"9 Surprising Things You Didn't Know About…"

Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of Tarzan. [via BuzzFeed] 8. Burroughs is a descendant of Edmund Rice — and is distantly related to Laura Ingalls Wilder and President Calvin Coolidge. “Rice was one of the original settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and while his own life was modest — founder of Sudbury, deacon in…

Graveminder – Melissa Marr

Publisher’s Summary: “Three sips to mind the dead . . . Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the attention her grandmother Maylene bestowed upon the dead of Claysville, the small town where Bek spent her adolescence. There wasn’t a funeral that Maylene didn’t attend, and at each one Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual:…

BookPage Interviews Alice Ozma

Alice Ozma is the author of The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared. Publisher’s Summary: “When Alice Ozma was in 4th grade, she and her father decided to see if he could read aloud to her for 100 consecutive nights. On the hundreth night, they shared pancakes to celebrate, but it soon…

CNN's 12 Summer Reads

(CNN) — One of the best things about summer are the vacations (or staycations) that allow time for leisure reading. We’ve picked the bookish brains of editors from Entertainment Weekly, The Barnes & Noble Review and the social network site Goodreads.com to round up a collection of 12 books you can add to your list.…

Excerpt from Simon Pegg's NERD DO WELL

Publisher’s Summary: “The unique life story of one of the most talented and inventive comedians, star of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Star Trek. Zombies in North London, death cults in the West Country, the engineering deck of the Enterprise: actor, comedian, writer and self-proclaimed supergeek Simon Pegg has been ploughing some bizarre…

(Sort of a) Book Trailer: "Experience Paris with David McCullough"

Publisher’s Summary: “The Greater Journey is the enthralling, inspiring—and until now, untold—story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, ambitious to excel in their work. After risking the hazardous journey across the Atlantic, these Americans embarked…

The White Devil – Justin Evans

Publisher’s Summary: “The Harrow School is home to privileged adolescents known as much for their distinctive dress and traditions as for their arrogance and schoolboy cruelty. Seventeen-year-old American Andrew Taylor is enrolled at the esteemed British institution by his father, who hopes that the school’s discipline will put some distance between his son and his…

Roast Mortem – Cleo Coyle

Publisher’s Summary: “After local firefighters pull Clare out of a blazing café, she happily comes to their rescue by teaching them the finer points of operating their newly donated espresso machine. But matters really heat up when somebody is torching cafes around the city and firefighters begin to die in suspicious ways… Believing the two…

Poll: On Recasting

The Hunger Games casting is trending as a hot topic. Are they getting it right? Wrong? Fans are falling on both sides of the line, offering up suggestions for who they believe is better suited to any given role. Which got us thinking… Which of the characters in the poll below would you have recast…

Book Trailer: Kate Noble's Follow My Lead

Jason Cummings, Duke of Rayne is feeling the weight of his responsibilities – one of which is to get married.  Being the most sought after bachelor in London can be trying,  so who can blame him if he seeks refuge from the voracious hordes of young debutantes at the decidedly female-free Historical Society?  Female-free, that…

Red Garden ~ Alice Hoffman

Hoffman’s latest novel looks at the history of Blackwell, a fictional town in western Massachusetts. Blackwell was founded by a con artist short on survival skills and his young immigrant wife who was the true pioneer. Each chapter explores a different generation and watching characters who were children in one chapter return as  grownups in…

Treachery In Death – J.D. Robb

After Lieutenant Eve Dallas suggests that her partner Detective Delia Peabody could use some practice on her footwork, Peabody decides to work out out in the NYPD’s old, rarely used gym as opposed to the new state of the art one which many of her well- toned colleagues avail themselves of. She has the place…

"Literary Mixtape: Elizabeth Bennet"

“Elizabeth Bennet, the second eldest in a family of five daughters, is possessed of “a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in any thing ridiculous” and a healthy dose of scorn for her silly sisters. Her father’s favorite, Lizzy is headstrong, sharp-tongued and quite proud of the fact that she has what her father calls “something more…

Biography Booklist: Remembering Elizabeth Taylor (1932 – 2011)

“Legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor, a two-time Oscar winner and Hollywood beauty whose screen success was sometimes overshadowed by her tumultuous personal life, died on Wednesday at age 79.” [via Los Angeles Times] The library owns several biographies on Elizabeth Taylor, including: (linked to the catalog) Elizabeth by J. Randy Taraborrelli “A portrait of Oscar award-winning…

Jane Eyre Set Interiors

Are you tempted to see the new adaptation of Jane Eyre starring Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell & Dame Judi Dench? Perhaps taking a peek at the film’s gorgeous, brooding set interiors will be further incentive.

Rogue Angel: Destiny – Alex Archer

Publisher’s Summary: “Archaeologist and explorer Annja Creed’s fascination with the myths and mysteries of the past leads her to a crypt in the caves of France, where the terrifying legend of the Beast of Gevaudan hints at the unimaginable. What she discovers is shattering: an artifact that will seal her destiny; a brotherhood of monks…

Gideon's Sword – Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

At the young age of twelve, Gideon Crew saw his brilliant mathematician father gunned down before his eyes after being accused of treason. Twelve years later, his dying mother tells him that his father was framed and deliberately killed as part of a cover-up. With her last breath she gives Gideon the name of the…

This Week in the Literary World

“Michael Lewis, who wrote the best-seller The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine about the mortgage meltdown, has become the target of a lawsuit by an asset manager he wrote about in the book.” [via Advisor One] “Getting a handle on naming characters”: The right name can bring a fictional person into focus, but finding…

First Grave on the Right – Darynda Jones

Charley Davidson is a private investigator and a grim reaper. As part of her reaper job description, she must convince dead people to “go into the light”, which in this case strangely enough is Charley herself. Of course things are never that simple. In cases where people have died violently they of course want help…

The Radleys – Matt Haig

The Radleys seem like your average, albeit dysfunctional modern family who live in the small British village of Bishopthorpe. Dr. Peter Radley goes off to to his GP office each morning, while his wife Helen is a stay at home mother who focuses her attention on her family. Their two teenagers Clara and Rowan are…

The Forgotten Garden – Kate Morton

In 1913, an unaccompanied, mysterious little girl arrives by boat in Brisbane Australia and is adopted by the dockmaster and his wife. She doesn’t remember her name and the only clues to her identity is that she was by a women who she calls “The Authoress” and has brought with her a book of fairy…

Brian Jacques, Author of Redwall, Dies at 71

“British author Brian Jacques, who wrote the “Redwall” (Penguin) adventure series, died of a sudden heart attack on February 5 in Liverpool, England. He was 71.” “The world has lost not only a talented author, but a truly gifted entertainer and champion of children,” says Philomel’s Green. “For almost 25 years, Brian Jacques lived up…

Vision in White – Nora Roberts

Vision In White by Nora Roberts is the first entry in her Bride Quartet series. MacKensie (Mac) Elliott and her three best friends, Emma, Laurel and Parker grew up throwing make believe weddings. Now they run a very successful wedding planning business in Connecticut called Vows where each one contributes her own unique talents. Mac…

The Four Stages of Cruelty ~ Keith Hollihan

True to it’s title, The Four Stages of Cruelty is not a book for the faint of heart. Kali Williams is a Corrections Officer at the Ditmarsh Penitentiary, a maximum security prison in Minnesota. Even though Kali works in the prison, as a female CO, she provides the perspective of an outsider looking in. When…

Dreadful Skin – Cherie Priest

Publisher’s Summary: “Jack Gabert went to India to serve his Queen. He returned to London a violently changed man, infected with an unnatural sickness that altered his body and warped his mind. Eileen Callaghan left an Irish convent with a revolver and a secret. She knows everything and nothing about Jack’s curse, but she cannot…

Scoop to Kill – Wendy Lyn Watson

Publisher’s summary: “During the local college’s annual Honor’s Day festivities, a graduate student is killed. When the English professor suspected of his murder also meets an untimely end, Tallulah Jones steps out from behind the counter of Remember the a-la-Mode to clear the professor’s name-before anyone else gets put on ice…” Scoop to Kill is…

People Magazine's Best Books of 2010

Life by Keith Richards Room by Emma Donaghue The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot I Remember Nothing by Nora Ephron A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand Just Kids by  Patti Smith Autobiography of Mark Twain One Day by  David Nicholls Weigh in on People‘s choices…

Indulgence in Death ~ J.D. Robb

You’d think when A book starts with a lovely relaxing vacation in Ireland, Eve and Roarke are in for a bit of a respite from some of their misadventures. No. Of course not. Beginning with a crossbow killing of chauffeur, and proceeding to a string of many more victims, Eve and her band of merry…

Mario Vargas Llosa's "In Praise of Reading and Fiction"

Winner of the Nobel Prize in literature, Mario Vargas Llosa delivered his Nobel lecture this past Tuesday. The Guardian reported that: Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa delivered a resounding tribute to fiction’s power to inspire readers to greater ambition, to dissent and to political action… Among other things, Mr. Vargas Llosa addressed the issue of…

Dark Road to Darjeeling – Deanna Raybourn

This review contains minor spoilers for previous books in the series. Dark Road To Darjeeling is Deanna Raybourn’s fourth book in her Lady Julia Grey series after Silent On the Moor. Set in 1989 the novel begins with Lady Julia and her husband Inquiry Agent Nicholas Brisbane on their honeymoon in the Himalayas, attempting to…

Gone Baby Gone ~ Dennis Lehane

Gone Baby Gone is the fourth book in Dennis Lehane’s series featuring Private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. This case opens with the disappearance of little Amanda McCready who is left alone in her Dorchester MA apartment one night by her neglectful mother, only to vanish mysteriously. As they reluctantly agree to work for…

The National Book Award Winners…

Winner of the award for fiction, Jaimy Gordon was caught off guard by her win at the National Book Awards ceremony. Click here for more information on the event and awards. Fiction Lord of Misrule – Jaimy Gordon At the rock-bottom end of the sport of kings sits the ruthless and often violent world of…

Amazon Editors Release Picks for "Best of 2010"

The following ten titles top their list: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot Faithful Place by Tana French Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson Freedom by Jonathan Franzen The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson To the End of…

Flavorwire's Top 10 Sidekicks in Literature

In the number five spot, Sancho Panza, Don Quixote’s long suffering companion. Per Flavorwire: “Sidekick to: Don Quixote Backstory: Don Quixote, an older man who, after reading one to many fairytales, decides to go out on a quest of his own. He shortly recruits one of his neighbors, Sancho, to be his squire, promising him…

Heart-Shaped Box ~ Joe Hill

Judas Coyne, lead singer for a metal band,  has been living in semi-retirement on a farm in New York with his young goth girlfriend Georgia. Coyne has a collection of occult and morbid items, so when his assistant asks him if he’d like to buy a dead man’s suit (ghost included), Coyne doesn’t think twice.…

Russian Winter ~ Daphne Kalotay

We were so lucky to have Daphne Kalotay visit the library at the beginning of the month. She was a wonderful speaker. We couldn’t resist another joint review for Russian Winter. The beautiful cover is what first catches your eye of Daphne Katolay’s  Russian Winter. It depicts a back shot of a woman with her…

Small Furry Book Trailer

Here’s a book trailer for all you dog lovers out there: Steven Kotler was forty years old and facing an existential crisis—which made him not too different from just about every other middle-aged guy in Los Angeles. Then he met Joy, a woman devoted to the cause of canine rescue. “Love me, love my dogs,”…

Juliet ~ Anne Fortier

Juliet is the debut novel by Anne Fortier and what a grand debut it is. For those of you who are Romeo and Juliet purists, a word of warning; while there are many similarities, there are also just as many differences such as instead of the story being set in Verona it takes place in…

Anne Frank: The Graphic Novel

Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón authors of the 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation have teamed up to write a graphic novel version of the Diary of Anne Frank authorized by the Anne Frank House. This wonderful video shows the authors talking about their collaboration on the project:

The More I Owe You by Michael Sledge

“In 1951, Elizabeth Bishop boarded a ship bound for Rio de Janeiro for a two-week holiday with friends. Once there, she fell in love- and two weeks became seventeen years. In this mesmerizing debut novel, Michael Sledge creates an intimate portrait of bishop- of the years she spent in Brazil and her love the dazzling…

Phule's Company ~ Robert Aspirin

Since Willard Phule (multi-millonaire) is tricked into being commander of the worst soldiers in the Space Legion, he uses all his influence and money to “straighten” out his men. There is Becker his proper English butler who accompanies Phule and seems to tell the story. As “off the wall” as this story is, it is…

The Doomsday Book ~ Connie Willis

Although I thought that 578 pages of reading would be a bit much, I have to say that you can fly through this tale. Kivrin, a history student at Oxford in 2048, travels back in time to a 14th century English village. Due to a technical error, Kivrin is sent not to 1320 but to…

Vampire Tapestry ~ Suzy McKee Charnas

Vampire Tapestry centers on a one of a kind, handsome vampire, posing as a college professor. He has lived many lives, is a lone vampire unable to remember his past but has thoughts of events he has lived through. His life takes many turns including being discovered twice as a vampire, shot, captured, caged, exhibited,…

Stiltsville ~ Susanna Daniel

Living on the East Coast, it’s hard to imagine what it must be like really seeing the ocean for the first time. In Stiltsville, Frances Ellerby’s new friend Marse invites her to stay at a stilt house off of Key Biscayne, Florida and there she falls in love with the man who will become her…

The Color of Magic ~ Terry Pratchett

In the first book in Pratchett’s Discworld series, we meet wizard school dropout Rincewind. The Discworld is a flat disc held up by four elephants riding on the back of a giant turtle that wanders through space. Due to a bit of mischief, Rincewind has been imprinted with one of the 8 most powerful spells,…

Elfland ~ Freda Warrington

A tale about English villagers who are of elvish lineage. They are trapped in the human world because the gate to the other world is closed. The quest to open the gate has as many convolutions as a soap opera: there are star-crossed lovers, suspense and mystery. There is a good sense of place and…

The Book of Fires ~ Jane Borodale

The life changing events in Agnes Trussel’s life seem to occur by chance. She has a knack for either being in the right place at the right time or vice versa. When she accidentally comes upon some money, she flees to London to avoid facing the consequences of her unwanted pregnancy. While it may seem…

This Week in the Literary World

According to the New York Times: “It appears that Oprah Winfrey and Jonathan Franzen have kissed and made up. Nearly a decade after their public literary feud, Ms. Winfrey has selected ‘Freedom,’ Mr. Franzen’s best-selling novel, as her next book-club pick, according to booksellers who have seen early copies of the books. The selection is…

Karin Slaughter on Libraries

And yet, when he noticed that I, his youngest daughter, showed an interest in reading, he took me to our local Jonesboro library and told me that I could read any book in the building so long as I promised to talk to him about it if I read something I didn’t understand. I think…

Killbox – Ann Aguirre

“Navigational grimspace ‘jumper’ Sirantha Jax forms an army to defend colonists stationed on the outskirts of space from a legion of flesh- eating aliens.” [Publisher’s Summary] This is the fourth book in the Sirantha Jax series. The books are best read in order. I thought I had learned something from reading the last three books…

Film Trailer: My Dog Tulip

J.R. Ackerly’s Memoir My Dog Tulip has just been re-released in anticipation of the new animated film based on the book. The distinguished British man of letters, Ackerley hardly thought of himself as a dog lover when, well into middle age, he came to adopt Tulip – a beautiful, yet intolerable 18-month-old German shepherd. To…

Lynne Griffin and Upcoming Author Visits

Join us tomorrow, September 8th, at 7:00 pm for an author visit with Lynne Griffin Ms. Griffin will be discussing her most recent release, Sea Escape, and will follow the event with a signing. Borders Books will be selling copies of Ms. Griffin’s books before and after the event. Light refreshments will be served. There…

Book Trailer: Shades of Milk and Honey

Publisher’s Summary: “Shades of Milk and Honey is exactly what we could expect from Jane Austen if she had been a fantasy writer: Pride and Prejudice meets Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. It is an intimate portrait of a woman, Jane, and her quest for love in a world where the manipulation of glamour is…

Local Connection: Rag and Bone by James R. Benn

Publisher’s Summary: “Billy is sent to London in the midst of a Luftwaffe bombing offensive to investigate the murder of a Soviet official. There’s reason to believe that the crime could be connected to the recent discovery of mass graves in the Katyn Forest, where thousands of Polish officers were executed. Is a killer is…

Staff Pick: Summer at Tiffany – Marjorie Hart

Publisher’s Summary: “New York City, 1945. Marjorie Jacobson and her best friend, Marty Garrett, arrive fresh from the Kappa house at the University of Iowa hoping to find summer positions as shopgirls. Turned away from the top department stores, they miraculously find jobs as pages at Tiffany & Co., becoming the first women to ever…

Total Eclipse – Rachel Caine

Total Eclipse is the last book in Rachel Caine’s phenomenal Weather Warden series. As the book opens, the wardens and the djinns have all lost their powers and Mother Nature is on the warpath. Things have never been so dire. Joanne and David have also had their powers stripped and are helpless as they watch…

Alexandria ~ Lindsey Davis

In the 19th book in this series, Roman detective Marcus Didius Falco travels to Alexandria with his family so that his pregnant wife can see the pyramids. This menagerie which includes, Falco and his wife, two young daughters, an adopted teenage daughter and Falco’s brother-in-law stays with Falco’s outcast uncle and his partner. As one…

Still Life – Louise Penny

Life in Three Pines, a small, tight-knit town on the outskirts of Montréal, is quiet. Residents pass time in the company of friends, art, and various other clubs. Until the morning that Jane Neal, a beloved member of the community, is found dead in the woods. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec…

This Week in the Literary World

A couple of book to movie items: Scott Pilgrim goes from comic to live action [via the Los Angeles Times] “Eat, Pray, Adapt: Making a book into a film” [via CNN] And in other bookish news: Lost items found in returned books decorate the Burlington Public Library. [via Boston.com] “The Top 10 Most Expensive Rare…

Linger – Maggie Stiefvater

After the events of Shiver, you would think that Grace and Sam would be on the road to a happy life together. Alas, that is not the case in this beautiful and eloquent sequel. Although Sam has seemingly found a way around his werewolf “curse” and is now fully human, he still has to come…

2010 RITA Awards

Looking for a little romance for your next day at the beach? Check out the 2010 RITA Award winners. Best Young Adult Romance Perfect Chemistry ~ Simone Elkeles When Brittany Ellis walks into chemistry class on the first day of senior year, she has no clue that her carefully created “perfect” life is about to…

This Week in the Literary World

“Here’s a publishing plot twist: One of the book world’s top moneymakers, Janet Evanovich, has switched literary homes.” No worries, there will be more Stephanie Plum in store for readers. [via The Associated Press] MTV shares an opinion on the chosen director for the US film adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, David…

Discord’s Apple – Carrie Vaughn

Comic book writer Evie Walker returns home to spend time with her dying father and discovers that her family home in Colorado is not the only thing which will be left to her. Secreted away behind a basement door is a wondrous and magical storeroom where treasures from just about every myth ever told are…

The Man with a Load of Mischief – Martha Grimes

Martha Grimes’ mystery series has one thing I can’t resist: A charming, fallible detective. There are many other words that describe Chief Inspector Detective Richard Jury – personable, smart, unassuming – but those terms barely does him justice. Grimes excels at characterization; the inhabitants of the little villages Jury visits are fully realized, quirky, and…

This Week in the Literary World

Julianne Moore, best known for her work on the big screen, also has children’s book writer on her resume. And pretty soon her book series, Freckleface Strawberry, will be heading to the off-Broadway stage. [via Playbill.com] Elizabeth Gilbert briefly mentions her ex-husband in her best-selling book Eat, Pray, Love, but that’s all you’re going to…

Book Buzz HarperCollins

I was lucky to attend the recent American Library Association Conference in Washington, DC where the wonderful folks from HarperCollins treated us to a “Book Buzz” presentation of books that will be coming out in the fall. Here are just a few so you can add them to your own TBR list! I certainly added…

Rumor Has It ~ Jill Mansell

Publisher’s Summary: “Newly single Tilly Cole impulsively moves to a small town, only to find she’s arrived in a hotbed of gossip, intrigue, and rampant rivalry for the most desirable man—Jack Lucas, whose reputation is beyond bad. Tilly has no intention of becoming another notch on his bedpost. But she finds the thoughtful, caring guy…

Stephen King’s Summer Reading Picks

Entertainment Weekly got the goods on the six titles Stephen King thinks you should be reading this summer. Among them: Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy and William Boyd’s Ordinary Thunderstorms. For the complete list, click here. Of Boyd’s novel, King states: “Great suspense stuff here, told with flair, compassion, and a high sense of humor. Readers…

Dating a real Character

Over on Publisher’s Weekly’s blog, Shelf Talker, Elizabeth Bluemle is talking fictional characters she’d let her daughter date. And she’s asking you the same. So how about it? Which fictional guys would you be happy to see your daughter date? And on the flipside, which ones wouldn’t you want within ten feet of her? From…

NPR’s “Thrilled To Death”

In their new series (“Thrilled to Death,”) NPR has asked thriller novelists to talk about beloved books. Kicking off the series is Scott Turow who chose Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory. Of the book, Turow states: The novel captivated me completely. It was a thriller — but also a novel of ideas. Greene’s…

Look Inside the ‘Furious Love’ of Burton and Taylor

HarperCollins, the publisher of an upcoming biography that focuses on the love story that played out between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, has a neat feature that allows you to look inside the book, sample the writing, the story. They’re offering up that look inside for Furious Love: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and the Marriage…

Staff Summer Reading Picks

There are so many great summer reading lists out there right now, and we will be featuring several of them here. But we thought we’d start out with some of the books that our staff are hoping to read this summer. Insignificant Others – Stephen McCauley Three Weissmans of Westport – Cathleen Schine The Bullpen…

The Marrowbone Marble Company ~ Glenn Taylor

When Loyal Ledford, returns to the Mann Glass Factory after being wounded at Guadalcanal, he has trouble readjusting to his old life. He drinks to drown the horrors he saw there and finds the most comfort talking to an African-American veteran, Mack Wells. Though trained as an engineer during the war, Mack resumes his post…

Wolf Hall ~ Hilary Mantel

Winner of the Man Booker Prize, Mantel has called Wolf Hall a response to Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons. The ruthless character in that play is tempered in Mantel’s fictionalized account of the life of Thomas Cromwell. Her Cromwell is still opportunistic and willing to overlook some of his personal beliefs in order…

This Week in the Literary World

The New Yorker Magazine has announced their list of the best 20 authors under 40 It’s a season to celebrate books! Not to be outdone by BookExpo America The Guardian hosts The Hay Festival this week. Click here for highlights. The 2010 Moby Awards for Best/Worst Booktrailers were announced last week. The publicity team for…

This Week in the Literary World

Oprah is offering up “7 Books to Watch for in June 2010” – titles include: Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad and Julie Orringer’s The Invisible Bridge. [Source: Oprah.com] There’s no reason to go through Lost withdrawal once the show is off the air. Pick up one of the many books featured on…