Looking Ahead

Everyone is currently looking ahead to 2009. What awaits us all in the coming new year? More importantly, where the heck are all the flying cars that we were promised years ago? I'm still waiting on that one.

So many books and films have tried to look ahead to the future. The views of a future universe vary so much that it's quite easy to say that no one knows what will happen. But it is fun to look back on some of these classic and newer works and see each author's outlook for humanity.

1984 - George Orwell
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
City at the End of Time - Greg Bear
The Morcai Battalion - Diana Palmer
Execution Channel - Ken MacLeod
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Age of Conglomerates - Thomas Nevins

Have a happy and safe 2009!

Fearless Fourteen

Even if you don't read romance fiction, you know that it follows a formula. Janet Evanovich got her start as a romance writer before becoming well-known for her Stephanie Plum character. She obviously found the formula for success with this series: one part quirky characters, one part improbable situations, two parts humor. While the latest, Fearless Fourteen, isn't quite as over the top as some of the others (and by this I mean Grandma Mazur didn't have an incident at the funeral home, Stephanie's life was never really threatened, and Ranger only made a cameo appearance), it is still entertaining. Here's to hoping that Janet can keep her formula working!

Books To Film: Låt den rätte komma in

Admit it: nothing says Merry Christmas like bloodsucking vampires. No, I'm not talking about your in-laws or exes (although you may have a different opinion about that). I mean the real deal, the sleeps-by-day-creeps-by-night vampires that populate Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist's novel Let Me In, since retitled Let the Right One In ( or Låt den rätte komma in) after the recently released film version. Like the film, the book tells the story of the relationship between twelve-year-old Oskar Eriksson, the oft-bullied school misfit, and his new next-door neighbor, a rather strange little girl named Eli who, as you can probably guess, turns out to be a vampire. This book is not for the squeamish, but I loved it, and let me just qualify that by saying that I am not a fan of vampire novels in general. Everyone's writing them these days, it seems, and most are laughable, if not downright awful. But this one is different: it's good. And from what I've read, the film is pretty awesome as well, winning accolades from critics everywhere. This is what award-winning author Caitlin R. Kiernan had to say about it: "One of the most striking things about this film, which is filled with striking elements, is it's voice. It is so wonderfully soft-spoken. It is a long whisper, punctuated with screams that have meaning because of the whisper....I am pleased with the film's restraint, and by its refusal to submit to either formula or easy morality. And it's just so beautiful....And, of course, this story permits the vampire to be a vampire. Not a watered-down daemon lover that sparkles by daylight, not necrophilia dressed up as bloodless romance for necrophiles who would rather not admit what gets them hot and bothered....Yes, I loved it. I encourage you to see it in the theatre if you can, and, if not, track down the DVD as soon as it's available. Definitely one of the four or five best films I've seen this year." I have yet to see the film myself, and with its limited release it hasn't shown up anywhere around here, but the DVD is scheduled to be released March 10, 2009.

Find the Best Books of 2008

Many readers will think back on 2008 and look to read the best books of the year. Where's the best place to start? Here are some excellent lists for you to peruse.

The New York Times recently released a list of the Top 10 Books of 2008. The list was taken from the Sunday Book Review's list of 100 Notable Books of 2008. Publisher's Weekly has PW's Best Books of the Year, NPR has several lists and GoodReads has their own list. Library Journal has lists by genre, and even one on the top how-to books of the year.

Many of these books are available in the library. This is just a sample of the Best of 2008.

Fiction

Dangerous Laughter - Steven Millhauser
A Mercy - Toni Morrison
Netherland - Joseph O'Neill
2666 - Roberto Bolaño
Unaccustomed Earth - Jhumpa Lahiri

Nonfiction

American Lion - Jon Meacham
The Dark Side - Jane Mayer
The Forever War - Dexter Filkins
This Republic of Suffering - Drew Gilpin Faust
The World Is What It Is - Patrick French

Russian Booker Prize--2008

The Russian Booker Prize is a literary award now established as that country's premier literary prize. It is awarded to the best work of fiction written in the Russian language each year and the cash prize for 2008 was $20,000 US. The 2008 winner was Mikhail Yelizarov for his mystic novel "The Librarian". The library doesn't own any of the winners because most are either unavailable or haven't been translated into English yet. So, why we wait for Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Ruben Gallego, Denis Gutsko, and Yelizarov's works to be released, try some other great Russian authors:

Generations of Winter by Vassily Aksyonov

In Concert Performance by Nikolai Dezhnev

The Faculty of Useless Knowledge by Iuril Osipovich Dombrovskii

Nightwatch, Daywatch, & Twilight Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko (fantasy series)

The Sacred Book of the Werewolf by Viktor Pelevin (fantasy)

Ice by Vladimir Sorokin

Who is your favorite Russian author?

Nineteen Minutes

The Centerville community will be participating in the Dayton-wide program The Big Read, and as mentioned in an earlier blog, the book selection which was voted on during the first two weeks of August is New York Times best-selling author Jodi Picoult's book, Nineteen Minutes, a fictional account of a community and family's struggle to come to grips in the aftermath of a school shooting ~ a sad theme, to be sure. Although it is impossible to put a positive spin on such a tragic topic, the book presents the opportunity to discuss how a community can come together to support one another and further lends itself to the important discussion on the very real problem of school bullying. On the author's website she actually highlights how her book was used in the greater Hartford, Connecticut area when 75 high school students came together for just such a discussion. The moderators of the group, working with the state Board of Education, developed an anti-bullying curriculum out of the process. Here at the library, we are in the process of planning Big Read book discussion groups which will begin to meet in March of next year. We plan to host groups here at the Centerville Library in the After Words discussion group, and also at the Woodbourne location book discussion group, Page Turners. Our library will host discussion groups at some outside venues as well. We'll keep you posted.

400th Anniversary of John Milton's Birth

Today is the 400th anniversary of the birth of John Milton, who is considered one of the greatest literary figures in history. Universities all over the world are hosting readings of Milton's greatest and well-know work, Paradise Lost. For instance, Cambridge, where Milton attended college, is hosting a 12-hour Webcast with faculty and students reading the famous work. Podcasts are available for this reading at this link. NPR has an interesting article about the celebration along with several audio links to passages of Paradise Lost. The value of this literary work is made more remarkable when one considers that Milton had been blind for four years before beginning the work. The Oxford English Dictionary lists over 600 words that Milton has been credited as the first person to use, furthering his legacy.

There are numerous celebrations and exhibits, especially in England, celebrating Milton's works. Some of them are listed here. Many of these exhibits are available to view online.

The library has several other works by Milton available, including The Portable Milton, which gives a terrific overview of the author's lifetime and various poems and essays. Try John Milton: Selected Poetry if you are interested in reading more of Milton's lyrical pieces.

My Favorite Books of 2008

Publisher's Weekly (among others) has come out with their "Favorite Books of 2008" list. Some of their picks that are on my "to read" list are:
Breath by Tim Winton
Ritual by Mo Hayder
Master of the Delta by Thomas H. Cook.

Two of my favorites that were not on their list are:
Small Favor by Jim Butcher
Ink and Steel by Elizabeth Bear.

Tell me what your favorite books of 2008 are!

If you want the whole list go to: PW list
More by Elizabeth Bear and Jim Butcher.

Play-it-away, Sam!

Well, it's that time of year again when it's simply too cold to jog outside with my neighborhood pals. So, I've grudgingly hit the treadmill. It's not the treadmill I despise, it's the solitude. My dreaded jog passes so much more quickly with good company. Alas, I think that I have solved this problem with the help of the Playways available at the library. Playaways are cool! Basically a book on an MP3 player, Playaways are small and lightweight - perfect for the treadmill. The collection at WCPL includes loads of fiction in many genres, non-fiction, biographies and even foreign language instruction.
I recently "re-read" The da Vinci Code while traveling. I even made it through airport security with the Playaway and that's no small feat these days. The daVinci Code was read by a man with a wonderful French accent where appropriate. So, now I'm brushing up on my rusty French while I jog.
If you are traveling this winter or, if like me, you need something to pass the time while you hit the treadmill, try our Playaways. I bet you'll be playing it away again and again.

In the Queue

Busted Flush
by George R.R. Martin
In 1946, an alien virus rewrites human DNA and is unleashed over New York City. The virus kills 90% of those it infects, 9% survive as mutated creatures, and 1% gain superpowers!

The Virgin Queen’s Daughter
by Ella March Chase
Elinor De Lacy, the purported daughter of Queen Elizabeth I, was supposed to be killed at birth. Instead she is saved by a midwife and now is returning to the Tudor court as one of the
ladies-in-waiting to the Queen!

Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street
by Michael Davis
Born as the result of an after-dinner discussion about the poor quality of children’s programming, Sesame Street is now the longest running children’s show in television history.