William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope by Ian Doescher

William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope by Ian Doescher

Being a self-admitted sci-fi nerd, bookish, and a librarian causes me to stumble across some very interesting and unique crossovers, parodies, and mashups. Most people are familiar with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and its other similar spin offs. I have also come across a slightly more puzzling crossover in the form of a graphic novel of Dr. Who teaming up with Cpt. Jean Luke Picard to stop a Borg/Cybermen alliance. But what has most recently caught my attention is Williams Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope by Ian Doescher. Now, initially I was torn between excitement and annoyance regarding this combination of two things I very much like and never thought to combine. However, Ian Doescher, did a spectacular job transferring Star Wars: A New Hope into the language and the style of the Bard himself. He stays true to much of the plot and even works in some more well-known lines from the movie. Doescher does add a few bits that you don’t find in the movie, such as Luke Skywalker’s “Alas poor, Stormtrooper” scene, a clever take on the “Alas, poor Yorick” done in Hamlet.    

Yet, there are a few downsides to this book. You might get odd looks from coworkers and family as you regale them with the St. Crispin’s Day from Henry V pastiche that occurs before the Death Star trench run. Also, was with most Shakespeare, it really does work best if read aloud. So, if you can find friends and relations that would enjoy this nerdy mix-up, I would highly recommend getting them together and giving this book a try.

The Best American Literature of 2013

If you are an avid fan of American literature you have got to try these books!The National Book Award Longlists have been released. These books were  written by United States citizens and published in the United States.

The National Book Award recognizes the best in quality writing. It all begins when book publishers submit their nominees and than a panel of five judges (per category) selects a 'longlist' of books they deem the best American literature of the year. There are four categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young people's literature.

Previous winners of this prestigous award include, The Round House by Louise Erdhrich, Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward and Lord Of Misrule: A Novel By Jamy Gordon. You can find a complete list of award winners and finalists here.

If you have not read these great American titles now is the perfect time.

The National Book Award for Fiction Longlist

Pacific: A Novel Novel By Tom Drury
The End of the Point by Elizabeth Graver
The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner
The Lowland: A Novel by Jhumpa Lahiri
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena: A Novel by Anthony Marra
The Good Lord Bird by Jame McBride
Someone by Alice McDermott
Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon
Fools by Joan Silber

The National Book Award for Nonfiction Longlist
Finding Florida by T. D. Allman
Facing the Wave a Journey in the Wake of the Tsunami by Gretel Ehrlich
The Wolf and the Watchman: A Father, a Son, and the CIA. by Scott C. Johnson
Book of Ages: The Life and Opinion of Jane Franklin by Jill LePore
Hitler's Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields by Wendy Lower
Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States by James Oakes
The Unwinding: An Inner History of teh New America by George Packer
The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia 1772-1832 by Alan Taylor
Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington by Terry Teachout
Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood & the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright

The National Book Award for Poetry Longlist
Metaphysical Dog by Frank Bidart
Bury My Clothes by Roger Bonair-Agard
Stay, Illusion by Lucie Brock-Broido
So Recently Rent a World, New and Selected Poems: 1968-2012 by Andrei Codrescu
Seasonal Work with Letters on Fire By Brenda Hillman
The Big Smoke By Adrian Matejka
American Amnesiac By Diane Raptosh
Black Aperture By Matt Rasmussen
Transfer of Qualitites By Martha Ronk
Incarnadine: Poems By Mary Szybist

The National Book Award for Young People's Literature Longlist
The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp By Kathi Appelt
Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures By Kate DiCamillo
A Tangle of Knots By Lisa Graff
The Summer Prince  By Alaya Dawn Johnson
The Thing About Luck By Cynthia Kadohata
Two Boys Kissing By David Levithan
Far, Far Away By Tom McNeal
Picture Me Gone By Meg Rosoff
The Real Boy By Anne Ursu
Boxers & Saints By Gene Luen Yang

On the Come Up

Debut fiction can be tough. First novels can be so full of a writer’s efforts and emotions that the storyline suffers under the weight of the language or complex plot. Debut novels can also be amazing and beautiful because the story has been bottled up for so long that the writer is able to convey the story without too many words. To all of you reading this, I recommend you do not read a steady diet of debuts. Variety is the spice of reading life, too. Without mixing it up a bit, you stand to miss some amazing books. On the same note, don’t ignore debuts to wait for a writer to “prove themselves.” You’ll be missing out.

A recently released debut novel that reads like a 9^th or 10^th book of a seasoned author is On the Come Up by Hannah Weyer. Hannah Weyer is an award winning filmmaker, so she is no stranger to the written word. However, this is her first published novel. The story follows the life of AnnMarie Walker—a thirteen-year-old from Far Rockaway, Queens. AnnMarie is wise beyond her years and able to see the hold that the neighborhood (as well as drugs, violence, and government assistance) has on people. She dreams of being able to escape Far Rockaway and leave it behind her. Even with the struggles and violence that AnnMarie faces, she continues to stay strong and persevere. Four months before she’s due to give birth to her first child, AnnMarie attends a casting call for a movie on a whim. She lands the part and her life begins to change. However, after the movie and a trip to the Sundance Film Festival, AnnMarie finds herself back in New York. AnnMarie stays focused on her future, looking beyond just the day-to-day, to make sure her life is her own and will develop into something more.

Weyer based the novel on the true story of Anna Simpson. Weyer met Anna when Anna was filming the movie Our Song just after becoming a new mother at the age of sixteen. Weyer’s boyfriend at the time (now husband), Jim McKay, directed the movie. To this day, Hannah, Jim, and Anna are close. Just like AnnMarie/Anna, I can easily say that Hannah Weyer is on the come up in the world of literature. I can’t wait to read more.

2013 Best Mystery Awards!

 

 

The World Mystery Convention is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization which holds an annual convention in honor of Anthony Boucher, the distinguished mystery fiction critic, editor and author. It is the world's premier event bringing together all parts of the mystery and crime fiction community, and is commonly referred to as Bouchercon.

Bouchercon 2013: A New York State of Mind was held in Albany, New York in September 2013.  Awards presented included The Anthony Awards, The Barry Awards, The Macavity Awards, and The Shamus Awards.

Please help congratulate the following winners by reading one of their great books.

 

The Beautiful Mystery - Louise Penny

Anthony Award Best Mystery Novel
Macavity Award Best Mystery Novel

When a peaceful monastery in Quebec is shattered by a murder, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir are challenged to find the killer in a community that has taken a vow of silence.
  

   

The Expats - Chris Pavone

Anthony Award Best First Mystery

Along the cobble-stoned streets of Luxembourg, mother and expat Kate Moore suspect that another American couple are not who they claim to be. A first novel.
 

   

Big Maria - Johnny Shaw

Anthony Award Best Paperback Original

100 years ago a miner stashed gold in Arizona's Chocolate Mountains.  Harry's living on disability and getting beaten down. Frank's an old-timer battling cancer and a domineering daughter. And Ricky's a good kid in a bad spot, doing everything for family. Together they're staking what little they have left on a dangerous quest to the Big Maria Mine.
 

   

The Blackhouse - Peter May

Barry Award Best Novel

When a grisly murder occurs on a Scottish island, Edinburgh detective Fin Macleod must confront his past if he's ever going to discover if this killing has a connection to one that took place on the mainland.

 

A Killing in the Hills - Julia Keller

Barry Award Best First Novel

A first novel by a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist finds a prosecuting attorney and her estranged teenage daughter trying to protect their town and each other in the aftermath of a shocking triple murder. 

   

Mr. Churchill's Secretary - Susan Elia MacNeal 

Barry Award Best Paperback Original

After the Luftwaffe bomb London, Maggie Hope--trained in math and code breaking, but only able to find a job as a secretary--uses the unfettered access her position demands to try to unravel a plot to assassinate Churchill himself. A first novel.
 

   

The Fallen Angel - Daniel Silva

Barry Award Best Thriller

When the body of a woman is found beneath Michelangelo's dome, Gabriel Allon is summoned to secretly investigate this mysterious death that has been ruled a suicide.
 

   

Don't Ever Get Old - Daniel Friedman
 

Macavity Award Best First Mystery Novel

Learning that an old adversary may have escaped with a fortune in stolen gold, retired Memphis cop Buck Schatz teams up with his plugged-in, smart-alecky grandson in a vigilante investigation.
  

   

An Unmarked Grave - Charles Todd
 

Macavity Award - Sue Feder Historical Mystery Award

Battlefield nurse Bess Crawford, while contending with wounded soldiers, stumbles upon the body of an officer and family friend who has been murdered.
 

   

Taken - Robert Crais 

Shamus Award Best P. I. Novel

Hired along with Joe Pike to investigate the alleged kidnapping of a wealthy industrialist's son, Elvis Cole quickly disproves police theories and goes undercover to infiltrate a ring of professional kidnappers.
 

   

And She Was - Alison Gaylin

Shamus Award Best P. I. Paperback Original

When missing persons detective Brenna Spector, who has a rare disorder that enables her to recall every detail of her life, investigates the disappearance of a local woman, she uncovers some strange connections.
 

  

Black Fridays - Michael Sears

 

Shamus Award Best First P. I. Novel

Struggling to rebuild his life after prison, former Wall Street hotshot Jason Stafford is tapped to investigate a suspicious death, an assignment that is complicated by his efforts to reclaim his son from his unstable ex-wife.



For more information:

Anthony Awards

Barry Awards

Macavity Awards

Shamus Awards

 

 

 

Suspenseful Thrillers

If you enjoy fast paced novels that are filled with adventure and suspense then be prepared for a treat! I have listed below awesome suspense filled thrillers and I am attaching a link to NPR's top 100 Killer Thrillers. NPR's list was based on their audience picks. The NPR audience chose 600 novels and after 17,000 ballots were counted the top 100 are listed here.

Our library will soon have a Patron Picks section, which are titles our patrons have told us are ones they love!  So if you have a favorite novel (it does not have to be a thriller) tell me about it! I read a lot, but...some of the best books I've read have been ones that a patron recommended to me.

Here are my top picks for suspenseful thrillers.

 Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson
Memories define us. So what if you lost your memory every time you went to sleep? Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love--all forgotten overnight. This is Christine's life and the one person she must trust may only be telling her half the truth.

 The Spy Who Came In From the Cold by John Le Carre
John Le Carre's third novel that won him international acclaim. He creates a suspense world unlike any other. 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
A Multi layered thriller that is a spellbinding murder mystery, family saga, love story and a story of financial intrigue rolled into one amazing novel!

The Blue Nowhere by Jeffrey Deaver
His code name is Phate, a sadistic computer hacker who infiltrates people's computers, invades their lives and then lures them to their death.

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
If you prefer reading about mind games rather than chase scenes, this one should not be missed!

The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen
A briskly paced suspenseful thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
A terrifying true life story of the murders of the Clutter family. There was no motive, no reason for the murders.

The Absent One by Jussi Adler-Olsen
A surprising plot filled with ruthless people who were seduced by violence and hidden by their power and wealth until a homeless woman begins delivering her brand of 'justice'.

The Affair by Lee Child
A novel of unrelenting suspense that tells the story of why Jack Reacher became a one man vigilante squad.

Spilled Blood by Brian Freeman
A taut thriller about a two Minnesota towns that are locked in a deadly feud and a teenage girl who gets caught in the crossfire. 

You Don't Want to Know  by Lisa Jackson
A mother's worst nightmare comes to life in this terrifying thriller that will keep you guessing and then leave you horrified. 

 

An Ode to Middle-Earth

You’ve read the books. Seen the movies. And maybe, if you’re a dork like me, you’ve even watched the Rankin-Bass animated films with the cheesy songs--"Where there's a whip, there's a way!" As a kid, I remember seeing the words Frodo Lives spray-painted on walls before I even knew who Frodo was. We weren't formally introduced until the summer of 1983, when I spent a week immersed in The Fellowship of the Ring, the first book of The Lord of the Rings (also known as The Greatest Fantasy Series Ever Written). By summer’s end, I’d devoured the entire trilogy and spent most of my spare time daydreaming about the goodness that was Middle-Earth. Of course, this led me to try my hand at creating my very own fantasy world. Using whatever paper I managed to swipe from school, I drew gigantic maps of make-believe countries and continents which I carefully pieced together and plastered all over my bedroom walls. I also began penning badly written stories and poems that were nothing more than thinly veiled knock-offs of Tolkien’s works. These I kept hidden away in an envelope beneath my pillow. They’ve since been lost, and thank goodness for that. But the madness didn’t end there. Yeah, you can probably guess where this is going: The Silmarillion. Boy, the why-in-the-world-do-you-want-to-read-this? look the librarian gave me when I checked that one out was priceless. Undeterred, I waded through The Silmarillion (which inspired me to create my own mythology), then proceeded to read Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle Earth. Yes,  J. R. R. Tolkien was my best friend that summer, and we certainly had some times. 

Admittedly, I have yet to go back and re-read these books, probably because there are so many other stories, written and unwritten, that require my attention. But someday I will. I imagine it’ll be just like visiting an old friend.

Saga, Volumes 1 & 2 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

Saga, Volumes 1 & 2 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

Graphic novels, by their nature and history, have a tendency to play with themes and concepts that are a bit odd even in science fiction novels. The story starts in the middle of a long, ongoing war between two races, one uses magic and the other technology. The conflict has gone on for so long that the two species have opted to outsource their battles to other planets in order to save their own from the devastation of war. Our main characters are star-crossed lovers, one from each of the feuding species. We come into the story as their child is being born and they learn that both of their species is hunting them and their child to put an end to all three.

The storytelling is remarkable; we learn small bits of the backstory and the unique universe that Vaughan has created. With little fragments, he brings a story of war and love, of life and cultures, machines and nature, so complex, so strange that even the participants of the story are never sure what to expect.

This graphic novel is not for everyone. There are liberal amounts of sex, nudity, violence, gore, language, and general weirdness. , But if such things do not bother you, then I would strongly recommend you read these graphic novels and experience for yourself. For every crass moment that Vaughan writes and Staples draws, there are equally poignant moments and it becomes clear how Saga won the Eisner Best New, Best Continuing, and Best Writer Awards for 2013.