To continue our monthly series of book lists, the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library would like to take you on a tour of cities. Books can give a vivid sense of what a city is like during a particular era. They take you there, and sometimes the streets are dangerous, but they’re always alive.
Kingsbridge, England - Ken Follett has created a two sprawling chronicles of life in a British cathedral town. The stories are rich in detail and drama.
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Historical novel set in twelfth century England. Philip, prior of the monastery at Kingsbridge, and Tom, a master mason, would like to build a new cathedral. They are helped along when Tom's stepson torches the current cathedral. They are hindered, however, by a powerful and jealous bishop, and Ellen--who witnessed an ancient treachery. Some violence, some strong language, and some descriptions of sex. 1989. Cassette Book RC 30999. Digital Book DB 30999. Also available as a downloadable digital book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.30999.
World Without End by Ken Follett
Two centuries after The Pillars of the Earth (DB/RC 30999), the populace of Kingsbridge, England, copes with the Black Death and wars with France. Four children share a traumatic experience that influences their lives as they grow up in disparate social circles. Some violence and some explicit descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 2007. Cassette Book RC 65224. Digital Book DB 65224. Also available as a downloadable digital book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.65224.
London, England - Who knew more about the fog smothered streets of Victorian Era London than Sherlock Holmes?
The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Four complete novels--A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and The Valley of Fear--and fifty-six short stories featuring Victorian detective Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr. John Watson. 2002. Cassette Book RC 54993. Digital Book DB 54993 is available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.54993.
Los Angeles, California - Movies and TV shows like “Chinatown” and “Dragnet” didn’t capture half the drama of crime and law enforcement in Los Angeles during the mid-20th Century.
L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City by John Buntin.
True Los Angeles crime legends from the 1930s to the 1960s. Features accounts of gangster Mickey Cohen and LA police chief Bill Parker amid the glitter of Hollywood and organized crime operations that included brothels, gambling circuits, drug dens, and bribery rings. Violence and some strong language. Bestseller. 2009. Cassette Book RC 69647. Digital Book DB 69647. Also available as a downloadable digital book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.69647.
Moscow, Russia - Today’s Moscow can be as dangerous as it ever was in the days of Communist rule.
Stalin's Ghost [#6, Inspector Arkady Renko Mysteries] by Martin Cruz Smith
Moscow detective Arkady Renko investigates mysterious nightly sightings of Stalin at metro stops. He also uncovers crimes committed by two colleagues, former members of the Black Berets who operated in Chechnya, one of whom is running for office and knows Renko's lover Eva. Violence and strong language. 2007. Cassette Book RC 65253. Digital Book DB 65253 is available as a downloadable book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.65253.
New Orleans, Louisiana - New Orleans is like no other American city.
New Orleans, Mon Amour: Twenty Years of Writings from the City by Andrei Codrescu
Essays from a Romanian-born National Public Radio commentator about his adopted city of New Orleans. Includes some pieces written after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Describes the Big Easy and its inhabitants, food, cemeteries, eccentrics, neighborhoods, Mardi Gras, and crime. 2006. Cassette Book RC 62097. Digital Book DB 62097 is available as a downloadable digital book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.62097.
New York City, New York - Edward Rutherfurd writes thick historical novels that trace the history of a city or location and the families that live there over centuries. His previous novels took place in the Ireland, England, and Europe.
New York by Edward Rutherfurd.
1664. Dutch trader Dirk Van Dyck returns to the territory of New Amsterdam with his Algonquin love-child Pale Feather. Saga of Native Americans, immigrants, and families living in New York City over four centuries. Violence. 2009. Digital Book DB 70568. Also available as a downloadable digital book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.70568.
San Francisco, California - This novel takes you to Prohibition Era San Francisco with sidetrips to its nightclubs and Chinatown all overshadowed by memories of the 1906 earthquake.
Locked Rooms [#8, Mary Russell Novel] by Laurie R. King
Mary Russell and her husband, Sherlock Holmes, travel to Mary's childhood home in San Francisco to settle the Russell estate. Mary's troubling dreams about the 1906 earthquake and fire--and a series of recent deaths--lead the detective couple to delve into Mary's past and her family's tragic demise. 2005. Digital Book DB 69092. Large Print Book LP 21694. Also available as a downloadable digital book from BARD: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.nls/db.69092.
Seattle, Washington - Some pioneers were loggers, some were miners, and then there were the businessmen.
Sons of the Profits: There's No Business Like Grow Business; The Seattle Story 1851-1901 by Bill Speidel.
An amusing, biographical view of the foibles, infighting, maneuvers, and high-handed tactics of past heroes in the power struggle to settle Seattle. Braille Book BRW 212. Cassette Book CBA 4128.