgiving--came to be what they are today, combinations of seasonal and religious celebrations heavily influenced by modern popular culture. Distilling information from a wide range of sources, Bruce David Forbes reveals the often surprising history behind the traditions of each holiday. The book offers a comprehensive look at the Christian origins of these holidays and also touches on Passover, the religions of ancient Rome, Celtic practices, Mexico's Day of the Dead, and American civil religion. America's Favorite Holidays answers our curiosity about the origins of our holidays and the many ways in which religion and culture mix"--Provided by publisher.

I love this book, I wish it had more holidays in it! It tells the history behind several of the most popular days of celebration--where and when they started, how they spread, how they've changed. -Candice

The man from the train : the solving of a century-old serial killer mystery

by Bill James

364.1523 /James
True Crime, History

"Between 1898 and 1912, families across the country were bludgeoned in their sleep with the blunt side of an axe. Jewelry and valuables were left in plain sight, bodies were piled together, faces covered with cloth. Some of these cases, like the infamous Villasca, Iowa murders, received national attention. But few people believed the crimes were related. And fewer still would realize that all of these families lived within walking distance to a train station. When celebrated baseball statistician and true crime expert Bill James first learned about these crimes, he began to investigate others that might fit the same pattern. Applying the analytical acumen he brings to baseball analysis, he empirically determined which crimes were committed by the same person. Then after sifting through thousands of local newspapers, court transcripts and public records, he and his daughter Rachel made an astonishing discovery. They learned the true identity of this monstrous criminal, and in turn, uncovered one of the deadliest serial killers in American history. Riveting and immersive, with writing as sharp as the cold side of an axe, The Man From the Train is a groundbreaking approach to true crime that will convince skeptics, delight aficionados, and change the way we view criminal history"--

Lots of people know about the axe-murders in Villisca, Iowa, but the crime has never been solved...until now? Bill James lays out all the evidence he's found for a serial killer operating at that time. -Candice

The devil in the white city : murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America

by Erik Larson

364.1523 /Larson
Nonfiction, History, True Crime

"Larson's ambitious, engrossing tale of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 focuses primarily on two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect who was the driving force behind the fair, and Henry H. Holmes, a sadistic serial killer working under the cover of the busy fair. After the 1889 French Exposition Universel wowed the world with the Eiffel Tower and high attendance numbers, interest began to grow in the U.S. for a similar fair. Chicago and New York were the top contenders for the location, and in February 1890, Chicagoans were overjoyed to hear they had won the honor. Burnham and his partner, John Root, the leading architects in Chicago, were tapped for the job, and they in turn called on Frederick Law Olmstead, Louis Sullivan, and Richard M. Hunt to help them build the world's greatest fair. They faced overwhelming obstacles: inhospitable weather, bureaucracy, illness, and even death. Unbeknownst to any of them, Holmes, a charismatic, handsome doctor, had arrived in the city and built a complex with apartments, a drugstore, and a vault, which he used to trap his victims until they suffocated. When the White City opened for business in May 1893, hundreds of thousands of people flocked to it, although a plummeting economy and several accidents did nothing to help business. A shocking murder concludes the ultimately successful fair, and that's before Holmes claims his final victims in the cruelest act of his career. A magnificent book."--

Erik Larson does an absolutely amazing job of telling the story of H.H. Holmes, a serial killer who operated during the World's Fair in Chicago, 1896. Not only that, but this is a fantastic story of the city itself, particularly some of the early architects and their works. Will make you want to go visit some of the buildings. -Candice

Gulp : adventures on the alimentary canal

by Mary Roach

612.3 /Roach
Nonfiction, Science, Health

Few of us realize what strange wet miracles of science operate inside us after every meal. In her trademark style, Mary Roach investigates the beginning, and end, of our food.

The inside story of your digestive tract, from start to finish. Immensely interesting and fun to read. -Candice

The telling room : a tale of love, betrayal, revenge, and the world's greatest piece of cheese

by Michael Paterniti

641.373 /Paterniti
Nonfiction, Biographies, History, Travel

In the picturesque village of Guzmán, Spain, in a cave on the edge of town, there is a cramped limestone chamber known as "the telling room." This is where villagers have gathered for centuries to share their stories and secrets--usually accompanied by copious amounts of wine. It was here, in the summer of 2000, that Michael Paterniti found himself listening to a Spanish cheesemaker as he spun an odd and compelling tale about a piece of cheese. Made from an old family recipe, Ambrosio's cheese was reputed to be among the finest in the world, and was said to hold mystical qualities. But then, Ambrosio said, things had gone horribly wrong. Paterniti was hooked. Soon he was fully embroiled, relocating his young family to Guzmán in order to chase the truth about this fairy tale-like place. What he ultimately discovers is nothing like the idyllic fable he first imagined. Instead, he's sucked into the heart of an unfolding mystery, a blood feud that includes accusations of betrayal and theft, death threats, and a murder plot.--From publisher description.

A story about cheese, wine, and murder. What else could you want? -Candice

The brief wondrous life of Oscar Wao

by Junot Díaz

FICTION Diaz, Junot
Fiction

Oscar, an overweight Dominican from a New Jersey ghetto, dreams of becoming a writer and finding love, but a Fuku curse has haunted his family for generations, and may well prevent him from attaining his desires.

An engrossing, funny, sweet, at times painful, story about coming of age, being isolated, finding love, geekdom, immigrants and their children, and the weight of history. It takes a while to find out what happens to Oscar, but you'll keep reading. -Candice

Walkable city : how downtown can save America, one step at a time

by Jeff Speck

307.12 /Speck
Nonfiction, Science, Health

Presents a plan for American cities that focuses on making downtowns walkable and less attractive to drivers through smart growth and sustainable design.

Not just a book about how to make cities more walkable and therefore healthier in many ways, but about the myriad, non-obvious effects our driving culture has on our health and the environment. -Candice

Station eleven : a novel

by Emily St. John Mandel

FICTION Mandel Emily
Fiction, Dystopian

"An audacious, darkly glittering novel about art, fame, and ambition set in the eerie days of civilization's collapse, from the author of three highly acclaimed previous novels. One snowy night a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear. Hours later, the world as we know it begins to dissolve. Moving back and forth in time-from the actor's early days as a film star to fifteen years in the future, when a theater troupe known as the Traveling Symphony roams the wasteland of what remains-this suspenseful, elegiac, spellbinding novel charts the strange twists of fate that connect five people: the actor, the man who tried to save him, the actor's first wife, his oldest friend, and a young actress with the Traveling Symphony, caught in the crosshairs of a dangerous self-proclaimed prophet. Sometimes terrifying, sometimes tender, Station Eleven tells a story about the relationships that sustain us, the ephemeral nature of fame, and the beauty of the world as we know it"--

A wonderful story, set in a post-plague, dystopian future, about the survival not just of humans, but of what makes us human. Some really satisfying moments of separate storylines coming together, and a poetic reminder to appreciate what is good. -Candice

The Triumph of Christianity : How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World

by Bart D. Ehrman

270.1 /Ehrman
History, Religion

In The Triumph of Christianity, Bart Ehrman, a master explainer of Christian history, texts, and traditions, shows how a religion whose first believers were twenty or so illiterate day laborers in a remote part of the empire became the official religion of Rome, converting some thirty million people in just four centuries. The Triumph of Christianity combines deep knowledge and meticulous research in an eye-opening, immensely readable narrative that upends the way we think about the single most important cultural transformation our world has ever seen - one that revolutionized art, music, literature, philosophy, ethics, economics, and law.

For those nights where you find yourself wondering why the Christian belief system ended up eclipsing so many others. Full of fantastic history. -Candice

The Road to Jonestown : Jim Jones and Peoples Temple

by Jeff Guinn

289.9 /Guinn
Biographies, History, Religion

A portrait of the cult leader behind the Jonestown Massacre examines his personal life, from his extramarital affairs and drug use to his fraudulent faith healing practices and his decision to move his followers to Guyana, sharing new details about the events leading to the 1978 tragedy.

Guinn does a masterful job of drawing in the many elements of Jones' life that, in hindsight, all played some part in making him the person he came to be. I was surprised to find that, at the end of the book, some sort of sense was made of the awful situation. -Candice

Leonardo da Vinci

by Walter Isaacson

BIOGRAPHY Leonardo
Biographies, History, Nonfiction

Acclaimed biographer Isaacson (Steve Jobs; The Innovators) delves into the 15th and 16th centuries to examine the insatiable energy of Leonardo da Vinci (1452â"1519). Primarily relying on da Vinci's notebooks (more than 7,200 pages) for his research, as they help to understand da Vinci as a person, the author argues early and often that his subject was not the most brilliant man who ever lived, simply the most curious one. For example, in his journals, da Vinci reminds himself to "describe the tongue of the woodpecker." The illegitimate son of a wealthy notary in Vinci, a town outside Florence, Italy, da Vinci had a fascination with science and art from a young age. This melding of subjects was a main component of Renaissance life. This book examines da Vinci's birth, young adulthood, sexuality, works (e.g., The Last Supper, The Mona Lisa), and contemporaries such as Michelangelo and Cesare Borgia (on whom Machiavelli's The Prince was based). Lastly, Isaacson explores the polymath's enduring impact.

A thorough and illuminating look at the consummate Renaissance genius. There are many biographies about Leonardo, and books that are about the things he did, but this one goes deep and gives an amazing amount of insight into how and what he thought, and the events that shaped him -Candice

My Lists

Interests: History, Travel, Science, Nature, Cookbooks, Thriller, Suspense

About Me

I work at the Info Desk on the second floor, and I buy books/ebooks/eaudio/CDs for the first half of the nonfiction collection (the good half). I have a degree in anthropology, which really helps in selecting...well...almost anything. I also manage the Art To Go collection of framed prints and original art, and the nonfiction DVDs.

What do you like to read?

In no particular order: mysteries that take place in other countries, travel writing, true crime, histories of religion and science, books about the Renaissance, knitting books full of beautiful things I probably won't make, nice books about animals, and every once in a while, a sweeping historical novel that you can get lost in.

Do you have pets?

Do I ever! Seven cats: Trixie, Pirate, Dickens, Huckleberry, Hazelnut, Cecil and Romeo. I also have seven litter boxes, about ten lint rollers, and I am constantly finding hair bands and plastic lids everywhere. Lucky girl, I know.

What are your hobbies?

In my free time I like to run, knit, travel, eat pasta and pizza, and drink wine. Not all at once, though. I am currently taking a beginning photography class at Kirkwood, we'll see how that goes.

What is your favorite thing about ICPL?

That we are so much more than a building with books in it. If you ask ten people what they come to the Library for, you might get ten totally different answers. We try to meet a lot of needs for our community, and I think we do a pretty good job.

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