Literary fiction, chunky classics, mysteries, Persephone’s, and needlepoint, you’ll find them all at A Work in Progress. Whenever I visit Danielle’s wonderful blog, I need to have a pen and paper ready, because I know she will mention a book that I’ll have to add to my “To Read” list. Her thoughtful reviews will take…
Jacki Lydon did an interesting interview with Jonathan Rosen author of Life of the Skies: Birding at the End of Nature last night on NPR. Rosen is an urban birdwatcher, novelist and contributer to The New Yorker. Here are two excerpts: Rosen contends that everyone is a birdwatcher. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says…
The Editorials & Opinions link is up and running again. Sorry for the inconvenience. We always want to hear what you have to say, so please feel free to rate or review your books here.
Essex County Vol.1: Tales From the Farm ~ Jeff Lemire This is a bittersweet coming of age tale about Lester, a ten year-old who still wears a superhero mask and cape. After his mother dies, Lester moves to his Uncle’s farm in Essex County, Ontario. Neither of them, knows quite what to do with the…
We asked staff to tell us which fictional character would most likely have broken their hearts. Our biggest heartbreak was that we didn’t get it up in time for Valentine’s Day! 1. Han Solo – Star Wars by George Lucas OK, not so literary since it was a movie novelization, but Harrison Ford or not,…
Long before she was born, Dominika first appeared to her mother in a dream, so when she came to be, she was welcomed with eager expectation and much love. Though her arrival was auspicious, as the child of recognized dissidents associated with the failed Prague Spring uprising, Dominika’s life would be far from charmed. Her…
Anam’s debut novel is a wonderful journey through the birth of a nation and the lengths a mother will go to protect her children. When Rehana Haque’s husband dies, she loses her children to her brother-in-law in Pakistan. She manages to get them back by building a new home on the front lawn of her…
Set in World War II, Super Spy delves into the lives of spies: their motives, their tactics and their missions. Each chapter or “dossier” moves the story along, but not necessarily in a linear fashion. The dossiers are dated, so you could read it that way if you want. But, the original order allows Kindt…
Photographs that catch people in the act of everyday activities are among my favorites. Kertesz photographs people from all over the world and all walks of life reading books and newspapers. Some of the photos are great because they capture the way a book can possess and transport a reader while others tell stories about…
This is a fun little book filled with photos of – you guessed it – band t-shirts. Did you know there was an Elvis t-shirt for Heartbreak Hotel? Most of the shirts are from the 80s but there representatives from the 70s onward. If you are looking for your favorite pop rock t-shirts you probably…
A Baker’s Odyssey is a rich collection of recipes and culinary history, all gleaned from Patent’s exhaustive research in the American home kitchens of immigrants from around the world. Through his travels across the country, Patent learned the secrets to traditional baked goods originating from thirty-two different nations. From Scotland and Austria to India and Thailand…
St. Francis Xavier parish is losing pastors. Over the years, three freaked priests have fled, having beheld Sights Too Terrible To Speak Of. Enter redoubtable replacement Father Rich Melos, who’s both fearless of Satan and Thornbirds-cute. Jane Edwell, plucky proprietor of the Sip and Sit Caf, joins Melos in his bid to blast open the…
The results are in and all bets are off! We just didn’t see all that non-fiction coming. From Heaven to Starbucks and Harry to Stalin our staff has picked the best from all genres. Books published in 2007 The top picks with two votes each were: Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini The Book of…
If you like to read about other people’s lives, the In Their Shoes is a challenge for you. The rules are real simple: you pick the number of books that you want to read. They just have to be either a memoir, autobiography, or biography. This challenge started January 1, 2008 and it will end…
In this edition of Marie’s Monthly Minutes, we’ll look at two novels that feature elderly main characters looking back on their long careers. The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield Former academic Setterfield pays tribute in her debut to Brontë and du Maurier heroines: a plain girl gets wrapped up in a dark, haunted ruin of…
One of our co-workers recommended this: Based on the true story of Hugh Glass – adventurer, pirate, frontiersman – Punke explores this amazing tale of survival. In 1822 Glass signs on as a trapper with Captain Andrew Henry. During their trip he is mauled by a grizzly bear: His throat nearly ripped out, scalp hanging…
Naomi Nowak’s second graphic novel is an intriguing little volume. Josephine or Posy, as she likes to be called, comes from a once wealthy family. Her overly critical parents send her to a sweatshop so she can earn money for nursing school even though she faints at the sight of blood. During her stay at…
NPR is hosting a new series called “In Character.” Each week they will explore a character in depth to see what makes them tick and why they are important. Listeners can submit their suggestions for characters to be discussed on the show. If you are interested in characters, you may want to check out the…
This is a great first novel about love, family relationships and the immigrant experience. The Karim family is full secrets. The father, Rashid, marries Henna who was supposed to be a sophisticated young woman, only to find out that she is an illiterate, 14 year-old who married him in order to improve her social status.…
If you’re starting to make your new year’s reading lists here are a few challenges to keep you busy. These little (and some big) challenges are addictive, so don’t say we didn’t warn you. We’ll bring you a couple of challenges each week during the month of January; we hope you find one you want…
“If you could invite any character(s) over for dinner, who would you choose?” that’s what we asked staff for the third part of our survey series. Here’s the guest list: Santiago – the Alchemist; Marilla Cuthbert – Anne of Green Gables; Dexter Morgan – Darkly Dreaming Dexter; Vivianne Rocher – Chocolat ******************************************************* Huck Finn &…
Sasha Goldberg, the main character in Anya Ulinich’s absurdly funny, coming-of-age novel, seems out-of-place just about everywhere. She’s a mixed-race, Jew living in a town in Siberia called Asbestos 2. Her only solace is in an after-school art program. When she becomes pregnant, her mother takes the baby and sends Sasha to an art-school in…
Here’s a post from our resident pop-culture maven: Don’t You Forget About Me: Contemporary Writers on the Films of John Hughes “The angst-ridden films of John Hughes remain vital viewing to a generation of writers old enough to have seen The Breakfast Club in theaters, and this collection of musings from 20 such contributors” is…
Did you ever wish you could have picked out which books you were assigned to read in high school? To complement our list of books that staff hated reading in high school, we have a second list of books that staff wished they were assigned to read. We hope this generates some discussion as some…
For the Jews of Buenos Aires there is one cemetery, but a high wall gates off the members of the Benevolent Self (pimps and prostitutes) from the rest of the dead. Kaddish Posnan, the son of a whore, is the only descendant who thinks it is important to honor the dead members of the Benevolent…
This is the first of a series of “Read This!” surveys designed to encourage debate. We asked staff what books they were assigned to read in high school that they absolutely hated. Next week we’ll post the results of the second part of the survey in which we asked staff to choose a book they…
The immigrant experience is often a great topic for fiction. In this edition of Marie’s Monthly Minutes, we’ll look at three books that explore the adjustments that immigrants and children of immigrants have to make when they settle in America. Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides “Narrator Calliope “Cal” Stephanides is a Greek-American hermaphrodite who eventually becomes…
There are certain books that are intended for teens that adults can’t help but read. The Book Thief is one of those books. It is probably unlike any other book you have ever read. First off, it’s narrated by Death. Yeah, that’s right, Death. Here’s how he describes the book: It’s just a small story…
Here’s a review from Julie: I really liked this book. It’s wonderfully quirky; a mystery, but not so much about the mystery as about the detectives — a flock of sheep. Have you ever wondered how sheep think? Well, I can’t say as I really have, but I enjoyed finding out. Here’s the description from…
“For a moment after the insult was hurled, the African went on eating, without looking up from the shatranj board, indeed without seeming to have heard the remark at all. Then, before anyone quite understood that calumny so fine went beyond the powers even of the myna, and that the bird was innocent, this once…
And the winners are: Fiction: Denis Johnson ~ Tree of Smoke Non-fiction: Tim Weiner ~ Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA Young Adult Fiction: Sherman Alexie ~ The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Poetry: Robert Hass ~ Time and Materials The Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters went to Joan…
My kids find it hard to believe, but when I was a child I’d never heard of zucchini….our lives changed forever the day [my father] brought home zucchinis. ‘It’s Italian food,’ he explained. We weren’t sure how to pronounce it. And while the artichokes had brought us to tears and throat lozenges, we liked these…
One of our patrons really loved this book. After falling in love with Nigel Bevelstoke, Viscount Turner, as a child because of his kindness to her, Miranda Cheever is reunited with him years later, finding a lonely and harsh man, devastated by loss, but she sees beyond the bitterness to the man she has loved…
One of our patrons highly recommended this book. Making her way to a deserted island off the coast of Newfoundland in the waning days of World War II, Sheilagh Fielding learns the identity of a man who has shadowed her for twenty years, a finding that coincides with the discovery of the fate of her…
Anne Enright’s was announced as the winner of Man Booker Prize for her book The Gathering. Click here for more.
“Though “Tree of Smoke” is hobbled by a plot that starts and stops and lurches wildly about, it’s a powerful story about the American experience in Vietnam, with unsettling echoes of the current American experience in Iraq. It is a story about bad intelligence and military screw-ups and people who have lost their way, a…
This month we’ve picked three books from Marie’s list of favorites in which a minor character becomes the focus of the story. The Red Tent~Anita Diamant “The story of Dinah, a tragic character from the Bible whose great love, a prince, is killed by her brother, leaving her alone and pregnant. The novel traces her…
Doris Lessing won this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature. Born in Iran and raised in what is now Zimbabwe, Lessing is only the 11th woman to receive the Literature Nobel. Read more in the New York Times. Links to past winners of the Literature Prize More 2007 Nobel Winners
The National Book Award finalists were announced today. Click here for more.
“Things have never been easy for Oscar, a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd, a New Jersey romantic who dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, of finding love. But he may never get what he wants, thanks to the fuku – the ancient curse that haunts Oscar’s family for generations,…
In her first novel, The Septembers of Shiraz, Dalia Sofer examines the life of a wealthy, Jewish family living in Iran after the revolution. Isaac Amin, a gem trader, has been taken prisoner and accused of being an Israeli spy. Each chapter is told from the point of view of one of the four Amin…
Let us introduce you to our new monthly feature. Marie’s Monthly Minutes. Why minutes? Because it just takes a minute to recommend a few great books. What will you find in these posts? Just straight ahead fiction – no vampires, aliens, or other worlds here. Marie likes a lot of historical fiction, literary fiction and…
Excerpts of 80-Year-Old Poet John Ashbery’s poems will appear on mtvU this fall. mtvU which is available only on college campuses will also sponsor a poetry contest for college students. For the full article click here.
I just read on Maud Newton’s blog that Grace Paley died today. Here is her obituary from the New York Times. “Grace Paley, the celebrated writer and social activist whose acclaimed short stories explored in precise, pungent and tragicomic style the struggles of ordinary women muddling through everyday lives, died Wednesday at her home in…
” Laura Lippman writes mostly about private investigator Tess Monaghan. Monaghan is a made-up name and what she does is a matter of fiction. But when Lippman puts Baltimore on the page, she’s got to get it right.” Fans of Lippman’s novels will want to read or listen to this piece on the setting for…
This is a very nice looking book with short essays by over sixty authors. They talk about where they write, how they get started and any talisman’s they like to have on hand when writing. My father was a supremely organized man. After he died, my three sisters and I read through countless letters, papers…
“Those who have an orphan’s sense of history love history. And my voice has become that of an orphan. Perhaps it was the unknown life of my mother, her barely drawn portrait, that made me an archivist, a historian. Because if you do not plunder the past, the absence feeds on you.” That is the…
The following titles are on the longlist for the Booker Prize: Darkmans by Nicola Barker Self Help by Edward Docx The Gift Of Rain by Tan Twan Eng The Gathering by Anne Enright The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid The Welsh Girl by Peter Ho Davies Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones Gifted by Nikita Lalwani…
In Sansom’s second Mobile Library Mystery, we find our hero, Israel Armstrong, BA (Hons), in another ridiculous predicament. Our beloved underachiever has just finished his mobile-library-sponsored five-panel display on the history of the Dixon and Pickering’s department store, when he is apprehended for the robbery and kidnapping of Mr. Dixon. Sansom’s characters are wonderful and…
I love to read book lists, best of lists or who’s reading what lists, so I was intrigued when I saw the following two books: The Book That Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books That Matter Most to Them edited by Roxanne Coady and Joy Johannessen is what the subtitle says a…
If you’ve been looking for our Editorials & Opinions page, it is back up and running. Sorry about the glitch. We would love to hear about what books you’re reading, so please leave a comment or fill out our book recommendation form.
From the Marquis de Sade to Mad Magazine, sixteen authors share their picks for summer over at Time.
Perhaps you haven’t heard of the magazine called Seed. I hadn’t until I read an interview with their editor-at-large Jonah Lehrer who wrote a book called Proust Was a Neuroscientist. Lehrer’s book fits perfectly with the theme of the magazine which looks at the intersection of science and culture. The editors at Seed have come…
All the book news is about the soon to be released Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. If you aren’t frantically re-reading the last 6 books, here are a few articles to help you get ready for the final installment. JK Rowling: Learning to live with fame, fortune and life without Harry Goodbye Harry by…
You might want to check out this new feature on the NPR website. So, what is Book Tour? “Each week, we present leading contemporary authors of both fiction and nonfiction as they read from, and discuss, their current work.” Recent guests have included: Walter Isaacson (Einstein) Mathew Sharpe (Jamestown) Atul Gawande (Better) Kiran Desai (Inheritance…
If you enjoy the reading challenges that are out there, here are a few more. You can also look at other people’s challenge lists to get ideas for things to read. The Armchair Traveler Challenge: Read 6 books (fiction or non-fiction) from July-December. The books should be travel-related or where the location is “integral to…
You might like this book if you are into Alternative/Indie Rock. You would like it even more if you are a GenXer, particularly if you were born in 1970 and were obsessed with the band Guided By Voices. This is a memoir of Sellars’s coming of age in music. The best part of the book…
This book was a pleasure to read. Widow, Maggie McElroy, heads off to China to settle a matter that has come up regarding her late husband’s estate. While there she has agreed to interview, Sam Liang an American-born chef with a ties to some of China’s finest, imperial chefs. What Maggie ends up getting is…
Maggie and Jem seem like opposites. She is the quick-witted, city girl and he is the slow, steady country boy who has just moved to London. With the help of their new friend, Mr. William Blake, they find that they might have more in common than it would seem. As with Chevalier’s other novels, the…
As usual NPR has several stories on summer reading. Here are links to a few of their recommended lists. We would love to hear what you are reading so feel free to leave us a comment with your picks for the summer. Booksellers’ Picks for the Beach — or the Backyard “NPR Special Correspondent Susan…
The shortlist for the award included Carlos Fuentes, Doris Lessing, Philip Roth, Don Delillo, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Michael Ondaatje and Amos Oz. Judge Nadine Gordimer called Achebe the “Father of Modern African Literature.” He will be awarded $118,500 and will receive his prize and a trophy at a ceremony on June 28 at Christ…
Ok, so this is one of inkonvellum’s favorite books, so how can I begin to review it? Gaiman’s premise that immigrants to America bring their gods with them was quite interesting. He also deals with the psychology of gods – their need to be worshiped and what they do to survive in the changing face…
Have you ever been daunted by great works of literature? If you’ve always wanted to read Don Quixote but were afraid to take on the challenge, Tilting at Windmills is your ultimate Don Quixote support group. It’s an online discussion group with links, lots of background info on the book and a few fun things,…
“ It seems to me that there’s frequently neither rhyme nor reason to which books garner tons of readers and which are read by only a few, devoted as they may be. Somehow, books in the latter category don’t seem to register on the radar of public awareness. This is a shame, because in this…
This is a children’s book, but there was so much buzz about it, that I decided to read it. It was fantastic. The illustrations are gorgeous. The book is designed to be like a movie, with black and white drawings that start far away and then zoom in on an object. The story centers around…
Here’s a book that Charlotte highly recommends: Acclaimed explorer Ian Baker’s long-awaited memoir of his successful quest to reach a legendary waterfall in the unexplored heart of the Himalayas’ deepest gorge, a place long held by Tibetans to be the portal to an earthly paradise and the origin of Shangri-la
This fun little book is a memoir about working in bookstores and a history of bookselling. Even though he has worked in the industry for years, Buzbee still loves walking into a bookstore. His passion for books is infectious and unprententious. He spends a fare amount of time talking about the birth of “booklust.” Here’s…
For those of you who like biographies, here’s a review from Julie: Lately I’ve been reading some of Reeve Lindbergh’s books. Anne Morrow Lindbergh was (is? how would you put it when the writer is dead (thus was), but you’re still enjoying her books (thus is)? anyway…) one of my favorite writers. I read her…
Fantastic! Not just for kids. Excellent writing. He finds Atlantis! Dave
Here’s a list of Favorites from Fran our Reader’s Advisory Guru: Broken for You / Stephanie Kallos The Kite Runner / Khalad Hosseini In the Country of the Young / Lisa Carey Set on a fictional island in Maine, this novel encompasses Irish history, folklore, and fantasy to weave its tale. As the characters come…
“The famously reclusive Mr. McCarthy, 73, won for his devastating chronicle of a father and son walking alone across a post-apocalyptic America, cold, dark and strewn with corpses and ash. In her review in The New York Times,, Janet Maslin wrote, “ ‘The Road’ would be pure misery if not for its stunning, savage beauty.”…
I don’t normally read mysteries, but how could I pass up a book about a Jewish, vegetarian, bookmobile librarian in Northern Ireland? Israel Armstrong spends countless hours travelling to Tumdrum and District, Co. Antrim, to start his new position as librarian only to find that the library has been “shut.” He later learns that his…
Novel Reflections: The American Dream, a special presentation of PBS’s American Masters series begins tonight. This episode examines seven novels that typifiy the theme of the American Dream: The Grapes of Wrath, Sister Carrie, The Great Gatsby, House of Mirth, Seize the Day, The Street and Typical American. Click here to hear Gish Jen, author…
During the 1527 sack of Rome, the well-known courtesan Fiammetta Bianchini and her business partner Bucino escape to Venice, but not without battle scars. In the business of beauty, nothing less than perfection will do and it takes some time and ingenuity for the two to rebuild. Discussion of the “profession” is frank, but not…
Margaret Bradham Thornton has edited and annotated Tennessee Williams “notebooks.” The compilation has received rave reviews: From Booklist: “The greatest American playwright? Regardless of one’s personal thoughts on his ultimate ranking, Tennessee Williams was inarguably great. For the first time, and for dedicated aficionados of his work, his complete journals are now being published. Kept…
The NBCC Awards were announced on Thursday. Kiren Desai’s book The Inheritance of Loss won for best fiction. “In a crumbling house in the remote northeastern Himalayas, an embittered, elderly judge finds his peaceful retirement turned upside down by the arrival of his orphaned granddaughter, Sai.” Click here for more award winners.
Marie says this is a “Very Good” read, but not exceptional. This is another starred review in Publisher’s Weekly: “See’s engrossing novel set in remote 19th-century China details the deeply affecting story of lifelong, intimate friends (laotong, or “old sames”) Lily and Snow Flower, their imprisonment by rigid codes of conduct for women and their…
This received a “good” rating by one of our patrons. It also got a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly: “Brooks’s luminous second novel, after 2001’s acclaimed Year of Wonders, imagines the Civil War experiences of Mr. March, the absent father in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. An idealistic Concord cleric, March becomes a Union chaplain…
Walking Zero is the latest offering from Raymo, Science Professor at Stonehill College and former columnist for the Boston Globe. His walk along the Prime Meridian is the backdrop for an exploration of the history of astronomy, geology and paleontology. The Meridian is surprisingly close to a number of hot spots such as Darwin’s home…
Erin Hart’s second book the award winning Lake of Sorrows is equally as satisfying as her first. The story brings us back to the unique setting of the Irish bogs. Once again an ancient body has been discovered this time by local peat workers. He appears to have fallen victim of a sacrificial death. Evidence…
Erin Hart’s debut fiction Haunted Ground is a fascinating read. I literally could not put it down. You know, the kind where it doesn’t matter where you are even if you’re sitting in your car in the driveway you just have to read…one…more…page. Anyway, interestingly, the story is a unique combination of archeological finds and…
Check out Nancy Pearl’s Books for Armchair Travel and Adventure on NPR’s Morning Edition.
If you are new to graphic novels, here are some that were recently recommended by local librarians. These are the kind that are geared for adults. Maus – Art Spiegelman Persopolis I & II, Embroderies, Chicken with Plums – Marjane Satrapi Palestine – Joe Sacco Rabbi’s Cat – Johann Sfar Pride of Baghdad – Brian…
As you probably already know, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released on Saturday July 21, 2007. For more on the story click here. What do you think? Will J.K. Rowling kill off her beloved main character?
Okay, so this isn’t your cozy up to the fireplace with a nice cup of tea reading, but it was a very interesting book. Sunderland bases her research on scientific studies and brain scans. She explores how parenting choices can effect a child’s brain development. Most new parents look at their babies and wonder, “what…
A patron told me this was won of the two best books she read last year. Here’s a quote from Publisher’s Weekly: “If you’re going to read just one book about alien abductions, make it this one. And if you think alien abduction stories aren’t worth considering seriously, Clancy will convince you otherwise. A postdoctoral…
So, the new issue of Publisher’s Weekly came out Monday. For those of you who don’t know, Cuffies are chosen by children’s booksellers. They have some interesting categories. Here are some examples: Most Memorable Character in a Lead Role Liesel in The Book Thief (Edward Cullen only got an honorable mention! How could this be!)…
A Patron just came in and sayed she loved this book. She said it made her cry, but in a good way. “In this conclusion to “The Circle trilogy,” one vampire dares to stand against Lilith and her minions, using his love for the newly-crowned queen of Geall to finally complete the circle of six…
This is the latest selection for the Tuesday Morning Book Group here at the library. I have read this myself and it was a great book, but not for the faint of heart. It is about post-apartheid South Africa after all. This book won the 1999 Booker Prize. Click here for the Reading Group Guide.…
The days are short. The weather is cold. Now is the time to curl up with a good book. Why not make it a big, fat book. Bookfool at Bookfoolery and Babble is sponsoring the Chunkster Challenge. In short, you need to read something over 400 pages and there is a drawing for prizes. Here…
I don’t know when NPR started to takeover, but it seems to be always on at my house. This book profiles a number of NPR newscasters including some of my favorites like Scott Simon and Nina Totenberg. Phillips explores how veteran NPR personalities ended up in radio and the reader gets a sense of what…
From the author of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, comes this new collection of short stories. Only one of the stories features Jonathan Strange, but the rest of the stories feel like they take place in the same world. Clarke conjures up a version of 19th century England where magic and Faerie are historical subjects.…
Check out book guru and librarian action figure model, Nancy Pearl, on NPR’s Morning Edition. On this page she offers up her summer reading selections for 2006. Like the title says, “These Books May Make You Skip Work.” If you call in sick, we’ll know what your doing! http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5474426 Other Summer Reading selections on NPR…
Let me start by saying I don’t like motorcycles. I really don’t like motorcycles. That being said, I enjoyed this book by Ted Bishop about motorcycles and books. Bishop road from Alberta to Austin for a sabbatical project about Virginia Woolf. So the book is about motorcycles and motorcycle culture, a little bit about Virginia…
Welcome to read this! a new blog to help you find books to read or recommend. Staff or patrons can submit reviews of books they’ve read and loved (or hated) and we’ll post them according to genre. A personal recommendation is always a great way to find something new, so please contribute! Send reviews to…
What do you do when an avid teen reader comes to the desk looking for something great to read? If you haven’t been keeping up with the latest teen reads or if the perfect book doesn’t come to mind, Michelle has just the thing for you – Books Laid Bare. This is a separate blog…
Here are a few highlights from an article on the Poets & Writers website featuring some interesting literary news: George Washington (yep, that George Washington) owes three hundred thousand dollars in late fees to the New York Society Library for two overdue books he borrowed on October 5, 1789. (Guardian) Fashion Designer Marc Jacobs is…