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Monthly Archives: February 2020

Ritz & Escoffier: the Hotelier, the Chef, and the Rise of the Leisure Class by Luke Barr

22 Saturday Feb 2020

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in History, London, Non-fiction

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19th century, 20th century, A. Escoffier 1846-1935, Cesar Ritz 1850-1918, hospitality industry, leisure class, Savoy Hotel (London England), social aspects

November’s Non-Fiction Book Club Selection at the Weston Public Library

Two men, the hotel and restaurant they created like no one else had ever experienced, run in often mysterious and always extravagant  ways ….. which created quite a scandal once exposed.

“Ritz and Escoffier, Luke Barr’s entertaining narrative history, reads like a novel…Mr. Barr has done a fine job evoking fin-de-siecle London and the characters of the two odd men who played such a pivotal role in that exhilarating time.” –Wall Street Journal
 
“In this winningly-told story, Luke Barr explores the advent of the luxe life through the saga of hotelier Cesar Ritz and chef Auguste Escoffier, whose partnership brought us not only the adjective ‘ritzy,’ itself no small testament, but also such once-novel phenomena as hotel rooms with their own bathrooms, and innovative dishes like peach Melba. It’s a charming tale of success, scandal, and redemption—complete with an unexpected villain. Warning: It will make you hungry, and a little nostalgic for bygone times.”—Erik Larson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dead Wake and Devil in the White City

Find this book                            large print

How to Be a Family: the Year I Dragged my Kids Around the World to Find a New Way to Be Together by Dan Kois

14 Friday Feb 2020

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in 20th century, anecdotes, Biography, Non-fiction, Travel

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autobiography, families, parenting, travel, voyages around the world

Heartwarming, funny, full of good intentions, journalist, Dan Kois is determined to break out of the East coast parenting bubble to find a better quality lifestyle for his wife and two preteen girls.  One year, four locations:  New Zealand, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, and small town Kansas.

“In this highly entertaining and wryly insightful book, Dan Kois shows how elastic the very concept of family is. As he recounts his family’s encounters with four foreign cultures, he illuminates not only those other societies, but also our own. He argues persuasively that we have much to learn from divorcing ourselves from our own assumptions.”―Andrew Solomon, author of Far and Away and Far From the Tree

“Lots of people talk about pulling up stakes and traveling for a year. Dan Kois and his family actually did it. He’s funny and honest about how it all turned out.”―Pamela Druckerman, author of Bringing Up Bébé and There Are No Grown-Ups

“This sometimes hair-raising adventure in family togetherness across many continents took courage even to attempt, and a lively sense of humor to describe. Kois has produced a delightful and eye-opening book about what it means to be a family in the modern world.”―Ian Frazier, author of Family and Coyote V Acme

Find this book                playaway

Atonement by Ian McEwan

07 Friday Feb 2020

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction, Historical Fiction

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country life, England, ex-convicts, teenage girls, World War 1939-1945

An imaginative 13-year old girl sets off a serious chain of events after she witnesses an interaction between her older sister and a young man. Set in England before and during World War II, this is a beautifully written novel about stories, perception, and memory.

“Brilliant. . . . McEwan could be the most psychologically astute writer working today, our era’s Jane Austen.” —Esquire

“Enthralling. . . . With psychological insight and a command of sensual and historical detail, Mr. McEwan creates an absorbing fictional world.” —The Wall Street Journal

“His most complete and passionate book to date.” —The New York Times Book Review

Find this book          large print             audio cd’s            dvd          playaway

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