ALUW Winter Quarter Meeting, March 6, 2000

The meeting was called to order at about 3:20 p.m. by Anne Zald, President.  The agenda was a business meeting followed by a program, Pearl's Picks, given by Nancy Pearl with the Washington Center for the Book

BUSINESS MEETING

Secretary's Report

Linda Pitts received the following Faculty Council and Committee reports and linked them to the ALUW Web page at
http://staffweb.lib.washington.edu/Library_Associations/ALUW/appoints.htm

Committee Reports:
Special Committee on Minority Faculty Affairs, Harry R. Murphy
Special Committee on Faculty Women, Susanne Redalje

Faculty Council Reports:
University Libraries, Helene Williams
Retirement, Insurance and Benefits, Kay Denfeld
Instructional Quality, Pamela Zilius
University Relations, Diane Grover

She also reported posting the minutes from the Fall Quarter business meeting and program on the ALUW Web site. The minutes of     the Executive  Board meetings on December 16 and February 3 and 24 are also now on the Web, as well as the booklist from Books and Beverages held February 25, 2000.

Treasurer's Report

Rob Estes has received 45 responses to the mailing on dues and the    Legislative Activities fund. Legislative Activities contributions so far    total $1600; the goal is $2400 for the biennium. He has extra copies of the solicitation mailing; please contact him at restes@u.washington.edu if you need one.

Legislative Committee Report

Andy Johnson reported that the State Legislature is still arguing over the budget and will likely go to special session. Next year will also be a difficult budget year as more agencies are competing for money in thegeneral fund.

Andy thanked everyone who responded to the legislative survey and the folks who attended Legislative Day this year. Our lobbying efforts could be very important next year, and he urged the membership to get involved in Legislative Day 2001.

Program Committee Report

Christina Byrne thanked Elaine Jennerich for another successful Books and Beverages program in February. The list of titles from the program has been sent out.

The Program Committee is soliciting ideas for programs for the Spring Quarter meeting and for Brown Bags. Please send your ideas to Christina at cbyrne@u.washington.edu or to one of the other Program Committee members.

PROGRAM: Pearl's Picks

The program was given by Nancy Pearl, executive Director of the Washington Center for the Book at the Seattle Public Library. She contributes reviews to the radio series "Weekday" on KUOW and has recently published a book, Now Read This: A Guide to Mainstream Fiction 1978-1998 (Libraries Unlimited 1999). Co-authored with Martha Knappe and Chris Higashi, the book is a valuable resource for librarians and others interested in modern literature. "Nancy Pearl's Picks" and other information about the Center
of the Book can be found at http://www.spl.org/wacentbook/picks.html

Nancy recommended the following books:

  • The Last Supper, by Charles McCarry (fiction)
Intrigue, about the infiltration of the CIA by Russian agents.
  •  Tears of Autumn, also by McCarry (fiction)
Novel about the JFK assassination.

Author is a former CIA agent, some call him the American John Le Carre; she recommends anything of his published before 1985.
 

  • The Paperboy, by Pete Dexter (fiction); author is a Northwest native
Story about fathers and sons and the love between them and what drives them apart; outstandingly wonderful.
 
  • In Siberia, by Colin Thubron (non-fiction); other travel books by him
Author writes armchair travel books, includes good maps (a requirement of good travel books); imparts respect for people and places visited.
 
  • Passage to Juneau, by Jonathan Raven (non-fiction)
Recounts the author's journey from Ballard to Juneau sailing up the Inside Passage; also a metaphorical journey through the history of the region and the author's life.
 
  • The Country Life, by Rachael Cusk (fiction)
Looks at contemporary British life; about a Londoner who tries being a nanny in the country; "delightful."
 
  • The Orchid Thief, by Susan Orlean (non-fiction); author is a journalist for the New Yorker
The story of John LeRoche, orchid thief, a collector who became obsessed with orchids; also about collecting and collecting manias, people who will go to any extreme to get what they want; includes the natural history of orchids.
 
  • Ultimate High: My Everest Odyssey, by Goran Kropp (non-fiction)
Kropp climbed Everest alone without sherpas or oxygen bottles after first bicycling from Sweden to the foot of the mountain; rode back home to Sweden after the climb. Fun book but unfortunately not really very well written, also not a good translation.
 
  • Lost, by Hans-Ulrich Treichel (fiction)
Written in German, translated by Carol Brown Janeway; takes place in Germany in the 1950s; brother "lost" during the War (he was given to bystanders to save him from the Russians) has perhaps been found; "light-grey humor", one of the best endings you'll find; very good for strong, clear voice.

(Do the Windows Open?, by Julie Hecht, is another novel with a strong voice, although the narrator is rather neurotic.)
 

  • The Man in the Window, by Jon Cohen (fiction)
The story of Louis, who was burned in a hardware store fire and stayed in his parent's house for 19 years until literally being propelled out the window one day and so, accidentally, into life.
 
  • The Lost Days of Summer, by Steve Kluger (fiction)
Set prior to and during World War II; uses letters, pictures, and similar memorabilia to tell the story of a 12 year old Brooklyn boy who loves the New York Giants (not the Brooklyn Dodgers) and his relationship with one of the players.
 
  • A Dangerous Friend, by Ward Just (fiction)
Set in Vietnam in 1965, is the story of Sidney Parade, who attempts to rescue a flier who has been shot down; choices he makes along the way form the moral context of the book; ends unhappily; closest in tone to darker works of Graham Greene. The dangerous friend in the title could be the main character or the United States.
 
  • A Star Called Henry, by Roddy Doyle (fiction)
First of a trilogy tracing the history of Ireland through the life of the main character, Henry, who becomes an IRA assassin; mixes the historical and real with fiction.
 
  • The Intuitionist, by Colson Whitehead (fiction)
Set in a parallel universe, in a time like our time (but not our time), in a city like New York (but not New York); not science fiction but very imaginative, well crafted; about a power struggle between the Empiricists and the Intuitionists in the Elevator Inspectors' Guild of the Institute for Vertical Transport; book is also about racism and sexism; people either love the book or wonder what it was all about; very well written.
 
  • Journey Beyond Selene, by Jeffrey Kluger (non-fiction)
About unmanned space exploration and the men who made it happen; very readable even for the non-scientifically oriented.

Question and Answer Period

What does she look for in a good story?

The four appeal characteristics are setting, story, characters, and writing; for her, the two most important are characters and writing, and that's what she looks for in her reading. She has a 50 page rule: if she isn't interested after 50 pages, she puts the book down and doesn't finish it.

What are her guilty reading pleasures?

D.E. Stevensen, British author who writes comforting, 1950s-ish, Ladies Home Journal-type books. Also Elsewith Vane's Williamsburg novels.

What is she reading now?

Gambler's Rose, about a family of card sharks, and The Caveman's Valentine by George Dawes-Green.
 

Submitted by Linda Pitts, ALUW Secretary