Friday, May 28, 2010

Friday Finds

Friday Finds is hosted by Should Be Reading.
 Here are a few finds I discovered this week. Have you found any good books this week?

Starred Review. Pasulka's delightful debut braids together two tales of old and new Poland. The old is the fairy tale love story of the Pigeon, a young man so entranced by village beauty Anielica that he builds her family a house to prove his devotion. When war comes to Poland, the Pigeon works for the resistance, guarding the town and his Jewish sister-in-law with creativity and bravery. After the war, he and Anielica get engaged and the Pigeon brings his family to Kraków, but the fabled promises of the golden city and the glories of communism prove hollow. The new tale is about Anielica and the Pigeon's granddaughter, Beata, whose plainness has earned her the nickname Baba Yaga. Now living in a much-changed Kraków, Beata is a bar girl with no hopes of love or plans for the future. When tragedy strikes and Beata uncovers family secrets, she brings together the old and new to create her own bright future. Pasulka creates a world that's magical despite the absence of magical happenings, and where Poland's history is bound up in one family's story.


 By a Slow River; Phillippe Claudel

(amazon).... Nimbly translated, French former screenwriter Claudel's little gem of a debut novel is, in essence, a whodunit. On a frigid morning in December 1917, the body of a 10-year-old girl is discovered, strangled, on the banks of the "slow" river that slices through a small, unnamed French village. The townsfolk are stunned by the murder, though they're curiously oblivious to the seemingly endless slaughter taking place on the nearby Western front. Told by Dadais, a former policeman with a sharp memory and (it gradually becomes apparent) a shadowy history of his own, the story is a re-creation of his dogged pursuit of the killer. Was it the town's haughty prosecutor, Pierre-Ange Destinat? Was it the Breton deserter who confesses under duress? Could it possibly have been Dadais himself? The answer, like everything else in the story, is far from tidy—aside from its construction, that is. Psychologically complex, elegantly written and tightly plotted, this is far from your average policier.


(I saw this book at the library and it looks and sounds wonderful). Must get a copy for sitting on the deck and identifying local birds :)

(amazon)....Drawing from the collection of the world-renowned Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Bird Songs presents the most notable North American birds—including the rediscovered Ivory-billed Woodpecker—in a stunning new format. Renowned bird biologist Les Beletsky provides a succinct description of each of the 250 birds profiled, with an emphasis on their distinctive songs. Lavish full-color illustrations accompany each account, while a sleek, built-in digital audio player holds 250 corresponding songs and calls. In his foreword, North American bird expert and distinguished natural historian Jon L. Dunn shares insights gained from a lifetime of passionate study. Complete with the most up-to-date and scientifically accurate information, Bird Songs is the first book to capture the enchantment of these beautiful birds in words, pictures, and song. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, located in Ithaca, New York, is a nonprofit institution focused on birds and whose mission is to interpret and conserve the earth's biological diversity through research. The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab is the major source of sound recordings of birds for research, education, conservation, the media, and commercial products.

12 comments:

  1. Three very different "finds" to enjoy. Have a great (long) weekend, Diane!

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  2. I would love Bird Songs. I keep an Audubon book of birds by the deck and this would also be a great book to have there.

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  3. You always find the most unique and interesting books for me to add to my pile :)

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  4. I love the sound of the Polish one. Definitely one to add to my collection.

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  5. Great finds. I've learned to identify a few birds by watching and listening to them around the backyard. I loved it when our cat would go outside, they had a definite alert sound to let the others know! I wonder if they have realized there is no longer a cat at that house? ;o)

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  6. These sound a bit different. I think the first two may be quite interesting. Have a great weekend Diane.

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  7. I love the first one, it looks really fun and interesting. My find is at The Crowded Leaf.

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  8. I'll definitely be adding the Claudel to my list. I enjoyed another of his books quite a bit a few months ago but hadn't thought to find out if he had others in translation.

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  9. The first one grabbed my attention!!

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  10. These books sound good - THe slow river intrigues me... I will have to add this to my list.

    Have a wonderful weekend!

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  11. I checked a book of bird calls out of the library - it wasn't the one you have, though - and the call of the turkey was hilarious.

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