La's Orchestra Saves the World

Alexander McCall Smith is the "Bestselling Author of THE NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY" and many other books. This book's jacket describes La's Orchestra as "heartwarming" and I suspect all of his books would fit this adjective...while this would usually be a red flag for me, this book was recommended by Linda's sister Karen, who likes to have fun but is serious and levelheaded! And, as advertised, the book was really good. Set in the 1930's, the book focuses on La (short for Lavender), who is serious and thoughtful. Rather surprisingly, she marries young, but is soon widowed. She moves to the English countryside in a kind of defiant rebellion against her London life and, when war breaks out, establishes an amateur orchestra.

While there were moments of "heartwarming", it was more a sober book, dealing with the limited options for women at that time, how the British coped with war, and how one person touches others. Sober but ultimately fairly optimistic. I read that Smith is an amateur bassoonist and "Not content with merely founding the Really Terrible Orchestra in Edinburgh (which brings really great fun to its audiences), McCall Smith has established an opera house and opera training center in Botswana". A very interesting man, evidently with limitless energy, as in his "real" life, he is a professor of medical law at Edinburgh. Quite a worthwhile read, I thought.

Kay Thompson

I heard the author interviewed on NPR, who said Kay Thompson (well-known as the author of the Eloise books) was not widely appreciated for her impressive influence on singing styles and singers of the 40's and 50's. She was vocal coach and mentor for Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Liza Minelli, Andy Williams and countless others. And she created a nightclub act that was widely regarded as one of the best ever. She also had substantial impact on fashion shows. She was a true eccentric, extremely talented, and not all that nice a person. This book is fun to read, with all kinds of insider info and show-biz gossip - but it wasn't exactly gripping. Let me know if you want it, and I'll give it to you for Christmas! Otherwise, the library gets it.

William Gibson's Idoru

In this utterly wild and brilliant book by William Gibson, two characters' narratives intersect to reveal the story of a famous rockstar - Rez of the band Lo/Rez - who is determined to marry an idoru, or virtual celebrity, despite the objections of his P.R. team and devoted, massive, scarred bodyguard Blackwell. Set in the near (but technologically greatly advanced) future, the intersecting narratives are from the perspectives of Chia, a fourteen-year-old Lo/Rez fan and skilled hacker from Seattle, and Laney, a hacker with an uncanny ability to detect "nodal points" in data. The theme of emergence is evidenced at the meta- as well as macro-level, wherein the individual stories interact to create a totality which far exceeds the sum of its parts. The tale is a true page-turner, and rife with crazy characters and novel ideas. Definitely worth reading!!

**Update**

Helpful info from Colin: Gibson's 3 Trilogies (turns out this is book 2 of one of them - oops)

Gibson's 3 Trilogies:

The Sprawl Trilogy:

• Neuromancer
• Count Zero
• Mona Lisa Overdrive

The Bridge Trilogy:

• Virtual Light
• Idoru
• All Tomorrow's Parties

The Bigend Books:

• Pattern Recognition
• Spook Country
• Zero History

The Protest Singer: An Intimate Portrait of Pete Seeger

Alec Wilkerson, a writer for the New Yorker, has truly given us an intimate portrait of Seeger - not in the sense of "revealing all" but of sketching the feel of Seeger as a person, framed by some of the major events of Seeger's life. A very striking incident is a concert-turned-riot that featured Paul Robeson - later, the description of the primitive house on a cliff above the Hudson that Seeger built by hand reveals that the stonework contains two grapefruit-sized rocks that had been thrown forcefully through the windows of Seeger's car while he was driving away from the concert.

Wilkerson describes Seeger's experiences singing with the Weavers, who at one point had a regular, nationally-broadcast television show. Seeger was personally uncomfortable with this level of fame, and believed the attention given to prominent people slighted the more significant achievements of "ordinary" people. The book describes Seeger's testimony to the House Un-American Activities Committee, an amazing display of idealism and integrity. Seeger was blacklisted and took his family on an extended "world tour" to escape the lack of work and hostile political climate in the US.

I particularly enjoyed this book because of the connections with events I had experienced (at a distance) when I was growing up, but also because it depicted Seeger in real life - rather than larger-then-life terms. A very likable, interesting, and unusual man portrayed in a quick (199 small pages) and very enjoyable read.

Family Book Club 2

I finished October the First is Too Late and, without any spoilers, would just say that it is an entertaining read, with some nice food for thought. As much about music as time travel!