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Nigel Hamilton has put out another book about the writing of biography. Last year he published Biography: A Brief History. This year he has issued a practical guide for the writing and selling of biography to publishers called How to Do Biography: A Primer. Some topics that first time writers might not expect in this book include how to get permissions to quote from documents and how to prepare to defend a book from challenges by offended parties.

Believing that biographers do need to have a sense of the history of the genre, covers a little of the same ground that he covered in his previous book. "Real life depiction has always been controversial," says the author. A good biography focuses not on facts and incidents but on character reputations. If the subject or family and friends are living, an honest biography is certain to offend. Shakespeare knew this and stuck to historical plays when depicting monarchs, trying not to land in jail or to lose his head.

offers good advice about writer focus:

Asking yourself who, ultimately, will be interested in, or willing to read, the life you're recounting should be your constant concern. When biographies fail to spark interest, become tedious or unsatisfying, it is usually because the biographer had lost his commitment to engage the reader and is taking the audience for granted, by getting too self-absorbed in the life he is depicting. Never forget or neglect the reader!

We should all remember that. 's book, which includes a chapter on the responsibilities of the memoir writer, should be popular in many public and college libraries.

Hamilton, Nigel. How to Do Biography: A Primer. Press, 2008. ISBN 9780674027961.

Though I have not finished many adult books lately, I am enjoying the children's books that Bonnie and Laura have been bringing home. Yesterday, I found a very colorful book with a story told in verse called On a Road in by Kim Doner by my pillow. I am always pleased to find a book about . Doner's book tells about the work day of an animal rescue worker in . The verse is witty and the artwork shows a diversity of people and wildlife, just as you would expect in .

has had so many problems lately, with its contested election, the riots that followed, AIDS, and poverty. It is refreshing to see a lighter view with a hopeful message, offering a vision for the way life ought to be in that beautiful land. If enough children can believe in friendship, perhaps it can become true.

Even the end panels are well used in this attractive book. There you will find English words and Swahili translations. Get the book and read it right before you turn off the light. Lala salama.

Doner, Kim. On a Road in . Tricycle Press, 2008. ISBN 9781582462301

Annie's Picnic Books Display

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Annie's Picnic Basket

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Staff Favorites Cart

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Staff Favorite Books

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I love Max Apple.

Annie's Girls of Summer Display

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Jamie's Guy Reads Display

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Pretty Flowers

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Bill Bryson says in his introduction to Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors that he has been writing for over thirty years. In that time he has had to look up a lot of words to see 1) how to spell them, 2) whether they mean what he thinks they mean, and 3) how to make them plural. He has also needed to identify many people and places. Being industrious and always thinking about another book to publish, he has kept all his research and created this unusual reference book with an abundance of small facts.

As a reference librarian, I do not really see an advantage to using Bryson's book over other works, such a the American Heritage Dictionary, but it is fun. (Of course, I actually find using the American Heritage Dictionary fun.) Occasionally, Bryson editorializes a little, such as letting you know that he thinks "snuck" is going to replace "sneaked," but he does not really try to be humorous in this work. Mostly, I just like seeing what words gave Bryson trouble. He too at some point had to look up "phenomenon" to check the vowels (I almost added extra syllables. I have sometime said "phenomenonanon.") If he has had to look up all these words, his accomplishments seem infinitely greater. Perhaps prospective writers can look at this book and say, "If Bill can overcome all this and write well, maybe I can, too."

Bryson, Bill. Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors. Broadway Books, 2008. ISBN 9780767922692

I am a big Max Apple fan. I have been ever since I read The Oranging of America and Other Stories back in 1976 when he was a professor at Rice University in Houston. I was living in Texas at the time, too, and enjoyed how he set some of his entertaining stories in places that I knew, like the Astrodome. I also really enjoyed his memoirs of growing up Jewish in Grand Rapids, Michigan I Love Gootie: My Grandmother's Story and Roommates: My Grandfather's Story. Understandably, I was excited to learn about The Jew of Home Depot and Other Stories, his first story collection in twenty years.

Apple continues to know where I go. I started the collection while on vacation in Saugatuck, Michigan. Bonnie and I went up to Muskegon one day to see some museums and old houses. The next morning I discovered "Indian Giver," an Apple story set in Muskegon of all places. I had seen the tourist sites. Apple took me to the junkyards where men were trying to practice their religious faiths while making a living off used auto parts and scrap metal.

In a larger sense, Apple knows where we all go. His stories take place at basketball games, pharmaceutical conventions, playgrounds, stereo stores, hotel lobbies, and the local Home Depot. These are common places but his characters are extraordinary. They always seem to have unique problems that somehow beautifully reveal universal themes. There are a couple of stories set in nursing homes, "Strawberry Shortcake" and "Adventures in Dementia," that will connect with many readers. Again, Apple knows where we go or may be going sometime soon.

The title story takes the reader back to Texas to a college town where a Jewish family is temporarily living across the street from a fraternity house. What the teenage son sees out his window shocks him. The story is brilliant and the last paragraph is a classic twist that I will say no more about.

I find that few people seem to know about Apple. I look really smart when I introduce his books to story readers. Try his books and then spread the word.

Apple, Max. The Jew of Home Depot and Other Stories. John Hopkins University Press, 2008. ISBN 9780801887383

I am weeding lots of books this summer. When I ran a report of our biography section, I sorted it by number of checkouts. I was slightly surprised by the results. I knew the top two books would be at the top but I did not realize that the third and fourth books were that popular. I think book discussion groups may have influenced this list. I also notice that eight of the ten books are memoirs. The two books that are third person accounts about historical figures utilize letters and diaries heavily.

Here's the list, based on January 1999 to date (the length of time our library system has used its current vendor):

1. John Adams by David McCullough (57)

2. It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life by Lance Armstrong (55)

3. The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride (52)

4. The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls (49)

(tie) A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (49)

6. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama (38)

7. Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott (37)

8. Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love by Dava Sobel (36)

9. Population - 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time by Michael Perry (35)

(tie) The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: How My Mother Raise 10 Kids on 25 Words or Less by Terry Ryan (35)

The checkouts include when our copies were loaned to other libraries, but they do not show when our readers got the same titles through interlibrary loan. I assume the two balance out, i. e. that our copies have gone to other libraries as much as other libraries' copies have come into our library.

I am obviously not deleting these books.

I'd be interested in learning what the top circulating biographies are in your library, too.

I have always preferred the Beatles to the Rolling Stones, though I have come to appreciate the music of the latter more as I have aged. This is funny because author Bent Rej says in The Rolling Stones: In the Beginning that no one over thirty liked the Stones in 1965. Well, I'm way beyond that now as are many Stones fans. I still perk up when I hear "Jumpin' Jack Flash" or "Satisfaction." It must be my lateblooming rebellious urges.

The title is slightly misleading. Rej spent a year photographing the Stones, March 1965 to the summer of 1966. They had already been together a couple of years, so it was not really the beginning. Because Brian Jones liked him, he was given almost unlimited access to their concerts, rehearsals and travels. Rej even shot a photo story for a fan magazine in their homes (mostly apartments and hotel rooms) for which all the members cooperated, though Mick Jagger did so grudgingly. (They did not have much in their living spaces. All were pretty bare.) Rej says that he forgot about the photos until 40 years later. They now form a sort photobiography of five very young men serious about their music and learning how to appreciate their wealth.

He contends that it is the period that group found its identity. Their brief try at wearing matching suits had passed and their confidence was growing. Brian Jones, who founded the group, was in decline as a leader already, and Mick Jagger was becoming the focus of fan attention. Though they drank excessively, no one was taking drugs yet. It was a cleaner and softer time, though innocence is not a word that I would use.

I recommend the book in my book as another title to offer when readers like The Beatles: The Biography by Bob Spitz. There is a lot less detail than the Beatles book but the photos really draw you back to the time. Putting the Stones on the CD player helps, too.

Rej, Bent. The Rolling Stones: In the Beginning. Firefly Books, 2006. ISBN 9781554072309

Bonnie in the Submarine

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Gauge on Submarine

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Hydrangia

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Jesse and Laura in a Canoe

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Campers Crossing the Road

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Saugutuck Ferry

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My Tie-Dye

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