LSA News

No. 90, June 2008

RQ: What are you currently reading?
(continued)

Gastronaut: Adventures in Food for the Romantic, the Foolhardy, and the Brave by Stefan Gates. This is a fun book. The author is British and has a really twisted sense of humor, which is definitely needed when reading some of the recipes and culinary adventures he suggests. The book I just started re-reading is a favorite of mine, The Dead Zone by Stephen King.

—Raina Smith, Acquisitions

Ghosts of the Middle Ages by Jean Claude Schmitt; the new Rush Tour Book by the end of this weekend, and a journal article titled "Christological Transformation In The Mirror Of Souls by Marguerite Porete," written by Ellen L. Babinsky

—Elizabeth Duell, Orbis Cascade Alliance

I've been reading the James Patterson Women's Murder Club series. Have been able to read, 1st to Die, 2nd Chance, 3rd Degree and just finished 4th of July (started these May 19). Still need to find 6th Target and 7th Heaven but started The 5th Horseman this morning on the bus. Amazing how much can get read when taking mass transit!

—Debi Baker, Orbis Cascade Alliance

I just finished reading One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Márquez, which was incredible. I'd tried reading it several times before without success — this time, something clicked. I highly recommend it.

—Karen Munro, UO Portland Library/Learning Commons

I've been reading We by E. Zamyatin — the story of a new world of the future where all the citizens are reduced to serial numbers and uniforms — "uni's.".  It had a large influence on Orwell when he wrote 1984.  I just finished reading the Mars trilogy — Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars — by Kim Stanley Robinson, once again the story of a society of the future, albeit one that is slightly less dismaying than that of We.

—Dan Cogan, Acquisitions

I'm always in the middle of more than one — currently, it's With One Lousy Free Packet of Seed, by Lynne Truss, Making the Cat Laugh, also by Lynne Truss, and Five Points: The 19th-century New York City Neighborhood that Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections, and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum, by Tyler Anbinder.

—Rebecca Belford, MSDP

Rat Pack Confidential: Frank, Dean, Sammy, Peter, Joey and the Last Great Show Biz Party . I just finished My Father's Daughter, by Tina Sinatra, and Ava, My Story. (Frank Sinatra was the star of the month on Turner Classic Movies and seeing a lot of his films inspired me to read more about his life.) I'm also reading Memoirs of an Amnesiac, by Oscar Levant, and I'm still in the middle of his biography, Oscar Levant: A talent for Genius. Another book that is awaiting me is The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals, by Michael Pollan.

—Katie Sloan, Access Services

Some of the more interesting titles that I have read (partially) are:

Governor's message and accompanying documents; addressed to the Legislative assembly, Sept.25, 1860. Which, by the way, was the first legislative regular session held under the provisions of the Constitution of the STATE of Oregon enacted in 1957, authored by Gov. John Whiteaker, the first governor of the STATE of Oregon.

or who can forget the:

Message of the Governor of Oregon; to the legislative assembly thereof, delivered in Salem, September 10th 1862, also by Gov. John Whiteaker. This is a very rare volume of which we (the UO Rare Book Collection) MAY have the only surviving copy. It was very hard to uncover its location, but thankfully we still have the old card catalog where I discovered the final clue that led me to the location of this rare and ancient document deep within the bowels of the UO's rare book collection (actually it was on the 5th floor of the original stack core of the library).

and especially titillating:

Report of the Supt. of the Penitentiary delivered in Portland, Oregon, Dec. 8, 1387 (probably a typo in the year), by Joseph Sloan, Superintendent Oregon Penitentiary, in which we learn that there was a population increase in the prison from eight to 18 with two of them being discharged, one pardoned, fourteen admitted, one escaped, and (thankfully) none died. Leaving 17 males and one female, with a cost the government of $4,045.37 for the year.

As you can see there is never a dull moment in the Library's Metadata Services and Digital Projects' Serials Team.

—Rebecca Fischer, MSDP

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