Book Review: Betty White's Pearls of Wisdom by Patty Sullivan

Betty White’s Pearls of Wisdom
by Patty Sullivan (Biography White)

This book’s author, Patty Sullivan, is the wife of blind singer and motivational speaker Tom Sullivan (a fixture on TV talk shows of the 1970s and 1980s). Before Patty and Tom were even married, when Tom was singing in a Cape Cod bar, actress Betty White and her husband Allen Ludden (who were both appearing in a play nearby) saw Sullivan’s musical act and befriended the young couple. From this point in their lives and beyond, Patty and Tom became a close part of Betty’s life, especially after Allen passed away. Over the years, Betty became Gram III to Patty and Tom’s two children, and they often spent the holidays together as a family, either at Patty and Tom’s home in the Los Angeles area, or the oceanside home in Carmel, CA that Betty and Allen had had constructed before his passing.

 

This book is Patty’s recollections of the more-than-fifty years relationship she had with Betty White, and the “Pearls of Wisdom” she acquired from watching how Betty lived her life. A large percentage of her recollections deal with Betty’s love for the animal kingdom and the environment. Patty also goes into a lot of detail of how everyone around Betty coped with her aging in the last 15-20 years of her life.

 

Pearls of Wisdom had a lot of great moments and memories but also became a tad repetitive. None-the-less, to see through the eyes of someone who was so close to Betty was invaluable, as are the large number of full-color photos used to illustrated this book. Anyone who loves animals, or who loved watching Betty throughout her superstar career on television should definitely enjoy this one.

 

(If you enjoy this, Betty wrote several books herself, all of the following of which are available through the libraries: Pet-Love: How Pets Take Care of Us (1983), Betty White In Person (1987), Here We Go Again: My Life in Television (1995), If You Ask Me (and Of Course You Won’t) (2011) and Betty & Friends: My Life at the Zoo (2011).

 

Mentioned within Pearls of Wisdom are three books she co-authored with Tom Sullivan, The Leading Lady: Dinah’s Story (1991), Together: A Novel of Shared Vision (2008) and Alive Day: A Story of Love and Loyalty (2009). The latter two novels are available in electronic formats, but the libraries don’t own The Leading Lady — you can order it through our InterLibrary Loan service for only a very small fee.

 

In 1971-72, Betty hosted a TV series, The Pet Set, for 39 episodes. All 39 episodes of this series are available through the libraries’ Hoopla Digital service, though each episode is a separate check-out and you are limited to 4 Hoopla check-outs per month.)

 

( Wikipedia entry for Betty White ) | ( publisher’s official Patty Sullivan author web page)

 

See Charlotte M.’s review of If You Ask Me (and, Of Course, You Won’t!) by Betty White in the January 2012 Staff Recommendations here on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: What's Your Favorite Animal?

What’s Your Favorite Animal?
by Eric Carle and Friends (jP Carle)

This is a fun collection of drawings and anecdotes by award-winning picture book illustrators and author-illustrators. Included are Mo Willems, Lucy Cousins, Rosemary Wells, Nick Bruel, and 10 others including Mr. Carle. There are also short biographic entries about all the authors at the back of the book, as well as information about the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. No matter how old you are, favorite art and stories are always valid interests.

 

( official Eric Carle web site )

 

Recommended by Becky W.C.
Walt Branch Library

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Audiobook Review: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Remarkably Bright Creatures

by Shelby Van Pelt, with audio narration by Marin Ireland and Michael Uhry (Compact Disc Van Pelt) (a 2023 One Book – One Lincoln finalist)

 

Seeing that it was one of the three finalists for One Book – One Lincoln in 2023, I managed to grab Remarkably Bright Creatures as an audiobook-on-cd, and am incredibly grateful that I did. I loved this book, but especially as an audiobook!

 

This shares the intersecting stories of three individuals (and the people in their immediate periphery) at a pivotal point in all their lives. Tova Sullivan is an active senior, who has been working at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, cleaning up after closing hours, since her husband passed away. The biggest mystery in her life is the question of what happened to her son, many years ago, who disappeared after his part-time job one night and was never seen again, though circumstantial evidence seems to indicate that he took a small boat out on the ocean and committed suicide. The second main character is Cameron, a young man who’s drifting through life without any real purpose, who ends up in Tova’s town in search of the man he thinks is his father, based on an old photo of his absent mother from her high school years. The third main character is Marcellus McSquiddles. That’s right. He’s a Giant Pacific Octopus, nearing the end of his 4-year lifespan, who’s on exhibit in the aquarium.

Each of these three characters narrates their own story. Tova’s and Marcellus’ stories intersect one night when Marcellus who’s a bit of an escape artist, is found outside his tank, tangled up and unable to save himself, by Tova, who rescues the arthropod. After circumstances force Tova to take a partial leave of absence from her aquarium job, Cameron (temporarily in town) ends up filling in for her.

 

Each of these characters is suffering grief, lonelieness and uncertainty about their futures. And each of them ultimately discovers that the other two characters fill a void in their life. To tell you more would be to spoil the joy of seeing the story unfold.

 

The one thing I was say is that the audiobook of Remarkably Bright Creatures features TWO narrators. Actress Marin Ireland does the bulk of the story, but actor Michael Uhry narrates the segments told in the voice of Marcellus, and he makes that octopus come to life. By the end of this novel, I was emotionally moved and 100% invested in the fates of everyone in the story. This isn’t a truly “deep” novel, but it is an incredible character study and left me fully satisfied in the end. Hopefully you will be too! And definitely give the audiobook a try!

 

( official Shelby Van Pelt web site )

 

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

New Booktalk Booklist on BookGuide: Books With an Animal Theme, with Jodi R.

On Marcy 17th, 2023, Jodi R., one of the staff at the Anderson and Bethany Branch Libraires, presented a new talk at the Bethany Branch BookTalks, on the theme of books dealing with animals and the animal-human relationship. The 23 books on her list range from older classics, to recent bestsellers. And the animals discussed range from your typical dogs and cats, to horses, foxes, giraffes, elephants, wolves, polar bears and even octopi.

Check out Jodi's selections in this new booktalk booklist on BookGuide at the following link:

Books With an Animal Theme

DVD Review: Honk: The Movie

Honk
(DVD 598.41 Hon)

Honk is the nickname for a domestic gander that was dumped in an urban park in a city in Texas. The producer of the film, Cheryl Allison, relates the story of how she discovered Honk in the park during the COVID pandemic and the relationship she built with this gander during a difficult time. Many neighbors in the area tell her that Honk has a mate, a white goose that is probably nesting somewhere in the area, so she begins the search for the goose. When she discovers the remains of the white goose, she knows that she needs to find a different home for Honk because this small pond is not safe. The last half of the movie focuses on the Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, Honk's new home. The message of the movie is all about kindness, friendship and hope. Honk developed quite a following on social media during the pandemic which is probably the reason why Ms. Allison decided to promote the story through the release of this DVD. Although I enjoyed the story, I am not fond of documentary-style DVDs that are a collection of selfies recorded on one's cell phone. However, the DVD of Honk is only 46 minutes, so you won't need to suffer too long.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Christmas Doodle)

 

( Internet Movie Database entry for this film ) | ( official Honk: The Film web site )

 

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Photo Art Wonders: Celebrating Diversity in the Animal Kingdom by Joel Sartore

Photo Ark Wonders: Celebrating Diversity in the Animal Kingdom

by Joel Sartore (779.59 Sar)

 

This latest entry in Nebraska photographer Joel Sartore’s series of “Photo Ark” nature photography books is what I would call a “coffee table” book. It’s large, thick, and filled with some of the most gorgeous photos of animals you’ll ever see. Sartore’s goal is to photographically document every single species of animal under the care of humans, in zoos, sanctuaries and other controlled environments.

 

Photo Ark Wonders features 462 different animal species. Each example (sometimes more than one per page) lists the animal’s common name, scientific name and a little blurb with a small humorous or fascinating anecdote about the species. Interspersed among the myriad photographs are profiles of Sartore, and his wife and children, who’ve grown to put up with Sartore’s photographic obsession over the years, but not always happily. Sartore also throws in a few fascinating background stories about some of the experiences he’s had while traveling internationally to get his photos taken.

 

Chapters in the book focus on Shape (animals with unusual shapes), Pattern (animals with unique patterns), Extra (a grab bag of various animal features that don’t all go together), and Attitude — my favorite section — in which the photographs Sartore took of various species show off almost human-like attitudes and personalities.

 

Absolutely gorgeous — and don’t forget to check out Sartore’s earlier Photo Ark books!

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Photo Ark: One Man’s Quest to Document the World’s Animals by Joel Sartore, and Rare: Creatures of the Photo Ark — on DVD.)

 

( National Geographic’s official The Photo Ark web page ) | ( official Joel Sartore web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Fearless Felines: 30 True Tales of Courageous Cats by Kimberlie Hamilton and numerous illustrators

Fearless Felines: 30 True Tales of Courageous Cats

by Kimberlie Hamilton and numerous illustrators (j636.8 Ham)

 

I’ll have to admit, right off, that I’m not a “cat person” — I grew up with dogs as pets, and am actually allergic to cats. But, I still like cats, even if I can’t have them as a regular part of my life. So, when I saw this charmingly illustrated guide to 30 “courageous cats”, I was intrigued enough to give it a try. Even though it’s aimed at a juvenile readership, I still enjoyed this one quite a lot.

 

Author Hamilton, with the able assistance of 17 different illustrators, shares the tales of 30 different cats who’ve been significant in one way or another — each entry has a single page of descriptive text and a full-page illustration of the cat in question. And then, to fill in between the primary stories, Hamilton has multiple thematic sections in which she shares fascinating historical tidbits, and highlights other noteworthy cats (who didn’t quite get their own full profiles. There’s a terrific bibliography of additional reads, and a glossary of terms that younger readers may not be familiar with. At the back, there’s also a guide to all the illustrators.

A fun read and I feel more educated on feline history after finishing it. Kids will enjoy the colorful illustrations!

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen, Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicky Myron, Making Rounds With Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat by David Dosa, or The Cat Who Came For Christmas by Cleveland Amory — all of which are referenced in Fearless Felines.)

 

( official Kimberlie Hamilton web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Lesser Spotted Animals: The Coolest Creatures You've Never Heard Of by Martin Brown

Lesser Spotted Animals: The Coolest Creatures You’ve Never Heard Of
by Martin Brown (j590 Bro)

I recently read this book with my animal-loving second grader, and I would say I enjoyed it as much as he did. The premise, as explained in the introduction, is to skip the familiar wild animals that we all know well (tigers, pandas, sharks, etc.) and introduce the reader to a batch of equally fascinating but nearly unknown creatures. Each two-page spread features an animal with a couple of paragraphs about it, plus a pullout box with size, what they eat, where they live, endangered status, and another random/interesting fact.

 

The tone of the book is playful, lighthearted and even occasionally snarky. At one point as we read my son laughed out loud — not something that usually happens when reading animal nonfiction. The creature illustrations are perfectly matched to the style of the book — detailed and in realistic color tones, but also a little cartoonish; the creatures often sport wry expressions and goofy speech bubbles.

 

We’ve read a lot of nonfiction books about animals and this one is exceptionally memorable and enjoyable, both for the fascinating creatures it describes and for its humor and style.

 

( official Martin Brown Illustrator web site )

 

Recommended by Laura N.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Wolf Island: Discovering the Secrets of a Mythic Animal by L. David Mech

Wolf Island: Discovering the Secrets of a Mythic Animal
by L. David Mech, Ph.D. (599.773 Mec) 

I was pleased to see Wolf Island on the New Books Display this summer. The book describes the research that L. David Mech did over the course of three years (1958-1961) on Isle Royale in Lake Superior, approximately twenty miles off the Canadian and U.S. border. As a longtime supporter of the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota, I was excited to see that its founder had published a book detailing his graduate research that led to his Ph.D. and lifetime career. As described by Mech, the research team plotted out a multi-year project to better understand how wolves hunted, what they ate, how they tracked with the abundance or scarcity of moose, and how successfully they killed their prey. Isle Royale was the perfect environment to study this subject as moose were in abundance and wolves were new to the island. By studying wolf scat to determine the diet of wolves and observing wolf packs as they hunted and killed moose, Mech was able to accumulate a body of research to help us better understand wolves and their impact on the ecosystem. At the time of this study, wolves were found in northern Minnesota and Alaska with little presence in the lower 48 states. With successful reintroduction programs, wolves are now making a comeback in nearly a dozen states. This is a fascinating book about the research that led to a better understanding of wolves and their place in the wild. I highly recommend this book.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Wolves of Denali by L. David Mech, or The Reign of Wolf 21 : The Saga of Yellowstone’s Legendary Druid Pack by Rick McIntyre.)

 

( publisher’s official Wolf Island web page ) | ( official L. David Mech web site )

 

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: The Lord God Made Them All by James Herriot

The Lord God Made Them All
by James Herriot (B H43551)

This summer I have read every book in our collection by the English author James Herriot (Alf Wight). I had become obsessed with the PBS series All Creatures Great and Small last year and wanted to hear more of the stories about life as a Country Vet in the highlands of Yorkshire. I have enjoyed all of the books written by this author, but I especially enjoyed this one. James gets the opportunity to travel to Russia during the Cold War on a ship with cattle. Sections of the story are written as if you were reading his personal diary, seeing situations from his point of view. There are also stories of events that happened during his tenure as a veterinarian in the small town of Thirsk, referred to as Darrowby in the books. Some of the stories made me laugh out loud, others brought me to tears. I highly recommend any of the books in this series, especially if you love stories about animals.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try All Creatures Great and Small, All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful, and Every Living Thing or James Herriot’s Yorkshire all by James Herriot.)

 

( official jamesherriot.org web site ) | ( Wikipedia page about James Herriot )

 

Recommended by Kim J.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: How to Hold Animals by Toshimitsu Matsuhashi

How to Hold Animals

by Toshimitsu Matsuhashi (636.083 Mat)

 

This brand-new, tiny hardbook addition to the libraries’ collection is an English translation of a 2015 book intended for Japanese readers. Author/photographer Matsuhashi works with a pet shop owner, a veterinarian and a reptile shop owner, to create a series of 36 short guides to the best/safest ways to manually handle a variety of common (hamsters, dogs, cats, ferrets) and uncommon (cockroaches, scorpions, crayfish, geckos) animals. Definitely aimed at a Japanese reading audience — many of the animals included are common to Japan, and often end up as pets in Japanese households, but not might be as well-recognized here in the U.S.

 

Each of the guides in How to Hold Animals features very specific text descriptions of how to pick up and hold the type of creature, with (usually) helpful illustrative photos. Each guide features small sidebar “datafiles”, giving the size, origin and natural habitats (in the wild) of each animal. Some guides offer more than one example of a subspecies — for example, the guides for dragonflies and butterflies show how to hold 5 or 6 different varieties of each, and several different types of snakes are included.

 

Some of the chosen animals, you may be thinking to yourself “why would I ever want to hold one of these?” Matsuhashi goes to great lengths to suggest scenarios in which you might have to hold them, or explain to others how best to safely hold such a creature. This is a light, simple read, filled with simple, useful information for anyone who’s adventurous around animals. Don’t expect detailed care guides for the included animals, but if you’ve ever wondered what the best way to pick up a snapping turtle, sugar glider, hedgehog, prairie dog or monitor lizard is, this fun little book will give you the basics!

 

[ publisher’s official How to Hold Animals web site ]

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Olive, Mabel & Me: Life and Adventures With Two Very Good Dogs by Andrew Cotter

Olive, Mabel & Me: Life and Adventures With Two Very Good Dogs

by Andrew Cotter (Biography Cotter)

 

Author Andrew Cotter is a sportscaster by trade. Starting in March 2020, he had very little to do because of the global COVID-19 pandemic. His first video snippet of his labrador retrievers, Olive and Mabel, went viral as people laughed about his commentary during their dinner. This is the book that describes the author’s love of his two dogs, his passion for hiking/climbing mountains with his dogs, and how his family made it through the year of shutdowns. His humor often made me laugh aloud.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Marley & Me by John Grogan, or How Dogs Love Us: A Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Canine Brain by Gregory Berns.]

[ official Olive, Mabel & Me web site ] | [ official Andrew Cotter web site ]

 

Recommended by Jodi R.
Anderson and Bethany Branch Libraries

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

H is for Hawk

by Helen Macdonald (Biography Macdonald)

 

This is Ms. Macdonald’s story of coming to terms with her father’s sudden death and training a Goshawk, one of the most difficult hunting birds to train. Amongst the stories of her father, and of her training Mabel, she explores the book Goshawk by T. H. White, a book she first read when she was a child. She also discusses White’s struggles with life and training his hawk.

 

I understand Ms. Macdonald’s need to use White as a foil for her training and her bereavement. I looked up a copy of Goshawk and read some of the book, but I felt she spent far too much time on the details of White’s life, almost as if she was trying to excuse his behavior. On the other hand, this book had so much interesting information and experiences. I loved the details of training Mabel. As a dog trainer, I can see how so much of what “old school” dog trainers do is nothing but superstition. Training a hawk takes it down to the bare bones. What will get the animal to do the human’s bidding.

 

Watching Macdonald deal with the loss of her father is very familiar. The isolation that she craves, but finds unsatisfying is very real to me. Losing oneself in nature or training or any other distraction only delays the reality. You must feel the feelings to get beyond grief.

 

I was concerned that the book would be depressing, even sad, but this book touched me deeply. I felt a kinship with Macdonald. On the whole I would recommend this book to anyone interested in dealing with grief and, of course, falconry. It’s well written and almost lyrical. I listened to the books, and greatly enjoyed listening to Ms. Macdonald read her own book.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London by Christopher Skaife, Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, or The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion.]

[ publisher’s official H is for Hawk web site ] | [ official Helen MacDonald Twitter feed ]

 

Recommended by Marcy G.
South Branch Library

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!