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Tag Archives: anecdotes

Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci

24 Monday Jan 2022

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in 20th century, Biography, cuisine, Humor, memoir

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actors, anecdotes, biography, food writers, Italian cooking, Stanley Tucci, United States

While Stanley Tucci is known for his films, this memoir focuses primarily on his love of food. Raised in an Italian family with a mother who loved to cook, his interest in food continued as he began cooking and exploring cuisines and restaurants around the world. Along the way, we learn more about his life and family, with many recipes – particularly for Italian dishes – sprinkled throughout the book. Guaranteed to lift your spirits! I highly recommend the audiobook, read by the author himself, which adds to the warmth and humor of his story.

“An instant classic, Stanley Tucci’s TASTE is as captivating, simple, charming and insanely moreish as the best Italian food. Take it to bed with you and you will fall asleep dreaming you’re in Italy. But take it to the kitchen and you will find yourself using it as often as a pan or a peeler.” –Stephen Fry

“The man, the myth, The Devil Wears Prada legend Stanley Tucci has blessed our hungry souls with a food memoir to feed our mounting appetite for the actor and cook’s wit, warmth and, let’s face it: tight polo shirts. He divulges some of his most treasured memories and stories behind favourite recipes — prepare to feel bereaved when it’s over.”—Joanna Taylor, Evening Standard

“Through food and scenes of family life, Stanley Tucci shares both his personal story and his celebration of all-things taste. With tales from peanut butter sandwiches to lobster in Maine, with recipes from the perfect Negroni to his wife’s roast potatoes, he draws us to his table. Come hungry for the food, the cocktails, the gossip and the fun. Just never, ever, cut up your spaghetti.”  –Yotam Ottolenghi

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Why Peacocks?: An Unlikely Search for Meaning in the World’s Most Magnificent Bird by Sean Flynn

28 Wednesday Jul 2021

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

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anecdotes, peafoul

What a sparkler of a book!  This book is a memoir about a family of 2 journalist parents, their 2 sons, their move from city life to North Carolina suburbs and their accidental pet choices.   It is woven with wit and wonder, reflecting on the mysterious allure of peacocks. I enjoyed every minute reading this book.

“[Flynn’s] writing is often witty, sometimes glorious, and his tales wry and charming…Something magical happens to this hard-bitten reporter as he gets to know his peacocks…a fine starting point to finding meaning in a world both cruel and beautiful.” –Sy Montgomery for the New York Times Book Review

“Wry and moving.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A truly wise and tender sparkler of a book. Weaving memoir, history, reportage, and mythology, Sean Flynn tells not just a quirky story about iridescent birds but a more profound one about family and parenthood, the innocence of childhood and our own mortality. I read it in one gulp, moved and humored and carried away by Flynn’s heart and artistry as a master storyteller.” —Michael Paterniti, author of the New York Times bestseller The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge and the World’s Greatest Piece of Cheese

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Birds of a Feather : a True Story of Hope and the Healing Power of Animals by Lorin Lindner

06 Friday Jul 2018

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in anecdotes, Non-fiction

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anecdotes, mental health, parrots, post-traumatic stress disorder, therapeutic use of, treatment, veterans

This book is recommended by a Weston library patron.

“Birds of a Feather is the story of one woman’s life long love of wounded, traumatised parrots, and wounded, traumatised people. It left me smiling, full of hope, and wishing there were more Lorin Linders out there. Turns out, Veterans with PTSD and traumatised birds have much in common, and can help each other in surprisingly beautiful ways. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Buy it, read it, share it. It’s an important love story for our time.” ―Mary Gauthier

“Compelling…an uplifting book for animal lovers who care about changing the world.” ―Booklist

“Lindner’s book poignantly entwines three narratives: Stories of humans ravaged by their experiences of war, stories of parrots (and later canids) ravaged by maltreatment, and her own story―how she finds a way to help these humans and nonhumans simultaneously and synergistically.” ―Irene M. Pepperberg, PhD; Research Associate, Harvard University, author of New York Times bestseller Alex & Me

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The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey

08 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Biography, nature, Non-fiction

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anecdotes, chronically ill, Gastropoda physiology, meaning of life, snail anatomy, snails as pets

9781616206420_p0_v2_s192x300

While an illness keeps her bedridden, Bailey watches a wild snail that has taken up residence on her nightstand. As a result, she discovers the solace and sense of wonder that this mysterious creature brings and comes to a greater understanding of her own confined place in the world.

“As I read Bailey’s description of how her snail moved, ate, slept, and reproduced, I felt myself shrinking and shrinking, like Alice in Wonderland, until I was snail-size myself.” – Anne Fadiman

A charming, delicate meditation on the meaning of life. — Kirkus Review

“Though illness may rob us of vitality, sometimes it can also help bring us understanding—-albeit in improbable disguises . . . Perhaps there’s something to be said for moving at a snail’s pace.” —NPR.org

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Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

06 Monday Jun 2016

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Biography, Humor, Non-fiction

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anecdotes, biology, geobiology, Hawaii, laboratories, life journey, Minnesota, North Pole, paleobiology, plant culture, research, U.S.

9781101874936_p0_v2_s192x300

I was riveted by Hope Jahren’s interview on NPR and startled by the sincere gratitude of those women in science fields who called to thank her for writing this book.  Hope is a fighter.  She is passionate about the plant world.  She has fought tooth and nail to practice “her science” and not let academia dictate, squelch, or underfund her path……and she writes in beautiful prose…and she includes some hysterically funny experiences.  Hope is best at teaching, nurturing. Open these pages and walk into nature with an inspirational guide.

“Lab Girl surprised, delighted, and moved me. I was drawn in from the start by the clarity and beauty of Jahren’s prose, whether she was examining the inner world of a seed, the ecosystem around the trunk of a tree, or recounting her own inspiring journey. With Lab Girl, Jahren joins those talented scientists who are able to reveal to us the miracle of this world in which we live.” —Abraham Verghese

“Some people are great writers, while other people live lives of adventure and importance. Almost no one does both. Hope Jahren does both. She makes me wish I’d been a scientist.” —Ann Patchett

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Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande

18 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Biography, Non-fiction

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anecdotes, doctors, medical care, medical sciences, surgery, true cases

9780312421700_p0_v2_s114x166

Let this author take you into the surgeon’s ampitheatre where he boldly confronts the conflicts and uncertainties of his profession.   Why would you want to embark on this journey?  Because it is Atul Gawande,  MacArthur fellow and New Yorker staff writer, as deft with pen as he is with the scalpel. The chapters just easily unfold as he unflinchingly reveals mistakes that prove deadly, confronts mysterious syndromes, and shares with us the fallibility, mysteries, and uncertainties that he sees every day.

“None surpass Gawande in the ability to create a sense of immediacy, in his power to conjure the reality of the ward, the thrill of the moment-by-moment medical or surgical drama. Complications impresses for its truth and authenticity, virtues that it owes to its author being as much forceful writer as uncompromising chronicler.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Complications is a book about medicine that reads like a thriller. Every subject Atul Gawande touches is probed and dissected and turned inside out with such deftness and feeling and counterintuitive insight that the reader is left breathless.” —Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point

 “Gawande’s prose, much like the scalpel he wields, is precise, daring, but never reckless….Much like reading George Orwell, the reader emerges entertained, enlightened, transformed and immensely satisfied.” —Abraham Verghese, author of My Own Country and The Tennis Partner

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