New eNewsletters Available!

Our eNewsletters have been a popular offering at the Washington-Centerville Public Library for many years.  These popular lists can be accessed on our website or sent directly to your email.  Whether you like romance, mystery, chick lit, or simply want to see what's new, we have an eNewsletter for you! 

We're proud to announce seven new e-newsletters that you can subscribe to now!  Are you a cookbook fanatic?  Try our new Simply Cookbooks list.  Do you enjoy reading about famous and historical people?  Our Biography & Memoir list has you covered!  Maybe you're looking for advice on getting into shape.  The Mind & Body Fitness list is a great place to start.  We also offer: Armchair Travel;
Home, Garden & DIY; Nature & Science; and Historical Fiction.

Sign up for these great eNewsletters through this link.  Or send us a message at readersadv@wcpl.lib.oh.us.

Run for The Roses

I was choosing the theme for our May book display for our library and I didn't want to go traditional (aka mother's day theme) so I looked and found exactly what I was looking for in Anna Napravnik. She is the first female jockey to finish in the top 10 in the Kentucky Derby and if she gets the honor and pleasure of riding in the Derby again this year. I will be rooting her on hoping she finishes in the top 5. 

Women, the Derby and dreams are the perfect setting for May's display. It's about dreams, inspiration and success.  May is also the time when our library celebrates the Good Life. The Good Life Award is a contest for teens who live or attend school in Montgomery County Ohio. They write an essay and share their ideas about living a life that is fun, purposeful and happy. Talk about dreams and success, the Good Life is all about living life to the fullest. So if you'd like to read more about the Kentucky Derby or find a book on dreaming, success or inspiration you can check out these books and more at our library.  

 The Kentucky Derby: how the run for the roses became America's premier sporting event by James Nicholson. The book illuminates the 130 year history of our love affair with the Kentucky Derby and highlights the true stars of the race, the horse and the jockeys.
Kentucky Derby dreams: the making of thoroughbred champions by Susan Nusser is a book that focuses on the work involved in taking a foal and making it into a champion.

Courage: Eight Portraits by Gordon Brown gives us a portrait of eight men and women, shows us their courage and leads us to inspiration.  

Lift by Kelly Corrigan is written as a letter to Kelly's children. It's rich detail and her tender style show her story of risk and love and ultimately how to live life fully.

Sea of Lost Dreams by Ferenc Mate' is an enthralling historical adventure. The story oa man against the fury of the elements; of dreams colliding with reality; of an anguished ancient culture combating tyranny.

Stuck Between the Living and the Dead

I recently finished Rosamund Lupton's latest novel, Afterwards.  The premise was so intriguing that I just had to pick it up.

A school catches fire while the students, teachers and parents are outside during the annual sports day.  But one of the parents, Grace, is startled to find that her daughter, Jenny, is still inside.  She struggles against the smoke and flames to save her daughter but both are badly injured.  They find themselves in the hospital as patients but also as beings caught between the living and the dead.  The story revolves around mother and daughter who follow Grace's husband, her son Adam, and sister-in-law Sarah, a police officer, who are trying to unlock the secrets of the mysterious blaze. 

This was a very hard book to put down.  Yes, it is part mystery, and a very good one at that, but it's more centered around Grace and Jenny's relationships with those who cannot see or hear them.  Grace's husband has to simultaneously deal with his wife and daughter's injuries while trying to find how this happened.  Young Adam shuts down because his mom and sister may not live through the accident.  And Sarah goes against every rule in the book in her pursuit of the truth.

Pick up this fast-paced thriller and find out what it may be like to be stuck between the living and the dead!

Robert Frost--National Poetry Month 2012

April is National Poetry Month and has been celebrated every year since 1996.  The library has a great display of poetry books this month at both locations--check one out.

One of my favorite poets is Robert Frost and last month I came across a few interesting and heartbreaking bits about his life.  Robert Frost was born March 26, 1874 in San Francisco. He moved to New England at the age of eleven and became interested in poetry during his high school years in Massachusetts. He took a long time to become a successful poet and struggled through poverty, depression, and the untimely deaths of several family members.  He published his first collection of poems when he was 39 and it was a major success.  This man endured so many tragedies that I am amazed that he could even get out of bed. His father died when he was eleven and his mother when he was twenty-six.  He lost his 4-year-old son Elliot of cholera in 1900 and his 3-day-old daughter Elinor Bettina in 1907.  His sister Jeanie died in an asylum in 1929 and his daughter Marjorie died in 1934 after childbirth. He outlived his wife Elinor, who died in 1938, by almost thirty years and his only other son Carol committed suicide in 1940.

 

March 7, 1923 was the day that his poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" was published.  Frost said this was his favorite poem because he had based it on his own life.  One year on December 22nd, he realized that he and his wife wouldn't be able to afford gifts for their children.  He scrounged up some farm produce, took his wagon into town, and tried to sell enough to buy Christmas presents.  He couldn't sell a single thing, it was starting to snow, and it was getting dark. He was almost home when he was overcome with shame and grief and had to stop and cry.  Eventually, he collected himself and went home to his family.  His daughter Lesley said she remembered the story and that her father told her: "A man has as much right as a woman to a good cry now and again.  The snow gave me shelter; the horse understood and gave me the time."

Robert Frost is one of America's most celebrated poets and has won many honors including four Pulitzer Prizes. He read his poems at JFK's inauguration.  About Frost, the President said: "He has bequeathed his nation a body of imperishable verse from which Americans will forever gain joy and understanding." I like Frost's poetry because a lot of it is about the beauty of nature.  Sometimes I notice a layer of sadness in his poems -- now I know why.

"I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence;
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
(From "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost

Who is your favorite poet?

An author crush, realized*

Some people dream of meeting movie stars. Some people imagine what it would be like to hang out with professional athletes. Some people want to meet philanthropists and humanitarians. Me? It's all about the authors.  I know...I'll give you a moment to get over your shock. After all, I've been quite public about my author crushes, so who can be surprised that I might possibly imagine becoming besties with some of my favorite authors? The problem is, I haven't historically acquitted myself well when I've met them.  I tend to become somewhat tongue-tied. (I could only manage to whimper with a ridiculous grin when I met Geraldine Brooks...not my proudest moment).

This past Thursday evening, I had the chance to hear Adriana Trigiani speak at Books and Co. at The Greene. My friend, Kristin, and I were positively giddy as we waited for Ms. Trigiani to arrive. My love affair with Trigiani's books began with Big Stone Gap, the story of Ave Maria Mulligan, a "spinster" pharmacist living in Big Stone Gap, VA, and was solidified by Lucia, Lucia, the tale of Lucia, a woman who wants a career in fashion in 1950s New York, but is increasingly tempted by a handsome businessman. The descriptions of the clothes, the food, and New York were incredibly vivid. In her newest book, The Shoemaker's Wife, Trigiani reimagines her grandparents' love story as Italian immigrants.  As with her other books, I found myself completely engrossed and lost to their world. I was completely nervous about how I would present myself to this author whose work I adore.

Sometimes, the reality exceeds expectations.  Adriana Trigiani was funny, warm, gracious, and open. Despite being completely starstruck, she made me comfortable enough that I largely maintained my composure (perhaps overcompensating by tackling her with a hug...hurray for a lack of security personnel on hand!) and was even able to ask a question or two and converse more or less like a normal person. I believe she made everyone in that room feel as if she was their best friend (of course, Kristin and I know that really we were the ones she wanted to hang out with...or so I'll continue to tell myself).

If you've never read her books, do yourself a favor and check one out. If you already love her books and have never seen her speak, keep an eye out for her next visit (fans of the Valentine books: she says Ciao, Valentine is already written and she told me she will be back to Dayton when it's published). If you saw a crazy librarian hugging an author on Thursday night, don't worry: we're BFFs now. 

*With thanks to Kristin for her words summing up the evening. 

Good Stuff: A Reminiscence of My Father, Cary Grant

Having a crummy day and need something to lift your spirits? What you need is a little Cary Grant in your life. What you need is some Good Stuff. Grant was fond of this phrase and used it whenever he was happy about something, and it’s also the title of the book written about him by his only child, daughter Jennifer Grant. Now, if you’re looking for dirty family secrets and tabloid fodder, look elsewhere. You won’t find any of that in Good Stuff. In Jennifer’s eyes, Grant was a thoughtful and loving father, and she absolutely adored him. That adoration positively shines through on every page of this slim volume, making it a glowing tribute to one of Hollywood’s greatest actors. While most people are only familiar with Grant as the charming movie star and ladies' man, Jennifer saw a much more intimate side of him. She knew him as a man who could grow teary-eyed at the singing of the national anthem, a homebody who often ate dinner in front of the television with her while watching their favorite sitcoms, and a father who was never afraid or embarrassed to tell her how much he loved her. That he doted on Jennifer is an understatement; indeed, he gave up his movie career to focus solely on raising her.  But while he made sure she never wanted for anything, he also taught her the value working hard and earning one’s way in the world. Good Stuff is filled with family anecdotes, pictures, and snippets from the “Jennifer Grant Archives.” Yes, her father kept meticulous records of her childhood, everything from tape recordings to letters to Super 8 movies; practically anything she touched was fair game to be filed away for safekeeping. It’s through these mementos that he speaks to her still, “a little grumble with a Cheshire cat sparkle in the mix,” and gives us a glimpse of the type of man and father he truly was. Trust me, it really is good stuff, and it will make you smile.

And the winner in fiction is...no one

In a move that has shaken the literary world, when the Pulitzer Prize winners were announced yesterday there was a noticeable gap.  There were winners for investigative reporting and local reporting (congratulations to the 24-year-old Sara Ganim for starting her career with a bang), winners for drama and biography, but no one won the prize for a work of fiction. 

The judges announced that three finalists had been chosen but no single title earned a majority of the votes.  The finalists were Train Dreams by Denis Johnson, Swamplandia by Karen Russell, and The Pale King by David Foster Wallace. Each of these books was received to wide acclaim.  So what happened?  According to this great article by The Daily Beast, the jurors want to make clear that it wasn't a lack of good books.  Three jurors (this year, Maureen Corrigan, Susan Larson, and Michael Cunningham) narrowed the field of over 300 titles to 3 finalists.  The finalists were sent on to the board of 20 members, 18 of whom are voting members.  From there, the closed-door rules of the Pulitzer organization make it unclear what happened, but they have acknowledged there was a problem.  The resulting non-vote has angered many, from the jurors to publishers, authors to readers. 

In the world of non-fiction, there were winners in every category, including Dayton native Manning Marable's Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention for history.  Other winners include:

Biography - George F. Kennan: An American Life by John Lewis Gaddis

Poetry - Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith

General Nonfiction - The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt

The final question for me is what is the value of the Pulitzer Prize? Are you more likely to read a book because it's won an award? I confess that I am, particularly for a select few awards (The Man Booker Prize, The National Book Award, and, usually, the Pulitzer are bound to attract my attention). With this year's non-award, will it be viewed as a three-way tie, or will none of the books get the extra boost of being a Pulitzer Prize winner?  What do awards mean to you and your reading? 

Werewolves, Vampires and Fae

I found a new author, guess she isn't really new, it's just the first time I read one of her books.  I like fantasy, suspense fiction and action packed stories that have well developed characters.  Patricia Briggs offers her readers all that in her Mercedes Thompson novels.  I should know I spent the past few days reading Moon Called, Blood Bound, Iron Kissed, and Silver Borne. Tonight I'll probably read, River Marked (yep, just finished it).  Then I have to wait a year for her next in the series, Frost Burned (sigh) . 

Her books are similar to Laurell Hamilton's Anita Blake series, except Patty does not include explicit sex scenes. She has vampires, werewolves, fae and of course good old humans. Mercedes is a walker, this makes her not fully human, not a werewolf, vampire or fae but something other. She is still learning what a walker is and it seems no one can tell her what she is or rather those who know are not willing to part with the knowledge.  I am guessing because it will give Mercedes power. Unlike Anita Blake, Mercedes does not heal quickly. Yet she gets in a mess of trouble all the time just like Anita.  They don't usually start the trouble but both heroines end up finishing it.  If you enjoy Urban Fantasy and don't mind fight scenes, give the Mercedes Thompson series or the Anita Blake Series a try.  Another similar title is Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris. Harris blends horror, mystery and a bit of romance into her own paranormal series, which includes vampires and werewolves.   Her witty style makes her novels a fun read and the touch of horroe hooks you and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

I'm not embarrassed to read teen books

I kept waiting for the punchline in a recent New York Times online debate. Joel Stein, columnist for Time magazine, wrote, "The only thing more embarrassing...is seeing a guy on the plane reading The Hunger Games." He compared YA fiction with books like Dr. Seuss's Horton Hatches the Egg in lacking complexity and depth. He then acknowledged that he's made this judgment without ever having read any YA books. Maybe he's too mature for teen books, but my children are not yet 10 years old and they already know you shouldn't make up your mind about something before you try it, whether it's broccoli or a book. Frankly, I'd be more embarrassed to be caught making decisions based out of ignorance than to be seen reading a book. 

Joel Stein seems to miss a few distinctions.  There is a difference between YA and children's fiction.  YA, or teen fiction, does not in any way resemble the picture books Stein references. (Incidentally, there are also great books written for children that I've read as an adult for my own enjoyment, not for my kids'. Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu and A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle are two that stand out in my mind). Of course a Dr. Seuss book doesn't have the same impact on adults as David Foster Wallace does.  That's not its intent. Teen books, though, are not picture books.  They often tackle some of the big questions in life -- how to live, how to love, how to find your own path in the world.

Sure, some teen books -- even some of the most popular --are simplistic and shallowly treated but some are truly complex, intricately-plotted, and have well-developed characters. Couldn't you say the same thing about fiction marketed to adults? Let's acknowledge that there are good writers and...less good writers across the age spectrum. Some of the most compelling stories I've read in the past few years have been shelved in the YA area.  Don't believe me? Try reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and not being affected by it. Read Delirium and Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver for a fascinating consideration of the worth of love and the government's role in our personal lives. And, yes, you might want to try The Hunger Games trilogy. 

Joel Stein claims that he doesn't read teen fiction because he wouldn't get anything from it.  If he judged a book by its character rather than its location in the library, he might find that there is often more in a book geared toward children or teens than he thought. I can't find a better way to say it than to leave with a quote from Madeleine L'Engle.  When asked, "Why do you write for children?" she answered, "My immediate response to this question is, "I don't." ... If it's not good enough for adults, it's not good enough for children. If a book that is going to be marketed for children does not interest me, a grownup, then I am dishonoring the children for whom the book is intended, and I am dishonoring books. And words. Sometimes I answer that if I have something I want to say that is too difficult for adults to swallow, then I will write it in a book for children. This is usually good for a slightly startled laugh, but it's perfectly true. Children still haven't closed themselves off with fear of the unknown, fear of revolution, or the scramble for security..." Mr. Stein could learn a lesson from this.

Celebrate Southern Asian Literature

I recently read that Khaled Hosseini's birthday was March 4th.  Happy Birthday Mr. Hosseini!  He was born in Afghanistan in 1965 and is an excellent writer so I was wondering what other authors are from that locale.  Some people consider Afghanistan and Pakistan as part of the Greater Middle East.  Others designate them as part of Southern Asia.  So, no matter which area of the world you think these countries are part of--they all bring us great literature.  Try the following talented authors:

Jamil Ahmad--Pakistan--The Wandering Falcon

Monica Ali--British/Bangladeshi--The Untold Story

Tahmima Anam--Bangladesh--The Good Muslim

Romesh Gunesekera--Sri Lankan/British--The Match

Mohammed Hanif--Pakistan--Our Lady of Alice Bhatti

Moni Mohsin--Pakistan-Duty Free

Michael Ondaatje--Sri Lankan/Canadian--The Cat's Table

Atiq Rahimi--French/Afghani--A Thousand Rooms of Dreams and Fear

Shyam Selvadurai--Sri Lankan/Canadian--Funny Boy

Ali Sethi--Pakistan--Wish Maker

Kamila Shamsie--Pakistan--Burnt Shadows

Samrat Upadhyay--Nepal--Buddha's Orphans

Tune in next week (I've always wanted to say that) for authors from Iran and India.

For more on the Middle East try our lecture series.

Guest Post: Twice Upon A Time by Tim Waggoner

We at Fine Print are excited to offer you a series of local author blog posts throughout the year!  Our first offering is from Tim Waggoner, in which he discusses the books/authors that have influenced his own writing.  Click here for a list of books the library carries by Mr. Waggoner.

When I was asked to write a blog about books that influenced me as a writer, I really had to think about it. In a very real sense, every book I’ve ever read has had an impact on me, so how could I choose? Should I pick the first novel I remember reading on my own, a kids’ books called The Space Ship Under the Apple Tree by Louis Slobodkin? Should I mention the  anthology Alfred Hitchcock’s Monster Museum (where I first read Ray Bradbury’s wonderful story “Homecoming”)? Or should I talk about how after reading quite a bit as a child, I stopped reading almost entirely in my preteen years? It wasn’t a novel that got me back into reading, though: it was comic books. Reading them eventually led me to start reading full-length written-for-adults novels. If it hadn’t been for comics, I doubt I’d ever have started writing. But after a lot of thought I narrowed it down to two books that had the most influence on me as a writer, and once I did, the choices not only seemed right, but – in retrospect at least – obvious.

I read both books sometime during my junior high years, although I can’t remember in which order. My guess is that Piers Anthony’s A Spell for Chameleon came first, so I’ll start with it. This is a fantasy adventure novel that takes place in the magical land of Xanth, but Xanth is special even for a fantasy world. It has more in common with Alice’s Wonderland than Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Xanth is absolutely drenched in magic – every plant, animal, and person there is touched by magic somehow, in ways both small and large. I loved the story, the characters, and the humor in the book, but what really impressed me was the wild creativity on display throughout the novel. Anthony let his imagination run rampant when creating Xanth, and reading this book – plus many of the sequels that he would write in the years to come – showed me the power of pure, unfettered imagination in action.

 The second book is Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot. King was a new novelist back then, and I remember a friend of mine trying to tell me about this vampire book he’d read that wasn’t just scary, it was really, really scary. I’d always liked spooky movies and stories growing up, and I especially liked ones about vampires. I’d read and loved Richard Matheson’s classic I am Legend (recently voted best vampire novel of the twentieth century at the 2012 World Horror Convention) and Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. So I figured King’s novel was right up my alley.

Salem’s Lot blew me away. King’s characters, his use of setting, his sense of language, his imagery, the way he built suspense . . . I’d never experienced anything like it before. Books are just a long series of words on a page, but King was able to use them to affect my imagination in a way no other writer had been able to before. From this book – and from the many others by King that I read afterward – I learned that a writer is like a composer. He or she writes the equivalent of a musical score and gives it to the reader to play, and the instrument the reader uses is his or her own imagination.
       
So from Anthony I learned how to unleash the power of my own imagination when it came to building fictional worlds, and from King I learned how to use words and ideas to reach out from the page, get inside readers’ heads, and stimulate their imaginations. I can truthfully say that I wouldn’t be the writer I am today – probably wouldn’t be a writer at all – if it wasn’t for the work of these two authors.

Tim Waggoner’s novels include the Nekropolis series of urban fantasies and the Ghost Trackers series written in collaboration with Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson of the Ghost Hunters television show. In total, he’s published over twenty-five novels and two short story collections, and his articles on writing have appeared in Writer’s Digest and Writers’ Journal, among others. He teaches creative writing at Sinclair Community College and in Seton Hill University’s Master of Fine Arts in Writing Popular Fiction program. Visit him on the web at www.timwaggoner.com.

In the Queue

The Lion Is In by Delia Ephron

Three unusual runaways take refuge in a roadside bar. They meet Marcel, a retired circus performer and begin to relax until their past catches up with them.

Fifteen Digits by Nick Santora

Five ’blue-collar’ men work at the law firm, Olmstead & Taft. Everyday their job is to copy and collate mountains of paperwork that document millions in legal secrets. Then one day they are approached by an ambitious attorney who teaches them that what they have is inside information. They can get rich, but at what cost?

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlan

In this irresistible memoir, the #1 New York Times bestselling author writes about her life and the lives of women today, looking back and ahead—and celebrating it all—as she considers marriage, girlfriends, our mothers, faith, loss all the stuff in our closets, and more.

Seeing What You're Not Supposed To See

Children are extremely curious about the world around them.  If an adult tells them, "You're not supposed to go there," guess what, they are immediately heading to the forbidden area. 

Wiley Cash's extraordinary debut novel A Land More Kind Than Home shows how a child's curiosity leads to disaster.  Young Jess Hall and his mute brother, Christopher, like spying on people.  They watch their father working in the barn.  They watch their mother hanging laundry.  But when Christopher sees something he shouldn't, and gets caught, the consequences throw the whole family into a dire situation.

I really like how Cash chose to tell this story.  He alternates first person narrators between Jess, local midwife Adelaide, and the sherrif Clem.  They each bring their own particular knowledge about the main characters.  But the story also involves a local preacher who uses less than conventional methods of getting locals involved in his church.  This is the character you will want to read about in this debut novel.  I had the immediate feeling that there was more to him than what the locals knew about, but his story is sure to astound. 

Two questions come out of this story:  What would you do if you saw something you weren't supposed to see and got caught in the act?  More importantly, if you were on the other end and wanted to keep it a secret, how far would you go to make sure it never gets out?  Find out how Jess, Adelaide and Clem deal with these questions when A Land More Kind Than Home is released later this month!