By the Book

Offbeat Holiday Kids' Books That Adults Will Enjoy

2011-12-10T06:00:00.002-06:00

A walking, talking lump of coal wishes for a Christmas miracle. A delicious crispy Hanukkah latke is repeatedly frustrated with people's astonishing ignorance about his holiday. Although these two delightful Lemony Snicket tales (and two others shown below) are shelved in MGPL's youth services department, they have certain qualities that will appeal to adults already well-versed (and perhaps weary) with more traditional holiday fare.

Red Ranger Came Calling: A Guaranteed True Christmas Story
By Breathed, Berkeley
1994-10 - Little Brown and Company
0316108812 Check the Library

While spending Christmas in 1939 with a well-meaning aunt, a young boy who does not believe in Santa Claus has an unusual experience that changes his thinking. …More

Santa Claws
By Leuck, Laura
Illustrator Grimly, Gris
2006-09 - Chronicle Books (CA)
0811849929 Check the Library

Mack and Zack may be monsters, but their excitement about Christmas is the same as that of children the world around. …More

The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming: A Christmas Story
By Snicket, Lemony
Illustrator Brown, Lisa
2007-10 - McSweeney's Books
1932416870 Check the Library

Latkes are potato pancakes served at Hanukkah, and Lemony Snicket is an alleged children's author. For the first time in literary history, these two elements are combined in one book. A particularly irate latke is the star of "The Latke Who Couldn't Stop Screaming, " but many other holiday icons appear and even speak: flashing colored lights, cane-shaped candy, a pine tree. Santa Claus is briefly discussed as well. The ending is happy, at least for some. People who are interested in any or all of these things will find this book so enjoyable it will feel as though Hanukkah were being celebrated for several years, rather than eight nights. …More

The Lump of Coal
By Snicket, Lemony
Illustrator Helquist, Brett
2008-09 - HarperCollins
9780061574283 Check the Library

The bestselling team behind the Series of Unfortunate Events saga unwraps an uproarious, irreverent picture book that introduces the next great holiday hero: one that is small, dark, and flammable. …More

Offbeat Books for the Holidays

2011-12-08T17:56:00.005-06:00

Perhaps you are in a Fa-La-La-La-Blah mood. Or, maybe you find that sugar tastes better with a bit of spice. Whatever the case, we present a bit of holiday humor for your reading pleasure.

I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas
By Black, Lewis
2010-11 - Riverhead Books
9781594487750 Check the Library

From the uproarious and perpetually apoplectic "New York Times"-bestselling author and "The Daily Show" regular comes a ferociously funny book about his least-favorite holiday: Christmas. …More

Chrismukkah: The Official Guide to the World's Most-Beloved Holiday
By Kuntzman, Gersh
2006-10 - Sasquatch Books
157061489X Check the Library

It's Chrismukkah time of year again--yet all across America, Jews, Christians and even famous Chrismukkan Sean Penn can't figure out how to celebrate this blessed day (or couple of days, maybe). Thank goodness for Chrismukkan scholar Gersh Kuntzman. …More

Holidays on Ice
By Sedaris, David
1997-10 - Little Brown and Company
0316779989 Check the Library

This wonderfully subversive holiday gift package reprints Sedaris' deliciously acerbic short story "The Santaland Diaries" and combines it with two equally sardonic Sedaris Christmas classics plus an all-new holiday tale. For everyone who's had enough of the forced good cheer, family madness, and commercial overkill of Christmas, "Holiday on Ice" is the perfect antidote. …More

An Elvis Sighting!

2011-12-06T13:22:00.006-06:00

Tender
By Childress, Mark
1998-04 - Ballantine Books
9780345419033 Check the Library

East Tupelo was a sprinkling of poor houses at the scratched-out back edge of Mississippi--and the birthplace of a boy who would become the greatest rock legend of his time.
In Tender, novelist Mark Childress has redefined the American epic. He takes us on a wild ride through the last three decades as his fictional hero, Leroy Kirby, makes his meteoric rise to stardom, from the poverty-stricken child of an overprotective mother and absent father, to an icon who stands for everything American--a role that will ultimately consume him. After reading Tender, you will never think about the South, fame, or rock-and-roll the same way again. …More

Tender is so close to the facts that author Mark Childress might have decided to get it published as a biography of Elvis Presley. Instead, he wrote it as a novel of the early years of Leroy Kirby, rock n' roll superstar.

Not being an avid Elvis fan myself, I was unaware of the extremely humble beginnings of the Presley family - dirt-poor and only one step ahead of the law. The story of how Leroy/Elvis tried his utmost to leave his past behind and fulfill his dreams of adulation and wealth is fascinating indeed. Some of this is so unbelievable that I've got to read an actual Elvis biography to check it out!

Happy Veterans Day!

2011-11-11T10:53:00.003-06:00

"..On that day let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us consecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain."

-Dwight D. Eisenhower, First Veterans Day Proclamation, 1954

Thank you to all veterans for your dedication to our country. Here are some nonfiction reads in honor of Veterans Day. Stop by the library to see the full display!

War
By Junger, Sebastian
2010-05 - Twelve
9780446556248 Check the Library

The author of the gripping bestseller "The Perfect Storm" turns his brilliant and empathetic eye to the reality of combat. "War" follows a single platoon through a 15-month tour of duty in the most dangerous outpost in Afghanistan. …More

Flyboys: A True Story of Courage
By Bradley, James
2003-09 - Little Brown and Company
0316105848 Check the Library

A BookPage Notable Title
From the author of the #1 bestselling "Flags of Our Fathers" comes a harrowing true story of World War II heroism and of a secret that has been held for nearly 60 years. of photos. …More

The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family
By Raddatz, Martha
2007-03 - Putnam Publishing Group
9780399153822 Check the Library

From ABC White House correspondent Raddatz comes the story of a brutal 48-hour firefight that conveys in harrowing detail the effects of war not just on the soldiers, but also on the families waiting back at home. …More

Flags of Our Fathers
By Bradley, James
With Powers, Ron
Adapted by French, Michael
2000-05 - Bantam Books
0553111337 Check the Library

In this unforgettable chronicle of perhaps the most famous moment in American military history, James Bradley has captured the glory, the triumph, the heartbreak, and the legacy of the six men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima. Here is the true story behind the immortal photograph that has come to symbolize the courage and indomitable will of America.
In February 1945, American Marines plunged into the surf at Iwo Jima--and into history. Through a hail of machine-gun and mortar fire that left the beaches strewn with comrades, they battled to the island's highest peak. And after climbing through a landscape of hell itself, they raised a flag.
Now the son of one of the flagraisers has written a powerful account of six very different young men who came together in a moment that will live forever.
To his family, John Bradley never spoke of the photograph or the war. But after his death at age seventy, his family discovered closed boxes of letters and photos. In Flags of Our Fathers, James Bradley draws on those documents to retrace the lives of his father and the men of Easy Company. Following these men's paths to Iwo Jima, James Bradley has written a classic story of the heroic battle for the Pacific's most crucial island--an island riddled with Japanese tunnels and 22,000 fanatic defenders who would fight to the last man.
But perhaps the most interesting part of the story is what happened after the victory. The men in the photo--three were killed during the battle--were proclaimed heroes and flown home, to become reluctant symbols. For two of them, the adulation was shattering. Only James Bradley's father truly survived, displaying no copy of the famous photograph in hishome, telling his son only: "The real heroes of Iwo Jima were the guys who didn't come back."
Few books ever have captured the complexity and furor of war and its aftermath as well as Flags of Our Fathers. A penetrating, epic look at a generation at war, this is history told with keen insight, enormous honesty, and the passion of a son paying homage to his father. It is the story of the difference between truth and myth, the meaning of being a hero, and the essence of the human experience of war. …More

Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
By Ambrose, Stephen E.
2001-08 - Simon & Schuster
074322454X Check the Library

As gripping as any novel, World War II historian Ambrose tells the horrifying, hallucinatory saga of Easy Company, whose 147 members he calls the nonpareil combat paratroopers on earth circa 1941-45. Stephen Speilberg has produced the upcoming TV mini-series in the fall. …More

A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor
By Canedy, Dana
2008-12 - Crown Publishing Group (NY)
9780307395795 Check the Library

A searching, poignant memoir of love and loss, "A Journal for Jordon" is a father's letter to the son he will never see--wrenching accounts of losing men in battle mixed with advice on everything from how to withstand disappointment to how to behave on a date. 8-page full-color insert. …More

2011 World Fantasy Awards

2011-11-04T09:48:00.004-05:00

This week, the 2011 World Fantasy Award Winners were announced. I love book awards, because I always find new books to add to my to-read list. This particular award is one of my favorites because I am a HUGE fantasy fan. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is definitely catching my eye!

Zoo City
By Beukes, Lauren
2010-12 - Angry Robot
9780857660558 Check the Library

Zinzi has a Sloth on her back, a dirty online 419 scam habit - and a talent for finding lost things. But when her latest client, a little old lady, turns up dead and the cops confiscate her lastpaycheck, she's forced to take on her least favourite kind of job: missing persons
An astonishing second novel from the author of the highly-acclaimed "Moxyland."

…More

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
By Jemisin, N. K.
2010-02 - Orbit
9780316043915 Check the Library

BookPage Notable Title

Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, Yeine is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, she is named an heiress to the king. …More

The Silent Land
By Joyce, Graham
2011-03 - Doubleday Books
9780385533805 Check the Library

Award-winning novelist and cult favorite Joyce transports readers to a mysterious world of isolation and fear with a hypnotically dark story about a young couple trapped by an avalanche in the remote French Alps . . . a daring and powerful novel about love, loss, and rebirth. …More

Under Heaven
By Kay, Guy Gavriel
2010-04 - Roc
9780451463302 Check the Library

BookPage Notable Title

In his latest innovative work, an award-winning author evokes the dazzling Tang Dynasty of 8th-century China in a story of honor and power. …More

India: Tradition Warring with Innovation

2011-10-29T15:23:00.009-05:00

India Calling: An Intimate Portrait of a Nation's Remaking
By Giridharadas, Anand
2011-01 - Times Books
9780805091779 Check the Library

Reversing his parents' immigrant path, a young American-born writer returns to India and discovers an old country making itself new. Giridharadas brings to life the people and the dilemmas of India today. …More

I have an acquaintance with a few people born in India, and I've spoken to my share of call center reps based there - but that was the extent of my knowledge of present-day India until I read a fascinating book recently, India Calling: An Intimate Portrait of a Nation's Remaking.

The author, Anand Giridharadas, is a young writer whose parents immigrated to America in the 70s. Like many American children of immigrants, he was less interested in appreciating the culture of his parents' homeland than he was in assimilating to life in suburbia. A journalism project after college that took him to live in India for a year was the beginning of an eye-opening experience in the life of a country on the verge of dramatic change for everyone there - from the very rich to the very poor.

Enlarge your mind and spirit with a little book vacation to an exotic locale undergoing radical cultural changes.

Weekend Reads!

2011-10-28T09:00:00.003-05:00

It's Friday! That means 2 whole days to catch up on all of the great library books that have come my way during the week (thanks, MyMediaMall!). This weekend's ambitious lineup? Check them all out after the jump:

The Unwanteds
By McMann, Lisa
2011-08 - Aladdin Paperbacks
9781442407688 Check the Library

From the bestselling author of the Wake trilogy. In a society that purges 13-year-olds who are creative, identical twins Aaron and Alex are separated, one to attend University while the other, supposedly Eliminated, finds himself in a wondrous place where youths hone their abilities and learn magic. …More

When She Woke
By Jordan, Hillary
2011-10 - Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
9781565126299 Check the Library

BookPage Notable Title

When She Woke" is a fable about a stigmatized woman struggling to navigate an America of the not-too-distant future. Hannah unknowingly embarks on a path of self-discovery that forces her to question the values she once held true and the righteousness of a country that politicizes faith. 352 pp. 50,000 print. …More

Chime
By Billingsley, Franny
2011-03 - Dial Books
9780803735521 Check the Library

BookPage Notable Title
2011 Boston Globe Horn Book Fiction Honor

In the early twentieth century in Swampsea, seventeen-year-old Briony, who can see the spirits that haunt the marshes around their town, feels responsible for her twin sister's horrible injury until a young man enters their lives and exposes secrets that even Briony does not know about. …More

The Oriental Wife
By Toynton, Evelyn
2011-07 - Other Press (NY)
9781590514412 Check the Library

…More

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
By McCall Smith, Alexander
2005-11 - Pantheon Books
0375423877 Check the Library 1st book in No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series

"Precious Ramotswe has opened Botswana's first and only detective agency staffed by women. Smith traverses this landscape with an air of simplicity, euphony, and harmony, never patronizing Precious and never boring the reader"--Barbara Peters, "The Poisoned Pen." …More

You Know When the Men Are Gone
By Fallon, Siobhan
2011-01 - Amy Einhorn Books
9780399157202 Check the Library

An army of women waits for its men to return in Fort Hood, Texas. Through a series of loosely interconnected stories, Fallon takes readers onto the base, inside the homes, into the marriages and families. …More

2012 Book Discussion Books: Have You Voted Yet?

2011-10-27T16:13:00.010-05:00

While the end of 2011 is quickly approaching, we have a lot to look forward to in 2012! Now is your chance to help choose the 2012 in-library book discussion books. Please stop by the library before December 15th to pick up a ballot and vote for next year's selections. We have a lot of exciting picks for you to choose from, including:

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
By Skloot, Rebecca
2010-02 - Crown Publishing Group (NY)
9781400052172 Check the Library

Skloot brilliantly weaves together the story of Henrietta Lacks--a woman whose cells have been unwittingly used for scientific research since the 1950s--with the birth of bioethics, and the dark history of experimentation on African Americans. …More

Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet
By McKibben, Bill
2010-04 - Times Books
9780805090567 Check the Library

Twenty years ago, with "The End of Nature," McKibben offered one of the earliest warnings about global warming. Those warnings went mostly unheeded; now, he insists, we need to acknowledge that we've waited too long, and that massive change is not only unavoidable but already under way. (Environmental Studies) …More

The Great Gatsby
By Fitzgerald, F. Scott
1996-06 - Scribner Book Company
0684830426 Check the Library

The authorized text which restores all the language of Fitzgerald's 1920's classic story of the fabulously wealthy Jay Gatsby and his love for the beautiful Daisy Buchanan. …More

Birds of Paradise
By Abu-Jaber, Diana
2011-09 - W. W. Norton & Company
9780393064612 Check the Library

A multilayered, beautifully textured novel about family and self, self-indulgence and generosity, against the vivid backdrop of contemporary Miami. …More

The Handmaid's Tale
By Atwood, Margaret
Introduction by Martin, Valerie
2006-10 - Everyman's Library
0307264602 Check the Library

It is the world of the near future, and Offred is a handmaid. She is hoping the commander makes her pregnant because she is only valued if her ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she had a job of her own, a husband, and a child, but all of that is gone now. …More

The Memory Palace
By Bartok, Mira
2011-01 - Free Press
1439183317 Check the Library

BookPage Notable Title

"The Memory Palace" is a gorgeous memoir about the 17-year estrangement of the author and her homeless schizophrenic mother, and their reunion. …More

The Imperfectionists
By Rachman, Tom
2010-04 - Dial Press
9780385343664 Check the Library

BookPage Notable Title

Set against the gorgeous backdrop of Rome, Rachman's wry, vibrant debut follows the topsy-turvy private lives of the reporters, editors, and executives of an international English-language newspaper as they struggle to keep it--and themselves--afloat. …More

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
By Franklin, Tom
2010-10 - William Morrow & Company
9780060594664 Check the Library

In a small Mississippi town, two men are torn apart by circumstance and reunited by tragedy, in this resonant new novel from the award-winning author of the critically acclaimed "Hell at the Breech." …More

HBO to Adapt 'Swamplandia'

2011-10-21T09:16:00.005-05:00

Karen Russell's debut novel Swamplandia is the latest book to be adapted by HBO into a TV show. Swamplandia tells the story of the Bigtree clan, a family of alligator wrestlers who run a once-thriving tourist attraction. Check out some of the other novels HBO has adapted (or are in the works) after the jump!

Swamplandia!
By Russell, Karen
2011-02 - Knopf Publishing Group
9780307263995 Check the Library

BookPage Notable Title

The Bigtree alligator wrestling dynasty is in decline, and Swamplandia!, its island home and gator-wrestling theme park, is swiftly being encroached upon by a competitor. To save her family, Ava must journey on her own to a perilous part of the swamp called the Underworld. …More

The Corrections
By Franzen, Jonathan
2001-09 - Farrar Straus Giroux
0374129983 Check the Library

Winner - 2001 National Book Award for Fiction
Winner - 2002 ALA Notable Fiction Selection
A comic, tragic masterpiece of an American family breaking down in an age of easy fixes, Franzen's third novel brings an old-time America into wild collision with the era of home surveillance and New Economy speculation. Winner of the National Book Award. …More

American Gods
By Gaiman, Neil
2001-06 - William Morrow & Company
0380973650 Check the Library

A BookPage Notable Title
Winner - 2002 Hugo Awards
Winner - 2002 Nebula Award
A master of inventive fiction pens the story of an ex-con who is offered a job as a bodyguard for Mr. Wednesday, a trickster and a rogue. Shadow soon learns that his role in the man's schemes are far more dangerous and dark than he could have ever imagined. …More

A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book One
By Martin, George R. R.
2002-05 - Bantam
9780553381689 Check the Library

Here is the first volume in George R. R. Martin's magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords. As a whole, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Magic, mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill these pages and transport us to a world unlike any we have ever experienced. Already hailed as a classic, George R. R. Martin's stunning series is destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction.
A GAME OF THRONES
Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a land of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and bastards, who come together in a time of grim omens.
Here an enigmatic band of warriors bear swords of no human metal; a tribe of fierce wildlings carry men off into madness; a cruel young dragon prince barters his sister to win back his throne; and a determined woman undertakes the most treacherous of journeys. Amid plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, the fate of the Starks, their allies, and their enemies hangs perilously in the balance, as each endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: thegame of thrones. …More

A Visit from the Goon Squad
By Egan, Jennifer
2010-06 - Knopf Publishing Group
9780307592835 Check the Library

2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Winner
BookPage Notable Title

From one of today's boldest writers comes a sly, surprising, and exhilarating novel about time, survival, and the electrifying sparks ignited at the seams of our lives by colliding destinies. …More

Dead Until Dark
By Harris, Charlaine
2001-05 - Ace Books
0441008534 Check the Library

Sookie Stackhouse is a cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana, but she keeps to herself and doesn't date much because of her "disability" to read minds. When she meets Bill, Sookie can't hear a word he's thinking. He's the type of guy she's waited for all of her life, but he has a disability, too--he's a vampire with a bad reputation. When one of Sookie's coworkers is killed, she fears she's next. …More

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
By Skloot, Rebecca
2010-02 - Crown Publishing Group (NY)
9781400052172 Check the Library

2011 National Book Award Finalists

2011-10-18T14:11:00.011-05:00

The 20 finalists for the 2011 National Book Awards were announced last week to a fair amount of drama. Established in 1950, the National Book Award is an American literary prize given to writers by writers and administered by the National Book Foundation. Each year, five books are nominated as Finalists in each of the four Award categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature. While the winners won't be announced until November 16th, here's your chance to get a head start on reading them!

Here are some of the nominees. For the complete list, visit the National Book Foundation's web site.

The Sojourn
By Krivak, Andrew
2011-04 - Bellevue Literary Press
9781934137345 Check the Library

A stunning debut novel of brutality and survival on the Southern Front of WW1. …More

The Buddha in the Attic
By Otsuka, Julie
2011-08 - Knopf Publishing Group
9780307700001 Check the Library

Otsuka delivers the long-awaited follow-up to "When the Emperor Was Divine"--a stunning tour de force that tells the story of a group of women brought from Japan to San Francisco in the 1900s as mail-order brides. …More

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
By Greenblatt, Stephen
2011-09 - W. W. Norton & Company
9780393064476 Check the Library

A riveting tale of the great cultural "swerve" known as the Renaissance. …More

Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout
By Redniss, Lauren
2010-12 - It Books
9780061351327 Check the Library

Presents the professional and private lives of Marie and Pierre Curie, examining their personal struggles, the advancements they made in the world of science, and the issue of radiation in the modern world. …More

Chime
By Billingsley, Franny
2011-03 - Dial Books
9780803735521 Check the Library

BookPage Notable Title
2011 Boston Globe Horn Book Fiction Honor

Inside Out & Back Again
By Lai, Thanhha
2011-02 - Harper
9780061962783 Check the Library

BookPage Notable Title

Inspired by the author's own childhood experience of fleeing Vietnam as a refugee and immigrating to Alabama, this tween novel told in verse is sure to capture young readers' hearts and open their eyes. …More

And while the book is no longer a finalist, you can learn more about Lauren Myracle's Shine here:

Shine
By Myracle, Lauren
2011-05 - Amulet Books
9780810984172 Check the Library

BookPage Notable Title

When her best guy friend falls victim to a vicious hate crime, 16-year-old Cat sets out to discover who in her small Southern town did it. Richly atmospheric, this daring mystery examines the strength of will it takes to go against everyone in the name of justice. …More

Africa for English Girls

2011-08-26T12:15:00.011-05:00

This is the kind of book I love, one that can take me to a far corner of the world and let me see, hear, and smell it for awhile.

Growing up on her family's remote farms in war-torn areas of Africa in the 70s, Alexandra Fuller learned to navigate the dangers of desert and jungle, family tragedies, and her mother's alcoholic neglect. It all worked together to produce a writer of uncommon talent and wisdom.

Her mother's antics and disasters play a large part in Fuller's book, so it was all the more interesting to find out that the she has just written a full account of Nicola Fuller's life in Africa, Cocktail Hour under the Tree of Forgetfulness. Can't wait to read that one next.

Check below for information on both books at the Library. Two great trips!

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood
By Fuller, Alexandra
2011-07 - Center Point Large Print
9781611731125 Check the Library's Catalog

In "Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, Alexandra Fuller remembers her African childhood with candor and sensitivity. Though it is a diary of an unruly life in an often inhospitable place, it is suffused with Fuller's endearing ability to find laughter, even when there is little to celebrate. Fuller's debut is unsentimental and unflinching but always captivating. In wry and sometimes hilarious prose, she stares down disaster and looks back with rage and love at the life of an extraordinary family in an extraordinary time. …More

Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness
By Fuller, Alexandra
2011-08 - Penguin Press
9781594202995 Check the Library's Catalog

Fuller braids a multilayered narrative around the perfectly lit, Happy Valley-era Africa of her mother's childhood; the boiled cabbage grimness of her father's English childhood; and the darker, civil war-torn Africa of her own childhood. At its heart, this is the story of Fuller's mother, Nicola. …More

Judge a Book By Its Cover

2011-08-13T12:36:00.001-05:00

As previously stated on this blog, we here at MGPL *love* great book covers. A few new books recently have caught my eye, and after seeing these covers, how can I say no to picking them up off the shelf?

First on the list is Bed by David Whitehouse.

Bed
By Whitehouse, David
2011-08 - Scribner Book Company
9781451614220 Check the Library's Catalog

Follows the experiences of a quiet, diligent younger brother whose eccentric and tyrannical older brother takes to his bed on his twenty-fifth birthday and resolves never to leave due to his disillusionment with the adult world.
…More

Then, one of my personal favorites this month, The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson

The Family Fang
By Wilson, Kevin
2011-08 - Ecco Press
9780061579035 Check the Library's Catalog

When their parents, performance artists who have dedicated themselves to making great art by sacrificing normality, plan one last performance, siblings Annie and Buster, returning home after their individual worlds collapse, are faced with a difficult decision.
…More

And finally, the simple but perfect cover for Glen Duncan's The Last Werewolf

The Last Werewolf
By Duncan, Glen
2011-07 - Knopf Publishing Group
9780307595089 Check the Library's Catalog

Meet Jake. A bit on the elderly side (he turns 201 in March), but otherwise in the pink of health. The nonstop sex and exercise he's still getting probably contribute to that, as does his diet: unusual amounts of flesh and blood (at least some from friends and relatives). Jake, of course, is a werewolf, and with the death of his colleague he has now become the only one of his kind. This depresses Jake to the point that he's been contemplating suicide. Yet there are powerful forces who for very different reasons want--and have the power--to keep Jake alive.
Here is a powerful new version of the werewolf legend--mesmerizing and undeniably sexy, and with moments of violence so elegantly wrought they dazzle rather than repel. But perhaps its most remarkable achievement is to make the reader feel sympathy for a man who can only be described as a monster--and in doing so, remind us what it means to be human.
One of the most original, audacious, and terrifying novels in years. …More

Chuck Palahniuk Fan? Excellent.

2011-08-12T09:52:00.002-05:00

The ultimate transgressive fiction writer Chuck Palahniuk has a new novel coming out called Damned

Damned
By Palahniuk, Chuck
2011-10 - Doubleday Books
9780385533027 Check the Library's Catalog

As thirteen-year-old Madison tries to figure out how she died and ended up in Hell, she learns how to manipulate the corrupt system of demons and bodily fluids. …More

but we will not be getting our paws on it until October! So what's a die-hard Palahniuk fan to do? Well, let me recommend a couple books that are available now, to keep you occupied while you wait. Check them out, after the jump!

Lights Out in Wonderland
By Pierre, DBC
2011-08 - W. W. Norton & Company
9780393081237 Check the Library's Catalog

Disaffected twenty-something Gabriele Brockwell travels between London, Tokyo, and Berlin searching for the party to end all parties before he kills himself, but ends up with a new outlook on the world and begins a mission to right his past wrongs.
…More

House of Holes: A Book of Raunch
By Baker, Nicholson
2011-08 - Simon & Schuster
9781439189511 Check the Library's Catalog

The best-selling author of Vox and The Fermata presents an explicit new tale of carnal improprieties and comic raunchiness set in a surreal but familiar world of fantasy sex.
…More

Millennium People
By Ballard, J. G.
2011-07 - W. W. Norton & Company
9780393081770 Check the Library's Catalog

In this novel, an explosion at Heathrow takes the life of psychologist David Markham's ex-wife. In response, he infiltrates the antigovernment group responsible for the bombing--and begins to fall under its sway.
…More

Poet Laureate - Philip Levine

2011-08-11T10:16:00.000-05:00

A new poet laureate has been announced by the Library of Congress! Philip Levine, often called the "workingman's poet", received the honor yesterday and will act as "the nation's official lightning rod for the poetic impulse of Americans." According to the piece in the New York Times,

Over the years Mr. Levine’s subject matter hasn’t changed much — he remains a distinctly urban poet — but his line has lengthened, and his edge has softened. Many of his poems these days are narrative, anecdotal elegies for that vanished working-class world, and as in the title poem of his Pulitzer-winning volume, he finds depths of beauty in the simplest of pleasures — food, for example:

Can you taste
what I’m saying? It is onions or potatoes, a pinch
of simple salt, the wealth of melting butter, it is obvious,
it stays in the back of your throat like a truth
you never uttered because the time was always wrong ...

Check out a few of our newest poet laureate's works at the Morton Grove Public Library!

News of the World
By Levine, Philip
2011-02 - Knopf Publishing Group
9780375711909 Check the Library's Catalog

In this "characteristically wise" ("The New York Times Book Review)" collection from one of our most celebrated poets, Philip Levine brings us finely made, powerfully telling imagery from the worlds of hand, heart, and mind. …More

What Work Is
By Levine, Philip
1992-04 - Knopf Publishing Group
9780679740582 Check the Library's Catalog

Winner - 1991 National Book Awards for Poetry
A collection of poems culled from the poet's twelve earlier books includes such pieces as 'Fear and Fame,' 'Coming Close,' 'Every Blessed Day,' and the title poem. Reprint. …More

Summer Love

2011-07-30T11:22:00.001-05:00

It is hard to put into a book into words when you finish it, and realize you might just have found a new favorite book. I had this experience upon finishing the most recent winner of the Pulitzer, A Visit From the Goon Squad. It took me a long time to come back to this book and actually start reading it. I heard nothing but amazing things. Critics loved it. Readers loved it. Obviously the judges over at Pulitzer head-quarters loved it. (is there a Pulitzer head-quarters? there has to be right?) So it was kind of like when you're mom asks you to do something over and over again. The more I heard about it, the less I wanted to do it. Then finally, due to one of our awesome book clubs, I sat down with the book, and immediately fell in love.

I thought to myself, "Why did I wait so long?" So now it's your turn. Get yourself a copy and you might just fall in love.

A Visit from the Goon Squad
By Egan, Jennifer
2011-03 - Anchor Books
9780307477477 Check the Library's Catalog2010 National Book Critics Circle Award Winner: Fiction

Bennie is an aging former punk rocker and record executive. Sasha is the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. Here Jennifer Egan brilliantly reveals their pasts, along with the inner lives of a host of other characters whose paths intersect with theirs. With music pulsing on every page, "A Visit from the Goon Squad "is a startling, exhilarating novel of self-destruction and redemption.
…More

Life with Mr. Dangerous

2011-07-29T11:22:00.001-05:00

Occasionally in between lengthy novels, I like to break up the monotony of text with some pictures. Graphic novels can be great to read when you're in that in-between stage - prefect for when you're floundering around, not quite satisfied with any book you pick up. If you find yourself in this slump, might I suggest Life with Mr. Dangerous? This beautifully drawn and written book is about a young woman in her own slump. Ever heard of the quarter life crisis? Well Amy is going through that. I highly recommend checking this book out for fans Ghost World or even the film Lost in Translation. Added bonus: Paul Hornschemeier is a local author. Check it out:

Life with Mr. Dangerous
By Hornschemeier, Paul
2011-05 - Villard Books
9780345494412 Check the Library's Catalog

Somewhere in the Midwest, Amy Breis is going nowhere. Amy has a job she hates, a creep boyfriend she's just dumped, and a best friend she can't reach on the phone. But at least her (often painfully passive-aggressive) mother bought her a pink unicorn sweatshirt for her birthday. Pink. Unicorn. For her twenty-seventh birthday. Gliding through the daydreams and realities of a young woman searching for definition, "Life with Mr. Dangerous" showcases acclaimed cartoonist Paul Hornschemeier's gift for deadpan humor and dead-on insight with a droll aftertaste--an unlikely but welcome marriage of the bleak and the hopeful.
…More

Blood, Bones & Butter

2011-07-13T10:04:00.001-05:00

Gabrielle Hamilton, winner of the James Beard Award for Best New York City Chef and owner of the popular East Village restaurant Prune, takes her turn writing a foodie memoir. With her MFA in creative writing, Hamilton has produced arguably one of the better memoirs to be released in the food genre. The book begins with Hamilton’s childhood in rural New Jersey, and follows her life as she struggles to make her way in the working world, continually finding herself back in the kitchen, for better or for worse. Highly recommended in audiobook format, as the author does her own reading and has a dry, sarcastic tone that is perfectly matched with the content.

Blood, Bones and Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef
By Hamilton, Gabrielle
2011-03 - Random House
9781400068722 Check the Library's CatalogBookPage Notable Title

Hamilton, one of America's most recognized chefs, serves up a sharply crafted and unflinchingly honest memoir about the search for meaning and purpose and the people and places that shaped her journey. …More

They Called Themselves

2011-07-12T10:04:00.000-05:00

Sometimes a topic is so difficult that you just simply do not want to read a lot about it. Using oral histories, newspaper articles, diary entries, and congressional documents, the book They Called Themselves the K.K.K. by Susan Campbell Bartoletti describes a war torn South and how the Klu Klux Klan came to be all those years ago in Pulaski, Tennessee. Breaking the book up into sections such as Religion, Education, and Voting, the reader learns about how each topic was heavily affected by the K.K.K. during the Reconstruction period. This nonfiction title is intended for Teens but appeals to all ages, particularly for people who want to learn more about the post-bellum South but might not want to read a lengthy adult title.

They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group
By Bartoletti, Susan Campbell
2010-08 - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH)
9780618440337 Check the Library's Catalog

Illustrated with archival photographs and drawings, this account reveals how this crushing evil was allowed to thrive.…More

Special Exits

2011-06-30T14:13:00.008-05:00

There's just something about a graphic novel - that wonderful partnership of words and art - that conveys the truth in a story better than words alone. Special Exits is just that kind of book.

Joyce Farmer is the author/artist who shows how she gradually takes on the role of primary caregiver for her aging father and stepmother at their home in southern California. All the crazy mix of frustration, humor, anger, love and sacrifice that go into seeing her parents through their final days rings very true. This should be required reading for anyone who needs to know what to expect about "aging in place" - for their parents or themselves!

It's a great story that ends with a sad smile.

Special Exits
By Farmer, Joyce
2010-12 - Fantagraphics Books
9781606993811 Check the Library's Catalog

A graphic memoir chronicles the decline of the author's parents' health, their relationship with one another and with their daughter, and how they cope with the day-to-day emotional fragility of the most taxing time in their lives.

…More

Great New Books

2011-06-23T12:02:00.001-05:00

We have some really exciting new books in the library this month and they would be great selections in the Summer Library Challenge - One World, Many Stories.

Have you signed up yet? You can win amazing prizes, like free books for a whole year or a Sony Pocket edition eReader! Check out a few great new books after the jump and don't forget to sign up for the library challenge!

Thoughts Without Cigarettes: A Memoir
By Hijuelos, Oscar
2011-06 - Gotham Books
9781592406296 Check the Library's Catalog

The beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist ("The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love") turns his pen to the real people and places that have influenced his life and, in turn, his literature. …More

Daughters of the Revolution
By Cooke, Carolyn
2011-06 - Knopf Publishing Group
9780307594730 Check the Library's Catalog

From the O. Henry Award-winning author of the story collection "The Bostons"--a "New York Times" Notable Book and winner of the PEN/Robert Bingham Fellowship for Writers--comes an exquisite first novel set at a disintegrating New England prep school in 1968. …More

The Chicken Chronicles: Sitting with the Angels Who Have Returned with My Memories: Glorious, Rufus, Gertrude Stein, Splendor, Hortensia, Agne
By Walker, Alice
2011-05 - New Press
9781595586452 Check the Library's Catalog

On a farm north of San Francisco, celebrated writer Walker diligently cares for a flock of chickens. "The Chicken Chronicles" captures her blossoming relationship with her chickens and is an extraordinary document of personal recovery, political commitment, and the joys of relating to animals. …More

Nerd Do Well: A Small Boy's Journey to Becoming a Big Kid
By Pegg, Simon
2011-06 - Gotham Books
9781592406814 Check the Library's Catalog

The unique life story of one of today's most talented and inventive comedians, star of "Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz," and "Star Trek." "Self-confessed geek turned Brit Hollywood hero Simon Pegg opens the book on his nine-to-five."--"GQ" (UK). …More

Zoo City
By Beukes, Lauren
2010-12 - Angry Robot
9780857660558 Check the Library's Catalog

Zinzi has a Sloth on her back, a dirty online 419 scam habit - and a talent for finding lost things. But when her latest client, a little old lady, turns up dead and the cops confiscate her lastpaycheck, she's forced to take on her least favourite kind of job: missing persons
An astonishing second novel from the author of the highly-acclaimed "Moxyland."
…More

The Ridge
By Koryta, Michael
2011-06 - Little Brown and Company
9780316053662 Check the Library's Catalog

On an isolated ridge in the Kentucky woods stands a homemade lighthouse, hundreds of miles from any substantial body of water. Local reporter Roy Darmus has always found it an amusing oddity--until he is selected as the recipient of a suicide note from its builder. Roy soon has a storytelling assignment more daunting than anything he's seen before. …More

The Arrivals
By Moore, Meg Mitchell
2011-05 - Reagan Arthur Books
9780316097710 Check the Library's Catalog

Ginny and William's peaceful life in Vermont comes to an abrupt halt as their children and grandchildren descend one summer with an assortment of adult problems. By summer's end, the family gains new ideas of loyalty and responsibility, exposing the challenges of surviving the modern family--and the old adage, once a parent, always a parent, has never rung so true. …More

The Inspector and Silence: An Inspector Van Veeteren Mystery
By Nesser, Hakan
Translator Thompson, Laurie
2011-06 - Pantheon Books
9780375425233 Check the Library's Catalog
BookPage Notable Title

A secretive and dubious religious sect comes under investigation when a young girl is found dead. Inspector Van Veeteren and the other detectives on the case are mystified and infuriated when the members of the Pure Life--led by a charismatic but unnervingly guarded messiah figure--choose to remain silent about the incident rather than defend themselves. …More

Borgia Betrayal
By Poole, Sara
2011-06 - St. Martin's Griffin
9780312609849 Check the Library's Catalog

From the author of the acclaimed "Poison" comes a new historical thriller featuring the same intriguing and beautiful heroine: Borgia court poisoner, Francesca Giordano. …More

My Dear I Wanted to Tell You
By Young, Louisa
2011-05 - Harper
9780061997143 Check the Library's Catalog

The lives of two very different couples--an officer and his aristocratic wifeand a young soldier and his childhood sweetheart--are irrevocably intertwinedand forever changed in this stunning World War II epic. …More

Have Book, Will Travel

2011-06-22T11:24:00.001-05:00

Looking for something to read on your vacation?

I tend to enjoy reading books that are very atmospheric when I travel. If I'm going South, give me Eudora Whelty. If I'm headed towards Appalachia, give me Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. And if I'm headed abroad, you can bet that I will have a book by Peter Mayle packed in my suitcase.

I especially love to read books where the locations are character in themselves. Where a book takes place, even if it is on the road, is vital to making me want to read more. If you feel the same way, check out a few of my absolute favorite books to read while traveling, after the jump.

The Optimist's Daughter
By Welty, Eudora
1990-08 - Vintage Books USA
067972883X Check the Library's Catalog

This story of a young woman's confrontation with death and her past is a poetic study of human relations. …More

Travels with Charley: In Search of America
By Steinbeck, John
1990-01 - Perfection Learning Pre Bind
9780756992248 Check the Library's Catalog

With his dog Charley, John Steinbeck set out in his truck to explore and experience America in the 1960s. As he talked with all kinds of people, he sadly noted the passing of region speech, fell in love with Montana, and was appalled by racism in New Orleans. …More

A Year in Provence
By Mayle, Peter
Illustrator Clancy, Judith
1991-06 - Vintage Books USA
9780679731146 Check the Library's Catalog

They had been there often as tourists. They had cherished the dream of someday living all year under the Provencal sun. And suddenly it happened.
Here is the month-by-month account of the charms and frustrations that Peter Mayle and his wife -- and their two large dogs -- experience their first year in the remote country of the Luberon restoring a two-centuries-old stone farmhouse that they bought on sight. From coping in January with the first mistral, which comes howling down from the Rhone Valley and wreaks havoc with the pipes, to dealing as the months go by with the disarming promises and procrastination of the local masons and plumbers, Peter Mayle delights us with his strategies for survival. He relishes the growing camaraderie with his country neighbors -- despite the rich, soupy, often impenetrable patois that threatens to separate them. He makes friends with boar hunters and truffle hunters, a man who eats foxes, and another who bites dentists; he discovers the secrets of handicapping racing goats and of disarming vipers. And he comes to dread the onslaught of tourists who disrupt his tranquillity.
In this often hilarious, seductive book Peter Mayle manages to transport us info all the earthy pleasures of Provencal life and lets us live vicariously in a tempo governed by seasons, not by days. George Lang, who was smitten, suggests: "Get a glass of marc, lean back in your most comfortable chair, and spend a delicious year in Provence." …More

Starvation Lake: A Mystery
By Gruley, Bryan
2009-03 - Touchstone Books
9781416563624 Check the Library's Catalog
2010 Anthony Award Winner-Best Original Paperback

In the dead of a Michigan winter, pieces of a snowmobile wash up near the crumbling, small town of Starvation Lake -- the same snowmobile that went down with Starvation's legendary hockey coach years earlier. But everybody knows Coach Blackburn's accident happened five miles away on a different lake. As rumors buzz about mysterious underground tunnels, the evidence from the snowmobile says one thing: murder.
Gus Carpenter, editor of the local newspaper, has recently returned to Starvation after a failed attempt to make it big at the "Detroit Times." In his youth, Gus was the goalie who let a state championship get away, crushing Coach's dreams and earning the town's enmity. Now he's investigating the murder of his former coach. But even more unsettling to Gus are the holes in the town's past and the gnawing suspicion that those holes may conceal some dark and disturbing secrets secrets that some of the people closest to him may have killed to keep. …More

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
By Bryson, Bill
1999-05 - Broadway Books
9780767902526 Check the Library's Catalog

Back in America after twenty years in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. The AT offers an astonishing land-scape of silent forests and sparkling lakes -- and to a writer with the comic genius of Bill Bryson, it also provides endless opportunities to witness the majestic silliness of his fellow human beings.
For a start there's the gloriously out-of-shape Stephen Katz, a buddy from Iowa along for the walk. Despite Katz's overwhelming desire to find cozy restaurants, he and Bryson eventually settle into their stride, and while on the trail they meet a bizarre assortment of hilarious characters. But A Walk in the Woods is more than just a laugh-out-loud hike. Bryson's acute eye is a wise witness to this beautiful but fragile trail, and as he tells its fascinating history, he makes a moving plea for the conservation of America's last great wilderness. An adventure, a comedy, and a celebration, A Walk in the Woods is destined to become a modern classic of travel literature. …More

That Old Cape Magic
By Russo, Richard
2009-08 - Knopf Publishing Group
9780375414961 Check the Library's Catalog

In this follow-up to "Bridge of Sighs," Russo delivers a novel of deep introspection and every family feeling imaginable, with a middle-aged man confronting his parents and their failed marriage, his own troubled one, his daughter's new life and, finally, what it is he thought he wanted and what in fact he has. …More

Deadly Decisions
By Reichs, Kathy
2001-06 - Pocket Star Books
9780671028367 Check the Library's Catalog

Forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan is propelled from north to south when a nine-year-old girl is brutally shot on a Montreal street and the remains of a missing North Carolina teenager are found hundreds of miles away. The connection between the crimes leads Brennan into a bizarre culture of outlaw motorcycle gangs, where one misstep can bring disaster. …More

Guilty Pleasures

2011-06-21T11:08:00.001-05:00

Ah, the celebrity memoir. Isn't that the perfect guilty pleasure reading? Usually a little fluffy, perfect beach reading material, but still much classier than the People magazines I pretend that I don't love to read. Of course, we should never apologize for our reading tastes. So I will say it loud and proud! I love to read them! You get the inside scoop and some of these books, despite the reputation of memoirs, are truly well written. You can check out a few of my recent favorites, after the jump!

A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love, and Faith in Stages
By Chenoweth, Kristin
With Rodgers, Joni
2010-04 - Touchstone Books
9781416580560 Check the Library's Catalog

In this frank and funny memoir, the Tony Award-winning star of stage and screen shares her journey from small-town Oklahoma to big-time Broadway. …More

Getting the Pretty Back: Friendship, Family, and Finding the Perfect Lipstick
By Ringwald, Molly
Illustrator Toledo, Ruben
2010-05 - It Books
9780061809446 Check the Library's Catalog

Remembered eternally as a teen, Ringwald recently celebrated her 40th birthday. In "Getting the Pretty Back," she weaves together stories and advice on sex and beauty, personal style, motherhood, and more, embodying the spirit of being fabulous at 40. …More

Life
By Richards, Keith
With Fox, James
2010-10 - Little Brown and Company
9780316034388 Check the Library's Catalog

The long-awaited autobiography of the guitarist, songwriter, singer, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. With his trademark disarming honesty, Richards brings the story of a life fans have all longed to know more of--unfettered, fearless, and true. …More

Bossypants
By Fey, Tina
2011-04 - Reagan Arthur Books
9780316056861 Check the Library's Catalog

On her way to becoming an award-winning superstar, Tina Fey struggled through some questionable haircuts, some after-school jobs, the rise of nachos as a cultural phenomenon, a normal childhood, a happy marriage and joyful motherhood. Now she can reflect on what she's learned: you're no one until someone calls you bossy. …More

My Lucky Life in and Out of Show Business: A Memoir
By Van Dyke, Dick
2011-05 - Crown Archetype
9780307592231 Check the Library's Catalog

One of the greatest entertainers of his generation, Van Dyke's talents range from TV (the beloved "Dick Van Dyke Show") to film ("Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang") to the stage. Here, in his first memoir, Van Dyke reveals he still thinks of himself as a simple song and dance man, but one who is, in every sense of the word, a classic entertainer. …More

Literary Prizes

2011-06-20T10:45:00.001-05:00

Yale recently announced that they will be establishing a new set of literary prizes, allotting $150,000 for the creation. This is exciting for writers but also very exciting for readers because literary prizes are basically to-read lists, all made up for you! While there are debates and drama about the validity of these prizes (a good example is this year's drama over Roth winning the Man Booker International Prize), this just makes reading the books short-listed all the more interesting. Check out a few of my favorite literary prizes, with corresponding book suggestions, after the jump!

I have mentioned in the past that the Orange Prize is one of my favorite places to get reading ideas. This year's winner is definitely a great choice for anyone looking for something to read, perhaps for our Summer Library Challenge! The Tiger's Wife is intriguing for all sorts of reasons but I feel like the chair of the Orange Prize judges, Bettany Hughes, puts it very well.

The book reminds us how easily we can slip into barbarity, but also of the breadth and depth of human love. Obreht celebrates storytelling and she helps us to remember that it is the stories that we tell about ourselves, and about others, that can make us who we are and the world what it is.

The Tiger's Wife
By Obreht, Tea
2011-03 - Random House
9780385343831 Check the Library's Catalog

Weaving a brilliant latticework of family legend, loss, and love, Obreht, the youngest of "The New Yorker's" 20 best American fiction writers under 40, spins a timeless novel about a young doctor who confronts the inexplicable circumstances surrounding her beloved grandfather's recent death. …More

Another wonderful literary prize, and arguably one of the most respected, is the Pulitzer. This year had a very intriguing winner, Jennifer Egan for her novel A Visit From The Goon Squad. This is also a selection for our book group LitLounge, meeting July 19. So add it to your list and come discuss!

A Visit from the Goon Squad
By Egan, Jennifer
2010-06 - Knopf Publishing Group
9780307592835 Check the Library's Catalog
2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Winner
BookPage Notable Title

From one of today's boldest writers comes a sly, surprising, and exhilarating novel about time, survival, and the electrifying sparks ignited at the seams of our lives by colliding destinies. …More

My final go-to literary prize when I am looking for books to read is the Man Booker Prize. My favorite from this intriguing prize from across the pond is the historical novel Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, the winner in 2009. This was the first time a historical novel to receive such an honor and really, it took the literary world by surprise. I would highly recommend this novel for anyone interested in reading longer books over the summer.

Wolf Hall
By Mantel, Hilary
2009-10 - Henry Holt & Company
9780805080681 Check the Library's Catalog
2009 Man Booker Prize Winner
2009 National Book Critics Circle Award Winner: Fiction

In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII's court, only one man, Thomas Cromwell, dares to gamble his life to win the king's favor and ascend to the heights of political power. …More

Summer Reading

2011-06-06T10:56:00.000-05:00

The summer library challenge, One World Many Stories, has begun! Why participate? Well, other than the pleasure of interacting with your local library all summer long *grin*, you can win some super cool prizes, like an eReader or our Book of the Month Club, which wins you free books for a whole year! You can count anything that you are checking out from MGPL, including the ebooks and audiobooks that you download from MyMediaMall, and even the programs you attend. But of course, your library is here with plenty of reading recommendations! Check out a few of my favorite summer reads, after the jump!

Does the summer put you in the mood to run around barefoot? Then perhaps Born To Run is the perfect book for you. The best way I can describe this book is simply that it is not just a book about running. It is about a whole culture in Mexico that you probably haven't heard of - it is about a culture of runners that live in America and run "ultra-marathons" - it is about shoe companies and science and so much more. Trust me, this is not just a book for runners.

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen
By McDougall, Christopher
2009-05 - Knopf Publishing Group
9780307266309 Check the Library's Catalog
Part adventure story, part extreme sports, "Born to Run" is a riveting story about one journalist's quest to discover the secrets of the world's greatest distance runners--a reclusive Indian tribe living deep in the Copper Canyon of northern Mexico. …More

Beach books are truly an art form. Beach books should be hard to put down and keep your interest to compete with the waves and the sun! And for many, the romance genre makes for perfect beach reading. One of my favorite romantic reads is Bet Me. This book has everything a truly great romance should: a strong female lead, great sentences, tons of humor, and lots of songs by Elvis. It is such a fun book and truly, the best beach read I can think of.

Bet Me
By Crusie, Jennifer
2004-02 - St. Martin's Press
9780312303464 Check the Library's Catalog
A BookPage Notable Title
2005 RITA Award Winner - Best Contemporary Single Title
The biggest gamble of all is true love in this story about long shots, risk management, and great shoes--the best novel yet from the author of "Faking It." "A hoot. Oh, go ahead. Indulge." …More

Finally, I have left one of my very favorite summer books for last. Dandelion Wine is a special book. Never has the feeling of summer been so perfectly translated into words. This book has it all from grass stains to skinned knees. And all with the literary perfection of the great Ray Bradbury. You may know him for his science fiction but this is truly one of his masterpieces. A beautiful novel to be savored in the back yard, while sipping your lemonade.

Dandelion Wine Dandelion Wine
By Bradbury, Ray
1999-02 - William Morrow & Company
9780380977260 Check the Library's Catalog
During one golden summer in 1928, twelve-year-old Douglas and his brother wander in and out of the lives of their elders. …More

Looking for more? We'll make sure to post great recommendations, all summer long. And don't forget to sign up!

Who Started Chick Lit?

2011-05-20T13:50:00.015-05:00

Think that Chick Lit began with the hugely successful Bridget Jones' Diary? Maybe. I just finished Watermelon, written a year earlier in 1995, which gives Bridget a run for her money. Novels on young women living on their own terms in the big city usually involve some type of humorous romantic adventure, but the twist for Watermelon is that it's the Cinderella story in reverse.

Irish author Marian Keyes perfectly captures the voice and the outlook of the 90s in her story of Claire, who sees her perfect life going down the sewer and finally figures out how to get a little respect again.

Watermelon
By Keyes, Marian
2002-05 - William Morrow Paperbacks
0060090367 Check the Library's Catalog
"February the fifteenth is a very special day for me. It is the day I gave birth to my first child. It is also the day my husband left me...I can only assume the two events weren't entirely unrelated." Claire has everything she ever wanted: a husband she adores, a great apartment, a good job. Then, on the day she gives birth to their first baby, James informs her that he's leaving her. Claire is left with a newborn daughter, a broken heart, and a postpartum body that she can hardly bear to look at. She decides to go home to Dublin. And there, sheltered by the love of a quirky family, she gets better. So much so, in fact, that when James slithers back into her life, he's in for a bit of a surprise. …More

Summer Movies Based on Books

2011-05-19T13:05:00.001-05:00

Film-makers commonly comb through books and literature for film ideas, with varying amounts of success for readers. And since summer movie season is almost here, a whole new batch of books have been made into films.

First up is chick lit book Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin.

Something Borrowed
By Giffin, Emily
2004-06 - St. Martin's Press
9780312321185 Check the Library's Catalog
Something Borrowed tells the story of Rachel, a young attorney living and working in Manhattan. Rachel has always been the consummate good girl---until her thirtieth birthday, when her best friend, Darcy, throws her a party. That night, after too many drinks, Rachel ends up in bed with Darcy's fiancé. Although she wakes up determined to put the one-night fling behind her, Rachel is horrified to discover that she has genuine feelings for the one guy she should run from. As the September wedding date nears, Rachel knows she has to make a choice. In doing so, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk all to win true happiness. Something Borrowed is a phenomenal debut novel that will have you laughing, crying, and calling your best friend. …More

Also the favorite of many book clubs, everywhere, Sarah's Key by Sarah Dessen.

Sarah's Key
By De Rosnay, Tatiana
2008-09 - St. Martin's Griffin
9780312370848 Check the Library's Catalog
An Indie Next Selection
Haunting and suspenseful, life-affirming and beautiful, "Sarah's Key" offers a compelling portrait of occupied Paris and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this little-known episode in French history. …More

Who can forget that The Help by Kathryn Stockett is coming out this summer!

The Help
By Stockett, Kathryn
2009-02 - Amy Einhorn Books
9780399155345 Check the Library's Catalog
BookPage Notable Title
In Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962, there are lines that are not crossed. With the civil rights movement exploding all around them, three women start a movement of their own, forever changing a town and the way women--black and white, mothers and daughters--view one another. …More

And last but definitely not least, the final entry into the Harry Potter series.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
By Rowling, J. K.
Illustrator GrandPre, Mary
2007-07 - Arthur A. Levine Books
9780545010221 Check the Library's Catalog
2008 Children's Choice Book Award- Winner Author
It all comes down to this - a final faceoff between good and evil. You plan to pull out all the stops, but every time you solve one mystery, three more evolve. Do you stay the course you started, despite your lack of progress? Do you detour and follow a new lead that may not help? Do youlisten to your instincts, or your friends?
Lord Voldemort is preparing for battle and so must Harry. With Ron and Hermione at his side, he's trying to hunt down Voldemort's Horcruxes, escape danger at every turn, and find a way to defeat evil once and for all. How does it all end? …More

My oh my! These films have some very big shoes to fill! Here's hoping they all live up to their print counterparts.

Attention foodies!

2011-05-09T14:29:00.000-05:00

The James Beard Book Awards have been announced! The James Beard Foundation Awards are commonly referred to as the "Oscars of food" and each year they give awards to chefs and restaurants all around the nation. They also have book awards awarded to the best cookbooks and food writers in the country. Check out which of these award winning books you can find at MGPL, after the jump! And you can view all of the winners here.

On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen
By McGee, Harold J.
Illustrator Dorfman, Patricia
Illustrator Greene, Justin
2004-11 - Scribner Book Company
9780684800011 Check the Library's Catalog

Compulsively readable and engaging, this updated volume covers every aspect of how food is grown, harvested, cooked, eaten, and digested. Winner of the James Beard KitchenAid Book Award in 2005, and the 2005 IACP Crystal Whisk Award. …More

The Essential New York Times Cookbook: Classic Recipes for a New Century
By Hesser, Amanda
2010-10 - W. W. Norton & Company
9780393061031 Check the Library's Catalog
BookPage Notable Title

All the best recipes from 150 years of distinguished food journalism--a volume to take its place in America's kitchens alongside "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and "How to Cook Everything." …More

Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food
By Greenberg, Paul
2010-07 - Penguin Press
9781594202568 Check the Library's Catalog
BookPage Notable Title

The history of four fish--bass, cod, salmon, and tuna--exposes a critical moment in our relationship with the truly last wild food we consume. …More

The Kitchen House

2011-05-07T11:29:00.016-05:00

Fans of The Help, have I got a book for you! Strikingly similar in concept, The Kitchen House is The Help but set in the late 1700's and with a good dose of realism added to the mix. We follow the story of Lavinia, a young Irish girl who finds herself as an indentured servant in South Virginia when her parents die on the boat trip over from Ireland. She quickly falls in with the slaves at the Tall Oaks Plantation, learning how to help in the kitchen house and eventually finding herself as an honorary member of the slave family that takes care of the "big house". The author, Kathleen Grissom, does not shy away at all from the harshness of the times, giving the book an air of suspense and drama that will have you flipping the pages until you find yourself at the ending. If you enjoyed The Help but wanted a little more drama, á la Jodi Picoult, then The Kitchen House is highly suggested.

The Kitchen House
By Grissom, Kathleen
2010-02 - Touchstone Books
9781439153666 Check the Library's Catalog
Working as an indentured servant alongside slaves on a tobacco plantation, Lavinia, a 7-year-old Irish orphan with no memory of her past, finds her light skin and situation placing her between two very different worlds that test her loyalties. A first novel. …More

Long Title, Short Essays

2011-05-06T11:00:00.002-05:00

Recently I have fallen in the love with creative nonfiction essays. Definitely the person to thank is Kim Dana Kupperman, author of the incredibly long titled I Just Lately Started Buying Wings: Missives from the Other Side of Silence. These emotional and perceptive essays are very personal and revolve mostly around Kupperman's family and life experiences. They are perfect for readers of Fiction because they all feel like touching short stories, but they just so happen to be true. A personal favorite of mine deals with Kupperman examining the court documents for her parent's custody battle -- flashing back to the past to detail her experience going through this as a child, and also describing her thoughts as an adult about an event that had such great impact on her life. I Just Lately... is an excellent example of the creative nonficiton essay and will appeal to fans to literary fiction. Highly suggested.

I Just Lately Started Buying Wings: Missives from the Other Side of Silence
By Kupperman, Kim Dana
2010-06 - Graywolf Press
9781555975609 Check the Library's Catalog

A finely crafted debut, winner of the 2009 Bakeless Nonfiction Prize. Kim Dana Kupperman's essays plumb the emotional and spiritual depths of a transitory life. Her episodic missives cover territory from the chaos of a frenetic childhood to love affairs, failed and otherwise, to the Chernobyl nuclear accident, to an ocean-crossing search for her Eastern European roots. In confident, lyrical prose, Kupperman leads the reader through a winding gallery - a collection of still lifes and portraits, landscapes of loneliness and love.
…More

Carl Sandburg

2011-04-29T09:00:00.001-05:00

Some final thoughts for National Poetry Month...

I have been searching for something to post about Carl Sandburg for several reasons. First, he is was a Chicagoan for some time and wrote a good bulk of his work about our fair city. Second, he wrote one of my absolute favorite poems ever, Chicago. And while researching him and the poem, I realized that poetry is the catalyst. Such a force of inspiration for art in all its forms. You can find readings and paintings and screen prints, all inspired from just a few short sentences. For example, you can find this piece of art:

from http://richardaily.com/

or stumble on some inspirational videos. My favorite ended up being this modern interpretation of the poem, bringing something that was written in 1916 up to date. I hope you enjoy it too and I hope you had a wonderful National Poetry Month.

"Chicago" by Carl Sandburg Reinvented from Kirill Mazor on Vimeo.

Poetry Off the Shelf

2011-04-19T09:03:00.000-05:00

Of all literary mediums, poetry is definitely a stand out when it comes to reading out loud. There's just something so tangible and real when a poem is voiced. It really does bring the value of poetry right in front of you -- more visible than ever before. Poetry can also be difficult to sit down and read for long periods of time, especially for fiction readers. Well, I have found a solution. Check out this amazing podcast, Poetry Off the Shelf.

I actually discovered this podcast from the Introduction to the 2010 edition of The Best American Nonrequired Reading, written by David Sedaris. He writes,

The more I'm exposed to, the more enraptured I become, the world feeling both bigger and smaller at the same time. Poetry, I think. Where has it been all my life! I said to Hugh, "I feel like I've discovered a whole new variety of meat...

And it's free!"

Something about this intro just caught me, especially in my effort to add more poetry into my life. I personally adore reading out loud and feel like it doesn't happen enough. Poetry Off the Shelf hits so many goals for me and it can for you too. So go ahead, subscribe.

Just click here.

Elizabeth Bishop

2011-04-08T11:38:00.002-05:00

Who was Elizabeth Bishop? Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979) is probably one of the most important American poets of the 20th century. She was a poet laureate, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and a National Book Award winner. And of course, she wrote some absolutely amazing poetry. One of my personal favorites is the poem "One Art". There are many interpretations but it is known that she wrote the poem shortly after someone very dear to her committed suicide. I think this poem is so important because Bishop didn't really write poetry about herself very often. She wrote about shampoo, armadillos, and maps. So "One Art" was this rare glimpse into a truly unique poet's life.

Please, enjoy this reading of "One Art" and after the jump, you can peruse some Elizabeth Bishop books that area available at MGPL.

Poems
By Bishop, Elizabeth
2011-02 - Farrar Straus Giroux
9780374532369 Check the Library's Catalog
This is the definitive edition of the work of one of America’s greatest poets, increasingly recognized as one of the greatest English-language poets of the twentieth century, loved by readers and poets alike. Bishop’s poems combine humor and sadness, pain and acceptance, and observe nature and lives in perfect miniaturist close-up. The themes central to her poetry are geography and landscape—from New England, where she grew up, to Brazil and Florida, where she later lived—human connection with the natural world, questions of knowledge and perception, and the ability or inability of form to control chaos.
This new edition—edited by Saskia Hamilton—offers readers the opportunity to take in, entire, one of the great careers in twentiethcentury poetry. …More

Elizabeth Bishop and the New Yorker: The Complete Correspondence
By Biele, Joelle
2011-02 - Farrar Straus Giroux
9780374281380 Check the Library's Catalog
BookPage Notable TitleElizabeth Bishop published the vast majority of her poems in "The New Yorker." During 40 years of correspondence, hundreds of letters passed between Bishop and her editors. This volume offers a rare glimpse into the artistic development of one of the 20th century's greatest poets. …More

Cyberpunk Classic

2011-04-04T18:17:00.014-05:00

Just finished Neuromancer by William Gibson, and I'm still kind of dizzy. Let's just say that I don't read much science fiction, and figured cyberpunk - where lowlifes blur the lines between human intelligence and artificial intelligence - was way out of my league. But what a trip!

Gibson wrote this in 1984 (it figures) and there's now a 20th anniversary edition in print. He must have had a crystal ball about the future. It's truly amazing what he wrote into the plot: designer organ transplants; global travel in a couple of hours; virtual reality; attention-spans in nanoseconds. It's all fantastic, and yet not so far-fetched from today's news headlines.

Case, a has-been cyberspace cowboy, is rehabilitated in order to save the planet as the clock ticks down to a doomsday scenario. It's a kaleidoscope of adventure, humor, gore, and romantic suspense. Read it - and hold on to your hat!

Neuromancer
By Gibson, William
2004-11 - Ace Books
9780441012039 Check the Library's Catalog

Multiple award-winning author Gibson provides a new Introduction to this special 20th anniversary edition of the most important and influential science fiction novel of the last two decades--the masterpiece that coined the term "cyberpunk" and eased the way into the modern information age. …More

Litany by Billy Collins

2011-04-01T16:36:00.000-05:00

Today marks the beginning of National Poetry Month and one of my very favorite poets is Billy Collins. Please, in honor of this month, and to begin a series of posts this month that will revolve around poetry, enjoy this wonderful video of a 3-year-old reading Litany by Billy Collins.

Orange Prize Longlist

2011-03-28T14:54:00.006-05:00

The Orange Prize for Fiction's long list has been announced! Unfamiliar with the Orange Prize? Here is how they describe themselves.

Launched in 1996, the prize celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in women's writing from throughout the world. The winner receives a cheque for £30,000 and a limited edition bronze known as a 'Bessie', created by the artist Grizel Niven.

In the literary prize domain, the Orange Prize can be a breath of fresh air. Also, it can be a great place to get reading recommendations! Past winners include writers such as Carol Shields, Ann Patchett, and Lionel Shriver. Check out a few our favorite books to make the long list this year, after (as always!) the jump.

Room
By Donoghue, Emma
2010-09 - Little Brown and Company
9780316098335 Check the Library's Catalog
2011 Alex Award Winner
Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, "Room" is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another. …More

The Tiger's Wife
By Obreht, Tea
2011-03 - Random House
9780385343831 Check the Library's Catalog
Weaving a brilliant latticework of family legend, loss, and love, Obreht, the youngest of "The New Yorker's" 20 best American fiction writers under 40, spins a timeless novel about a young doctor who confronts the inexplicable circumstances surrounding her beloved grandfather's recent death. …More

A Visit from the Goon Squad
By Egan, Jennifer
2010-06 - Knopf Publishing Group
9780307592835 Check the Library's Catalog
BookPage Notable Title
From one of today's boldest writers comes a sly, surprising, and exhilarating novel about time, survival, and the electrifying sparks ignited at the seams of our lives by colliding destinies. …More

The Invisible Bridge
By Orringer, Julie
2010-05 - Knopf Publishing Group
9781400041169 Check the Library's Catalog
BookPage Notable Title
Orringer's astonishing first novel is a grand love story and an epic tale of three brothers whose lives are torn apart by war. An unforgettable story of history and love, of marriage tested by disaster, of a Jewish family's struggle against annihilation, and of the dangerous power of art in a time of war. …More

1Q84 Unveiled

2011-03-27T14:53:00.000-05:00

Big news in the literary world! The cover for 1Q84, the newest book from acclaimed author Haruki Murakami, has been revealed, along with a few more details on the plot.

From Random House

The book is due out in October and you can read more on the Knopff website here. They write:

The plot follows two seemingly unconnected stories that eventually weave together. The first involves a woman named Aomame, who in the opening scene finds herself descending a service staircase off a busy elevated highway in Tokyo to escape a traffic jam. Once she gets to the bottom and out onto ground level, she eventually comes to believe that she has entered an alternate reality, one only slightly different than what she had known. She refers to this new dimension in her mind as 1Q84 (the book takes place in 1984 and in Japanese ‘Q’ sounds just like ‘9′), with the Q standing for “Question Mark. A world that bears a question.

Being a giant fan of both 1984 and this author, this is simply great news! Check out a couple of Murakami's most popular books available at MGPL after the jump!

Kafka on the Shore
By Murakami, Haruki
Translator Gabriel, Philip
2005-01 - Knopf Publishing Group
9781400043668 Check the Library's Catalog
Winner - 2006 ALA Notable Fiction Selection
A BookPage Notable TitleMurakami gives readers a novel every bit as ambitious and expansive as "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle," which has been acclaimed around the world for its uncommon ambition and achievement, and whose still-growing popularity suggests that it will be read and admired for decades to come. …More

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
By Murakami, Haruki
Translator Rubin, Jay
1998-09 - Vintage Books USA
9780679775430 Check the Library's Catalog
Japan's most highly regarded novelist now vaults into the first ranks of international fiction writers with this heroically imaginative novel, which is at once a detective story, an account of a disintegrating marriage, and an excavation of the buried secrets of World War II.
…More

A Book for the Artist in All of Us

2011-03-23T10:03:00.023-05:00

"... the only lasting venues for any form of art are dream and memory; inspiration leaps from the former to eventually be stored in the latter."

That's the premise behind Memory & Dream, by Charles de Lint, one of the first to write in the genre called urban fantasy - where other worlds exist right alongside the contemporary world and certain people can find the ways to cross between the two.

In this book, Isabelle is a promising young painter dominated by a famous artist who lives as a recluse. Rushkin is a gifted teacher who shares his incredible secret - the ability to bring the people in his paintings to life in the real world. He is also a ruthless manipulator who literally beats Isabelle into submission. The story becomes a white-knuckle thriller when the two realize they are in a fight to the death for themselves and the people they have painted into life.

De Lint's thoughts on the importance of art amid the distraction and stress of life in the 21st century are expressed throughout the episodes that move the plot along in a festival of characters and events. A very good read!

Memory and Dream
By de Lint, Charles
2007-02 - Orb Books
9780765316783 Check the Library's Catalog
As a student of the brilliant Vincent Rushkin, Isabelle discovered she could paint images so real they brought her dreams to life. But when the forces she unleashed brought tragedy to those she loved, she turned her back on it all. Now, 20 years later, Isabelle must come to terms with the memories and unlock the power of her brush. …More

Celebrate Women's History Month

2011-03-11T16:51:00.000-06:00

March is officially Women's History Month and what better way to celebrate than to get in some excellent reading! The theme of this year's Women's History Month is: Our History is Our Strength. You can learn more about it on the National Women's History Project website here:

http://www.nwhp.org/whm/

Personally, I always like to celebrate the month by reading great books with strong female characters, reading about women in history, or reading a great book written by a woman. You can find more than a few lists out there to guide your reading to-do list during the month of March. I would recommend checking out this interview with the president of the American Library Association on NPR. Also you could peruse this list of books with strong female characters. Or you can simply check out the list of books after the jump to see the staff favorites here at MGPL! From us to you, Happy Women's History Month!

When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present
By Collins, Gail
2009-10 - Little Brown and Company
9780316059541 Check the Library's Catalog
Chronicles the revolution of women's civil rights throughout the past half century, drawing on oral history and research in a variety of disciplines while celebrating Hillary Clinton's recent presidential campaign.
…More

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
By McCullers, Carson
2004-04 - Mariner Books
9780618526413 Check the Library's Catalog
An Oprah's Book Club selection
With the depression as a murky backdrop, this first novel depicts the bleak landscape of the American consciousness below the Mason-Dixon line. Miss McCullers' picture of loneliness, death, accident, insanity, fear, mob violence and terror is perhaps the most desolate that has so far come from the South. Her quality of despair is unique and individual; and it seems to me more natural and authentic than that of Faulkner. Her groping characters live in a world more completely lost than any Sherwood Anderson ever dreamed of. And she recounts incidents of death and attitudes of stoicism in sentences whose neutrality makes Hemingway's terse prose seem warm and partisan by comparison. Hovering mockingly over her story of loneliness in a small town are primitive religion, adolescent hope, the silence of deaf mutes - and all of these give the violent colors of the life she depicts a sheen of weird tenderness. …More

Madame Curie: A Biography
By Labouisse, Eve Curie
Author Curie, Eve
2001-04 - Da Capo Press
9780306810381 Check the Library's Catalog
A biography written by Marie Curie's daughter chronicles the Polish chemist's achievements in science, highlighting her pioneering efforts in the study of radioactivity and her Nobel Prize-winning work in physics and chemistry.
…More

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
By Smith, Betty
Foreword by Quindlen, Anna
2005-02 - Harper Perennial
9780060736262 Check the Library's Catalog
A true American classic first published in 1943, this is the tale of a little girl living in the slums of Brooklyn, who dreamily watches out her window as a tree struggles to reach the sky. …More

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
By Nafisi, Azar
2003-12 - Random House Trade
9780812971064 Check the Library's Catalog
A BookPage Notable Title
Every Thursday morning for two years in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a bold and inspired teacher named Azar Nafisi secretly gathered seven of her most committed female students to read forbidden Western classics. …More

Home: A Memoir of My Early Years
By Andrews, Julie
2009-04 - Hyperion Books
9780786884759 Check the Library's Catalog
Many know Andrews from "The Sound of Music" and "Mary Poppins." In this memoir, she looks back on her early years with an aspiring vaudeville mom and a loving dad and her role in "Camelot" with Richard Burton at age 20. b&w photos throughout. …More

Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel
By Walls, Jeannette
2009-10 - Scribner Book Company
9781416586289 Check the Library's Catalog
Presents a novel based on the life of the author's grandmother, Lily Casey Smith, who learned to break horses in childhood, journeyed five hundred miles as a teen to become a teacher, and ran a vast ranch in Arizona with her husband while raising two children.
…More

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
By Dai, Sijie
Author Sijie, Dai
Translator Rilke, Ina
2002-10 - Anchor Books
9780385722209 Check the Library's Catalog
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is an enchanting tale that captures the magic of reading and the wonder of romantic awakening. An immediate international bestseller, it tells the story of two hapless city boys exiled to a remote mountain village for re-education during China's infamous Cultural Revolution. There the two friends meet the daughter of the local tailor and discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation. As they flirt with the seamstress and secretly devour these banned works, the two friends find transit from their grim surroundings to worlds they never imagined. …More

Falling Leaves: The True Story of an Unwanted Chinese Daughter
By Mah, Adeline Yen
Author Yen Mah, Adeline
1998-02 - John Wiley & Sons
0471247421 Check the Library's Catalog
The daughter of a wealthy Hong Kong businessman describes her very difficult childhood and the psychological abuse she suffered at the hands of her stepmother.
…More

Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities
By Edwards, Elizabeth
2009-05 - Broadway Books
9780767931366 Check the Library's Catalog
The author recounts some of the difficulties she has faced, including the death of her son, cancer, and her husband's public affair, and shares how she has managed to adapt and survive.
…More

Eleanor and Franklin: The Story of Their Relationship, Based on Eleanor Roosevelt's Private Papers
By Lash, Joseph P.
1984-01 - W. W. Norton & Company
9780393074598 Check the Library's Catalog
The trials and triumphs of Eleanor Roosevelt's life as wife and mother are carefully drawn in this sympathetic portrait.
…More

The Handmaid's Tale
By Atwood, Margaret
1998-03 - Anchor Books
9780385490818 Check the Library's Catalog
Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are only valued if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the days before, when she lived and made love with her husband Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. Funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing, "The Handmaid's Tale is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force.
…More

We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live: Collected Nonfiction
By Didion, Joan
Introduction by Leonard, John
2006-10 - Everyman's Library
9780307264879 Check the Library's Catalog
BookPage Notable Title
For the first time, all of Didion's nonfiction writing on place, politics, lifestyle, and cultural figures from the 1960s to 2003 have been gathered together in one volume. …More

Against Interpretation
By Sontag, Susan
1990-07 - Anchor Books
9780385267083 Check the Library's Catalog
First published in 1966, this celebrated book--Sontag's first collection of essays--quickly became a modern classic, and has had an enormous influence in America and abroad on thinking about the arts and contemporary culture. As well as the title essay and the famous "Notes on Camp," Against Interpretation includes original and provocative discussions of Sartre, Simone Weil, Godard, Beckett, science-fiction movies, psychoanalysis, and contemporary religious thinking. This edition features a new afterword by Sontag.
…More

New Books for Zombie Lovers!

2011-03-09T20:06:00.000-06:00

Recently I have had zombies on the brain.

Yep. Pun intended.

Zombie books can be really fun because there is always a bit of black humor, lots of gore, and all sorts of living dead shenanigans to keep you satisfied.

photo from underbiteman on flickr.com

Are you a zombie fan too? Then you're in luck because the Morton Grove Public Library has been keeping up with the craze! Check out a few of our most recent zombie acquisitions after the jump!

Allison Hewitt Is Trapped
By Roux, Madeleine
2011-01 - St. Martin's Griffin
9780312658908 Check the Library's Catalog

Maintaining a blog from inside a bookstore where she and five co-workers are trapped during the Zombie Apocalypse, Allison wryly documents the sensational adventures they share while carving their way through ranks of zombies and equally threatening humans.
…More

Rot & Ruin
By Maberry, Jonathan
2010-09 - Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
9781442402324 Check the Library's Catalog
BookPage Notable Title

Acclaimed horror author Maberry ("Patient Zero") makes his young adult debut with this detail-rich depiction of a post-apocalypic world where humanity has fallen, the dead have risen, and danger is always imminent. …More

The Zombie Autopsies: Secret Notebooks from the Apocalypse
By Schlozman, Steven C.
Illustrator Sparacio, Andrea
2011-03 - Grand Central Publishing
9780446564663 Check the Library's Catalog

Based on the research of renowned zombie expert Dr. Stanley Blum, performed at a remote island where a crack medical team has been sent to explore a radical theory that may lead to a cure for the epidemic, "The Zombie Autopsies" documents for the first time the unique biology of zombie organisms. Illustrations. …More

Autumn: The City
By Moody, David
2011-02 - Thomas Dunne Books
9780312570002 Check the Library's Catalog

A sequel to the novel, Autumn, continues the story of survivors in a world decimated by a deadly disease and the emergence of violent, mindless undead creatures driven by a solitary goal to destroy those who have escaped the plague.
…More

Zombie, Ohio: A Tale of the Undead
By Kenemore, Scott
2011-02 - Skyhorse Publishing
9781616082062 Check the Library's Catalog

After dying in a car accident during a zombie outbreak causes him to become one of the walking dead, college professor Peter Mellor finds his friends don't want to associate with him anymore, he has to avoid being killed at every turn and he has an insatiable hunger for human brains. By the author of The Zen of Zombie.
…More

The Tiger's Wife

2011-03-08T13:28:00.000-06:00

Back when The New Yorker released their 20 Under 40 issue, a true stand-out was among the bunch. Téa Obreht, only 26 years old, immigrated to America in 1997 from Egypt but she was born in the former Yugoslavia. Despite her age her writing maintains an air of sophistication and understanding of human behavior and emotion on a level that many authors twice her age fail to achieve. Her writing has been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper’s, The New York Times, and The Guardian, and has appeared in The Best American Short Stories and The Best American Non-Required Reading.

Yeah. I know. Not bad for someone under 30, right?

You may wonder if her book could possibly live up to the hype but trust me, it does. Get yourself on the hold list today!

The Tiger's Wife
By Obreht, Ta
Author Obreht, Tea
2011-03 - Random House
9780385343831 Check the Library's Catalog
Struggling to understand why his beloved grandfather left his family to die alone in a field hospital far from home, a young doctor in a war-torn Balkan country takes over her grandfather's search for a mythical ageless vagabond while referring to a worncopy of Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book.".
…More

The Believer Book Award

2011-03-04T10:07:00.000-06:00

The independent literary magazine The Believer has announced its shortlist for the The Believer Book Award. This award is granted to what the editors find to be stand out novels and short story collections that were under appreciated from the past year. You can find all of the nominees here:

http://www.believermag.com/issues/201103/?read=believer_book_award

One of our favorites on that list is Skippy Dies by Paul Murray. This quirky and darkly humorous tale starts right off with the death of the main character. This gutsy move launches the reader into a fascinating tale of how Skippy, the protagonist, finds himself in that particular predicament. Completely unique in every way, this book comes highly recommended by The Believer. Here is what they have to say about it:

Paul Murray’s second novel explores the seamiest (and sappiest, and most sadistic and sardonic) tendencies of male adolescents, fermenting and fomenting at a Dublin boarding school. Commencing with the eponymous Skippy asphyxiating on the floor of a doughnut shop, the novel’s cultural pull quotes hail from sources scholarly, wizardly, pop, and profane. Skippy Dies is both nostalgic and prescient, and, moreover, a witty and bittersweet romp of a read.

Skippy Dies is available for check out now at MGPL!

Skippy Dies
By Murray, Paul
2010-08 - Faber & Faber
9780865479432 Check the Library's Catalog
Why does Skippy, a 14-year-old boy at Dublin's venerable Seabrook College, end up dead on the floor of the local doughnut shop? Why Skippy dies and what happens next unravels a mystery that links the boys of Seabrook College to their parents and teachers in ways nobody could have imagined. …More

Another book you love to hate - or hate to love?

2011-03-03T09:24:00.015-06:00

What if Mary Bennet, the stiff, humorless sister in Pride and Prejudice, grew into a woman of unconscious beauty with a burning desire to expose social evils through her writing? What if Elizabeth Bennet turned out to be a weak-willed wife, and Fitzwilliam Darcy became consumed with political ambition?

I love Jane Austen's books and thought I had read all the recent Austen knockoffs until I saw The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet by Colleen McCullough, the well-known and sometimes controversial author. I admit that I suspected that McCullough only wanted to get in on the never-ending cash stream from Austen "sequels."

As it turns out, the book is a frustrating mix of delightful Pemberley scenes of the Darcy family - twenty years and four children later - and appalling plot lines involving gnome-like apothecaries hoarding gold in hidden caves.

So, if you don't mind laughing and groaning over a few preposterous chapters, you will enjoy this book that reminds us all of why the genuine Austen books remain unmatched.

The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet
By McCullough, Colleen
2008-12 - Simon & Schuster
9781416596790 Check the Library's Catalog

The bestselling author of "The Thorn Birds" breathes new life into the characters of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." Jane and Elizabeth's younger, bookish sister, Mary is still too willful to be confined within traditional marriage, so she embarks on an adventure of her own. …More