Posts by Jenny Baum

On the Origin of Some Phrases

Growing up, I used to hear the phrase "what do you want, egg in your beer?" all the time. Although I have many occasions in which I'd like to use it, I never have because I know it would only garner perplexing looks. I looked into it recently and it's from WWII and it seems to be somewhat self-explanatory as egg in beer is not very appealing, as opposed to, say, an

Mermaid Parade

I was musing aloud about what the next supernatural fiction trend may be, now that vampires and werewolves have had their day. I jokingly said mermaids/mermen, but it looks like there may be something to that after all. A recent Joss Whedon film (The Cabin in the Woods) had a plot twist centered on the mythological creature the 

Following Cheryl Strayed's Journey on the Pacific Crest Trail

How interesting could a book about a long walk possibly be? In the case of Cheryl Strayed's book Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, the answer is very. Some may have foolishly initially shied away from this book because it's an Oprah's Book Club selection and a memoir, a combination that proved problematic for James Frey's

Flappers and Philosophers: F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and Their Contemporaries

A few titles that give a more substantial background to the time period in which "Gatsby" is set and to biographical details of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald's lives.

Opera for the Uninitiated

The Gilded Stage: A Social History of the Opera by Daniel Snowman promises to do what few nonfiction books about opera have done thus far: describe the evolution of opera from everyman's entertainment to one, believed by many, to be reserved for those of a select social sphere.

In the Literary Review by Tim Blanning, he describes some attributes of that change. "One thing that 

Audubon Day is April 26th

Many have heard about slow food, but fewer still about slow looking. This Wall Street Journal article from 2011 coined the term, referring to LSU's Hill Memorial Library and the way in which they presented their collection of John James Audubon's four-volume Birds of America (1827-38): slowing turning the pages for a rapt audience.

Closer to home and until May 19th, the New-York 

February Reader's Den: "Telegraph Avenue" Week 4

This is a view of Broadway, in Oakland, California from NYPL's Digital Gallery. Although it's not Telegraph Avenue where Oakland and Berkeley intersect, I think it still contributes to envisioning the setting of the novel. How do you envision the area where Telegraph Avenue takes place? Do you think that this picture fits with that idea? That time frame?

In the novel, Gibson Goode builds a mega record store in direct 

February Reader's Den: "Telegraph Avenue" Week 3

If you're enjoying Telegraph Avenue, here are some suggestions on what to check out next:

Telegraph Avenue Pinterest page, including Candygirl Clark and Strutter movie original artwork by Greg "Stainboy" Reinel.

Read-alikes and watch-alikes:

Marvel Comics'

February Reader's Den: "Telegraph Avenue" Week 2 - About the Author

If you'd like to know all about Michael Chabon's prolific publishing history, Contemporary Authors Online has an exhaustive biography of him in our online databases. As I already noted, comics have been a big influence on his work and I surprized to learn that he worked on the screenplay of Edgar Rice Burrough's A Princess of Mars (novelized by Stuart Moore as

February Reader's Den: "Telegraph Avenue" Week 1

Welcome back to the Reader's Den! Today we take a slight detour from our focus on New York City to the sunny climes of Northern California. Michael Chabon's Telegraph Avenue is a fictional place that the NYT book review calls, "a homage to an actual place: the boulevard in 

Meet the Author: Carliss Pond

Carliss Pond, author of Taste of Broadway and Sizzle in Hell's Kitchen spoke at the Columbus Library last year. It was great to have an author speak about the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood, which has come to be known as Clinton in recent years. Sizzle in Hell's Kitchen chronicles the diverse restaurants available on Ninth Avenue, including 38 different restaurants representing 27 different 

Reader's Den Chat: Meet the Author Michael Scott Moore

Last year around this time, author Michael Scott Moore read from his book Sweetness and Blood at the Columbus branch. I wanted to share it with everyone who couldn't attend. Sweetness and Blood focuses on the history of surfing and was also an NYPL Reader's Den pick. 

Halloween Reads III: Trick or Treat

This is the third edition of Halloween reads, a sequel to Halloween Reads and Halloween Reads II: The Re-Ordering. I tried to have a theme to my previous posts and the theme of these can best be described mind candy: relaxing treats that you can read to keep you in the Halloween spirit since the holiday falls in the middle of week this year.

The Last 

June Reader's Den: 11/22/63 Week Four

For new and existing fans of Stephen King, here are some things to check out next:

Bag of Bones, recently made into a 2-part TV series starring Pierce Brosnan. The accompanying website, darkscorestories.com is full of easter eggs for the intrepid reader.

The new Dark Tower novel,

June Reader's Den: 11/22/63 Week Three

This Is Your Brain @ the Library

The month of May brought with it the end of the TV series House, M.D. as well as the publication of the book Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior by Leonard Mlodinow. In the series send-off, the producers highlighted the similarities between the show's characters, House and Wilson, and the fictional characters of Holmes and 

June Reader's Den: 11/22/63 Week Two

The '60s have been a wellspring of creative inspiration lately, from Mad Men to X-Men: First Class to Motown-inspired singing sensations such as Adele, Duffy and Amy Winehouse. In the article 

June Reader's Den: 11/22/63 Week One

Welcome to the June 2012 edition of the Reader's Den! The title for this month is Stephen King's 11/22/63, part of Mystery Summer. If you were expecting The Sixes by Kate White, please see my earlier post and check out her new book So Pretty It 

May I? Thank You and Please: The New Rules of Etiquette

Anyone who has seen the Seinfeld finale, whether they loved it or hated it, remembers that it was about the characters getting their just desserts for being such terrible people. By extension, New Yorkers sometimes have a reputation of being rude. I don’t think this is true, and I’ve seen New Yorkers be incredibly polite, but I do think that in a city full of people with such varying backgrounds in such close proximity, there are bound to be misunderstandings. I once saw a pedestrian hold up four or five 

New Steampunk and Speculative Fiction at Your Library

The steampunk genre has been around for some time now, and while some may disagree, I most strongly associate it with The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, a graphic novel, by Alan Moore.

More recently, the novel, Phoenix