TITLE The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentlemen Farmers: An Unconventional Memoir
AUTHOR: Josh Kilmer-Purcell
PUBLISHER: Harper
RELEASE DATE: June 1

By Lora Van Marel
Contributor, One-Woman Show

Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge were taking their annual trip to an apple orchard in upstate New York when they discovered a village, Sharon Springs, packed with small town charm. They stayed the night at the local hotel and got up early the next morning to drive back to Manhattan. It was on that drive that they discovered the Beekman mansion. The couple decided to purchase the mansion, and farm that came with it. That began their transformation from Manhattanites to farmers. This book tells their story.

Both Josh and Brent had high-power jobs in New York. Brent worked with Martha Stewart and is known as Dr. Brent to fans of her TV show. Josh worked in advertising and was a partner in his firm. For two years the couple worked in New York during the week and spent their weekends on the Beekman farm.  This was a struggle that wore them out both physically and mentally. It got even worse when they decided (with help from Martha Stewart herself) to make the Beekman farm into a business, and establish the Beekman brand. The only help they had in this drastic transformation was from the Beekman’s caretaker, “Farmer John.” Josh, Brent, and John worked together to build a garden, keep the grounds (including the crypt) and care for all the livestock.

What I loved so much about this book was that it read like a novel. The ups and downs of the couple’s relationship as they decided to leave their New York lives behind and make a go of the Beekman are what kept this story interesting. I felt like I really got to know them. I want to travel to New York to see if Sharon Springs and the Beekman farm are really as Josh described in this book. That’s the beauty of his writing; he makes the reader want to be there with him. I wanted to plant in the garden with Josh, make the mansion look perfect with Brent, and feed and cuddle the goats with Farmer John.

Photo from GregInHollywood.com.

Not only was the farming aspect of the story entertaining, but the relationship between Josh and Brent is so beautiful. Josh’s writing reflects that he knows how to balance between description and action. I was never bored with the descriptive passages of the garden and its progress or the upkeep of the Beekman because there were always little acedotes interjected about the people of Sharon Springs, parties at the mansion, encounters with Martha, or discussions between Josh and Brent that were both menial and monumental. It was also interesting to learn about how the Beekman 1802 business got started and the struggles it takes to start something from scratch.

One of my only qualms with the book was the title. The word “Bucolic” is a play on sheparding and rural life, but I didn’t know that. I had to look it up. People I’ve been telling about the book (which is anyone that I can get to listen) all seem to struggle with the title. It was an interesting choice, which does educate the audience, but makes finding the book difficult at times. I’m going to go out and buy myself a copy. This would be a great gift book. I can see myself giving the book as a gift with a bar of the goat milk soap to go along with it.Josh and Brent really make the reader feel like dreams can come true, even if it takes some hard work and struggle.

RATING: 9/10

Front page image from GregInHollywood.com.

TITLE: The Girl Who Played With Gire
AUTHOR: Stieg Larsson
PUBLISHER: Vintage
RELEASED: June 2009 (Hardcover), March 2010 (Paperback)

By Chris Kromphardt
Staff Writer, Justice Administrator

Meatballs. That Muppet chef. Fish. With these pedestrian things dominating most Americans’ perceptions of all things Swedish, you probably wouldn’t expect their crime fiction to be badass. But it is.

The Girl Who Played With Fire is the second book in the Millennium trilogy written by the late Stieg Larsson. Larsson, a former journalist, had originally planned for the series to be up to 10 books, but his death in 2004 cut short those ambitious plans. However, the three books he did complete have gone on to sell more than 40 million copies worldwide.

But why should American audiences care about any of this? We’re notorious with the rest of the world for our insularity—“here, watch our Avatar, but, what’s that in your film? Subtitles? No, thank you”—and things often have to be repackaged to meet our sheltered needs if we’re going to pay attention to them (see: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone). But I digress.

The reasons why Americans need to get on the Millenium train is that these are smart, action-packed books—and there may be a movie coming. Directed by David Fincher. With Brad Pitt rumored to play the lead male protagonist. As if those two pairing up again wasn’t enough, the part of the other lead protagonist, hell-on-wheels asocial hacker Lisbeth Salander—one of the most compelling deviants this side of Heath Ledger’s Joker—is up for grabs among actresses from Carey Mulligan to Natalie Portman to Kristen Stewart.

Photo from ScandinavianBooks.com.

So what’s the book even about? Well, a lot. Fire weighs in at 630 pages, and a large part of the first two books is dedicated to getting all of the players in order. Larsson likes to be sure his powderkeg is well-prepared before he lights it, and although it might be a bit frustrating for impatient readers getting to that point, the action and the revelations when they come are as satisfying as any thriller I’ve ever read. And because Larsson shifts the narrative’s perspective regularly—sometimes it’s Salander, sometimes it’s people talking about or searching for Salander, which gets really interesting when she’s implicated in a triple homicide—the reader enjoys a meaty understanding of what all is going on.

Additionally, Fire’s themes revolve around everything from bureaucratic corruption to family rivalries to sex trafficking to the cold war. Given this range of subject matter, it’s not surprising that so many people have found something they like in these books.

It should be said though, that these books aren’t for everyone. While their cultural affinity is closest in my opinion with the Harry Potter books—international appeal, layered timeline-driven narrative, startling reveals that resonate across volumes—the Millennium trilogy is very much for those readers who are at least in high school. Fire deals with heady topics like torture, and characters’ perspectives lean from chauvinistic to indifferent. Larsson has created a morally-charged universe, and questions about right and wrong don’t always come easily. You’ve been forewarned.

The Girl Who Played With Fire is almost as good as its absolutely brilliant predecessor, but sometimes Larsson’s slow-boil storytelling method could use a bit more heat. But, once the story gets going, you’ll never look back, hurtling toward Fire’s resolution, and May 25, when The Girl Who Shook a Hornet’s Nest, the final book, is released in hardcover.

RATING: 9/10

Art courtesy of Amulet Books.

TITLE: The Strange Case of Origami Yoda
AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Tom Angleberger
PUBLISHER: Amulet Books
RELEASED: March 2010 

Joking aside, Origami Yoda is a fun little book about a sixth grade oddball named Dwight who wears an origami Yoda finger-puppet that gives amazingly good advice to his classmates. Our main narrator is Tommy, one of Dwight’s classmates, who is assembling a “case file” on whether this puppet can actually see the future, or is simply Dwight playing a joke.

Throughout the book, Tommy hands the narrator reigns to several other middle-schoolers, who talk about their own interactions with Dwight and the puppet, and how its words affected them. Nothing too heavy (it’s not a Dr. Phil puppet after all). When’s the next pop quiz, how to I get rid of this stain, what words are they going to ask in the spelling bee, stuff like that.

One of the cool things about this book is that through the words of “Yoda,” Angleberger inserts little moral lessons about honesty, dignity, friendship, and the need to take chances in life. But they come at you from the sides, as opposed to having Angleberger beat you over the head with them. I appreciated that.

It has to be said though, that the book has something of a problem with bad dialogue at times. Maybe that’s just my lack of experience with recent young adult fiction talking. But even in sixth grade, I’d have rolled my eyes at an author telling me that someone my age was saying things like “malarky” or “What’s his major malfunction?” I get that adults aren’t always tuned into what slang kids are using, but c’mon, really?

Most of the book’s interior art consists of doodles done by Angleberger. They’re not going to win any awards, but they’re funny, charming, and the Star Wars geek in me enjoyed some of the little inside jokes he included for junior fanboys (There’s no K in “Sarlac Pit”).

As an adult, you’d have to be a pretty big grump to not at least crack a smile or two when reading Origami Yoda. As a kid, chances are you’ll find something to relate to. One of the best things Angleberger did very well here, the occasional bad line notwithstanding, is tap into some of the experiences that are almost universal for middle school kids. And the broader that scope is, the more people you’re going to reach. I wouldn’t call Angleberger a Jedi Master yet, but he’s definitely a Knight.

By the way, don’t let the cover mislead you. Origami Yoda does NOT have a little origami lightsaber. I know, right? How’s he supposed to defend himself against origami Count Dooku in Origami Yoda: Episode II – Attack of the Cardboard Clones?

RATING: 8/10