2010 James Tiptree Jr. Award Winner

Dubravka Ugresic's Baba Yaga Laid an Egg has won the 2010 James Tiptree, Jr. Award. The Tiptree is given every year to works of science fiction or fantasy that explore and expand gender roles.
Dubravka Ugresic is a Croatian writer who now lives in the Netherlands.  She was born in Kutina and studied Literature and Russian at the University of Zagreb.  She left Croatia in 1993 after a series of public attacks on her political views. She sometimes teaches at American and European universities and this multiple award winner is a freelance writer in Amsterdam.

The Tiptree jury also released a "honor list" of other works considered worthy of note.
Explore one of the following worthy books and stories:

Passion Play by Beth Bernobich
The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum
The Lost Conspiracy (aka Gullstruck Island) by Frances Hardinge
Meeks by Julia Holmes
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin
Ash by Malindo Lo
"Diana Comet and the Disappearing Lover" featured in Diana Comet and Other Improbable Stories by Sandra McDonald
Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor
White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
The Colony by Jillian Weise

Don't forget to read the winner Baba Yaga Laid an Egg and if you want more information about the James Tiptree, Jr. Award please go to this website.

The Mind is a Fragile Thing

I just finished two very good books dealing with the human mind and memory loss.  The first is Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante.  I could not put this one down and got to bed a little late (ok, very late) due to reading it one sitting.  The story centers on Dr. Jennifer White, who begins the story dealing with the early stages of dementia.  What's worse is that her best friend, Amanda, was recently found murdered and Dr. White is the prime suspect.  The investigation into Amanda's murder certainly plays a part in the story, but it isn't the focus.  The focus is on what a person goes through when the mind slowly starts to deteriorate.  I found the first-person narrative, told by Jennifer herself, to be intriguing and very believable.  This books is very difficult to classify and probably fits best into psychological fiction with some qualities of a thriller.  It's just a terrific read and I would recommend it to anyone.


It's funny how we read about a topic and find quickly find another title along the same lines.  I found Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson around the same time when I placed the hold on Turn of Mind.  This title also deals with memory loss, this time suffered by Christine.  Her issues stem from an accident that took place twenty years ago.  Christine can remember things from the first twenty-some years of her life, but nothing between when the accident took place to present time.  She wakes up each morning believing she is twenty years younger and single.  Christine's husband, Ben, leaves pictures and notes out for her and describes her situation to her each day.  Christine also gets a call from her doctor each day and he tells her to read the journal she keeps, which fills her in on the details of her life.  She quickly finds that some of what she has been told are lies.  But who's lying to her?  And why?  This book is more of a thriller than Turn of Mind and is another page turner.

"Sometimes people just disappeared...."

If you know jazz, you know about him, and the title of this memoir tells you who he is. If you don't know the music, his name doesn't matter. I'll call him Hat.

Hat. A legendary tenor saxophonist who, at the end of his life, was also a drunk, a malnourished and shambling wreck of an old man whose alcoholism masked a dark secret. There's a mystery here: what could compel such an immensely talented man to commit slow suicide? The unnamed narrator of Peter Straub's Pork Pie Hat recalls how he first met Hat in Greenwich Village one October years ago. During the course of an interview he conducted with Hat on Halloween night just two months before the musician's death, he was given a disturbing glimpse into the darkness that slowly devoured the man from the inside out. But the story Hat told him was so incredible that even now, years after the fact, he has a hard time accepting it: Certainly I could not believe all he had said. He had been putting me on, silently laughing at my credulity, for he could not possibly believe that what he was telling me was literal truth. I was a white boy with a tape recorder, it was Halloween, and Hat was having fun with me. He was jiving me. 

Or was he?

Pork Pie Hat is the tale of a mystery born one bloody Halloween night in Mississippi when Hat was just a boy. And, if one believes his story, it is also the tale of the long-reaching effects of human evil. So what really happened? Read Pork Pie Hat and draw your own conclusion.

A book that made me slow down.

I'm a fast reader.  I average somewhere between five and seven books a week, depending on how busy the week is.  Generally, it's a good thing: I get to read more books.  If there's a drawback to it, it's that I have less time to live inside the pages when a book delights me.  They're often simply over too soon.

Last week I read The Last Letter from Your Lover, by Jojo Moyes.  This is a book that laments lost things: love, opportunities, and language.  The bulk of the book takes place in 1960 and 1964, when beautiful, heart-felt love letters were written between the mysterious "B" and the elegant Jennifer Stirling, a society wife who resembled Grace Kelly.  There's a striking disconnect between these scenes and those telling the more harried modern day tale of Ellie, a journalist who tries to uncover the secrets behind these letter, which she's found.  Nearly everything that was delightfully sophisticated and languid about the early stories disappears in the modern story, which serves to cleverly illustrate Moyes' elegy to the lost language of love.  There is a bittersweet atmosphere to the book; in fact, if you liked Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, this would be a good one to try next.

The Last Letter from Your Lover was the rare book that slowed me down.  It took me a full three days to read it. It has an elegiac quality that somehow translated into slowing me down. It was wonderful -- I felt like I got to live in that time and place, and let me tell you: 1960 in London and Southern France wasn't a bad place to spend a few days.

I Never Knew

Who's hotter than Hot? Betty White is hotter than hot! She has been in the public eye for 70 + years and has recently made an even bigger name for herself.  I always enjoyed the characters she played. However, I did not believe that she was as sweet as the majority of the characters she played.  After reading, If You Ask Me and Of Course You Won't,  her latest autobiography, I believe she is down to earth, sweet and most definitely funny.  

Her latest book is full of short essays (chapters) that I actually shared with my teenage daughter.  Betty is not at all who I imagined her to be.  She adores animals, does not seem to want to do a lot of shows, (but....she doesn't want to let anyone down either) and enjoys helping others.  I learned that one of her favorite awards was being made an honorary forest ranger.  What an amazing woman.  She is 89 and still (I'm sure) has many adventures left to make.  If you enjoy a quick, witty, exciting book written by a down to earth, lovely lady give this one a try. 

What are patrons searching for @ WCPL?

We make lots of great suggestions for reading material here at the Fine Print blog.  But what are our patrons reading?  More specifically, what titles and authors are they searching for in our eCatalog?  We have the answers for you!

I've gone into our eCatalog statistics to find out what searches our patrons are conducting.  These are the top authors and titles searched for by number of searches.  Some of the more popular titles are actually for films, so I've included the ones based on a book.  Here are the most popular searches over the past month:

Authors         
                                                                   
James Patterson                    
Janet Evanovich                    
Nora Roberts                        
Charlaine Harris                    
Jennifer Weiner                         
Lee Child                              
Nicholas Sparks                   
Robert B. Parker                      
Rick Riordan                        
Stieg Larsson
                          
Titles

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The Help
Dexter
Hunger Games
True Grit
Heaven is For Real
Game of Thrones
Water for Elephants
I am Number Four
Paris Wife

Man Booker Longlist Recently Announced

The longlist for the Man Booker Prize was announced late last month.  Being on the longlist for this prestigious award is quite an honor.  There are definitely some interesting names among those on the list.  One former winner, Alan Hollinghurst in 2004, made this year's list for his book The Stranger's Child.  Several first-time authors are among the names as well.  Stephen Kellman for Pigeon English; Andrew Miller for Snowdrops and Yvette Edwards for A Cupboard Full of Coats are three first-timers listed. 

Here are a few other authors on the Man Booker Prize longlist.  Be sure to check these out at the library!

On Canaan's Side- Sebastian Barry
Jamrach's Menagerie- Carol Birch
Sisters Brothers- Patrick deWitt

Check out the past few winner's to whet your appetite even more!

The Finkler Question- Howard Jacobson (2010 winner)
Wolf Hall- Hilary Mantel (2009 winner)
The White Tiger- Aravind Adiga (2008 winner)
The Gathering- Anne Enright (2007 winner)
The Inheritance of Loss- Kiran Desai (2006 winner)

The shortlist of six authors will be announced on Tuesday, September 6th and the winner will be announced on Tuesday, October 18th.  Check out the Man Booker Prize site for more information and upcoming announcements.

Need a New Read?

I just read, Chicks Kick Butt. It's a compilation of short novellas from many authors. All the stories have female heroines, who (obviously) get the bad guys and save the day. I checked this book out because one of the primary authors is Rachel Caine. I enjoyed her weather warden series and thought this might be a good read. Little did I realize the book would lead me to new authors that I never read before. The short stories allow you a glimpse at the writing style of each author (and man are there authors to choose from!). There are 14 authors/stories in this book. Each story is very short, which makes for a quick read. You don't have to read it all in one sitting.

I can't wait to read a full story written by some of these authors! If you enjoy paranormal fiction, urban fantasy, dark fantasy or paranormal romance give these books a try.


Rachel Vincent's novella has characters from her Werecat Series. The first in her series is Stray. It is an urban fantasy a coming of age story for .


Karen Chance's short story, In Vino Veritas gives glimpses of characters from Midnight's Daughter. The protagonist is a special vampire, called a dhampir (half vamp, half human) can this fighter of evil uphold the senates laws and stay in one piece.

Cheyenne McCray's Double Dead shows us a private Investigator, Nyx, who is oh so much more. You definitely want her on your side if you are in trouble. You can read more about Nyx in Demons Not Included.
Lilith Saintcrow's Monsters seemed like an excerpt (and I would definitely love to read more about Eleni, Wolf and Tarquin), however in researching what story they are from I learned these characters are from some of her unfinished books. Hopefully Saintcrow will get back to them and give us more exciting stories to read. if you'd like to read more of her work you can try Night Shift or Dark Watcher.

Happy Reading! I hope you find a new favorite author.

Barbara Kingsolver wins the Distinguished Achievement Award

Barbara Kingsolver has been named the recipient of the 2011 Richard C. Holbrooke Distingushed Achievement Award (formerly named the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Lifetime Achievement Award).  She will be in Dayton on November 13 to accept the award, which will be presented by journalist Kati Marton, Holbrooke's widow.

Barbara Kingsolver has degrees in biology and has been writing since 1985.  The Holbrooke award is only the latest in a series of awards and recognition she has earned for her writing.  She has been named one of the most important authors of the 20th century by Writers Digest.  In 2000, she received the National Humanities Medal, the nation's highest award for service in the arts.  Her book The Poisonwood Bible was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and 2009's The Lacuna was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner award.  She has been recognized by groups such as the Physicians for Social Responsibility and the American Library Association. 

If you've never read one of Kingsolver's books, you're in for a treat.  Start with Prodigal Summer, The Bean Trees or The Poisonwood Bible.  Or, if you're more interested in nonfiction, try Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. 

Hey, what do you think I should read?

I just finished reading The Borrower, author Rebecca Makkai's first novel.  It was, admittedly, a bit self-indulgent because it focuses on a librarian but --  for the record -- that's where the similarities end (the story centers on the time during which librarian Lucy kidnaps/runs away with a 10-year-old patron).  Still, a moment that rang particularly true for me is when Lucy identifies what she calls "the world's best question".  It's, "Hey, what do you think I should read?"

There's something really great about connecting over a book. When I love a book, or when one gets in my head, I often gently and kindly ask my friends to read it so we can talk about it. (And if my friends tell you that it's more along the lines of me shoving the book at them while rudely demanding they read it, well...potato, potahto, right?)  But, as much as I love the connection you can get from a shared book and as much as I like sharing ideas about what to read, I get a little nervous when someone I've never met asks me to recommend a good book to read.  (Given that this is part of my job, that could be a serious problem.)  If I have a chance to talk with that person and find out what she loves and hates, what her favorite book is and what bestseller she thought was over-rated, I can feel pretty good about finding the right book.  But, to pick a book for someone who hasn't got any preferences and is just looking to start reading more, well -- that's some pressure.  It's happened a few times recently, and all I could think was, what if I misjudge what she would like?  What if I pick something he hates?  What if I single-handedly destroy someone's love of reading by suggesting something that I loved but that someone else thinks is a real dud?  What if, just maybe, I'm overreacting a bit?  What if what they're really looking for is just any book that someone -- anyone -- has liked?

In the past few weeks, I've had to read a few books with absolutely no idea what they were about.  It was a surprisingly great experience and I ended up reading some great books I might not otherwise have found.  It got me out of a reading rut, where everything was starting to sound the same.  It can be a way to find new authors or genres to start following.  And, it can be just good fun to stretch your reading choices a little.

So, how about this?  I'll throw out the titles of a few books I've really enjoyed reading lately, with no extra information, and you do the same.  I don't know what you like to read and, unless you read the blog regularly, you probably don't know what I like to read.  So, let's share:

War by Sebastian Junger
Gardens of Water by Alan Drew
Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks (who continues to impress me as one of the best writers around...sorry, I couldn't help it)
The Good Life by Jay McInerney
Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner
You Wish by Mandy Hubbard
The Little Women Letters by Gabrielle Donnelly
Big Girl Small by Rachel DeWoskin
The First Husband by Laura Dave

Okay, now it's your turn:  "Hey, what do you think I should read?"

L. A. Banks (1959-2011) Rest in Peace

It is with a heavy heart that I report the death of author Leslie Esdaile Banks, who wrote urban fantasy as L. A. Banks.  She died August 2, 2011 of cancer at the age of 51. Philadelphia born Banks attended both the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University.
Her first fantasy novel was Minion, which began the Vampire Huntress series back in 2003. She has also written the Crimson Moon series and had just began a new series about angels with Surrender the Dark and the forthcoming Conquer the Dark. She also contributed stories to many paranormal romance and other anthologies. She was a fantastic writer and I would recommend her books to fantasy and romance readers alike.
Try one of her following series and enjoy the talent and wit that she always brought to the page.  We will miss her.

Vampire Huntress Legend series

Minion
The Awakening
The Hunted
The Bitten
The Forbidden
The Damned
The Forsaken
The Wicked
The Cursed
The Darkness--on order
The Shadows--on order
The Thirteenth--on order

Crimson Moon series

Bad Blood
Bite the Bullet
Undead on Arrival
Cursed to Death
Never Cry Werewolf
Left for Undead

Surrender the Dark series

Surrender the Dark
Conquer the Dark

Collections

The Ancestors--813.0873808 Ance
Valentine's Day is Killing Me--813.08505 Vale (by Leslie Esdaile)

In the Queue

The Puppy Diaries: Raising a Dog Named Scout by Jill Abramson

This part memoir, part manual, part investigative report, shares the personal account of the first year in the life of the author's golden retriever.

Secrets of the Wolves by Dorothy Hearst

At the heart of this story is the theory that it was wolves and dogs that made humans te dominant species by teaching them to hunt, hold territories, and form societies.  Now a young wolf must teach his pack to live among humans without anyone dying.

Emory's Gift by W. Bruce Cameron

When Charlie Hall's mother dies, his father retreats into the silence of grief, leaving Charlie lost and alone.  Fortunately, he discovers a friend in the woods behind his house--a grizzly bear, thought to be extinct in northern Idaho.

Swedish Mysteries and Detective Novels

I recently worked on a book list for a patron who likes Swedish mysteries. I have heard of Mankell and of course Larsson but I was amazed at how many different Swedish crime authors are out there!

From the 1940's on, the mystery genre in Sweden became very popular and can be characterized by two very distinctive traits: a strong sense of place and to highlight the political and social policies of Sweden.
From the 1960's on, the American influence is felt and a great example is Henning Mankell (Kurt Wallander series) who is probably the bestselling Swedish crime novelist and the most well known abroad. In recent years the deceased Stieg Larsson (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) has caused an international sensation with his Millenium Trilogy. Many other Swedish mystery writers have become extremely popular and are writing award-winning detective fiction.  Try one of the following talented Swedes and experience the mystery that is Sweden.

Karin Alvtegen--this award-winning author is also the grandniece of Astrid Lindgren.
Ake Edwardson (Inspector Erik Winter novels)--he is a 3-time winner of the Swedish Crime Writer's Academy Award for best crime novel.
Kerstin Ekman--her taut novel Blackwater is set in the North and focuses on racial tensions between Lapps (Sami) and Swedes.
Kjell Eriksson--he won the 2002 Best Swedish Crime Novel for The Princess of Burundi.
Mari Jungstedt--her husband's birthplace, the island of Gotland, is the setting for her first three novels.
Camilla Lackberg--she is one of Sweden's youngest successful female crime writers.
Asa Larsson--she is a former tax lawyer just like the heroine of her novels, Rebecka Martinsson.
Liza Marklund--she collaborated with James Patterson on The Postcard Killers and became the second Swedish author to reach #1 on the NY Times bestseller list.
Hakan Nesser--he is known for his Van Veeteren mysteries and his Gunnar Barbarotti novels.
Leif G. W. Persson--he is a criminologist and expert commentator on notable crime cases.
Roslund/Hellstrom--this crime-writing duo is Anders Roslund a journalist and Borge Hellstrom an ex-convict & founder of a crime prevention organization.
Johan Theorin--his novels are set on the island of Oland in the Baltic Sea which is where his mother's family hails from.
Helene Tursten--she is a former nurse whose novel's main character is Detective Inspector Irene Huss.