Endless Forest

Many years ago, my mother introduced me to the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  I was instantly, and completely, hooked.  It had history, it had adventure, it had romance, it had characters who were compelling.  I loved it, and I continue to look forward to new books in this series.  The only problem is, Gabaldon only comes out with a new one every four to five years.  That's a long time to wait.

Not long after exhausting what was then the complete Outlander series, someone recommended I try Sara Donati's Into the Wilderness, a book about Elizabeth Middleton, a 29-year-old old maid from England, and her adjustment to life in the wilderness of western New York in 1792.  While it is missing the time travel aspects of Gabaldon's series, fans of Outlander will identify with Elizabeth's independence and determination, unusual for a woman of her day.  The Wilderness series is full of well-developed, interesting, and relatable characters, and provides a fascinating view of race relations at the cusp of the 18th century, as Elizabeth falls in love with a white man who lives with the Mohawks, and befriends Curiousity, a freed slave. 

The Endless Forest is scheduled for release in January 2010.  If you like the Outlander series, or if you've never tried either, but are just looking for a good historical fiction, check out Sara Donati's Wilderness  series.

Lobster, Anyone?

"So this is Christmas," John Lennon sang, "And what have you done?" Well, if you're like most people, you're running around like a headless chicken trying to have the Best. Holiday. Ever. Presents to buy, parties to host (or attend), and family to entertain, endure, or flat-out avoid--all of which can lead to massive amounts of alcohol consumption if you're not careful. In Stewart O'Nan's Last Night at the Lobster, it's crunch time for Manny DeLeon, manager of a New Britain, Connecticut, Red Lobster, who's having to juggle the closing of his restaurant (complete with a transfer and demotion), a mutinous staff, and an impending blizzard, all just five days before Christmas on the restaurant's last night. Top that off with problems on the homefront involving a pregnant girlfriend who may not mean as much to him as a former lover and you've got a recipe for disaster. Or a handy excuse to drink. If you're expecting a sappy Christmas miracle in this story, look elsewhere. There are no angels from on high to set things right, no Hail Marys from the mountaintop. There's only Manny's own determination to see things through to the bitter end and to do right by the people who depend on him, even if they turn on him in the process. So to all the Manny's of the world, we salute you this Christmas. And to Stewart O'Nan, thank you for being such an awesome writer.

After 213 years, don't they deserve a rest?

Two hundred thirteen years ago, Jane Austen began writing a story about characters named Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy.  Seventeen years later, the book Pride and Prejudice was printed and in the years following, Elizabeth and Darcy have had little chance to rest.  I had long heard about this book and recognized its hallowed status as the pinnacle of romance.  In fact, I had heard so much about it, I didn't read it until a few years ago, because I was afraid it couldn't possibly live up to the hype.  When I did read it, I was pleasantly surprised.  I can see why it remained so popular.  For a book written at the end of the 18th century, it remains incredibly relatable and accessible.

What I've only recently discovered is just how very, very many adaptations the love for this book has spawned.  On any given day in the library you can find stories of life after marriage for the Darcys, such as: Pemberley, or Pride and Prejudice Continued or Two Shall Become One: Mr and Mrs Fitzwilliam Darcy: Pride and Prejudice Continues, or Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: Pride and Prejudice Continues.  You can read about the Bennet sisters with The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet or Lydia Bennet's Story: The Continuing Adventures of Mrs. Darcy's Youngest Sister. You can read about the next generation of Darcys with An Unequal Marriage: Pride and Prejudice Twenty Years Later or Mr. Darcy's Daughters.  If you like imagining, "what if..." there's a series of books starting with The Last Man in the World that put forth counterfactuals of what would have happened to Darcy and Elizabeth under slightly altered circumstances.  Of course, there are the horror versions, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and the lesser known Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, as well as modern re-tellings, including The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy: a Modern Pride and Prejudice, and Pemberley by the Sea: A Modern Love Story Pride and Prejudice Style, which not only is, itself, a modern recasting of the classic story, but also has the Darcy-esque main male character writing a book in which he and his paramour are a modern-day Darcy and Elizabeth.  Oh...and I almost forgot the series that casts the newlywed Darcys in a variety of mysteries they must solve, beginning with Pride and Prescience, or, A Truth Universally Acknowledged: A Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mystery. 

I've read a lot of re-interpretations of Pride and Prejudice.  I understand wanting to continue a story that you love, but really, none of them come close to the original.  For my taste, I'll take the real deal.  As for all the other versions, can't we just give Elizabeth and Darcy a rest? 

Bestselling Author Tami Hoag to Visit Library

If you love suspense author Tami Hoag, then mark this date on your calendar right now! January 8th, 2 PM at the Centerville Library. Tami is helping the library kick off our Great Books, Great Libraries bicentennial celebration and will be on hand for a reception, a brief talk and a book signing. With the help of Books and Co., we managed to snag Tami just in time for the debut of her new book Deeper Than the Dead - slated to debut on December 29, 2009!

If you aren't familiar with Tami Hoag, she has 13 consecutive Times bestsellers to her credit and is a critic and reader favorite. Check out some of her books at the library and then join us for her visit on January 8th!

Joe Haldeman Named Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America just announced that Joe Haldeman will be honored as the next Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master for 2010. The Grand Master represents SFWA’s highest accolade and recognizes excellence for a lifetime of contributions to the genres of science fiction and fantasy.

The author of 20 novels and five collections, Joe Haldeman remains one of the most popular science fiction writers working today. His landmark novel, The Forever War, won the Nebula, Hugo and Ditmar Awards for best science fiction novel in 1975, and spawned two follow-up novels, Forever Peace and Forever Free. In total, his writings have garnered him five Nebulas, five Hugos and a host of other awards as well as numerous nominations. Other notable works include the novels Camouflage, The Accidental Time Machine and Marsbound as well as the short works “Graves,” “Tricentennial” and “The Hemingway Hoax.” His latest book, Starbound, is scheduled for a January release.

Youth Movement

A few weeks ago I discussed the National Book Awards on this blog.  I would like to mention the 5 Under 35 awards that were announced prior to the National Book Awards. This highly anticipated event has been the kick-off for National Book Awards week, which was held last month. The National Book Foundation announces five authors under the age of 35 whose work shows talent and promise for the future of fiction.  This is the fourth year that the foundation has recognized five talented young authors. This year's honorees are:

Ceridwen Dovey for Blood Kin
C.E. Morgan for All the Living
Lydia Peelle for Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing
Karen Russell for St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves
Josh Weil for The New Valley

Check out the 5 Under 35 site here for more information.  Have you read the work of a new author recently and would like to tell us about it? 

A perfect combination

Last week, a friend sent an email suggesting I read Serving Crazy with Curry by Amulya Malladi.  Choosing to ignore the possibilty that she simply saw the word "crazy" and thought of me, I trusted her and read the book.  The story of Devi, a 27-year-old Indian-American and her family was definitely worth a read.  It begins with Devi's attempted suicide, thwarted only by her mother's tendency to key into Devi's apartment unannounced.  What follows is a deconstruction of how the family dynamic affected Devi's decision to kill herself and, in fluid transitions between past and present, the construction of a new family dynamic between Devi, her parents, her sister and brother-and-law, and her grandmother.  In the process of her recovery Devi chooses to remain mute but expresses her feelings through cooking (when she's angry, her food is so spicy even her stoic father goes through several glasses of water during the meal).

As a foodie-wannabe, I love the combination of fiction and food, and particularly love the way characters often express and affect emotions through food.  Joanne Harris's Chocolat is a delicious examination of deprival and pleasure and, while not my favorite book ever, the mystical realism of Like Water for Chocolate is a great way of highlighting how food can be tremendously evocative of the feelings a chef wants to share.  There are food books like any of Ruth Reichl's (I especially love Garlic and Sapphires: the Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise) that focus on the way food can change our lives and our perceptions of our selves, and food books, like Mary Kay Andrews's Deep Dish, that are fun, funny, and use food as a tool to establish personal identity.  Lara Vapnyar's collection of short stories, Broccoli and Other Tales of Food And Love is a great example of how food unifies a people and identifies them as distinctly together, and Mei Ng's Eating Chinese Food Naked is one of many where food serves a tie between mothers and daughters.  There are many, many other wonderful books where food plays a pivotal role, but for some reason, I'm feeling a little peckish and need to go find a snack.  Care to share some of your favorites while I nosh?

The Big Payback

Admit it: we all love the big payback. You know, someone wrongs us, and said wrongdoer gets his comeuppance. And while we ourselves may not be the agent of vengeance, all that matters is that the dirtbag eventually gets what's coming to him and gets it good. But think about it. If you've ever been on the wrong end of an injustice (and most of us have), would you take matters into your own hands? And if so, how far would you go to right the wrong? Washington Post journalist Laura Blumenfeld bravely tackles these questions and many more in her book, Revenge: A Story of Hope. In Laura's case, when she was a student at Harvard College, her father was shot in the head by a member of a PLO death squad and left for dead. Luckily, the wound was only superficial and her father survived, but the scar it left on Laura haunted her for the next twelve years, culminating in her decision to find and confront the gunman. She also wanted to understand her own obsession with revenge and to find an answer to the question of why some people hit back and others don't. Beginning in Israel under the cover of an extended honeymoon in Jerusalem, Laura's quest led her to interview people all over the globe, some victims of violence, others perpetrators, and in between trips she tracked down and befriended the imprisoned PLO gunman's family in the West Bank in an effort to arrange a meeting with him. You've got to admit that this woman is brave beyond words--foolish, perhaps, but undeniably brave, and it was her love for her father that gave her such tremendous courage. So where exactly can hope be found in all of this, you wonder? And what did Laura do when she finally met her father's assailant face-to-face? Read the book. You won't be disappointed.  

When it's all said and done, revenge is serious business in some parts of the world. Some even consider it a sacred duty to be allowed, encouraged, and demanded. Make the wrong move, say the wrong thing, and you could be inviting a blood feud upon yourself and your family. So be careful, and if you should ever find yourself in Albania, you'd better be on your best behavior!

In the Queue

La’s Orchestra Saves the World
by Alexander McCall Smith
In the shadow of the war in Europe, Lavander has moved to a small town in Suffolk to escape memories of her shattered marriage. It’s there that she forms an amateur orchestra to entertain the locals, keep up morale, and soothe her broken heart.

Noah’s Compass
by Anne Tyler
Liam is concerned these days because he doesn’t remember what happened the first night in his new condominium, so he hires a “rememberer” to help him with his memory. His efforts take him to an unexpected detour in his life.

The Lady In the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn
by Alison Weir
The second wife of Henry VIII will never make the Best Wives list. She was vilified by history and her contemporaries. As if that’s not bad enough, committing adultery while you’re married to the king also gets you charged with treason!

The Ultimate Chicklit Collection

I have a list of web sites and blogs focused on books.  It is a list that I must keep hidden from myself, buried five folders deep in my inbox.  If I don't hide these book blogs, I can get sucked in and am lost to the world.  One of the websites that has the ability to wipe away five hours of time with one click of the mouse is The Chicklit Club. 

To celebrate the end of the decade, The Chicklit Club is compiling a list of the Ultimate 100 chicklit books that define the genre.  They're announcing the top 100 in December.  Bridget Jones's Diary will undoubtedly be at or near the top of the list, but I've been wondering what else will be on the list.  I imagine there will be something by Marian Keyes, an Irish writer known for her chick-lit sagas of family dysfunction.  If I were picking one of hers, I think I would go with Watermelon, one of her trio of books about the Dublin-based Walsh sisters.  The queen of chick lit, Jennifer Weiner, will probably also appear at least once on the list; I imagine both Good in Bed and In Her Shoes will be on there. 

Some of the others that I'd like to see on there include:

Jemima J : A Novel About Ugly Ducklings and Swans by Jane Green
just about anything by Katie Fforde
Hissy Fit by Mary Kay Andrews
The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne
and
Enchanted, Inc by  Shanna Swendson

What would your choices be?  You can still vote by emailing the Chicklit Club here.  I'm curious, too, so share your thoughts with a comment!

National Book Awards

The 2009 National Book Award Winners were announced on Wednesday evening.  The event, sponsored by the National Book Foundation, was held in Manhattan.  Here is the winner and finalists for the award in Fiction.

Winner- Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
Finalists- American Salvage by Bonnie Jo Campbell
Lark and Termite by Jayne Anne Phillips
Far North by Marcel Theroux
In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin


Visit this site for more information on the National Book Foundation and the other award categories.

A book far cooler than I am

Every once in a while, I find a book that sounds so different from anything else I've seen that I can't help but read it.  Enter Going Bovine by Libba Bray.  The title alone had me a bit curious... and then, I heard the description.  To put it in a nutshell, a teenager with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (aka "Mad Cow Disease") goes on a quest to save the world with a death-obsessed dwarf and a Norse god cursed to immortality as a garden gnome as travelling companions.  He gets his guidance from a punk angel only he can see.  Oh, and the key to saving the world is at Disney World's "It's a Small World" ride.  Okay, Libba Bray, just stop...you had me at garden gnome/Norse god.  This I had to read.

I'd never heard of Libba Bray before, probably because I haven't read a lot of YA lit.  In fact until a few years ago, I didn't even realize that there was an entire section devoted to Young Adult literature.  Did this designation even exist when I could be classifed as part of it?  In the past few years, though, a lot of YA lit has made a big impact beyond the teen set (and if you don't think I'm right, how many people do you know over 30 who've already bought their tickets for the next Twilight movie?).  Recently, I've read several YA books, not intentionally seeking out books in that category, but just because they sounded good.  In the way of all good books, regardless of the demographic to whom they're targeted, YA books often address deeper issues in an artistic and thought-provoking way.  In Going Bovine Bray, tackles mortality, the importance of friends and family, and being true to yourself in the materialistic reality-world driven culture we're surrounded by.  Not bad for a book with that'll get "It's a Small World After All" stuck in your head. 

Cooler weather, cozier reading

I'm never sure how to answer the question, "What's your favorite book?"  Maybe I just have an indecisive personality, but I find that the books I enjoy are dependent on a variety of factors: What mood am I in? What have I been reading recently?  Where am I?  What's the weather like?  You might think I'm being flip with the last one, but now that the leaves have fallen and the weather is getting chillier, I'm find myself leaning toward books that are a little cozier.  After a plan to read only "beachy" books during the past several months failed spectacularly, I'm a little weary of heavy, literary turmoil and angst.

I can't bring myself to read authors like Rosamunde Pilcher or Maeve Binchy in the summer because reading them, to me, requires being cuddled up in a blanket with a big mug of tea.  (Nevermind that I won't drink the tea because no matter how much I think I will, I don't like tea...it's just a necessary part of the experience.)  That's what makes them perfect for this season: the blanket and untouched cup of tea make more sense in November than in July. I  knew I had reached my cozy stage recently when I started to read Lionel Shriver's The Post-Birthday World, which came highly recommended to me.  I admire Shriver's writing, but to say that her style is a little heavy is like saying Wile E. Coyote doesn't love the Roadrunner.  Her book, We Need to Talk About Kevin had me a nervous wreck for days.  When I recently tried to read the newer book, it sat there untouched for days.  It reminded me of a cup of tea in July.

So, for now, I'm sticking to the cozier fare.  I  might revisit an old favorite, The Shell Seekers, since it's been years since I read it.  Of course, there are several Katie Fforde books I've not yet read, and those would be perfect for the cozy mood I'm in.  She writes in the chick lit genre, but rather than the fast-paced world of London or New York publishing houses, her books tend to take place in the English countryside, with comic misadventures following the heroines back to their homes heated by the Aga range.  Perfect for a blanket a cup of hot tea.

In the Queue

100 Heartbeats: A Journey To Meet Our Planet’s Endangered Animals & Save the Heroes Working To Save Them
by Jeff Corwin
Corwin, the host of The Animal Planet series, takes readers on a trek around the world and through the wilderness, jungles, and deserts that many endangered animals call home.

Too Much Happiness
by Alice Munro
This group of stories shares difficult, complex, even harrowing emotions and events that people face and how they handle them.

No Less Than Victory: A Novel of World War II
by Jeff Shaara
In this 3rd book of his trilogy, Shaara tells the story of the Allies’ push through Europe to destroy the Nazis once and for all. Following the success of the Normandy landings, they are surprised when German forces break through the American position at the Battle of the Bulge.

Juliet, Naked (and some other Nick Hornby books that you should read)

I'm in the midst of a project that is so... I can't think of a word other than nerdy... that I think it's probably only in reaction to my recent experience of going four days without reading a single book. While I'm waiting for my name to come up on the hold list for Nick Hornby's new book, Juliet, Naked, I'm reading the two of his I've not read before (Speaking with the Angel and How to Be Good) just so I can say I've read them all.

I've admitted before to having an author crush on Hornby.  I'd like to share all the reasons why but, in the midst of my pile of Hornby books, I don't feel like I should write a grocery list, let alone an explanation of the way someone writes.  It's not that his writing is particularly intimidating; there's a deceptive accessibility to it.  He's easy to read, and it's only when I realize that I've read a paragraph a few times to myself to let it soak in, or felt the urge to read aloud to whoever happens to be next to me, that I realize that in his straightforward style he's managed to choose the exact right words to convey the way a character feels and to make it honest and relatable.  He also has a delicious sense of humor like a good piece of toast: dry and wry.

If you're interested in non-fiction, I recommend starting with The Polysyllabic Spree if you're into books, Fever Pitch if you're a sports fan, and Songbook if you're into music (Hornby is a former music critic for The New Yorker).  If you're more of a fiction fan, his most well-known books are probably High Fidelity and About a Boy, largely because of the movies they spawned.  However, I'd also point you to A Long Way Down, the story of four unlikely friends who met after unwittingly foiling each other's plans to commit suicide in the same place at the same time, or Slam, about a teenager who turns to his poster of skateboarder Tony Hawk for advice when his ex-girlfriend announces she's pregnant. 

The Road

The film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's award-winning book, The Road, is set to be released in November. This post-apocolyptic story centers around a man and his son trying to survive in an unforgiving world. Unlike many of his other novels, McCarthy tells a tale that includes love, in this case the love of a father for his son.  Some scenes are heartwarming while some really tug at the heartstrings.  This is a vision of a desolate future without the special effects.  The focus is on the human experience and survival.

If The Road interests you, then try out McCarthy's popular Border Trilogy. The trilogy starts with All the Pretty Horses and moves on to The Crossing and Cities on the Plain. Of course, you are probably already familiar with McCarthy's work as one of his previous works, No Country for Old Men, was made into the Academy Award winning film.  Check out this link for more of McCarthy's works that are available at the library.

A dare, a podcast, and a book

Last week, I was dared to do something I wasn't sure I could get through.  The dare?  Go for the remainder of the week without reading a book.  Not one.  For four days.  I couldn't think of the last time I had gone 12 hours without, let alone 96.  But, like the kids in A Christmas Story, I'm not one to back down from a triple-dog dare, no matter how stupid, so I accepted.

I did great for the first leg of the dare and even started to gloat about how silly the dare was; I could quit reading any time I wanted.  However, by the second day, things were getting a little shaky.  I kept having to pass the library basket full of books calling out to me, wondering why I had abandoned them.  I'm convinced that somewhere in the third day a book called out, "C'mon!  Just read one page!"

Instead, I turned to my podcast of "This American Life," my favorite show on NPR (if you've never heard it, WCPL does have Season One and Season Two of the Showtime version of the show).  Cruelly, the week's show was titled "The Book That Changed Your Life."  The entire hour was devoted to the impact of books on the lives of individuals.  It got me thinking: if I was having a problem going four days without a book, surely there's a book that I could say changed my life.  The more I thought about it, though (and, determined to win that stupid dare, I had plenty of free time to think), I realized I couldn't point to one book with as much impact on me as, say, the works of  Laura Ingalls Wilder did on a young woman who moved from New York City to De Smet, South Dakota because of Wilder's books.  What I did realize, however, is the overall impact of books on me.  Whether they add information to my "random bits of trivia" file, prompt me to think about things in a new way, or entertain me, books have been a constant for me. 

Now that the dare is over (I'm not sure whether to be proud that I made it, but I did), I'm diving back into the library basket.  I just finished Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America, an amazing book about about one man's work to end poverty by transforming Harlem and the lives of the children in it.  Canada's approach is dubbed the "conveyor belt," making sure children are given access to services and are expected to meet higher educational demands.  As a result, 100% of the children in his kindergarten program have tested at or above test levels for the past six years, a result that is notable in any school district, let alone in the midst of Harlem.  It was an inspiring book about a group of people who face incredibly hard challenges every day.  It put the challenge of my four-day experience without books in perspective...still, I enjoyed reading the book so much, it affirmed that it's not a challenge I'll be repeating any time soon.

Can You Walk on Water?

I'm going to do the unthinkable: I'm going to tell you about a book that the library doesn't own, but should. (If you're already shuddering, don't worry: I've just written up the purchase request.) By the way, the book is nonfiction, and if you're a writer, it's essential reading. It's called Walking on Water: Reading, Writing, and Revolution by Derrick Jensen, and it's probably one of the best books on the craft that I've ever come across (and believe me, I 've read plenty). Now if you're not familiar with Derrick Jensen, here's the rundown: he's an environmental activist who has written extensively and passionately about saving the planet from the destructive bent of civilization, so be forewarned that he brings many of his beliefs and opinions to the table in Walking on Water. You don't, however, have to agree with any of them in order to get something out of this book. Frankly, you don't even have to be a writer. Jensen draws on his experience teaching creative writing at Eastern Washington University and Pelican Bay State Prison, and the lessons he brings forth in each chapter of Walking on Water underscore his belief that "the only real job of any teacher, especially a writing teacher, is to help students find themselves. Everything else is either a distraction, or at best, window dressing." Crack open this book and you'll find gems like the following: "I say, 'There are a hundred people inside of each of us who can write. There's the bitter old man, and the lonely old woman. The happy old woman or man tired but satisfied with life. The ecstatic young man, the gleeful little girl. The angry woman. They all have strong opinions, and they're all inside each one of us. Unfortunately, the only one who can't write is the one we wear on our faces all the time. The polite one. The bland one. The one who wants approval. The one who hedges every strong opinion, every strong impulse....'" You get the picture. All along the way, Jensen shares his rather unorthodox--and entertaining, I might add--methods of teaching, all designed to help his students "trigger passions strong enough that they lose self-consciousness and fall completely into the feelings, the words, the messages" they want to convey. And by the end of the book, Jensen shows them that maybe what they once thought impossible is perhaps within their grasp. That they can accomplish miracles. That they--and you--can indeed walk on water.

2009 Nobel Prize in Literature Awarded

The Swedish Academy has been busy this week announcing Nobel Prizes for people far brighter than I can even comprehend. This year's Nobel Prize for Literature winner is Herta Muller, a Romanian-born German writer who has written extensively on oppression under Ceausescu's dictatorship. Her work, said the Academy, "with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed." As with many of the Nobel Laureates, I can't claim to have heard of her prior to the award's announcement. However, it does add another author on my list of books to read.

If you're interested in catching up on the work of other Nobel Laureates, try some of these authors in our collection:

Doris Lessing - 2007 Nobel Laureate
Orhan Pamuk - 2006 Nobel Laureate
Harold Pinter - 2005 Nobel Laureate
Elfriede Jelinek - 2004 Nobel Laureate
J. M. Coetzee - 2003 Nobel Laureate
V. S. Naipaul - 2001 Nobel Laureate
Gunter Grass - 1999 Nobel Laureate
Najib Mahfuz - 1988 Nobel Laureate

Man Booker Prize Winner Announced!

Tuesday October 6, 2009 the Man Booker Prize winner was announced--and the winner is: Wolf Hall by English author Hilary Mantel! This 650-page historical monster is about the 16Th-century political maneuvering in the court of Henry VIII. The author retells the story of Henry VIII and Ann Boleyn from the point of view of Thomas Cromwell. Another interesting thing about this book is that it was favored to win by the oddsmakers (bookies, gamblers, etc.) and it did! The last time this happened was in 2002 when Life of Pi won.

For other non-British or Commonwealth authors who have had their work published or largely translated into English there is the Man Booker International Prize, which was awarded to Alice Munro this year for her body of work. So if you like historical fiction or just a good story then try Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Also, try one of the following authors that were runner-ups for the Man Booker Prize:

The Children's Book by A. S. Byatt

Summertime by J. M. Coetzee

The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds

The Glass Room by Simon Mawer

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries

One of my favorite films is a little known gem of the iconic duo, Merchant-Ivory. The film,
A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries, is the semi-autobiographical life sketch of Kaylie Jones, daughter of the classic American novelist, James Jones. Ms. Jones, herself an author, penned the text from which the film was made (same title). I read the book after I saw the film and was particularly attracted to the family’s experience of raising ex-patriot children, having had the same experience. Our children were raised in the country of Italy, where they matriculated for many years in Italian schools. The Jones family did likewise, but in the country of France. Where the Jones (Willis) family life takes a particularly interesting twist is in the adoption of a young French boy, whom they call ‘Billy’, after the dad in the film, Bill Willis.

Known for beautiful cinematography, this Merchant-Ivory film, is captivating to look at. The cast of characters are also beautiful ~ Kris Kristofferson, Barbara Hershey, Leelee Sobieski. Such beauty can make it difficult to see, at first view, the ugliness that lies under the surface. When the family returns to the U.S. for medical treatment for the dad who develops a serious heart condition, the process of re-patriating brings about a painful but necessary time of discovery ~ both for the family and for each member individually.

Not wishing to be a spoiler, I will say that the film left me hanging in the sense that I wondered what happened to the young girl and boy in particular, in terms of their future. Did they stay in the U.S. or return to France? What happened to the parents?

The film was produced in 1998, several years after the family returned to the U.S. Just released this month is Kaylie Jone’s actual autobiography, Lies My Mother Never Told Me, which picks up where "A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries" left off. I read the book in its entirety over the weekend and was not disappointed.

Though Ms. Jones’ memoir does not flinch from sharing very intimate details of her family and their struggles, especially regarding her relationship with her mother, it also contains some interesting detail about her famous father’s writing style, how he wrote, how he developed a story line.

As a war veteran himself, the storylines of From Here to Eternity and A Thin Red Line were written from personal experience. The family had several famous writers as friends: Richard Wright, Irwin Shaw, James Baldwin, William Styron, to name just a few, many of whom were a part of the Jones’ family life in France. Though the life of this woman may seem glamorous, it was not without its pain. It seems she found a kindred spirit in the life of another daughter of a famous writer, Jill Faulkner Summers. She shares this quote from the daughter of William Faulkner:

It was just before my birthday and I knew that Pappy was getting ready to start one of these bouts. I went to him – the only time I ever did – and said, “Please don’t start drinking.” And he was already well on his way, and he turned to me and said, “You know, no one remembers Shakespeare’s child.”

In the Queue

Invisible

by Paul Auster

When Adam Walter meets Frenchman Rudolf Born and his seductive girlfriend, Margot, he is caught up in a perverse triangle that leads to an act of violence that changes the course of his life.

The Lacuna

by Barbara Kingsolver

Harrison William Shepherd is a man caught between two worlds. Born in the United States, he is raised in a series of homes in Mexico where his social-climbing mother pursues rich men and barely tolerates his presence.

The American Civil War: A Military History

by John Keegan

Keegan offers a unique portrait of the American Civil War, known in some circles as the War of Northern Aggression. He emphasizes the major part geography played in the war and compares the conflict to previous wars.

Put a Stake in it, Already*

Imagine the scene: Mild-mannered book lovers stand in the stacks wondering what to read next. Suddenly from behind every corner jumps a vampire crouched to attack the plots of every genre, sucking out the originality, intrigue, and, when they're very skilled (dare I say it?) writing talent from before our very eyes. Quick! Call Buffy, text Van Helsing, bring on Blade, or Anita Blake, or Jacob and his wolfish clan, but whatever you do, please, please, please: someone needs to stop the vampire takeover!

Not being much of a horror fan (I blame reading Roald Dahl's The Witches as a kid --I was terrified for weeks), I've never had much exposure to vampires. My first intro to the bloodsuckers was because I'm a sucker for humor and I'd heard good things about Christopher Moore's You Suck which was pretty funny. I wouldn't say I instantly became a convert to all things vampiric, but I enjoyed it. A year or two later, all the buzz raised my curiosity and I read the Twilight series and, no, it wasn't really my cup of tea but it seemed, much like the "vegetarian"vampires on its pages, to be relatively harmless. People were lining up in masses to read the tale of Bella, and hey...if it's something that people like to read, it's all to the good....right?

But now, everywhere I look, vampires have taken over. Every genre now seems to have an entire subgenre of vampire-driven stories. As I was looking at a book website the other evening, I noticed a forthcoming book called Wuthering Bites, part of the smash-up lit genre that's emerged (e.g., Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) where Wuthering Heights meets... of course...vampires. I'm not even reading these books and I'm tired of them. I have vampire fatigue by proxy.

If you, too, are a bit tired of the vampiric takeover of all things fiction, but still want a good read for the Halloween season, I highly recommend Audrey Niffenegger's new release, Her Fearful Symmetry, a creepy good ghost story that will haunt me for while. Other books safe for a vampire-free Halloween diet include Ghost Music and Neverwhere, or just about anything by Stephen King.

*Thanks to Scott, also sick of the vampire takeover, who graciously suggested the title of this blog post.

Big Read 2010

My husband and I have an ongoing debate about what to read: he's a strictly non-fiction kind of guy (barring the occasional dare to read fiction) and I'm largely a fiction gal. He says that if he's going to read, he wants to learn something from it. While I don't dislike non-fiction, and do read it, I tend to like the entertainment value of novels that is often (though certainly not always) absent in non-fiction and, depending on the book, I can still learn something from the novels I read. On occasion, my husband will wonder how I have a piece of trivia, knowledge of a different culture, or an understanding of a historical event that I never studied. The answer, I tell him, is fiction. When fiction -- especially historical fiction -- is done well, I leave the book not only satisfied by a good story, but also enriched by new information.

The Big Read selection for 2010 has been made and I, along with thousands of others in our community will be reading Dreamers of the Day , a historical fiction by Mary Doria Russell, an Ohio author. This story is about a teacher who comes into an inheritance that allows her to take her dream trip to Egypt and the Holy Lands just as the 1921 Cairo Peace Conference convenes (it's been so long since I took my History of the Middle East class that I had forgotten there even was such a conference -- see, I'm learning things just from the summary of a novel!). While there she meets notable figures including Lawrence of Arabia and Winston Churchill, as they piece together the boundaries of the modern Middle East, an event that, not to put too fine a point on it, has implications for the entire world every day. I'm eager to test out the knowledge I gain from this book on my husband, who teaches and researches Middle East politics. Maybe, just maybe, I can even get him to read this piece of fiction and be a part of the community discussion that the Big Read was intended to foster -- even if I have to dare him to do it.

I've Read The Lost Symbol...Now What?

What happens after all the hype dies down concerning Dan Brown's newest novel The Lost Symbol? Once you whet your appetite by reading Brown's latest, what will you read next? Don't worry! The library has you covered with more works that build upon some of common elements Brown includes in his stories. For example, check out Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum, Michael Jecks' The King of Thieves and Katherine Neville's The Eight if you are interested in the Knights Templar and Freemasons. For other art history mysteries try A Finder End by Iaian Pears, Headlong by Michael Frayn and The Sixteen Pleasures by Robert Hellenga.

If the religious conspiracy aspect of Brown's novels intrigues you try The Assassini by Thomas Gifford, The Genesis Code by John Case and The Book of Q by Jonathan Rabb. The role of women in the early church is another interesting topic that comes up often in Brown's works and is also discussed in The Prophetess by Barbara Wood. Some other titles to consider are The Portrait and An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears, Daniel Silva's The Confessor and Daniel Quinn's The Story of B.

Thurber Awards for Humor

Several years ago, when I worked at Ohio State, I discovered an author whose name I'd never heard before. Maybe it was because I'd not grown up in Ohio, or maybe it was because I'm humor-challenged, or maybe it's just because I'm not the right age, but whatever the reason, I'd never heard of James Thurber. He's considered one of the best humorists of the 20th century, and I'd completely missed the boat on him until I found out that he was a Buckeye, there's a Thurber House museum in Columbus, and OSU has a special collection of rare Thurber materials

What, you're probably asking yourself right about now, is she getting at? I'm glad you asked: Not only is Thurber's work pretty funny, but each year, the Thurber House in Columbus awards the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Past recipients have included the editorial staff of The Onion for Our Dumb Century, David Sedaris for Me Talk Pretty One Day, and Jon Stewart, Ben Karlin, and David Javerbaum for America: The Book (A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction). If you've not read any of these and need a good laugh, I highly recommend all three...although there are some pictures in America that have left a permanent image in my brain I'd like to erase. (I'm just giving you fair warning...if the idea of naked Supreme Court justices is a little off-putting, be careful where you look in that book... )

I just finished reading this year's nominees for the awards and am eagerly awaiting the announcement of the winner on October 5. And the nominees are (drumroll, please...)

Sloane Crosley's I Was Told There'd Be Cake

Ian Frazier's Lamentations of the Father (the title essay is particularly funny)

Don Lee's Wrack and Ruin and

Laurie Notaro's The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death: Reflections on Revenge, Germophobia, and Laser Hair Removal

My vote goes to Notaro's book (the title alone makes me giggle a little every time). If you're looking for a good laugh, check it out.

Oh, the giddiness, the giddiness!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy...it's finally here -- the middle of September, my new favorite month! It's always been a great month (the beginning of fall, school, and the football/chili season are all big draws), but this year, a couple of books have put it over the top and I have been waiting for this for months.

First up is Dan Brown's highly anticipated The Lost Symbol, due out in just four days, on Tuesday, September 15. Now, I know that there's a lot of fuss about Dan Brown not being the greatest author to ever touch pen to paper and about his tendency to vicariously romanticize himself in his books through Robert Langdon, since many argue that Dan Brown sees Langdon as himself. I wouldn't put up an argument about that. Still, his stories are consistently interesting, entertaining, and have a fast pace that keep me hooked from the get-go.

I will definitely finish The Lost Symbol in less than a week. How can I say this for certain? Well, first of all, Brown's books are fast reads. More importantly, though, is that I need to be done because of the book that comes out one week after Brown's latest and which, I have to confess, has had me completely giddy since I heard about its release date last year: After four long years of waiting, Diana Gabaldon's seventh book in the Outlander series, An Echo in the Bone will be released. My mom got me hooked on this fascinating fantasy-romance-historical fiction series in the early 1990s. Since then, every four or five years has been punctuated for me with a burst of excitement as each new installment has been released. This book has been a long time coming. I've put my family and friends on notice that I will be taking myself out of commission for a few days so I can immerse myself in the world of Claire and Jamie. I love talking about all kinds of books with patrons who come through the library on a daily basis, but I have noticed a particular enthusiasm for this series by those who have read it. One gentleman even told me a few months ago that his wife and some of his friends were on a trip to Scotland to find Jamie! Since a trip to Scotland is not in my immediate future (it will probably have to wait until after my trip to Prince Edward Island with my daughters to find Anne), I'm going to travel through time and distance vicariously when this book comes out...soon!

Discover Demented Dexter

You may not be familiar with Jeff Lindsay's popular character, Dexter Morgan. Dexter was introduced to us in 2005 in the book Darkly Dreaming Dexter. Lindsay's story has made its way to television with the popular Dexter series. What is so dark about him? Well, he is a blood splatter specialist for the Miami P.D. A different career choice, but nothing inherently wrong there. He feels cut off from the rest of society to the point where he barely considers himself human. Ok, we're getting closer. He is actually a serial killer. There we go. But he is a serial killer with one rule. He only hurts those who have hurt others. And, surprisingly, he adds a bit of humor along the way.

Dexter's sister is a detective with the Miami P.D. Obviously this can only complicate matters as not only do both of them work for the police department, but they work at the same one. There are other problems such as Sgt. Doakes, who knows that something is seriously wrong with Dexter. We follow Dexter as he tries to fit in to society while fulfilling his darkest desire. Darkly Dreaming Dexter was followed by Dearly Devoted Dexter and Dexter in the Dark.

The fourth book, Dexter by Design, picks up with Dexter taking on the role of family man. His internal struggles aside, Dexter has married the one person who unknowingly acts as his shield to the rest of the world and makes him look normal. He is, of course, called back into action by a new killer who is making a mark in the Miami area. How will Dexter balance his new personal life with his enigmatic desires?

My new crush

It's nothing new to those who know me (or, let's be honest, anybody that's spent more than 10 seconds with me) that I'm a bit of a book dork. I have a hard time not peppering conversations with "Oooh -- I just read this book about..." or "I once read a book about just what you're talking about" or "I demand that you read this book right now so I have someone with whom I can talk about it." So, it should come as no surprise that I occasionally develop slight author crushes. When I grab a book by an author I'm currently in the throes of crush-ness with, I feel a giddy anticipation: Will I like this book enough to stay hooked on this author? Will we have fun together? Will I get it? Does my hair look okay?

I've developed a few of these over the years. Nick Hornby always amuses me with his wit and insights and is probably one of my longest-lasting author crushes. My latest, though, is Geraldine Brooks. When she starts writing, this woman can do no wrong. Our flirtation started with People of the Book, which I read last fall when it was nominated for the Big Read. She lured me in further with A Year of Wonders, a surprisingly uplifting novel about the plague (yes, I did just put the words "uplifting" and "plague" in the same sentence). Of course, there's also the Pulitzer Prize-winning March, the story of the absent father in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. (I'm still waiting to get my hands on that one.)

I will say, though, I'm not jealous about my crushes. I like to spread the word. So, if you've not yet read any Geraldine Brooks, what are you waiting for?

Sidewise Awards for Alternate History

The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were conceived in late 1995 to honor the best allohistorical genre publications of the year. The first awards were announced in summer 1996 and honored works from 1995. The award takes its name from Murray Leinster's 1934 short story Sidewise In Time, in which a strange storm causes portions of Earth to swap places with their analogs from other timelines.

Two awards are usually given each year. The Short-Form Award is presented for the best work of less than 60,000 words. This includes short stories, novelettes and novellas, and poems. The Long-Form Award is presented for the best work longer than 60,000 words. This category includes individual novels and longer works.

The winners of the 2008 Sidewise Awards were announced at Anticipation, the 67th World Science Fiction Convention, three weeks ago in Montréal. They are:

Long Form: The Dragon's Nine Sons by Chris Roberson

Short Form: "Sacrifice" by Mary Rosenblum, in Sideways in Crime: An Alternate Mystery Anthology

For a list of all this year's finalists, go to http://uchronia.net/sidewise. For a list of all the Long Form finalists for 1995-2008, we put together this handy list for you:

Sidewise Awards 09

2009 Man Booker longlist announced

I made a pledge not three hours ago to not bring home any more books until I had read all of those currently in my library basket. This is not going to help me keep that promise: the longlist for the 2009 Man Booker prize was recently announced. This prize is my go-to every year of great books. When I do get through those in my basket, I will work my way through the titles on the long list in our collection:


Byatt, AS The Children’s Book


Mantel, Hilary Wolf Hall


Toibin, Colm Brooklyn


Trevor, William Love and Summer


Waters, Sarah The Little Stranger

For a complete list of the 2009 Man Booker long list nominees and more information about the award, check out the Man Booker website. The shortlist will be announced September 8, and the winner will be announced on October 6.

2009 Dayton Literary Peace Prize Nominees

The 2009 Dayton Literary Peace Prize nominees have been announced. The award was created to, "honor books whose writers focused on peace with clarity and style."

The fiction nominees, with summaries from the Dayton Literary Peace Prize website are:

Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan
A Nigerian-born Jesuit priest, Akpan humanizes the perils of poverty and violence facing children in Africa in this stunning collection of five short stories.

Peace by Richard Bausch
Set among American soldiers in Italy during World War Two, Peace is a compelling meditation on the moral dimensions of warfare.

The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich
A violent act of racism haunts generations of Native American and white families living in rural North Dakota.

Beijing Coma by Ma Jian
Emerging from a coma caused by a bullet during the Tiananmen Square protests ten year earlier, a man recounts the horrors of the Mao era and senses the massive changes underway in China.

Telex from Cuba by Rachel Kushner
The story of American executives and their families driven out of Cuba in 1958, Kushner’s powerful debut novel is a riveting exploration of colonialism, corporate America, and revolution.


Song Yet Sung by James McBride
The haunting story of a runaway slave and a determined slave-catcher in pre-Civil War Maryland, Song Yet Sung explores both the moral choices faced by both blacks and whites and the meaning of freedom.

Winners and runners-up of the 2009 prize will be announced on September 22, with an awards ceremony in Dayton on November 8. For more information about the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, as well as the non-fiction nominees, check out their website here.

A Game of "What-If" Gone Wrong

A lot of us play the game "what-if." Say for instance, what would you do if you had a million dollars? How much would it affect your life, for better or worse? What if you obtained the money through less than legal means? Now there is a question!

In Marcus Sakey's newest book, The Amateurs, four friends take this game too far. Our players are: Alex, a bartender who is trying to win the love of his daughter; Jenn, a travel agent leading a very mundane life; Mitch, a doorman who has feelings for Jenn; and Ian, who has a magnetic personality he hides behind. These four friends get together once a week for drinks and to play "what if."

Now, the thing with playing this game is that you're really not supposed to act upon it. These four friends forget this key point and embark upon a deadly game. Each of the four has his or her reasons to want to actually go through with the crime. Most importantly, they are all tired of playing by the rules. What's the harm as long as nobody gets hurt? There's one question they forget to ask. What if someone does get hurt?

a true irony...not the Alanis Morrisette kind

When it comes to reading, I guess I'm a bit old-fashioned. I've only recently begun to allow audio books to seep into my consciousness, so you know I'm not on the cutting edge of reading gadgets. I know that for some people, e-books are great, but I like the physical presence of the book. (I knew I had found a kindred spirit recently when she told me how much she loves the smell of books. I, myself, have a particular affinity for the peculiar combination of diesel and musty old books that was the bookmobile when I was growing up. )

Combine with that my notorious frugality and it's no wonder that I simply don't get the big deal about Kindles. These devices (now only $299!! boasts Amazon), allow you to purchase books to read on a portable computer screen. So, in addition to the $300 initial price tag, you have to pony up and buy each title you want to read...which is exactly what many Kindle users did to read George Orwell's 1984 (now free at the library!! boasts the library staffer) during a sale earlier this summer. Only, it turns out that maybe the reason that they were able to offer a sale price of only 99 cents was that the publisher didn't exactly have the rights to sell it. Amazon, not wanting to violate copyright laws deleted the book from the Kindle of every reader who had purchased it.

And now, let's pause in our saga for a little refresher in case it's been a while since you read this book in your junior year lit class: in 1984, information that is embarrassing or damaging to the government is regularly pulled and sent down the "memory hole." Personally, I love a little irony, so it's a bit of a fun story for me, but not all Kindle users are so amused, especially since they weren't ever informed Amazon could take their books away (and, of course, I would probably be less amused by the irony if I had had just shelled out $300).

p.s., If you are more technologically inclined than I am, I should point out that not only do we have the traditional book of 1984 at the library (book smell included), we also have the e-book, the e-audiobook, and even the CD book). We even go the extra step and make sure the copyrights are included so we don't have to send your copy down the memory hole.

Celebrate 50 Years of Hawaiian Statehood

Today is my best friend's birthday so it is always an easy date to remember. But guess who else has a birthday today? A big one! Today is the 50th Anniversary of Hawaii's becoming a state! So to help celebrate, here are some great writers who were either born in Hawaii or now call Hawaii their home:

Kiana Davenport--Critically acclaimed author who is of part Hawaiian ancestry.

Kate Elliott--Science fiction and fantasy author who currently lives in Hawaii.

Steven L. Kent--Raised in Hawaii, a former video games journalist, he writes military sci-fi novels.

Maxine Hong Kingston--Chinese-American, multiple award winning author and peace activist who lives in Hawaii.

Susanna Moore--Grew up in Hawaii, she is the Writer-in-Residence at Australia's University of Adelaide.

Linda Nagata--A Nebula Award winning science fiction author, who grew up and lives in Hawaii.

Paul Theroux--American travel writer and novelist who resides in Hawaii.

Lois-Ann Yamanaka--Japanese-American poet & novelist from Hawaii. She has used the Hawaiian Pidgin language & local culture in her works.

To learn more about Hawaii's Statehood History: http://statehood.hawaii.gov/

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