The Candy Bombers

The Candy Bombers: The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour, by Andrei Cherney, is a great history book even if you think you don’t like history. This is the touching story of the Berlin Airlift and how a simple act of kindness changed the course of history. The author’s narrative style makes you forget you’re reading “real” history and instead listening to a really good story. The accompanying pictures are a real plus.

Grande Dame, Savannah

As our Ohio weather turns colder, I am drawn to the South. In particular I long to return to Savannah, Georgia. I fell in love with Savannah before I had ever set foot in Georgia, courtesy of John Berendt's engaging story-telling. This charming city revealed herself to me as the protagonist of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Berendt's descriptions of Savannah are so detailed that I actually used his book as my tour guide when I finally visited this Grande Dame. While the murder mystery that takes place in Midnight reads like the most skillfully crafted fiction, make no mistake about it, this story is non-fiction. And in this case, truth is definitely stranger than fiction! After Berendt leads you into the city, he will introduce you to the well-to-do, the Southern Belles and Gentlemen, the voodoo priestess, the drag queen and many others whose lives intertwine without any acknowledgement on their behalf. The charismatic people of Savannah, the deep-rooted Southern traditions and the history contained in Midnight blend together in this real life mystery that I read again and again.

Hungry for a Good Mystery?

Admittedly, I will read any mystery and enjoy it - even the fluff. And while Diane Mott Davidson's earliest mysteries were mostly marshmallow, her latest books provide more substance. Davidson's series focuses on Goldy, a Colorado caterer, who finds herself in the middle of many a murder. Toss in a young son, beat in an abusive ex-husband, sprinkle with an eccentric and very rich best friend (who happens to share the same ex-husband), fold together with a new husband who works as a Detective for the local police department and you've got the recipe for a light mystery series. Speaking of recipes, Davidson shares many of Goldy's recipes in the books and the recipes are delicious! With more than a baker's dozen in the series, there are plenty of books to enjoy. No doubt this is light reading, but very enjoyable.

Meet Five of the Best New Writers

Part of the National Book Week celebration, sponsored by the National Book Foundation, is the recognition of five of the best new fiction writers. The NBF celebrates these five authors in "Five Under 35: Best of the New Generation." What is exciting for these authors is who nominated each of them for the award. They were nominated by established authors who have either been a finalist for the National Book Award, or have actually won the prestigious honor. Let's meet our five new authors.

Matthew Eck - The Farther Shore

Keith Gessen - All the Sad Young Literary Men

Sana Krasikov - One More Year: Stories

Nam Le - The Boat

Fiona Maazel - Last Last Chance

Each new author will be recognized at a special ceremony on November 17. Check out the National Book Foundation's website for more information about these writers, who nominated them and the ceremony itself.

Welcome To The October Country

What is the October Country, you ask? It is, as Ray Bradbury put it, that country where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilight linger, and midnights stay. That country composed in the main of cellars, sub-cellars, coal-bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the sun. That country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Whose people passing at night on the empty walks sound like rain.... Look out your window right now: you're in the October Country. But who are these mysterious "autumn people" Bradbury speaks of? I think you may know a few of them: Peter Straub, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Joe Hill, and, of course, Ray Bradbury himself. They know the October Country better than most, have mapped its twilight boundaries, walked its lonely roads and endured its sleepless nights. Their travelogues, if you will, are numerous, with such titles as Ghost Story, Salem's Lot, The Hellbound Heart, Heart-Shaped Box, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and others. Read them if you dare, and do enjoy your stay--it's really quite beautiful during the day, but I wouldn't linger too long after dark if I were you.

The Last Lecture

No doubt, many of you have seen the "last lecture" by Randy Pausch either on YouTube or on any number of websites. If not, let me give you some background. At many universities a professor is often chosen to give what is known as the "last lecture." This speaker must act as though it is the final time he/she can ever speak to a group of students and must pass on some life lessons and rules for living. But what if a professor actually has one final chance to speak to his students? Randy Pausch, a professor of computer science, faced this when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given only a few months to live.

The key struggle for Randy Pausch was that planning a last lecture was going to take time, time that he would like to spend with his wife and three children. He decided to go through with it, not as a moment for himself, but as one that his children could look back on. Rather than lamenting his fate, Pausch decided to celebrate life by passing on lessons on how to make the most out of life.

Soon after the lecture, which was a rousing success, Randy decided to team up with writer Jeffrey Zaslow so that he could get more of his thoughts down in a book. Entitled simply The Last Lecture, the book gave him a chance to say everything he wanted to say to his family and friends. Unfortunately, Randy Pausch did pass away on July 25 of this year. But his words still inspire those who pick up the book.

Hispanic Heritage Month--Goce de un gran libro!

Hispanic Heritage month began on September 15 and is celebrated through October 15. September 15 is the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries--Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, & Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico declared its independence on September 16 and Chile on September 18. This month-long national celebration recognizes the contributions of Hispanic-Americans and also pays tribute to Hispanic heritage and culture. What better way is there to celebrate than to read a book? Try one of these fantastic authors:
Sandra Benitez
Roberto Bolano
Jorge Franco Ramos
Lorraine Lopez
Angela Mastretta
Ana Menendez
Edmundo Paz Soldan
Laura Restrepo
Mayra Santos-Febres
Helena Maria Viramontes
Thank you Hispanic Americans for all you have done and are doing for the United States! Gracias los americanos hispanicos!

In the Queue

Hounded to Death
by Rita Mae Brown
A dog show in Kentucky, the theft of a famous hound, the suicide of
a horse veterinarian—-sounds like the perfect setting for a Rita Mae
Brown mystery!

Testimony
by Anita Shreve
Not interested in baying hounds in the state of Kentucky? This
book offers a sex scandal at a New England boarding school. Even
more shocking is the fact that the acts were caught on videotape!

The Widows of Eastwick
by John Updike
We’ve aged, and so have the witches of Eastwick. The three
divorcees, Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie have left town, remarried,
and become widows. They return to Eastwick for the summer and
find that the town is still magical for them.

October is National Book Month

Curl up with a good book this month because October is National Book Month. The promotion is sponsored by the National Book Foundation and was created to encourage readers of all ages to enjoy books. The foundation highly encourages families to read together.

This foundation also gives out the annual National Book Award. The finalists for this award will be announced on October 15 at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater. Check out the webcast from the National Book Foundation's site to hear the announcement. Click here for more information about the 2008 National Book Award.

Want to spend time with a good book, but not sure what to read? Browse the Washington-Centerville Public Library's online catalog or ask the friendly library staff for suggestions. There are many book lists available online including the New York Times Bestseller List, Amazon's Best Books of the Year So Far and Indie Bound, which covers some of the hidden treasures in the world of books. There are many more resources like these available, so go out and explore!

Neil Gaiman Is Cool And You Know It

And if you don't know, you'd better ask somebody. This leather-clad literary icon is the creator of the hugely popular graphic novel series The Sandman, as well as numerous other graphic novels (Eternals, Signal To Noise), short-story collections (Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders, Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnus Nutter, Witch), children's books (The Wolves in the Walls, Coraline), and novels for adults (American Gods, Anansi Boys). Oh, and remember the films Stardust and Beowulf? Neil Gaiman again, who wrote the book on which the former is based and who co-wrote the screenplay for the latter. That's right: imaginative entertainment for the entire family, and Gaiman does it all without phoning it in like certain other popular writers, who, ahem, shall not be named here (but you all know who you are, so knock it off). Gaiman also has a pretty cool web site for his fans, which you can check out here. So if you've never heard of Neil Gaiman, consider this a long-overdue introduction, and be sure to reserve his very latest, The Graveyard Book.

2009 Big Read Title Announced

The next Big Read title is Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. In this novel, Peter Houghton is an alienated & bullied teen who opens fire at his high school and kills ten people. The judge assigned to the case tries to maintain her objectivity as she struggles to understand her daughter, who was once Peter's best friend and who is now a surviving witness.
The Big Read will take place in Spring, 2009. "Friends, co-workers, neighbors, and strangers will all read the same book, then join together for lively discussion and events. The Big Read is a community wide, six-week-long event during which people gather in all sorts of combinations at all sorts of locations to talk about the myriad issues raised by any good piece of writing."

Meanwhile,try something else by Jodi Picoult.