The Art of Mending by Elizabeth Berg Laura Bartone anticipates her annual family reunion in Minnesota with a mixture of excitement and wariness. Yet this year’s gathering will prove to be much more trying than either she or her siblings imagined. As soon as she arrives, Laura realizes that something is not right with her sister. Forever wrapped up in events of long ago, Caroline is the family’s restless black sheep. When Caroline confronts Laura and their brother, Steve, with devastating allegations about their mother, the three have a difficult time reconciling their varying experiences in the same house. But a sudden misfortune will lead them all to face the past, their own culpability, and their common need for love and forgiveness.
Big Fish a Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace Edward Bloom is dying, and his son William does not truly know him, until William arrives at Edward's deathbed, but since Edward shows no interest in talking to him, William makes up stories that recreate his father's life in heroic proportions.
The Chosen by Chaim Potok It is the now-classic story of two fathers and two sons and the pressures on all of them to pursue the religion they share in the way that is best suited to each. And as the boys grow into young men, they discover in the other a lost spiritual brother, and a link to an unexplored world that neither had ever considered before. In effect, they exchange places, and find the peace that neither will ever retreat from again.
The Gift by Richard Paul Evans Nathan Hurst hated Christmas. For the rest of the world it was a day of joy and celebration; for Nathan it was simply a reminder of the event that destroyed his childhood until a snowstorm, a cancelled flight, and an unexpected meeting with a young mother and her very special son would show him that Christmas is indeed the season of miracles.
Miracle by Danielle Steel It is New Year’s Eve when the storm of the century hits northern California. In a quiet neighborhood in San Francisco, amid the chaos of fallen trees and damaged homes, the lives of three strangers are about to collide. For Quinn Thompson, what happens in the storm’s wake will bring down a barrier he has built around himself since his wife’s death. For neighbor Maggie Dartman, it will spark friendship at a time when she needs it most. And for Jack Adams, a carpenter who will repair Quinn’s and Maggie’s homes, the storm brings an opportunity: to help two people and to be repaid with the greatest gift of all.
Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde Trevor McKinney, a twelve-year-old boy in a small California town accepts the challenge that his teacher gives his class, a chance to earn extra credit by coming up with a plan to change the world for the better -- and to put that plan into action.
The idea that Trevor comes up with is so simple and so naïve that when others learn of it they are dismissive. Even Trevor himself begins to doubt when his "pay it forward" plan seems to founder on a combination of bad luck and the worst of human nature.
What is his idea? Trevor chooses three people for whom he will do a favor, and then when those people thank him and ask how they might pay him back, he will tell them that instead of paying him back, they should each "pay it forward" by choosing three people for whom they can do favors, and in turn telling those people to pay it forward. It's nothing less than a human chain letter of kindness and good will.
The present : the gift that makes you happy and successful at work and in life by Spencer Johnson The Present is an engaging story of a young man’s journey to adulthood, and his search for The Present, a mysterious and elusive gift he first hears about from a great old man. This Present, according to the old man, is “the best present a person can receive.”
Later, when the young boy becomes a young man, disillusioned with his work and his life, he returns to ask the old man, once again, to help him find The Present. The old man responds, “Only you have the power to find The Present for yourself.”
Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler In 1965, the happy Bedloe family is living an ideal, apple-pie existence in Baltimore. Then, in the blink of an eye, a single tragic event occurs that will transform their lives forever--particularly that of seventeen-year-old Ian Bedloe, the youngest son, who blames himself for the sudden "accidental" death of his older brother.
Depressed and depleted, Ian is almost crushed under the weight of an unbearable, secret guilt. Then one crisp January evening, he catches sight of a window with glowing yellow neon, the CHURCH OF THE SECOND CHANCE. He enters and soon discovers that forgiveness must be earned, through a bit of sacrifice and a lot of love...A New York Times Notable Book
This Far by Faith Three tales of complicated mother-daughter relationships.
LaShun Tillman's many blessings haven't eased her pain at being abandoned as a baby. Fate has given her an opportunity to reveal to the world that her birth mother, former supermodel Sariah Langston, has an ugly past. But revenge is never simple—and neither is the truth.
Aspiring actress Jessica Drake lands a bit part in Broadway diva Diana Edmonds's latest show, only to find that her idol has feet of clay—plus a monumental ego. But their strained relationship is changed utterly when a reporter discovers that Jessica is really the daughter Diana thought had died long ago.
Beautiful Sienna St. James has spent her life being pushed into beauty pageants by her domineering, controlling mother, Sable. Now her blossoming relationship with a thoughtful young doctor has inspired her to live her life as she sees fit, even if it means losing everything she's known.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Stories of forgiveness and healing
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The Big Read on Audio CD
The library recently received a wonderful donation of audio CDs from the National Endowment for the Arts.
This collection highlights 14 novels (so far) that are considered classics, such as The Grapes of Wrath, The Great Gatsby, Fahrenheit 451, and contemporary and multicultural titles such as Bless Me Ultima, Their Eyes Watching God, and The Joy Luck Club.
Designed to be used in conjunction with book group or classroom discussions, these audio CDs contain 1 disc per title, providing an introduction to the work. They include excerpts and critical analysis featuring well-known actors, authors, and commentators, such as Ed Harris, Robert Redford, Amy Tan, Ray Bradbury, Walter Mosley, Scott Simon and Kurt Anderson.
Dana Gioia, Chairmen of the NEA, narrates many of the excerpts on the CDs.
He states:
"The purpose of The Big Read, like the purpose of literature itself, is pleasure. Not necessarily an easy pleasure, but a deliciously rich and complex one. A great book combines enlightenment with enchantment. It awakens our imagination and enlarges our humanity. It can even offer harrowing insights that somehow console and comfort us."
Each branch has a complete set.
For a catalog listing of books included, please see:
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
On staycation? Visit some imaginary places in the United States
The Ladies of Covington send their love from their new home in Covington, North Carolina.
Follow Grace, Amelia and Hannah as they decide that the last thing they want to do is live out their lives in a group home. To the dismay of their children, they pool their resources and move to Covington, North Carolina, and new lives. This is the first title in a series of seven so far by Joan Medlicott.
Not so far away from Covington is the beloved town of Mitford, home of Father Tim, Cynthia, Dooley, Barnabus the dog, and Violet the cat.
At home in Mitford introduces the main characters. After 9 books in Mitford, Father Tim returns to his childhood past in Home to Holly Springs (a real place in Mississippi.)
Lumby is somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.
Mark and Pam Walker, a vacationing couple from the East Coast, arrive in the tiny Pacific Northwest town of Lumby, planning to restore the village's dilapidated Montis Abbey and turn it into an inn. It takes a while for the quirky locals to warm up to the idea and to the newcomers, especially irascible William Beezer, owner of the local newspaper The Lumby Lines.
To date, author Gail Grady has penned 3 in this series in which Lumby has seen a new B& B established, investigated an art theft, and hosted a hot air balloon festival.
In the fictional small town of Harmony, Indiana, Sam Gardner becomes the pastor of his hometown church, Harmony Friends Meeting. In this delightful, first-person novel, Sam describes in a warm, down-home style the moving and humorous adventures he encounters his first year, Home to Harmony.
Maggody, AK
Ozarks small town sheriff, Arly Hanks has dealt with a citizens revolt against a new supermarket, a Hollywood production company come to town, returning country music superstars, Confederate gold rumors, crop circles and tabloid reports and militia groups, along with murder, mayhem and just plain goofy citizens.
Malice in Maggody is the first in this long-running series by Joan Hess.
Lake Wobegon, Minnesota
The episodic novels of Garrison Keillor, recounting the citizens and woes of Lake Wobegon, include
Pontoon, and
Wobegon Boy among other tales.
Moose County, Maine
Home of Jim Qwilleran, and his brilliant Siamese cat, Koko, later joined by Yum Yum, and assorted odd-ball characters in the territory.
The Cat who could read backwards is the first in this long popular series.
Cape Light on the coast of New England introduces a hamlet populated by colorful inhabitants who share a strong sense of community and caring for their neighbors.
Waterford, PA is home to Elm Creek Manor.
When Sarah McClure and her husband, Matt, move to the small town of Waterford, Pennsylvania, to get a fresh start, Sarah struggles to find a fulfilling job. Disheartened by failed interviews, she reluctantly accepts a temporary position at Elm Creek Manor helping seventy-five-year-old Sylvia Compson prepare her family estate for sale after the recent death of Sylvia's estranged sister. As part of her compensation, Sarah is taught how to quilt by this reclusive, cantankerous master quilter. The Quilter's Apprentice is the first in this ever-growing series, featuring quilting patterns.
Next posting: imaginary villages in Great Britain.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Floods of the Past
Rising tide : the great Mississippi flood of 1927 and how it changed America by John M. Barry
An American epic of science, politics, race, honor, high society, and the Mississippi River, Rising Tide tells the riveting and nearly forgotten story of the greatest natural disaster this country has ever known -- the Mississippi flood of 1927. The river inundated the homes of nearly one million people, helped elect Huey Long governor and made Herbert Hoover president, drove hundreds of thousands of blacks north, and transformed American society and politics forever. A New York Times Notable Book of the Year, winner of the Southern Book Critics Circle Award and the Lillian Smith Award.
The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough
At the end of the last century, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was a booming coal-and-steel town filled with hard-working families striving for a piece of the nation's burgeoning industrial prosperity. In the mountains above Johnstown, an old earth dam had been hastily rebuilt to create a lake for an exclusive summer resort patronized by the tycoons of that same industrial prosperity: among them Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon. Despite repeated warnings of possible danger, nothing was done about the dam. Then came May 31, 1889, when the dam burst, sending a wall of water thundering down the mountain, smashing through Johnstown, and killing more than 2,000 townspeople. It was a tragedy that became a national scandal. From research in the voluminous records, diaries, letters, interviews with numbers of survivors, and a rare, previously unknown transcript of a private investigation conducted by the Pennsylvania Railroad, David McCullough vividly re-creates the chain of events that led to the catastrophe, and then unfolds the incredible story of the flood itself and its aftermath. Graced by David McCullough's remarkable gift for writing richly textured, sympathetic social history, The Johnstown Flood is an absorbing, classic portrait of life in 19th-century America, of overweening confidence, energy, and tragedy. It also offers a powerful historical lesson for our century and all times: the danger of assuming that because people are in positions of responsibility they are necessarily behaving responsibly.
In sunlight, in a beautiful garden by Kathleen Cambor
A love story set in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, before and after the 1889 dam disaster that took more than two thousand lives chronicles the greed and abuse of power in post-Civil War America.
Julie by Catherine Marshall
Her last novel was inspired by research on the Johnstown flood,and is partly based on autobiographical experiences of the author. A struggling, small-town newspaper, and steel-mill strikes also play important roles in the drama.
Isaac's storm : a man, a time, and the deadliest hurricane in history by Erik Larsen
Meticulously researched and vividly written, Isaac's Storm is based on Isaac Cline's own letters, telegrams, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the hows and whys of great storms. Ultimately, however, it is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets nature's last great uncontrollable force. As such, Isaac's Storm carries a warning for our time.
At the dawn of the twentieth century, a great confidence suffused America. Isaac Cline was one of the era's new men, a scientist who believed he knew all there was to know about the motion of clouds and the behavior of storms. The idea that a hurricane could damage the city of Galveston, Texas, where he was based, was to him preposterous, "an absurd delusion." It was 1900, a year when America felt bigger and stronger than ever before. Nothing in nature could hobble the gleaming city of Galveston, then a magical place that seemed destined to become the New York of the Gulf.
That August, a strange, prolonged heat wave gripped the nation and killed scores of people in New York and Chicago. Odd things seemed to happen everywhere: A plague of crickets engulfed Waco. The Bering Glacier began to shrink. Rain fell on Galveston with greater intensity than anyone could remember. Far away, in Africa, immense thunderstorms blossomed over the city of Dakar, and great currents of wind converged. A wave of atmospheric turbulence slipped from the coast of western Africa. Most such waves faded quickly. This one did not.
In Galveston, reassured by Cline's belief that no hurricane could seriously damage the city, there was celebration. Children played in the rising water. Hundreds of people gathered at the beach to marvel at the fantastically tall waves and gorgeous pink sky, until the surf began ripping the city's beloved beachfront apart. Within the next few hours Galveston would endure a hurricane that to this day remains the nation's deadliest natural disaster. In Galveston alone at least 6,000 people, possibly as many as 10,000, would lose their lives, a number far greater than the combined death toll of the Johnstown Flood and 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.
And Isaac Cline would experience his own unbearable loss.
Living on flood plains and wetlands : a homeowner's high water handbook by Maureen Gilmer
Offers some practical advice for homeowners.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Libraries are weirdly wonderful
A Gentle Madness: bibliophiles, bibliomanes, and the eternal passion for books
True stories about bibliomania, and bibliophiles, this book was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist.
A history of book lore, book culture, and book lovers begins in Alexandria more than 2,500 years ago and passes through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the present, offering special emphasis on collecting in Great Britain and North America.
Followed by:
Library : an unquiet history
Provides an intriguing historical study of libraries and books, their preservation, and destruction, from the U.S. to Europe and Asia, from medieval monasteries and Vatican collections to the ever-changing information highway of today
The Grand Complication
Confronted by both professional and personal crises, reference librarian Alexander Short gains a new lease on life when he meets Henry James Jesson III, a collector who shares a number of Alexander's unconventional interests and who hires him for some after-hours research into an enigmatic eighteenth-century inventor.
Oh Pure and Radiant Heart
When a shy librarian in Santa Fe sees Robert Oppenheimer, Enrico Fermi, and Leo Szilard, she risks her career and relationships to follow them, building a cult following comprised of hippies, bikers, anthropologists, and survivors of the atom bomb to mount a massive march on Washington.
Passionately in love, Clare and her librarian husband Henry vow to hold onto each other and their marriage as they struggle with the effects of Chrono-Displacement Disorder, a condition that casts Henry involuntarily into the world of time travel.
The Ice Queen
After a small town librarian survives a lightning strike, she seeks out a fellow survivor in a quest for meaning, only to begin an obsessive love affair between two opposites joined by a single common thread.
The Name of the Rose
In 1327, Brother William of Baskerville is sent to investigate charges of heresy against Franciscan monks at a wealthy Italian abbey but finds his mission overshadowed by seven bizarre murders.
Stones from the River
Follows Trudi Montag, a dwarf who serves as her town's librarian, unofficial historian, and recorder of the secret stories of her people, in a novel that charts the course of German history in the first half of the twentieth century.
The Giant's House
Befriending an adolescent boy who is ostracized for his unusual height, bereft Cape Cod librarian Peggy Cort finds a soul mate in James and comes to love him as he grows into a man of eight feet.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Libraries are Romantic
Romance can be found in anywhere--
Montana, Oregon, Denver, Seattle, Sicily, Philadelphia, New York, and yes, even libraries.
Dewey Decimal System of Love
Forty-year-old librarian Alison Sheffield finds her proper, staid, and quiet life turned upside down when she falls head over heels in love.
La Cucina: a novel of rapture
In a novel set in modern Sicily, a librarian who has recently suffered heartbreak is drawn to a charismatic chef through their shared love of cooking.
Drive Me Crazy
When Miss Alex Forrest, a prim and proper librarian, and sexy big-city art professor Duncan Forbes team up to investigate a bizarre case involving murder, missing masterpieces, family secrets, dangerous desire, and death threats, the town of Swiftcurrent, Oregon will never be the same.
Die for Love
Librarian Jacqueline Kirby poses as a romance author, to attend a conference on Historical Romance Writers in New York, as a tax-deductible vacation.
What follows is a hilarious send-up of the romance field, plus some dead bodies and lots of romantic confusion, entanglements and suspense.
Island of Dreams Haunted by a lifetime of unusual memory lapses, Ana begins a new life as librarian of a Denver girls' school, until an encounter with Pierce Rourke brings her face to face with the man who can free her from the past.
Perfect Partners
Midwestern librarian Letitia Thornquist didn't have the right stuff to run Thornquist Gear, Inc. That was the bottom-line opinion of Joel Blackstone, the seasoned CEO who had built the small Seattle sporting goods store into an industry giant. But Letty's rich Uncle Charlie willed her the company, and now she was bubbling with enthusiasm to have Joel, a perfect mentor, show her the ropes.
Silver Bells
Troubled by haunting memories of the past, a rugged Christmas tree farmer from Nova Scotia and a reclusive young librarian from New York City come together amid the holiday magic of a glittering city.
Morning Comes Softly
A shy Louisian librarian, Mary Warner fears she'll always be alone -- so she answers a personals ad from a rancher in Montana," a guardian of three orphaned children who agrees to marry the mysterious Southern woman sight unseen.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Libraries are Thrilling!
The Rover by Mel Odom Follow the hobbitlike librarian, Wick, in this Tolkienesque fantasy series of 4 books, as he is captured by pirates, sold into slavery, and adopted by a gang of thieves. Forced into battle with a dragon that could hold the fate of the entire world in his claw. Wick soon finds himself with more adventures than even a halfling librarian can imagine.
Rival gangs, goblin marauders, evil wizards, and monstrous dragons are soon after the wee adventurer and his newfound allies in a tale of treasures and treachery, magic and mystery, where even a little guy can rise to the occasion and save the day.
The Librarian by Larry Beinhart The author of American Hero (later made into the film Wag the Dog) follows university librarian David Goldberg as he begins a side job as a conservative activist, a position that lands him in hot water with a conspiratorial clique of wealthy right-wingers who want him gone.
Open Season by Linda Howard Plain, small-town librarian Daisy Minor is tired of not having a life and sets out to transform herself, but her plans go awry when she witnesses a deadly crime and becomes the target of a killer who will do anything to stop her from revealing her secrets.
Ex-Libris by Ross King Hired to restore a once-magnificent library that had been ravaged during the English Civil War, London bookseller Isaac Inchbold becomes embroiled in the search for a missing manuscript and a conspiracy of spies, smugglers, and forgery
The Seventh Sinner by Elizabeth Peters
Introducing Jacqueline Kirby, "Jake" to her friends, on an art history/archaeological excavation tour in Rome, a dead body is found at the Temple of Mithras. First is of 4 books featuring librarian Kirby, these include the Peters trademark elements of suspense, humor and a little romance. Followed by Murders of Richard III,
Die for Love, and Naked Once More
Monday, April 14, 2008
Libraries are mysterious
Libraries are the unexpected setting for mysteries-places of order, quiet and intellectual activity, suddenly disrupted by mayhem and murder. And librarian and rare book sleuths are detail-oriented, persistent, and researchers -hence, natural investigators.
Sometimes, they are also nosy.
Here are some mysteries involving libraries, librarians, rare books, archivists,
and all manner of mysteries related to the bibliography world.
Real Murders First in the Aurora "Roe" Teagarden mystery series. Petite librarian Roe Teagarden joins forces with police detective Arthur Smith and mystery writer Robin Crusoe to investigate a series of killings in which the victims are slain in the fashion of famous historical murders
Miss Zukas and the library murders First in a series, Meet Miss Zukas . . . the very proper, exceedingly conscientious, and relentlessly curious local librarian of tiny Bellehaven, Washington—and one heck of an amateur sleuth!
The Bellehaven police are baffled when a dead body turns up right in the middle of the library's fiction stacks. But Miss Helma Zukas—who never fails to make note of the slightest deviation from the norm of everyday life—is not willing to let this rather nasty disruption stand. Her precious literary sanctuary has been violated, and if the local law cannot get to the bottom of this case, Miss Zukas certainly intends to—with the help of her not-so-proper best friend, Ruth, a six-foot-tall bohemian artist with a nose for gossip and a penchant for getting into trouble. But their research project is bringing them a little too close to a killer . . . who'd like nothing better than to write Helma and Ruth out of the story completely!
Murder by the Book
When librarian Megan Clark keeps stumbling upon dead bodies, she becomes the number one suspect and must match wits with a clever killer who has read too many Agatha Christie novels to prove her innocence.
Stolen Blue
New Mexico rare books librarian, Claire Reynier, is hired to work with a collection of valuable southwest books at an isolated ranch. The owner, her former lover, dies and she is left to work with the dysfunctional family and missing masterpieces.
Dewey Decimated
Someone is whispering that the rare Gutenberg Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Werner-Bok rare books library are forgeries-could these be a cause for murder?
Case of the Missing Books Israel Armstrong is a passionate soul, lured to Ireland by the promise of an exciting new career. Alas, the job that awaits him is not quite what he had in mind. Still, Israel is not one to dwell on disappointment, as he prepares to drive a mobile library around a small, damp Irish town. After all, the scenery is lovely, the people are charming—but where are the books? The rolling library's 15,000 volumes have mysteriously gone missing, and it's up to Israel to discover who would steal them . . . and why. And perhaps, after that, he will tackle other bizarre and perplexing local mysteries—like, where does one go to find a proper cappuccino and a decent newspaper?
Murder at the Library of Congress Commissioned by the Library of Congress' magazine, "Civilization," to write an article on a recently discovered, supposed diary of Christopher Columbus, Annabel Smith finds herself matching wits with a ruthless wealthy bibliophile, an ambitious TV journalist, and a killer to complete her assignment
Booked to Die First in the series. Denver homicide detective Cliff Janeway may not always play by the book, but he's an avid collector of rare and first editions. After a local bookscout is killed on his turf, Janeway would like nothing better than to rearrange the suspect's spine. But the suspect, sleazeball Jackie Newton, is a master at eluding murder convictions. Unfortunately for Janeway, his swift form of off-duty justice costs him his badge.
Turning to his lifelong passion, Janeway opens a bookshop -- all the while searching for evidence to put Newton away. But when prized volumes in a highly sought-after collection begin to appear, so do dead bodies. Now Janeway's life is about to change in profound and shocking ways as he attempts to find out who's dealing death along with vintage Chandlers and Twains.
For more titles, see Murder in the library at the Encyclopedia Britannica Blog Part 1 and Part 2
Monday, December 17, 2007
Wintry Tales
Doctor Zhivago Originally released as a motion picture in 1965 (remember the first glimpse of the enchanting Ice Palace?) This DVD features: audio commentary, an introduction by Omar Sharif, 30th-anniversary documentary Doctor Zhivago: The making of a Russian epic, 10vintage documentaries, music-only audio track, vintage audio track interviews,and the December 1965 New York premiere coverage.
Silent Night: the story of the World War I Christmas Truce. It happened in spite of orders to the contrary by superiors; it happened in spite of language barriers. And it still stands as the only time in history that peace spontaneously arose from the lower ranks in a major conflict, bubbling up to the officers and temporarily turning sworn enemies into friends. In December 1914 the great war was still young, and the men who suddenly threw down their arms and came together across the front lines, to sing carols, exchange gifts and letters, eat and drink and even play friendly games of soccer, naively hoped that the war would be short-lived, and that they were fraternizing with future friends. It began when German soldiers lit candles on small Christmas trees, and British, French, Belgian and German troops serenaded each other on Christmas Eve. Soon they were gathering and burying the dead, in an age-old custom of truces. But as the power of Christmas grew among them, they broke bread, exchanged addresses and letters and expressed deep admiration for one another. When angry superiors ordered them to recommence the shooting, many men aimed harmlessly high overhead. Sometimes the greatest beauty emerges from deep tragedy. Surely the forgotten Christmas truce was one of history's most beautiful moments, made all the more beautiful in light of the carnage that followed it.
Smilla's sense of snow by Peter Hoeg An international bestseller, the main character is a woman who is an authority on ice classification. Set in Denmark and Greenland, this literary thiller explores the conspiracy behind a young boy's death.
Novels & Stories by Jack London Includes Call of the Wild, Klondike, White Fang and other stories set in Alaska. Classic tales of conflict and survival, battling the elements and human nature as well.
Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
In a large, neglected estate house near the Scottish fishing town of Creagan,
on the shortest day of the year, the lives of five people will come together and be forever changed. Winter Solstice is a novel of love, loyalty and rebirth.
The Winter Lodge by Susan Wiggs When a devastating house fire reveals a rare treasure among her grandfather's belongings, leading her on a search for the truth, Jenny Majesky returns to the only place she feels safe, The Winter Lodge, where she finds an ally in the local police chief who makes her feel safe--and loved. Second tale set among the Lakeshore Chronicles. Preceded by Summer at Willow Lake
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Why do bad things seem to happen at class reunions
Or at least in novels about them?
Here are some misfortunate reunions for consideration before or consolation after attendance at any of your own-
with a few heartwarming ones as well...
Reunion by Alan Lightman
Attending his thirtieth college reunion, Charles, now a middle-aged professor, recalls his senior year, when he had an affair with a beautiful young dancer amidst the turbulent social and political upheaval of the 1960s.
The Class by Erich Segal The ethos and glamour of Harvard resonate throughout this story of five men--Andrew Eliot, Daniel Rossi, Ted Lambros, Jason Gilbert, and George Keller--from their first days at Harvard through their twenty-fifth class reunion.
Die Dreaming by Terence Faherty "Metaphysical detective" Owen Keane learned at his ten-year high school reunion that his old friends share a sinister secret, and now, ten years later at the next reunion, he discovers just how sinister that secret really is.
Outer Banks by Anne Rivers Siddons Reunited with her beloved college chums after years of separation, Kate Abrams, now a successful interior designer, must face the many bitter truths of her own past.
Circle of Grace by Penelope Stokes Having remained in touch through a shared journal since college, friends Grace Liz, Tess, and Amanda meet for an unplanned reunion after a personal crisis leads to the discovery that Grace's colorful life is a fabrication.
Delta Belles by Penelope Stokes Twenty-five years after breaking up, a bitter, widowed Delta Ballou is reunited with her old friends and fellow members of the popular 1960s musical group, the Delta Belles, when they are asked to get together to perform at their college reunion.
Immediate Family by Eileen GoudgeWhen best friends Jay, Franny, Emerson, and Stevie reunite at their fifteen year college reunion, they catch up on their accomplishments and goals and learn the importance of friendship and acceptance.
The Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King Every two years, a tight-knit group of Southern women, friends since college, come together for a reunion to renew their relationships with one another, each of them having an incredible story to tell about the course their lives have taken
Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers One of the classic reunion nightmares, with a semi-happy ending-Attending a college reunion at Oxford, Harriet Vane receives mysterious messages that call her a murderer.
The Wyndham Case by Jill Paton Walsh St. Agatha's College in Cambridge, England, provides the setting for nurse Imogen Quy's investigation into a series of deaths connected to the special library called the Wyndham Case, which has a strange and possibly violent legacy
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
For Literary Types
If you look forward each year to the announcement of the
National Book Award winners, then this blog is for you:
Critical Mass
The New York Review of Books also has a blog that was started slightly less than a year ago:
A Different Stripe
And here's a link to their regular publication:
New York Review of Books
To keep up with what's happening across the Pond,
check out the Times Literary Supplement
For the more esoteric reads,
try the LitBlog Co-Op, an effort to "unite the leading literary weblogs for the purpose of drawing attention to the best of contemporary fiction, authors and presses that are struggling to be noticed in a flooded marketplace."
Friday, July 13, 2007
Swashbucklers, Buccaneers, Pirates and Privateers
In Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini, Dr. Peter Blood is arrested and sentenced to hang for treating a wounded rebel. Instead of death, he is sent to Barbados as a slave. When the Spanish attack the port city of Bridgetown, he and his fellow slaves capture the Spanish ship and set out to sea, where he becomes the notorious pirate, Captain Blood. With its battles on sea and land, daring escapes, sword duels to the death, a touch of romance, this greatest pirate story of them all is a swashbuckling adventure on a grand scale. Also available as an audio CD, with fantastic performances by the Colonial Radio Theater on the Air, and on DVD with Errol Flynn.
Sabatini also wrote The Sea Hawk.
L. L. Chaikin's Buccaneer Trilogy focuses on romance in the Caribbean.
Another Caribbean tale is Johanna Lindsey's Captive of my desires , which follows Gabrielle, the daughter of a pirate, trying to find a suitable husband.
The Brethren of the Coast series by James Nelson, features Thomas Marlowe, a former pirate who has gone legit and now owns a Virginia plantation. He finds himself charged with defending the colony from the all too familiar pirate menace infesting the waterways.
In Dewey Lambdin's naval adventure series with Captain Alan Lewrie, he runs afoul of pirates off the waters of New Orleans in The Captain's Vengeance
Shipwrecked on the coast of North Carolina, his companions killed, Tatton Chantry is alone—and ready for action. In the old world he fought wars, skirmishes, duels. Now, in the wilderness of America, this swashbuckling hero takes up against pirates, Spanish fortune seekers, savage Indians. Aided by a beautiful Peruvian woman, he braves the fierce challenges of the New World—always, like a true Chantry, with his expert hand on the hilt on his faithful silver sword, in Louis L'amour's Fair blows the wind
See Under the black flag: the romance and reality of life among the pirates for some gruesome facts about life on the sea.
Also, The Pirate Hunter: the true story of Captain Kidd which traces the career of buccaneer William Kidd, a New York sea captain hired to chase pirates, from his early voyages through his death on the gallows, and discusses the role played by Robert Culliford, a rogue and mutineer, in Kidd's downfall.
For the musical pirate, there's always The Pirates of Penzance on DVD starring Kevin Kline in Gilbert and Sullivan's raucous and comedic operatic tale of Frederic, a 'slave to duty' pirate, and the lowly band of 'orphaned' pirates.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Fun Food Fiction
Deck dining, picnics, cook-outs, tailgate parties, vegetable gardens-As Lewis Grizzard reminds us,
Cooking for Harry
Food of Love
Friendship Cake
Girl Cook
La Cucina
Last Bite
Last Chinese Chef
Recipes for a perfect marriage
Potluck Club series
Second Thyme around
Blue Bistro
By Bread alone
Pastries: a novel of desserts and discoveries
Pomegranate Soup
Whole World Over
Bread Alone and its sequel The Baker's Apprentice
Friday, June 22, 2007
Book Club Reads
Thinking about joining or forming one?
Here are some "inspirational" titles and some practical ones.
And Ladies of the Club
Before there were "book clubs" there were Women's Literary Societies. This chronicles several generations of the Waynesboro Ohio Women's Club, from just a few years after the Civil War to 1932.
At over 1000 pages, it can keep you reading all summer.The book caused a great stir when it was published 25 years ago, written by an octogenarian. The grandmother of today's book club books, it was on the 1984 bestseller for a long time.
The story behind the book is that Helen Santmyer began the novel at the age of 38, to counter the image of small town life given in Sinclair Lewis's Main Street. She completed it decades later.
The Book Class
Louis Auchincloss' novel is told through the eyes of Christopher Gates, the male narrator, who reveals the secrets and stories of the 12 women of his mother's "book class", begun by them as debutantes in 1908, and meeting every month for over 60 years.
The Jane Austen Book Club
As six Californians get together to form a book club to discuss the novels of Jane Austen, their lives are turned upside down by troubled marriages, illicit affairs, changing relationships, and love, in a comedy of contemporary manners.
Angry Housewives Eating Bonbons
From the initial formation of The Freesia Court Book Club and over the course of the next thirty years, five women in small-town Minnesota share the events, triumphs, tragedies, hardships, joys, and sorrows of their lives.
Dinner with Anna Karenina
Six Manhattan women gather for a year to discuss great literature with great meals. But they find that the novels open up paths for discussion about the deepest and most difficult aspects of their own lives.
The Year of reading Proust: a memoir in real time A non-fiction work by Phyllis Rose describes how Proust's novels led her to understand the art of writing an autobiography, and recounts her experiences as an author, a woman, and a person in midlife.
A year of reading classics: a month by month guide to classics and crowd pleasers is a reading guide, organized around the calendar year, offers descriptions of each book, discussion questions, information about the authors, and lists of video, Internet, and bibliographical resources.
Vintage Reading: From Plato to Bradbury a personal tour of some of the world's best books Discusses eighty essential books, including literary classics, controversial books, influential works, best sellers, and writings on art, science, politics, and psychology
Recovering your story: Proust, Joyce, Woolf, Faulkner, MorrisonAn illuminating study explores the ways in which the works of some of the twentieth century's seminal writers helps readers understand the texture, shape, and evolution of human consciousness and the nature of our inner lives, offering critical analyses of outstanding works by Marcel Proust, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, William Faulkner, and Toni Morrison.
Reading to heal: how to use bibliotherapy to improve your life
Thirteen Ways of looking at the novel by Jane SmileyThe author celebrates the art of fiction as she looks at one hundred very different examples of the novel, ranging from the classics to little-known gems, and discusses the evolution of the novel and the practice of novel-writing
Readers' Choice:200 book club favorites
Read it and eat from irresistible beach reads to timeless classics a month-by-month guide to scintillating book club selections and mouthwatering menus.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Garden Reads
Consider the Lily by Elizabeth Buchan
Wild Designs by Katie Fforde
Night Gardening by E. L. Swann
Garden Club Mystery by Graham Landrum
Garden Club by Muriel Resnick Jackson
Gardening Mystery series by Ann Ripley
English Garden Mysteries by Anthony Eglin
Bretta Solomon mysteries by Janis Harrison
Onward and Upward in the Garden by Katherine White
Around the house and in the garden by Dominique Browning
Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Literary Thrillers-Dante, Bronte, Byron, Poe, Rossetti et cetera
Rossetti Letter by Christi Phillips
Fearing that her research will be rendered useless if a Cambridge professor proves his theory about seventeenth-century Venetian courtesan Alessandra Rossetti, Ph.D. candidate Claire Donovan agrees to chaperone a troubled teen in order to gain passage to the professor's presentation in Venice.
This tale of a pair of young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets became a huge bookseller favorite, and then on to national bestellerdom. Winner of England's Booker Prize, a coast-to-coast bestseller, and the literary sensation of the year, Possession is a novel of wit and romance, at once an intellectual mystery and a triumphant love story.
Harvard historian Peter Fallon investigates a university legend about an original Shakespeare manuscript that may have survived the Harvard Hall fire of 1764
In the Hand of Dante by Nick Tosches
The discovery of an original manuscript of Dante's "Inferno" in the Vatican archives finds writer Nick Tosches heading for Rome to authenticate the find.
Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
When her health begins failing, the mysterious author Vida Winter decides to let Margaret Lea, a biographer, write the truth about her life, but Margaret needs to verify the facts since Vida has a history of telling outlandish tales
Lord Byron's Novel: the Evening Land by John Crowley
A work spanning three centuries follows the stories of a lost Lord Byron novel, the writer's daughter's efforts to save the manuscript, and a woman who discovers the daughter's secret.
Bronte Project: by Jennifer Vandever
Abandoned by her fiance, Sara Frost finds herself beginning to question everything from her love life to her life's work, as she stumbles into a world populated by an amoral Frenchman, two New York eccentrics, and a Hollywood producer.
Rule of Four
Trying to decipher an ancient text that weaves a mathematical labyrinth within a love story, two researchers obtain a diary that may contain the key to the code, but when a fellow researcher is killed, they realize that the book contains a dangerous secret.
Dante Club by Matthew Pearl
In 1865, the preparations of the Dante Club--led by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Oliver Wendell Holmes--to release the first translation of Dante's "The Divine Comedy" are threatened by a series of murders that re-create episodes from "Inferno."
Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl
In 1849 Baltimore, following the death of Edgar Allan Poe, Quentin Clark discovers that Poe's final days had been marked by a series of bizarre, unanswered questions and launches his own investigation to resolve the mystery of Poe's death.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Recommended Reading
Can you recommend a good book?
I just finished the latest book by this author, and I'd like to read more like that
I want to read all the titles in this series in order. How can I find out what the next one is?
The library has several resources to provide "good reads" and answers to those questions.
The first, of course, is the reference staff.
If you have a particular author, and have read everything by them, and are looking for something similar, try asking at the reference desk for new authors to sample.
There are several great website links for mystery, science fiction, romance and reading group guides now listed under "Links" down the right side column of this blog.
Browse the stacks in these (probably unfamiliar to you) Dewey numbers: 011-016, and you will find a wealth of books about books: Reading Resource Guides
Bookmarks Magazine, for everyone who hasn't read everything is published every two months, and is available at the Warrenton branch. It has great articles on authors, what's coming up in the next few months, and explores various genres each issue.
Through the library's website, you can access, with your library card, a great new resource called "What do I Read Next?" This is an online database that you can look at in the wee hours of the night. Click on FindITVA Select Fauquier County Public Library, enter your library card, and then scroll the list for "What do I read next?"
Once you start playing around with it, you can search, naturally for authors, titles, and then also, series, genres, favorite characters, age levels,
both adult and children's authors.
If you like historical fiction, you can search by time period.
If you like certain exotic locales, or just want to read books that take place in Virginia,
you can search by location.
You can enter your favorite authors, and find recommendations for similar titles also.
If this seems a little complicated, just stop by the reference desk, and staff can provide you with an overview on searching strategies. This resource can search for fiction, non-fiction, adult, young adult, and children's literature.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Yes, we have Opera
A new series for opera buffs, and those who would like to learn more about opera, is now available on Audio CD.
Black Dog Opera has released 6 classic titles, featuring Beverly Sills, Birgit Nilsson, Renata Scotto and Leontyne Price as leads.
Each opera "set" includes an introductory disc with background information, and synopses of each act and scene, plus biographical information about the lead vocalists.
Currently, the collection includes:
Aida, The Barber of Seville, Carmen, Madama Butterfly, La Traviata, and Il Trovatore.
For more details on the orchestras and performers, see
Black Dog Opera
Opera News Magazine is available at the Warrenton Branch.
For some opera fiction, check out these titles: Opera Novels
To watch opera performances, the library has a substantial collection on VHS.
(sorry, no DVD yet)
Operas on Video
The New Grove Dictionary of Opera is available for reference and research at the Warrenton branch. This four volume work is considered by many to be one of the best resources on Opera in English.
Operamania is a great place to start online.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Midsummer Night Reads
To while away summer evening hours dreamily ...
For Children
Midsummer Magic: a garland of stories, charms, recipes J 398.2 GRE
Mad Summer Night's Dream E Bro
Night Owls E Den
Cat's Midsummer Jamboree E Khe
Midsummer night's faery tale JF Fro
Midsummer Night's Death JF Pey
Midsummer Night's Dork JF Gor
Stage Fright on a summer's night JPB Osb
For Adults
Midsummer's Eve Philippa Carr
Midsummer Magic Catherine Coulter
Love in Idleness Amanda Craig
Midsummer Suzanne Jenner (LP only)
Midsummer Night's Scream Jill Churchill (Mys)
Door into Summer Robert Heinlein (Audio CD only)
For Everyone
William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer night's dream" 822.33 SHA
