READ @ MPL

This prequel to Sex and the City is about Carrie Bradshaw's senior year of high school and what led her to her beloved New York City. In a small Connecticut town, her friends were inseparable until bad boy Sebastian Kydd came to town and a friend's betrayal changed everything. She's smart, with a talent for math, but she wants to be a writer; she has to learn to think for herself and make her own decisions. She takes this on with wit and some fairly risky adventures. Fans will recognize the Carrie they know from the previous book and tv series, but The Carrie Diaries can stand alone.

Submitted by Jacki @MPL Central

Mary Beth Latham lives in a suburban New England town with her husband and three teenage children (twin boys and daughter). She realistically and beautifully narrates her pretty ordinary life of family, school, work, friends, sports, and cooking. After one of her sons is diagnosed with depression, she immerses herself in concern for him. Meanwhile, her daughter wants to break up with her long-time boyfriend (who is like a member of the family) and so she attempts to balance all the emotional needs of her family. Even though there is heavy foreshadowing, the brutal and savage act that happens half way through the book is still shocking and dreadful. This act changes "every last one" of her family members forever. For me, the second half was emotionally troubling to read yet so very eloquently rendered. Mary Beth's journey through her sadness is both heart-breaking and hopeful. Check catalog for availability.

- Submitted by Rebecca @ MPL Central

At a suburban barbeque a man slaps a child who is not his own...discuss. And yes, that is what this novel does; each chapter tells a different characters perspective on the situation. This is Australian author Tsiolkas' fourth novel, but the first to be published in the U.S. Suggested for fans of Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections and Don DeLillo's Underworld.

Check catalog for availability.

- Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central

"This, the third edition of Le Morte DArthur with Aubrey Beardsley's designs is limited to 1600 copies, after printing which the type has been distributed."

Le Morte DArthur contains hundreds of drawings by Aubrey Beardsley, most, if not all, of which were made specifically for Sir Thomas Malory's text. The first (1485), second (1498) and third (1529) editions vary slightly in the number of drawings accompanying the text as well as number of chapters. Also, the third edition has the original cover design.

The third edition follows "accurately and completely the best text, [and] shall be modernized in spelling and punctuation... [while maintaining] the grammar of the period in which it was written." Interestingly the original manuscript completed in 1469 has never been found.

If you are interested in tales about King Arthur and his court, or would like to view the fantastical drawings by Aubrey Beardsley you can make an appointment to see this 1529 volume of Morte DArthur by calling the Art, Music and Recreation department at the Central Library at 414-286-3000. Here is catalog information for this book.

If you'd like to see other books related to this item, here are a plethora of others that the Milwaukee Public Library holds.

Submitted by Paula N. @ MPL Central

When an author's writing makes me thankful for my ability to read and feel by gliding into another person's world, it is truly remarkable. I'm still reeling from the experience of this novel and look forward to hearing what other people think.

This is the story of a young girl named Rose who discovers that she can taste other people's deepest emotions and secrets through the food that they prepare. This changes her perspective on the world. And while she tells us her story we learn about her brother and mother and father. Her brother Joseph wants nothing more than to be left alone, to disappear from the limitations of his life. The two understand each other only as siblings can, even though they refuse to accept, at least at first, the peculiarities of the other. It takes George, Joseph's brilliant friend, to release both of them. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central

Gail Carriger's debut novels Soulless and Changeless (check catalog for availability) were so much fun that I had to go out right away and get the second one to read before I even finished the first. Both novels are in Carriger's The Parasol Protectorate series. Set in a parallel Victorian steampunk England where vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and other creatures are contributing members of society, Carriger's main character has to navigate not only the dangers of the supernatural set but also the murky depths of high society.

Alexia Tarabotti has to contend both with the discomfort of being half-Italian in English Victorian society, as well as concealing the fact that she is preternatural. Preternaturals are not well known either among the ton or the supernatural set and can revert a supernatural back to their human state simply by touching them. Alexia deals with the supernaturals in a way that befits her station and refuses to tolerate rudeness or impropriety.

In Soulless, after Alexia accidentally kills a vampire, she must join forces with Lord Conall Maccon who happens to not only be an earl but is also the Alpha werewolf of London's werewolf pack. Alexia finds Lord Maccon to be rude and forward but is strangely attracted to him. For his part, Lord Maccon finds Alexia to be headstrong and frustrating. Together they must overcome their personality conflicts to determine why some vampires are disappearing and new ones are appearing.

In Changeless Alexia (now Lady Maccon) must once again team up with her now-husband Lord Maccon. As Alexia tries to adjust to her new relationship to Conall, the supernatural population of London is afflicted by a plague of mortality. Because of her abilities as a preternatural Alexia is, of course, blamed for the unfortunate incident. At Queen Victoria's request she looks into the incident only to find that its cause may be tied to her husband's past.

These two books were great fun and a great summer read. I laughed out loud on more than one occasion, and am eagerly awaiting the third installment in the series.

Submitted by Rose @ MPL Central.

In the Stormy Red Sky (check catalog for availability) is the seventh installment of David Drake's Republic of Cinnabar Navy (RCN) series. David Drake is one of my favorite authors, mainly for his ability to slip effortlessly between the Science Fiction and Fantasy genres.

His Republic Of Cinnabar Navy series is a true space opera, complete with large space battles reminiscent of the naval battles of the 19th century. Beyond the well-crafted action sequences, the plot moves along at a fast clip.

Drake's character development is exquisite. I got hooked on the series with the first book because the main character was a librarian. Adele Mundy is my kind of female protagonist. She is extremely intelligent, practical, efficient, and ruthless in pursuit of her goals and the goals of Daniel Leary, her close friend and captain (in this book). While Adele started out as a librarian she is now one of the most accomplished spies in the Republic of Cinnabar.

The story unfolds mainly from Adele's point of view. The captain and crew of the RCN's newest ship are tasked with transporting a new ambassador to a star cluster that is allied to Cinnabar. When they arrive at their destination they realize that the new ruler of this area is not especially stable. They also learn that the Alliance of Free Stars' navy has just won a major battle and has succeeded in taking over one of Cinnabar's star systems.

Adele and Daniel must somehow return to Cinnabar space in one piece both physically and politically. This is a fun novel that is reminiscent of Horatio Hornblower. It is the seventh in the series, and while it can be read alone I would recommend at least reading the first book in the series With the Lightnings (check catalog for availability) in order to get a handle on the main characters' history with each other.

Submitted by Rose @ MPL Central.

Narrated by high school student Clay Jenkins, this story is disturbing, haunting and full of regret. It all starts when Clay mysteriously receives thirteen cassette tapes in the mail recorded by a girl, Hannah, who recently committed suicide. Readers will find this story gripping as it races toward Hannah's unfortunate demise. Author Jay Asher leaves us in deep thought about our own past interactions with acquaintances, friends and family and how actions, perhaps unknowingly, cause intense reactions for better or worse.

I listened to the audio book, read by both a female and male, which makes you feel like you are listening to Hannah's tapes too as an eerie participant of the story. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Paula N. @ MPL Central

July 15 is St. Swithin's Day. Tradition says that whatever the weather is like on St. Swithin's Day, it will continue so for the next forty days. Here is the weather rhyme that has been around in the British Isles since Elizabethan times:

'St. Swithin's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St. Swithin's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain nae mair.'

It's also a day to make an apple dessert or at least eat an apple. St. Swithin is the patron saint of apples and apple growers used to ask St. Swithin for his blessing each year because they believed:
•Rain on St. Swithin's day 'blesses and christens the apples'.
•No apple should picked or eaten before July 15th.
•Apples growing at St Swithin's day will ripen fully.

You can also indulge St. Swithin reading the novel One Day by David Nicholls. Over twenty years, snapshots of a relationship are revealed on the same day--July 15th (St. Swithins)--of each year. Dex and Em face squabbles and fights, hopes and missed opportunities, laughter and tears. And as the true meaning of this one crucial day is revealed, they must come to grips with the nature of love and life itself.

Beginning in 1988 Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley have only just met. They both know that the next day, after college graduation, they must go their separate ways. But after only one day together, they cannot stop thinking about one another. As the years go by, Dex and Em begin to lead separate lives--lives very different from the people they once dreamed they'd become. And yet, unable to let go of that special something, an extraordinary relationship develops between the two.

Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central

It's 1956 in Gilead, Iowa and Reverend John Ames is dying. He spends his final days writing letters to his seven year old son. These moving letters are an account of the Reverend's life; his journeys and tragedies, feelings on the beautiful and spiritual, and on the sacred bond between fathers and sons. The return of Jack Ames Boughton, wayward son of close friend and fellow preacher Boughton, heightens tension in the Ames and Boughton households. Through his letters, we see the Reverend Ames' anger and distrust of Jack turn to shame, forgiveness and finally hope for the troubled man who is his namesake. This moving account of a parent trying to give his child something to remember him by reads like a hymn to life and creation. Gilead was the 2005 Pulitzer Prize winner for Fiction and is listed among President Barack Obama's favorite books.

Home is Marilynne Robinson's third novel and winner of the 2009 Orange Prize for Fiction. Focusing on the Boughton household upon the arrival of son Jack after a twenty year absence, Home takes place during the same time frame as Robinson's previous novel Gilead. Glory, Jack, and their father Boughton confront old wounds as the tale of Jack's life before and after a fateful incident is revealed. Home is an essential companion to Gilead, providing an intimate look at Jack and exploring the relationship between acceptance, forgiveness, and love. Robinson's novels are beautifully written and equal parts somber and joyful, simple and profound.

Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Kristina @ Central

Ford writes a witty and hilarious story about Jane Austen living in the present day as Jane Fairfax the vampire. This satire of the seemingly hundreds of Jane Austen spinoffs is, in fact, yet another spinoff profiting from Jane Austen's endless popularity among readers, especially those who can't get enough. In this novel Jane tries to live a quite life as a small town bookstore owner while attempting to publish, Constance, a manuscript she secretly wrote when she was still alive. One crazy mishap after another leads readers to wonder if Jane's book will ever be published and if her true identity will be disastrously revealed to all. Check catalog for availability.

Ford will write a sequel to this book called Jane Goes Batty which will tell the tale of the highly acclaimed novel Constance being made into to a movie.

Submitted by Paula N. @ MPL Central

This quick-reading and very entertaining novel tells the story of a Russian teen trapped in Leningrad during World War II, under siege by the German army. Caught out of doors after curfew, he and a Russian soldier recently deserted from the army are ordered to retrieve a dozen eggs for a bigwig's daughter's wedding. Getting the eggs, escaping the Germans, and surviving make this an excellent novel. Check catalog availability.

Submitted by Bruce @ MPL Central

A new book by Preston & Child always comes with a plus and a minus - Plus: another great Pendergast outing sure to satisfy, Minus: no matter how long it is, it'll be over too soon. Special Agent Aloysius X.L. Pendergast is a singular creation - an FBI agent well versed in the fantastic and macabre, brilliant, eccentric, with a wry sense of humor and impeccable style. The series has covered ancient curses in the New York Museum, serial killers, stolen artifacts, anthropology, strange cults, and the criminally insane - all with great characters and compelling plot. However, Fever Dream delves the furthest yet into the intensely personal and mysterious history of Agent Pendergast. From the shade of the musasa trees in Musalangu, Zambia to the black oaks dripping with Spanish moss in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, the authors weave the story of the shocking death of Pendergast's wife during an African safari. A death he has recently come to find was no accident. Taking along with him the only man he trusts, NYPD Lt. Vincent D'Agosta, Pendergast delves into the murder of his wife - and finds the woman he loved had a past just as mysterious as his own. Throughout their travels the men will search for the secrets behind a lost Audubon print, an extinct parrot, and a family's descent into madness. Check catalog for availability.

- submitted by Ruth @ MPL Central

Beach Read! Beach Read! Literally.
A tight-knit group of four couples living on Nantucket Island do everything together. They take vacations, celebrate happy occasions, and even spend most Sundays together. They even make up a name for their group - The Castaways. Then one beautiful August day, one couple does not come back from a sail that they took to celebrate their twelfth wedding anniversary. Tess and Greg McAvoy die under suspicious circumstances.

How could this happen to them? Tess and Greg were school teachers and well-known in the community. They were the All-American couple raising the lovely twins, Finn and Chloe. As we know by now - not everything is as it seems. Tess and Greg had many secrets.

Now the rest of the couples must deal with their grief and the tragedy, bringing to the surface their own secrets they need to address as they try to figure out who the McAvoys really were.

While reading this book, it reminded me of the summers when I was younger and could read anything I wanted, and watch soap operas (not allowed) if my mom was working during the day. Summer, reading, soap opera all in one book. Check catalog availability.

Submitted by Connie @ MPL Central

As number 54 on the hold list for Aimee Bender's bestselling The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, I'm getting a little antsy. If, like me, you're looking for something to tide you over until your copy is available, try these similar reads.

Savvy, by Ingrid Law

Like Rose Edelstein in Lemon Cake, members of the Beaumont family have unusual talents, or "savvies." Just days before Mibs' 13th birthday, when her savvy will awaken, her father is terribly injured. Believing her savvy will be able to save him, Mibs and her quirky, heartwarming companions set off on a journey to reach him. As they cross the country, they struggle with the magical and real aspects of growing up and finding your own voice - at any age. The thick dialect of Savvy is well-crafted, and should appeal to readers who enjoy Aimee Bender's lyrical style. Though technically a children's book, I highly recommend this bittersweet adventure for adult readers.

Like Water for Chocolate, by Laura Esquivel

Craving a sensual foodie read? Tita de la Garza's cooking in Like Water for Chocolate is inseparable from the heated passion between her and her lover, Pedro. The magical realism that pervades Lemon Cake has strong roots in Hispanic literature; in that tradition, Like Water for Chocolate expertly blends the real and the fantastical to create an atmosphere in which love, loss, desire, and the power of food are heightened to the boiling point. If you haven't read Like Water for Chocolate since high school, now may just be the time to pick it up again.

The Other Family, by Joanna Trollope

While Trollope's firmly realistic characters have no supernatural gifts, their deep emotional struggles will resonate with readers who were moved by Rose Edelstein's haunting sadness. Most of Trollope's books focus on the pains, joys, and complexities of family relationships, another similarity to Lemon Cake. She employs impeccable prose to draw you intimately into the worlds of struggling families and soul-searching characters. The Other Family is her newest novel, but you'll want to explore her earlier books as well.

Submitted by Audrey @ Central

As the TwilightMoms and hordes of grown-up Harry Potter aficionados can tell you, young adult lit isn't just for teens anymore. Thrilling plots, compelling characters, and plain old good writing transcend the little "YA" stuck on the spine label. Here's how to find teen books just too good to miss - whether you're 16 or 60.

Check out the Printz Award , given annually for excellence in young adult literature. These books tend to be exceptionally well-written. This year's winner, Libba Bray's Going Bovine , manages to be both wacky and profound at the same time. Think Douglass Adams, but with fewer aliens and more smoothies.

There are also some great lists available online - apparently, I'm not the only one harboring an obsession with great teen lit! Try this article from Library Journal, this list on Amazon, or these suggestions on GoodReads.

And, of course, you can ask your friendly neighborhood librarian. We love to talk about fantastic books for any age! Case in point - even with all these fabulous resources to help you find a teen book you'll love, I can't help mentioning one of my all-time favorite series. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins contains some of the most gripping, absorbing books I've read in ages. (The final installment, Mockingjay, was just released on August 24th. Place your holds now!)

So if you've never ventured into the YA area of your library, or if you're a closeted YA fan afraid to whip out the newest Laurie Halse Anderson on the bus, be liberated! No matter what your age, there's a whole world of riveting, poignant, funny, creative teen lit for you to explore.

Submitted by Audrey @ Central

In Rachman's debut, The Imperfectionists, his experience as a foreign correspondent and editor aptly shape the jaded lives of his characters. Each chapter is a different person's tale; a few of my favortites:

• The reader who scans every word of every paper, but slowly, so she is more than a decade behind. In her home it is merely April, 1994 and she knows nothing of history beyond that point.
• Obit writer, Arthur Gopal, is sent to Switzerland to interview Gerda Erzberger, an Austrian intellectual. "Claw your way to the bottom, did you?" she asks, but he doesn't mind because this is all he aspires to.
• The Paris correspondent who doesn't realize he's past his prime.
• The female chief financial officer who ends up on a transatlantic flight sitting next to a man she fired.
• A naïve fellow competing for a stringer's job in Cairo who is completely taken for a ride by an older and wiser cohort.

The chapters read like short stories, but intertwine the origins and development of a newspaper in Rome. This dysfunctional group shows a picture of the imperfection that dogs and yet upholds people. Also of interest is the recently published The Room and the Chair by Lorraine Adams; it has a newsroom similar to Rachman's. And, The Broken Teaglass by Emily Arsenault, which is about lexicographers rather than newspeople, but has melancholy characters.

Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central

Our narrator is 5 year old Jack. He lives in Room with "Ma" where he sleeps in Wardrobe at night because that's when 'Old Nick' visits. Jack has never left Room; it is everything he knows. As daily life is described by Jack, the sense of terror, on the part of the reader, grows, because we can draw conclusions greater than that of a 5 year old. I couldn't stop turning pages as the magnitude of the situation became clearer and clearer.

To say more about the plot would give away a most suspenseful read; if you know too much your investment won't seem worth it as the mysteries unravel. But I think it's safe to add that this novel does an immensely wonderful job at showing how our world views are shaped by what we know, or don't. Don't miss this experience.

Room is shortlisted for the 2010 Man Booker prize. The other nominees are Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey, The Long Song by Andrea Levy, C by Tom McCarthy, In A Strange Room by Damon Galgut and The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, October 12, 2010.

Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central

Why are some books banned?? There is a long historical precedent, but, in part, the banned books page of the First Amendment Center.org explains that in the 1870s, "the pioneer of modern American censorship was Anthony Comstock... and he convinced Congress to pass a law, thereafter known as the "Comstock Law," banning... materials found to be "lewd, indecent, filthy or obscene" which includes Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

Definitely take a look at William Caxton's two gorgeous digitized originals of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales printed in the late 1400s and held in the British Library. View the manuscripts here.

Also you can read the Canterbury Tales in full text on Harvard University's website in their original Middle English or modern translation. View the online versions here.

Check the Milwaukee Public Library's Canterbury Tales holdings here. I recommend this Middle English version.

The image above is from the Ellesmere Canterbury Tales held in the Huntington Library, in San Marino, California. Visit the Hungtington Library here.

Submitted by Paula N. @ MPL Central

It's Oprah's farewell season, and the talk show queen has announced her final book club selection. Jonathan Franzen's bestelling Freedom is a critically and popularly acclaimed tragicomedy about the changes and challenges in the lives of aging baby boomers. However, the story I'm engrossed in right now isn't the book itself, but the juicy gossip surrounding the pick.

That's right - Oprah and Franzen have a history. In 2001, Oprah picked Franzen's The Corrections for her book club. Most authors would be thrilled - a coveted Oprah sticker on the cover pretty much guarantees skyrocketing sales, after all. But not Franzen. He publicly suggested that Oprah's literary taste was not up to his highbrow artistic standards, and worried that her seal of approval would actually deter his (presumably discerning, male) readers.

As you might imagine, Oprah did not seem to be thrilled about this. Franzen's invitation to come speak on her show was quietly rescinded. And that was the end of that, for the better part of a decade.

So you can imagine my - and everybody else's - surprise when Oprah announced Franzen's book as her very last book club pick. Has she forgiven and forgotten? Or is the book just that darn good?

I don't know, but I can't wait to read it and find out. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Audrey @ Central

Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) was a English author of plays, short stories, essays and over 30 novels that sometimes ventured into Gothic and supernatural themes, in addition to his widely read mystery novels. A great friend of Charles Dickens, Collins was a scandulous figure in Victorian society due to his fathering numerous children with various mistresses and his addiction to laudanum that preceded strange behavior. Collins' use of Gothic landscapes, insanity, drugs, retribution and family intrigue in his stories often were contrary with familiar Victorian norms and made Wilkie a much talked about author in his day.

Famed poet T.S. Eliot has described Wilkie Collins' suspense novel The Moonstone as being "The first and greatest of English detective stories." Matters of taste can always be disputed, but in this case, i'm firmly in Eliot's camp. Though Edgar Allan Poe is widely considered to be the first writer of a detective story, Wilkie Collins wrote the first detective NOVEL. Published in 1868, The Moonstone refers to a large Indian diamond given to Rachel Verinder, a young Englishwoman, as a gift on her eighteenth birthday from her corrupt uncle who served in the English army in colonial India. During the birthday party, the famed stone is stolen and the first detective novel was born.

Perhaps Collins' best known work, The Woman in White (1860), is a story told from many different perspectives through many different narrators. Based on an actual crime (Collins was also a lawyer), the novel tells the story of young Laura, destined to marry creepy Sir Percival Glyde, instead of her true love Walter, and the subsequent lies that follow Glyde's grab for Laura's inheritence. Many future literary villians were based on Sir Percival Glyde and his Italian friend Count Fosco, who should have been named Count Freaky instead. Love overcomes in the end, but it's a heck of a ride till it does!

Submitted by Dan@Central

"Banning books is so utterly hopeless and futile. Ideas don't die because a book is forbidden reading." - Gretchen Knief, Kern County Librarian when the Grapes of Wrath was banned.

Today marks the beginning of this year's Banned Book Week (September 25 - October 2). Each blog post this week will feature a banned or challenged book. I just meant to write a short introduction about the significance of this week, to set the stage for these book reviews. But I really struggled to write one.

What can I possibly say to embody the passion that I and so many librarians feel for freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of information and ideas? I scoured the web for quotes from everybody from Ben Franklin to Mae West. I thought of appealing to the most powerful ethical document in modern librarianship, the Library Bill of Rights. I tried to lighten the mood with interesting facts - that this Bill was in part a direct response to the banning of The Grapes of Wrath in 1939; that the "pioneer of modern American censorship" was Anthony Comstock, founder of the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice in 1872. But none of it felt sufficient.

The fact is, there is no one phrase, one idea, one moment that I can call upon to represent the overriding insistence at the library's ethical core that all people must, must, must be free to write and to read. That's the point. Intellectual freedom is about respecting many words, many perspectives. So the only way I can share my passion with you is to say this - go out and read. Read something banned. Read something you never thought you'd pick up. Read that book your mom loves that you've been avoiding for years. Read something that offends you.

We'll be here with suggestions all week.

Learn more about Banned Books week and its sponsors.

Submitted by Audrey @ Central

The American Library Association has found that the same book was the country's single most frequently banned or challenged work in 2006, 2007, and 2008, and was number two in 2009. You may be surprised by its identity. It has no graphic sex or violence. It has no strong language. It does not deal directly with politics. In fact, it's a picture book. A picture book about penguins.

So why all the hullabaloo over a sweet little story about adorable animals? It's inspired by the true story of two male penguins at the Central Park Zoo who built a nest and hatched a chick together. Children's books about homosexuality, even when entirely devoid of actual sex, tend to upset more people more deeply than similarly-themed books for adults; such books add an additional layer of concern about whether the subject is age-appropriate. Tango is even more controversial than other books of its kind because it portrays homosexuality as a natural and normal way of creating a loving family, and does not address the many surrounding political, social, religious, and personal conflicts. Rather than becoming an issue piece which focuses on the parents' sexuality, the story simply accepts that love, not gender, is what matters in raising a healthy and well-adjusted child.

Sometimes acceptance and tolerance can be even more controversial than conflict. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Audrey @ Central

Sandpiper Hollow Ragsdale is 17 and the kids at school call her a slut. She learned that dating would get her attention and power, though she doesn't even like the guys and usually dumps them after a few days. Derek, her most recent boyfriend, thinks she owes him--and his friends, much more than she is willing to offer.

She can't talk to her parents about the threats Derek's making because they're too busy with their own lives. Her mother is getting remarried and her father is a serial dater of younger women.

Enter a mysterious loner, the Walker; so named because he's always walking around town, never riding in cars. Sandpiper knows nothing more about him, not even his real name, but he offers her a platonic friendship and they develop a genuine relationship while defending one another.

Not one to shy away from tough subjects, Wittlinger's Sandpiper is no exception.
Challenged due to sexual content and language, this well written book takes an interesting look at high school and reputation. Once you have a particular rep, whether deserved or not, it can be very difficult to change people's perceptions.

Published in 1970, The Bluest Eye is the first novel written by future Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize in Literature winner Toni Morrison. Set in Lorain, Ohio during the aftermath of the Great Depression, The Bluest Eye tells the tale of a young African-American girl named Pecola and the personal, racial, familial and cultural hardships she bears through the eleventh year of her life.
The emotional and physical brutality that Pecola endures, including a rape from her own drunken father, has ensured this book remains at the top of many a book-banners list. Throughout the book, Pecola wishes to become a blue eyed Caucasian girl so she can receive love and acceptance from a family and culture that repeatedly tells her she is "ugly."
Stark, beautifully written and told from many different points of view, The Bluest Eye is a novel of exploration, of opening doors that should never remain closed and of uncanny self reflection. This beautiful piece of literature will most likely mean different things to different readers, but one common thread through everyone who reads it will be this: You won't forget it.

Submitted by Dan@Central

Some war stories seem to romanticize and glorify war. The Red Badge of Courage isn't one of them. I consider this story, published in 1895, the quintessential Civil War novel and one of the great works of American literature from the nineteenth century. Set on an unnamed battlefield, 18 year old Union soldier Henry Fleming confronts his fears head on after doubting his courage in battle. Grim, unsettling and serious as a heart attack, this gem of a novel is much more than a war story told around a campfire. It is a story of morality, duty, and honor wrapped in prose that, though archaic and dated, describes fear until the foreboding tone seems concrete and viable.

If you are interested in other awesome works of fiction with a Civil War setting, why not read the book that spawned the classic film Gone with the Wind.

For a truly remarkable short story set during the war, I recommend An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge. As a Confederate sympathizer is being prepared to be hung by the Union army at Owl Creek Bridge, an elaborate escape to freedom occurs, or does it? This enthralling short story by famed recluse and all around nasty guy Ambrose Bierce was published in 1890 and influenced a powerful short film that became a Twilight Zone episode in 1962.

Submitted by Dan@Central

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If you'd really like to cook your brain with some outstandingly bleak writing, check out the works of Cornell Woolrich. I mean this guy puts the "black" in Noir.
A contemporary of fellow hardboiled writers Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, Cornell Woolrich starting writing stories for mystery "pulp" magazines in the late 1920's and 1930's. It wasn't until the 1940's that Woolrich really hit his stride and started writing quality dark novels.
A good starting point into the dreary world of Woolrich is Rendezvous in Black (1948). The story is set in the early 1940's and revolves around the murder of Johnny Marr's fiance Dorothy as she waits for him on a street corner. Enraged at the loss of his true love, Johnny vows revenge against the drunken men responsible for Dorothy's death and exacts shocking vengeance against them.
Woolrich writes with a flair for details and the descriptive sense to make those details come alive. His "bad" characters are really bad and his "good" characters are even worse, but somehow the paranoia and bleakness of Woolrich's stories come across as enlightening to me. So with the coming of winter and the grey days ahead, why not enhance the dreariness of your day with a book by this macabre master of dark and brutal literature.

While your at it, why not watch one of his films after reading one of his stories. Some of his more memorable stories that were made into film noir classics include The Leopard Man, Black Angel and Rear Window.
Submitted by Dan@Central

The winner, Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa was announced in Stockholm this week. He is the first South American to win the prize since Colombian writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez in 1982. Vargas Llosa is currently in the US, as a visiting professor at Princeton, teaching a course on the writing of novels as well as one on Jorge Luis Borges at Princeton. Check catalog for availability of his work.

Who doesn't love a scary read on a dark and stormy autumn night, with the witching hour drawing close - wait, what's that suspicious creaking on the stairs?

Well... me, actually. Don't get me wrong; I adore the atmospheric, the dark, and the macabre. When it comes to the seriously bloodcurdling, however, quite frankly I'd prefer not to have nightmares for the next week and a half. Luckily, there are some great hair-raising reads for all levels of fear-tolerance. Whether you're looking for something mildly eerie, moderately shiver-inducing, or positively knock-your-socks-off bone-chilling, there's a spooktacular book here for you.

Read this in the dark

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman

In this multi-award winning bestseller, toddler Nobody "Bod" Owens survives his family's mysterious assassination by scooting to the nearest graveyard. Happily raised by ghosts, he must someday return to the land of the living - and the dangers that still await him there. Darkly atmospheric and suspenseful, this book will make you shiver, not scream.

You may want a night light

Edgar Allan Poe's tales of death and dementia, illustrated by Gris Grimly

Poe's bone-chilling classics get an uncanny upgrade from Gris Grimly's grisly illustrations. Grimly avoids excessive gore for an experience that is deliciously unsettling without being upsetting.

Be prepared to sleep with the light on - all week!

Heart-Shaped Box, by Joe Hill

I tried to find something not written by the horror-master himself, Stephen King. I didn't get far, however; Joe Hill is King's son. In his debut novel, he proves he inherited his father's sense of the truly terrifying. This tale of a washed-up rock star haunted by a vengeful ghost is gory, visceral, shocking - and surprisingly moving.

Submitted by Audrey @ Central

Part Steel Magnolias, part The Help, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is the story of a 12 year old growing up in small town Ohio in the 60's with an almost always absent father and a mother who thinks she is still the 1951 Vidalia Onion Queen. CeeCee's traveling salesman father manages to stay on the road most of the time to avoid confrontations with CeeCee's smeared lipstick, prom dress, tiara wearing mother, Camille. CeeCee is left alone to deal with the difficulties and embarrassment of a crazy mother until the day Camille steps off the curb in front of a speeding Happy Cow Ice Cream truck and is killed. Her father shows no signs of wanting to raise his rightfully resentful daughter but luckily a heretofore unknown great-aunt arrives willing to take CeeCee with her to her home in Savannah.

CeeCee is not certain what to make of her eccentric Aunt Tootie who drives a vintage convertible and lives in a restored mansion, but she comes to realize that she now has an adult in her life willing to care for her. In fact she soon finds that she is surrounded by warm, wonderful, unusual women who take an interest in her well being. The most important of these women, is Oletta, Tootie's black housekeeper, who teaches CeeCee not only about the horrors of racism but also the joys of friendship, love and family. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is another poignant and funny story about life in the south.

Submitted by Fran @BayView

If you are in the mood for a quiet read DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. Rules of Betrayal unfolds with Dr. Jonathan Ransom, a seemingly upstanding citizen who is working for Doctors Without Borders, looking for his missing wife. Later you learn that, himself being a former spy with a violent past, he knows or suspects what has happened to his wife who was using his organization as a front for her own spying. Reich takes us on a wild chase through snow covered mountains, planes exploding, and native Afghans chasing the bad guys, or are they the good guys.... Read on to find out how it all ends.

Submitted by Irene @ Tippecanoe

One of my favorite books when I was a kid was High Elk's Treasure, by Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve (New York : Holiday House, 1972). High Elk's Treasure is about the High Elk family, a Dakota family with a proud history of raising the best horses on the plains. Now, there are only a few horses left of the stock that their forebears bred, and Joe High Elk, the 13-year-old son, wants to re-establish the line with the last remaining filly. A sudden storm blows up, endangering the filly, but providing for an astonishing insight into the family's history.

One of my other favorites was Ghost Paddle: A Northwest Coast Indian Tale, by James Houston (New York : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1972). Ghost Paddle is about an ongoing war between two Pacific Coast tribes, and a dream that provides the key to peace between them. The story is well told, and the illustrations are lovely, leading to a lifelong interest for me in Pacific Coast aboriginal art.

-- Ephemera@Villard

Richard Castle is the main character in the series Castle, currently in its third season on ABC. In the pilot for the television show, Castle (who killed off his wildly popular Derek Storm character when he got bored writing him) gets involved in a murder case after one of his books is cited as the inspiration for the crime. Once the case is over, he sticks around to follow NYPD detective Kate Beckett on other cases, using her as the inspiration for a new series of novels staring a detective named Nikki Heat.

In the series, Castle writes a novel titled Heat Wave. As a tie-in, ABC has released that novel as a real book with "Richard Castle" as the author. It is entirely in character from the dedication to the acknowledgments, although the latter references the principal cast and the show's creators by name. Castle puts himself into the book as Jameson Rook, a Pulitzer Prize winning author doing a story on the NYPD detectives, who tags along as they try to solve the murder of an art collector whose collection gets stolen during the investigation in a New York City heat wave.

The book reads just like an episode of the television show, meaning it's fast-paced with lots of twists and turns until the mystery is solved, with charm and great character interaction. While being a fan of the television series might help visualize the characters in the novel better (other characters in the "Castle" universe have counterparts in the novels), it's not a requirement.

So far, there are two books in the Nikki Heat series - Heat Wave, and Naked Heat. Castle, the television show, has been renewed for a fourth season, so watch for the third novel, Heat Rises, coming September 2011!

Submitted by Cami @ YCOS

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The people behind the television program Castle have published two great tie-in books, Heat Wave and Naked Heat. If you've never seen Castle here's what you need to know. Richard Castle is a mystery novelist shadowing NYPD Homicide Detective Kate Beckett as research for his novels. Castle and Beckett solve murder cases together while Castle also works on his next two novels, Heat Wave and Naked Heat. Both books center on NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat who is clearly modeled after Kate Beckett.

In the real world, Heat Wave and Naked Heat have been published with fictional character Richard Castle as the author. No one is saying who really wrote the novels, although they capture the tone and characters of the show so well it's difficult to imagine it's anyone other than a writer or writers from the show.

If you don't watch Castle would you enjoy these books? Definitely. They mimic the best things about the show: crimes with lots of twists and turns, witty banter and red-hot chemistry between Castle and Beckett.

For all you Castle fans out there you'll really enjoy these books. Not only is reading them like watching episodes of the show, it's also fun to feel like you're in on the joke when the characters mention Castle's books and you know exactly what they're talking about. You're also sure to appreciate how easy it is to see the Richard Castle character writing Heat Wave and Naked Heat.

Submitted by Amy @ MPL Central

As I read this wonderful novel, I felt I could smell the booze soaked floor of Dockery's Bar in Depression era New Orleans as double leg amputee Achilles started his nightly bar fight to prove his manhood.
I imagined I could feel broken glass crunch under my feet as prostitute Hattie walked across the trashed floor of Finnerty's brothel to climb the stairs and go to work.
I could sense the amazement as young transient Dove watched a beheaded turtle on a restaurant floor, soon to be a soup ingredient, continue to fight and claw for survival, unable to comprehend life had already left it behind.
In essence, I didn't read this book. I felt it, smelled it and became it. Good writing can do that sometimes.
Nelson Algren based this 1956 novel on his own recollections as a young man who experienced New Orleans "from the other side of the tracks." The main characters that populate this book are so deeply flawed as humans that they almost promote pity, but yet, reek of self confidence and seem proud of their collective depravity.
Though this book is not for the easily offended and is recommended for a mature audience, I wouldn't recommend anybody NOT read this book. The lyrical prose and exceptional storytelling more than make up for the nastiness and debauchery. It reminds me of a restaurant that features a muddy floor and dirty dishes, but with exceptionally good food. It also helped me realize that we all, as humans, are flawed in delightfully diverse ways and that's what keeps life interesting. As the characters lives in this novel shatter like a broken mirror, the individual pieces seem to meld together into a solid reflection of life "on the other side of the tracks." Frankly, in my opinon, this book is a literary masterpiece.
By Dan K @ Central

Raymond Carver writes short stories. His short stories are short. They read fast. Mostly. Some poetry too. He also writes short sentences. His characters drink. They smoke. Heck, they love. They even hate. Sometimes they hurt the ones they also love. Duality. Some say he copied Hemingway. I'm not sure. I see the similarity in style. His sparse style leaves his stories ambiguous at times. I like that. Interpretation is essential in writing. This fine collection has 37 stories. Seven are new to publication in a book. Give him a try. He is the reigning master of the American short story. He died in 1988. He lives on though. Genius is eternal.

Submitted by Dan@Central

Sandra Cisneros looms large over the landscape of Latina writers. Since her debut The House on Mango Street, Cisneros has written poetry and vibrant short stories that explore the modern Latina experience. She uses a combination of Spanish and English in her writing that brings to life the hybrid world inhabited by many Hispanic-Americans today. To explore Cisneros' cuentos check out these titles, and others, available at the Milwaukee Public Library.

Caramelo, or, Puro Cuento or, in Spanish Caramelo, o, Puro Cuento

"Tell me a story, even if it's a lie." Celaya "Lala" Reyes shares the story of the Reyes clan over three generations in this sweeping novel set in Mexico and Chicago. Funny and poignant, Caramelo examines the experience of living "here" and "there" as Lala and her family travel across the Mexican border and back. Cisneros weaves together narratives from the past and present (some true, some not) to create a vibrant account of a family's history. Caramelo is rich with historical detail and is a definite treat for both old and new Cisneros fans.

Woman Hollering Creek is a must read for short story fans. Cisneros' vivid and surprising stories showcase Cisneros' talent with language, reminding us that she is a poet as well as a storyteller. "My Friend Lucy Who Smells Like Corn" and "Woman Hollering Creek" are standouts of the collection.

Submitted by Kristina @ MPL Central

Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants is a bestselling novel. She has switched gears from elephants to bonobo apes to bring us this suspenseful novel. In Ape House, a family of bonobo apes who know American Sign Language are kidnapped from a language lab and then reappear on a reality TV show. This calls into question many assumptions about the DNA that is shared between humans and apes. In order to write this novel, Gruen studied linguistics and a system of lexigrams so that she could communicate directly with the bonobos living at the Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Iowa. She now considers them to be part of her extended family, and, according to the bonobos, the feeling is mutual.

The movie trailer for Water for Elephants, based on Sara Gruen's bestseller by the same title, has just been released. If you missed this incredible story of illicit love amidst the circus world during the Great Depression, now is the time to pick up the book. You can finish it before the film comes out, and avoid any opening-weekend rush on our copies. Twilight fans will want to check this out, too - heartthrob Robert Pattinson (Edward) plays main character Jacob Jankowski.

Submitted by Audrey @ Central

The Distant Hours immediately drew me into the world of Milderhust Castle and its inhabitants, the sisters Blythe; Percy, Saffy and Juniper. Then a letter arrives for Meredith Burchill, which had been sent fifty years prior. Though the contents of the letter remain a secret for the time being, Meredith's reaction upon reading it drew me in even further. You see, this is the first time her daughter Edie learns that she was evacuated from London to Milderhurst Castle in Kent during World War II. Many mysteries and secrets lurk within its grounds. Suggested for many readers, including mystery lovers and historical fiction fans as well as book clubs.

The Distant Hours by Kate Morton from Pan Macmillan on Vimeo.

Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central

For some reason I found the frazzled and frayed life of the unnamed narrator in It Feels So Good When I Stop to be compelling, irrelevant and hugely entertaining. The story, or lack of, focuses on the personal disasters that define the young narrator's life. He screws up his job, screws up his relationship with Jocelyn, the woman he loves but repeatedly flees from, and screws up babysitting for his nephew.
Though the poor guy has the best of intentions, things just don't seem to work out the way he wished they would. Then he met Marie while drinking beer in his backyard. She just stumbled up, drunk, bummed a beer and voila, the inept man's life was forever changed. This is a love story that the manliest of men could admit to having read because the clueless narrator exhibits a little bit of the foolishness and obliviousness that I imagine every man feels while in the clutches of a love he may or may not want to be part of but can't stop the train from rolling along.

Joe Pernice, the author of It Feels So Good When I Stop, is also an accomplished musician who created a soundtrack album based on songs and bands that appear in this fictional work. Check out the soundtrack for the entire literary experience!

Submitted by Dan @Central

One of the more interesting reads of early spring may be O: A Presidential Novel. The "O," of course, is President Obama, but the author is anonymous. We've seen this before; in 1996, Primary Colors, also by "Anonymous," about the Clinton administration was released. It was a best seller and made into a movie. After weeks of speculation, it was revealed that "Anonymous" was actually Time magazine journalist Joe Klein. So, not much is being said about the content of the new book, but the recently released website from the publisher is interesting; click here to view. You can review the characters and speculate on their true identities while they work on winning the 2012 presidential election. What do you think about the idea of releasing a book without identifying the author? Is it a worthwhile publicity stunt?

January 27, 2011 update** No longer written by 'anonymous', Time magazine identifies Mark Salter, from Davenport, Iowa as the author. Salter is known for his collaborations with United States Senator John McCain on several nonfiction books as well as on political speeches.

It's been fifteen years since we were introduced to Robin, Savannah, Gloria and Bernadine, the four thirtysomething women of Waiting to Exhale. Why the long wait? Well, McMillan has been through a lot. She's weathered a lengthy divorce, spurred by the revelation that her husband is gay and a lawsuit concerning a potentially reputation damaging phone message. Happily, everything is resolved and we can catch up with the ladies.

Now, they are fiftysomething and are being forced to start their lives over, each for different reasons. Robin, single mother to teenage Sparrow, has become a shopaholic. Savannah is bored with her husband Isaac, and thinks being single sounds unexpectedly appealing. Gloria is blissfully happy in her marriage to Marvin and though Bernadine has remarried a man named James, things may not be as perfect as they seem.

The value of friendship, faith in one another, and hope transcends all as they help each other through hot flashes, heart attacks, internet porn, grandkids, job loss and so much more. Check catalog for availability.

Click on the book cover above to check the catalog for available copies.

The video below best introduces this hilarious picture book made just for adults. Enjoy!

Visit the author's website here.

The Ghost is a fine example of a timely political thriller. Harris writes of mystery, intrigue, and the type of political scandal that will have the reader second guessing the meaning behind each character's words as you try to separate the truth from the lies and cover up stories. The ghostwriter, played by Ewan McGregor in the 2010 movie The Ghost Writer, is hired to ghost write the memoirs of the former prime minister Adam Lang played by Pierce Brosnan in the movie. The ghostwriter finds himself secluded in a remote compound in Martha's Vineyard having to rewrite the recently deceased previous ghostwriter's work for an absurd amount of money in an equally absurd short period of time. As the ghostwriter delves deeper into his predecessor's manuscript and as he becomes better acquainted with former PM Adam Lang, his wife Ruth, and his staff, the ghostwriter wonders really how involved was Lang in the War on Terror and the CIA. Both the book The Ghost and the movie The Ghost Writer tell an amazing tale which has distinctly different conclusions. I strongly advise you to check out the book and the movie yourself.

Click on the book cover above to check the catalog for available copies.

Submitted by Becky @ Zablocki

Open and Shut is a legal thriller narrated by lawyer Andy Carpenter, a rather charming fellow with a lovely golden retriever named Tara. He takes on the appeal of a death row inmate at his father's urging. Then Andy's father has a heart attack, dies, and ends up leaving him 22 million dollars (Andy had no idea he had the money) and an old photograph. The story of trying to save Willie, the death row inmate, is told in the present tense with the readers discovering what's happening right along with Andy. Engaging characters make this work. Carpenter has a terrific sense of humor and is a sports buff. His private eye (former cop) girlfriend, Lauren, adds a lot to the book. The reader will want to race through it to find out what happens, reacting along with Andy to discoveries. Carpenter's courtroom histrionics give one pause, but seem to work for him. Highly entertaining. After finishing this one, I read all the books in the series - at the moment, there are seven others; First Degree, Bury the Lead, Sudden Death, Dead Center, Play Dead, New Tricks, and Dog Tags. Hopefully, there will be even more to come.

Submitted by Kathy R @ Zablocki

I'm sick of mediating with your worst self
On behalf of your better selves

I am sick
Of having to remind you to breathe
Before you suffocate
Your own fool self.
-from Bridge Poem by Kate Ruskin, epigraph of Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self

In the span of eight breathtaking narratives Danielle Evans' debut collection of stories has the power to convert even the most ardent of short story detractors. Fresh, poignant and funny, the stories in Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self are about race, relationships and navigating the time between childhood and adulthood. Evans' characters, mostly African American and mixed young women and men, live in a world of difficult choices with resounding consequences. A standout story like "Snakes," about a biracial girl's ill-fated summer with an un-accepting grandmother, shows Evans' strengths best - a strong narrative voice, relatable characters and situations that can't help but elicit emotional responses. Evans is a wonderful new voice in fiction, here's hoping she continues to share her vision with readers.

Check the catalog for availability.

Submitted by Kristina@ MPL Central

This charming, clever novel features three sisters born and raised in a small Midwestern college town. Their father is an English professor at the college and his focus is on Shakespeare, which is why each daughter is named after a heroine in a Shakespeare play. Shakespeare is quoted throughout the novel and alluded to in many ways, adding to the story without overwhelming it. Brown also tells her story using first-person plural narration. It's used infrequently in fiction so it seems strange at first, but quickly takes on a comforting feel.

Rose (Rosalind from As You Like It) is the responsible oldest daughter and has spent her whole life in the town where the sisters grew up. She's even a math professor at the same college as their father. The middle child is the attractive Bean (Bianca from The Taming of the Shrew). She ran away from small-town life to New York City as quickly as she could. Cordy (Cordelia from King Lear) is the youngest sister. She's a college dropout and has spent her 20s wandering the country.

The three sisters surprise each other by moving back into their parents' house at the same time. They each claim they are there to help their homemaker mother through her breast cancer treatments and surgery, although their true reasons soon reveal themselves. As Rose, Bean and Cordy figure out who they are and who they want to be, it's a joy spending time with them. As a bonus, the story feels honest and includes plenty of light, humorous moments to even out the dark, serious ones. This is Eleanor Brown's first novel and with it she has proven herself an author to watch. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Amy @ MPL Central

Jumping off a train is easy. It's landing that's difficult.

But 12 year old Abilene Tucker is used to jumping off trains. It's the dust-bowl days of the depression, and she's been riding the rails with her father as long as she can remember. When he sends her away to his hometown of Manifest, Kansas over the summer, Abilene is crushed.

Despite its name, Manifest is slow to give up its secrets. Why is this struggling little town so different from the bustling, lively place in her father's memories? Why did Abilene's father send her here, so far from him and the only life she's ever known? Who is the Rattler, the mysterious spy rumored to be skulking in the woods? And above all, why doesn't anybody seem to have any stories about her father?

With the help of two school friends, a pastor who also runs the local speakeasy, a fortune-teller who lives on the Path to Perdition, and a spunky nun, Abilene uncovers Manifest's true past - and her own.

This Newberry award winner will captivate you from the first page to the last with its honest and perceptive narrator, deeply evocative setting, and beautiful language. You don't have to be a child to remember the thrill of an illicit game of exploration, the long hot days of summer vacation, or the way your world changed when you realized your parents were only human. A brilliant debut.

Submitted by Audrey @ Central

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters is the kind of ghost story that fans of Henry James and Shirley Jackson wish there were more of. The horror is subtle and psychological, not explicitly gruesome. The place is Warwickshire England and the time is shortly after WWII. The narrator, a local physician, is called to treat one of the maids at the home of an upper class family whose fortunes are in decline. Awed by the family's wealth as a child, the doctor is now taken aback to see how much things have deteriorated. The once grand house is crumbling and in need of repair, it's inhabitants' money almost gone.

The doctor finds himself paying frequent visits to the household and getting involved in the lives of the family members. He develops a romantic interest in the unattractive spinster sister who is just barely keeping the family finances together. As strange, inexplicable things begin to happen in the house, the doctor becomes obsessed with getting to the bottom of them.

Although the pace of the narrative is leisurely, the story is gripping. Keep reading at least until you reach the part where the child is bitten by a dog--after that you will not be able to put the book down. Not just a ghost story, this is also an examination of England's class system, as well as a perceptive character study. The chilling ending took me completely by surprise, and had me wanting to reread the entire book in search of clues.

Submitted by Mary @ Forest Home

Jodi Picoult has never backed away from tackling tough issues. In her newest book she tackles a ton: infertility, gay marriage, alcoholism, and the religious right.

Zoe and Max Baxter try for years to have a child. When another miscarriage tears them apart, they divorce and go their separate ways. Zoe falls in love with a woman and marries her; Max lives with his brother, reverts back to his alcoholic ways, then finds religion. Their lives cross again when they realize they never decided what to do with their frozen embryos. Zoe wants her partner to carry the child. Max wants his brother and sister-in-law, who also have fertility issues, to have the embryos. A typical Picoult courtroom drama ensues.

This was a quick read, with well drawn out characters. I liked that neither side was demonized too much. The ending was a little too quaint, but still a satisfying read when you consider all that it tackled. Check catalog for availability.

- submitted by Meredith, Wisconsin Talking Book Library

Girl in Translation relates the struggles of a Hong Kong immigrant girl and her mother as they try to succeed in Brooklyn despite the malicious plans of the mother's sister who has paid their passage to the United States. Kim's knack for excelling in the classroom quickly brings her to the attention of her sixth grade teacher who secures a scholarship for her at an exclusive college prep charter school. Kim's home life of an unheated apartment in a condemned building (with electricity but no phone) and after-school work in a sweatshop contrasts starkly with the privileged life of her classmates. She works hard to keep the two worlds isolated from each other. We follow her story as she matriculates to high school and discovers the American style of courting while still maintaining connections to the Chinese cultural community. Well described and carefully crafted, the book reads like a memoir because of its vivid descriptions. Kim's understanding of English improves over the length of the book so that the phonetic mystery words slowly move into more recognizable American English phrasing.

Submitted by Leah @ Wisconsin Talking Book & Braille Library

In Tea Obreht's debut novel, The Tiger's Wife, a young doctor is struggling to understand why her beloved grandfather left his family to die alone in a field hospital far from home. In a war-torn Balkan country she takes over her grandfather's search for a mythical ageless vagabond while referring to a worn copy of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.

A Tiger in the Kitchen describes Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan's quest to recreate the dishes of her native Singapore during one Lunar Calendar year, as a way to connect food and family with her sense of home.

The efforts of a tiger conservation leader are documented in The Tiger by John Vaillant. Men were forced to hunt a man-eating tiger through the brutal Siberian winter, an effort that familiarized them with the creature's history, motives and unique method of attack.

Tiger Hills by Sarita Mandanna takes place in turn-of-the-20th-century southern India. Devi Nachimada falls in love with Machu, a daring tiger hunter, and in the process endangers her friendship with a motherless boy, Devanna, thus setting the stage for a devastating tragedy.

Tiger, Tiger by Margaux Fragoso describes the tragic family conditions that led to the author's victimization at the hands of a pedophile, describing how her abuser became an insidious part of every aspect of her young life and traumatized her for more than 14 years before he committed suicide.

Amy Chua traces the rewards and pitfalls of a Chinese mother's exercise in extreme parenting, describing the exacting standards applied to grades, music lessons, and avoidance of Western cultural practices in Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.

Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central

The Lonely Polygamist is the best book I read in 2010 and I was apparently not the only one who thought this way. It made a number of 'Top Ten" lists of 2010, including Publisher's Weekly and Amazon.

The Lonely Polygamist tells the story of a Golden Richards, his four wives, twenty-eight children, dog, failing construction company and affair. If that sounds like a lot to cover it is. The book is long (602 pages), but it reads quickly telling the engaging story of Golden trying to provide for his large family by building a Nevada whorehouse. This is of course against his morals and he must hide this from his family and church - not that easy to do when you have so many people vying for your time. While building he runs into a lot of issues, including falling for the owner's wife. There are also interesting subplots that help develop the characters of his four wives and some of his children. As you read the book, you cannot help but feel sorry for Golden and understand that in a family of so many how one can start to feel lonely...

Submitted by Meredith, Wisconsin Talking Book Library

Hard economic times sometimes drive otherwise honest, dependable men to do drastic, dishonest things, often with dire and far reaching consequences that could never have been foreseen. This is one of those stories. It reminded me of a cross between a Robin Hood type sentiment with the folk hero-ship of Pretty Boy Floyd, John Dillinger or Bonnie and Clyde.
Dan Wilson is an outsourced software engineer who, unbeknownst to his family, is slowly going blind. His last job was to develop a security program for a local bank. While doing the work, he discovers a flaw in a program used for the bank's alarm system that was developed by a company in India.
Desperate times bring desperate measures and Dan, along with a few other unemployed friends, decides to exploit the programming flaw and rob the bank. Things, of course, do not go as planned and a young woman is killed during the robbery. To add to the bad vibes, they steal the contents of some safety deposit boxes that belong to a powerful Russian mob boss. Trouble with a capital T.
This gripping, exciting bank caper reminded me of a mix between Dog Day Afternoon and Fargo, where peaceful, but despondent men get caught up in something bigger then themselves.

Submitted by Dan@Central

Say Her Name, based on the facts of the author's life, tells how he lost his wife Aura in a freak accident on a Mexican beach. Woven into the story are excerpts from Aura's journals and short stories (she was a writer of fiction in real life). The story is heartbreaking with themes of loss and grief. Moving back and forth chronologically, he starts with Aura's death, sharing flashbacks into both of their lives.
Aura was a graduate student from Mexico who came to Columbia for her doctorate in comparative literature. Francisco was already accomplished as both journalist and novelist. Though very different people, their love was deep and Goldman was devastated at her death. Her mother, Juanita, brought a lawsuit against him, suggesting he was partially responsible for her demise. She even refused to let him have any of Aura's ashes, but as the story closes he acquiesces to both Aura and Juanita. I felt like I was intruding on a very raw, intimate part of a strangers lovelife--read this as though it's one long love letter written to honor a lost life and help repair the lives of those still living.

Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central

Tender Branson is the last remaining Creedish member (also referred to as the Creedish Dealth Cult) and he is dictating his life story into the black box of Flight 2039, a plane he has just hijacked. While 39,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean, he recounts his life as a child among the Creedish, a repressed religious sect founded in the 1860s. When he turns 17, he is sent out into the world as a domestic servant who is expected to send his earnings back to the cult. Years later, Tender finds himself on the edge of fame and fortune when members of the cult rapidly commit suicide. Everyone thinks he is the last remaining member and wants a piece of him. However, even as he preens under the attention he can't shake the feeling that his older brother is on his way to kill him.

There is also his romantic interest, Fertility Hollis, a girl who knows when strange disaster will occur. He uses her, first as a media messiah to solidify his image, and then to make an escape from it. He goes on the lam with his brother to revisit the place of his childhood, which reveals the true nature of the Creedish cult and his older brother to the reader, and then ends the book where it begins, at the hijacking of the plane and Tender's future - will he even survive?

Palahniuk's writing is full of witty and satirical observations on society with an enjoyable dark humor. His ability to keep the reader guessing continuously throughout the novel makes it a fantastic and enjoyable read. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Monica @ MPL Central

Ralph Peters certainly understands military culture. From the unwritten rules that dictate etiquette between ranks and the constant shift of personal roles while on and off duty between friends and lovers, this engaging novel reads like a marathon of "As the World Turns" in khaki and dress greens.

2nd Lieutenant Roy Banks is stationed at Fort Huachuca in Arizona, across the border from Mexico, during the early 1980's, where he is training to become an Intelligence Officer. Though Roy does a whole lot of things that show a distinct LACK of intelligence, including regularly sleeping with another married lieutenant, he is quickly portrayed as a strong but flawed man who loves jazz, beer and his own moral code.

When 1st Lt. Jessica Lamoureux, a promiscuous and manipulative woman, is found murdered, Lt. Banks becomes the prime suspect after recently declining her advances. As Lt. Banks works on clearing himself, he discovers a long laundry list of fellow servicemen with ties to Lt. Lamoureux. Could a jilted lover have committed the dastardly deed?

When the bedsheets are washed and hung out to dry, only one man comes out clean, though maybe a little shrunken from the emotional churning and cleansing.
This was a dirty, fun novel that's as gritty as the desert it's set in.

It is 1940, the war is on but the United States is not involved in it yet. Frankie Bard is an American woman journalist reporting from a bomb weary London, Iris James is a 40 year old postmaster in Franklin, Massachusetts on Cape Cod and Emma Trask is a newlywed married to the town doctor. The lives of all three become intertwined through Frankie's broadcasts as well as a chance encounter. We feel the heart stopping terror of World War II in Europe in Frankie's chapters and then take note of the smaller dramas taking place at home in the others. Emma's husband leaves to help in London, Frankie moves on to Germany to report on the Jews, and Iris keeps tabs on her community as they all come and go through her small world. I liked the alternating chapters of each character as it gave me more a sense of what was happening in Europe versus how those events were affecting people and events in the United States. I was reading this while driving with my husband through Chicago on I-94 which definitely added to the tension of those "close your eyes I don't want to know" type scenes. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Lynn @ Center St

Since I enjoyed reading Archer's 2006 mystery, False Impression, I picked up this book of his short stories. The collection is a breezy read of tales, all with a twist. They are international in scope with various settings (Milwaukee is mentioned in Where There's A Will).

Archer is a good raconteur. You'll imagine you've made his acquaintance while traveling and he is sharing these stories after dinner with a group of newfound companions. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Linda V. @ Center St

Alternate histories & imagined lives of historical persons seem the norm on our bookshelves these days. Impatient with Desire relates the story of the Donner Party emigration as they endure the legendary mountain snows of the winter of 1846-1847. Told through diary entries, letters to family back East, Bible entries, and other "documents," Tamsen Donner reveals the hopes that began the journey for 87 travelers and the tragedy that ended it with only 43. Although several rescue attempts were made, survivors had to walk out on their own with no baggage sleds or animals. Consequently, only persons with some stamina left could be rescued; the rest were left behind in their winter camp with minimal supplies. On every side the Donner Party had to make frightening decisions. Almost as compellingly written is the author's note & bibliography in which Burton tells us that her life had inexplicably become involved with Tamsen's while she researched the book. Although the story could have dwelled on the horrific, Burton instead brings out the individual heroism of each pilgrim.

Submitted by Leah @ Wisconsin Talking Book & Braille Library

1968; people with disabilities were routinely shut off from society and left to languish without attention, forgotten. Lynnie, a disabled white woman with limited speech abilities and Homan, a deaf-mute African American man are institutionalized at the Pennsylvania State School of the Incurable and Feebleminded.

One stormy night, they escape, but Lynnie is pregnant and it's time for the baby to be born. They find safety in the farmhouse of a retired school teacher, Martha Zimmer who allows them to hide in her attic. The authorities search and eventually catch up with them at the Zimmer's. Lynnie must return, but Homan gets away and the baby is left behind with Martha.

Now their stories separate, though they are desperate to reconnect. Lynnie continues to love Homan and believes he will return for her eventually. Martha looks after the baby and lives in fear that the secret will be found out and the baby taken away. Homan travels the country searching for Lynnie, but has no idea where to look; he doesn't even know her name. Will they ever reunite? Will Lynnie see her baby again? The Story of Beautiful Girl is unforgettable and will appeal to anyone interested in the deplorable treatment in the not-so-distant past of those with disabilities.

Submitted by Jacki @ Central

If stories involving intellectual chickens, talking houseplants, foul-smelling snowmen and sombrero-wearing maggots are your thing, Jim Knipfel has a book for you. His newest offering, These Children Who Come at You with Knives, is a set of off-kilter short stories with plots and characters usually found in the dreams--or, rather, the nightmares--of dark-hearted teenage boys.

Knipfel, a native of Green Bay, is known primarily for his memoirs Slackjaw and Quitting the Nairobi Trio, books which can provide useful insight into the creative mind behind these stories. The stories Knipfel tells here typically involve lonely or down-on-their-luck people visited upon by seemingly magical creatures promising easy ways out of personal or financial ruts. Others involve social misfits enduring humiliating treatment at the hands of the selfish and powerful. All are told in a kind of "fractured fairy tale" style that is both hilarious and discomfiting, often leaving the reader both squirming and snickering at the end of each story. If your reading tastes veer towards the offbeat and sarcastic, you will find much to enjoy in These Children Who Come at You with Knives, and while you're at it, check out some of Jim Knipfel's other stuff too.

Submitted by Brett @ Washington Park

Bumped is a dystopian novel set in the near future, 2036. A virus causes everyone over the age of eighteen to become infertile. So, would-be parents pay teen girls to carry their children. Melody and Harmony are twin sixteen year-olds who were separated at birth and grew up in completely different worlds.

Melody's parents have been grooming her to be a most enviable surrogate. She is tall, blond, smart, plays guitar, is a star athlete, etc. She is the first girl at her school to go 'pro' by signing a contract with the Jaydens. But while they are searching for the perfect male for her to bump with, she must not give in to her attraction for Zen, her best male friend who suffers from insufficient verticality--he is too short.

Harmony grew up in Goodside, a religious community, preparing to be a wife and mother. Veils and purity clothing are required, prayercliques are attended daily, the Church Council chooses husbands for the girls when they are as young as thirteen. So Harmony believes it's her calling to find Melody and convince her that pregging for profit is a sin while helping her embrace God.

The two meet just as Melody is getting ready to fulfill her contract for the Jaydens. Melody is matched with Jondoe, a genetically perfect professional breeder, but this is when things go wrong. Harmony pretends to be Melody and Jondoe doesn't realize he's with the wrong person. The events that follow cause both twins to doubt their original plans and the book ends ambigously, but that will keep readers thinking until the next book arrives.

The teenspeak was frustrating at first, but quickly became inherent to the story; slang like 'for serious,' 'facespace' and 'until our parents' generation finally takes a dirtnap' kept the characters and setting fresh. While some might say the book is too cavalier regarding teen sex, it seems to be more of a cautionary tale about casual hook ups. This book is going to get people talking. A discussion guide can be found here to get you started--but careful--it contains spoilers!

Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central

The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna alternately tells the stories of three men. British psychiatrist Adrian Lockhart has fled a failing marriage to work in Sierra Leone. In his quest to treat the many uncared for victims of civil war he meets Elias Cole. Cole is an elderly former professor who has two stories to relate. First, he shares much about his country's history, and second, he tells of his infatuation with another colleagues' wife. At the same time Adrian befriends Kai, a young surgeon who is thinking about leaving the country. Kai isn't sure it's a good idea for Adrian to pursue the history of one of their patients, Agnes, and conflict between the two builds.

Forna grew up in Sierra Leone where her father worked as a physician, which brings a remarkable authenticity to her writing. She deftly handles the complications of war and the memories it leaves behind. This novel, as well as her past works, Ancestor Stones and The Devil That Danced on the Water, are suggested for readers who enjoy Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Uwem Akpan.

Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central

Every time I turned a page while reading Every Shallow Cut, I felt fearful of slicing my fingers on the edges of the pages. The fear of a paper cut just compounded the tension and unease I felt while gnashing and slashing my way through this short novel.

An unknown writer narrator loses his house because his books don't sell, loses his wife to "a friend," and is forced to pawn all of his belongings besides his car and his dog to pay his debts. He also manages to get jumped while leaving the pawn shop. He naturally buys a gun with his meager funds and embarks on an emotionally grueling trek across the country to where his brother owns a home. To his brother who hates him. To his brother who hates his dog. This generic guy has name brand problems.

Along the way, our anonymous narrator revisits old lovers, old friends, old houses and old feelings of inadequacy and contempt. His one remaining old friend drugs our narrator because he's having a nervous breakdown after contemplating shooting the agent who never promotes his books.

If you are looking for light, summer beach reading, skip this book and find something else. If you are looking for 175 pages of a brilliant character study of a man being stripped of everything he loves, except his dog (thank goodness!), then I strongly recommend this downer of a book. Through the emotional carnage being spewed across the pages, the brutality actually breeds some humor after awhile. It was like laughing at a gore fest movie like The Evil Dead. After being pummeled page after page, the sting of the emotional slicing and dicing gets swathed in soft bandages and left to heal in a vague ending of HOPE?

Submitted by Dan@Central

The first novel from Douglas Coupland, it popularized the term Generation X, referring to Americans and Canadians who are young college graduated adults during the late 1980s. There are three main characters Andy, Claire, and Dag who have quit "pointless jobs done grudgingly to little applause" and relocated to the Palm Springs, California. The three friends develop a story-telling ritual, creating modern fables of love and death among what they consider to be the utter falsehood of society, as they wait for an epiphany that will shine light how to achieve the meaningful existence they are searching for. As the novel is a series of tales within a larger narrative, the reader learns various snippets from the lives of the characters which reveals their identity and beliefs about the modern world. Along with detailing the characters' relationships with each other, family members, love interests and co-workers, this allows the reader to understand the angst of Gen X, or any generation of young individuals who are attempting to figure out fiscal security while remaining true to their ideals. Unlike the more dissolute and darker young characters that populate many novels in transgressive fiction, the people in "Generation X" are generally good-hearted and likable, making the book an easy and enjoyable read. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Monica @ MPL Central

State of Wonder takes us deep into the Amazon as we follow Dr. Marina Singh. She is sent there by a Minnesota pharmaceutical company to find her former mentor, Dr. Swenson, who is supposed to be working on an important new drug. The research is costing the company an insane amount of money and Dr. Swenson has stopped responding to any communication requesting updates on her progress.

The assignment is difficult because no one knows exactly where she is and the last person who was sent to find her is now dead. Also, the jungle is completely new territory for Dr. Singh--there are insects everywhere and snakes and while she finds it lush and beautiful, it is not very welcoming. Once she finds Dr. Swenson a whole new adventure begins as she tries to discover what the research is about and whether or not development on a new drug is actually happening. The sacrifices she makes test her in ways she had not previously imagined possible, but they lead to her discovering answers about the state of her company's future as well as her own past.

Armchair travelers, fans of her previous bestseller Bel Canto, or Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad will especially enjoy this novel. Patchett's prose describes the landscape so that you feel you're with the characters nearly suffocating in the dense humid air of the Amazon.

Ann Patchett will be at Boswell Books on June 22, 2011 at 7 p.m. The event is co-sponsored by Wisconsin Public Radio.

Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central

Odd Thomas lives in Pico Mundo an unremarkable town located in California. He's happy where he's living, working and dating. He works at the Pico Mundo Grille as a cook in the kitchen where he makes the best pancakes anyone has ever tasted. He has a beautiful gun toting girlfriend/soul mate. He has no ambitions to change his life in any way. So what's so interesting about Odd and these novels? Odd has two unique skills or curses depending on who you ask. He can see dead people and has psychic magnetism - the ability to hone in on what, who or where he desires. Inevitably these talents get him and his girlfriend into trouble and helping the local police department in solving crimes. The graphic novels are fun to read and look at, but you don't get to enjoy Koontz's smooth and flowing writing style which gives you a wonderful sense of Odd's quirky personality. So depending on your likes and dislikes you may like one over the other, but I liked them both. As an aside Odd's other sidekick is the ghost of Elvis. That's right the one and only Elvis Presley. Bizarre.

For other Odd Thomas books check the catalog here.

Submitted by Valerie @ MPL Central

"Ulysses"
This book was published by James Joyce in 1922. It is set on June 16, 1904.
This is what "Ulysses" is about:
Life
Death
Mothers
Fathers
Sons
Eating
Drinking
Walking
Talking
Writing
Reading
Language
Music
History (Irish)
History (mythological)
History (imagined)
History (nightmarish)
Reality
Illusion
Hallucination
Vaticination
Frustration
Pleasure
Pain
Joy
Grief
Art
Man
Woman
Sex
Love

Should you read it?
Yes

Bloomsday is a commemoration observed annually on June 16th in Dublin and elsewhere to celebrate the life of Irish writer James Joyce and relive the events in his novel Ulysses, all of which took place on the same day in Dublin in 1904. The name derives from Leopold Bloom, the protagonist of Ulysses.

- submitted by Bill @ WTBBL

Allan Quatermain, adventurer extraordinaire and all around circa 1880's he-man type dude, is the Indiana Jones for the Victorian set. I mean this guy can do it all. He is the fictional allegorical equivalent of British Colonialism. In other words, besides being seriously macho, he's kind, considerate, knowledgeable, relentless and fair. Chivalry is not dead!

King Solomon's Mines was published in 1885 and became an instant literary hit. Its publication inspired Edgar Rice Burroughs to write The Land that Time Forgot (1918) and Arthur Conan Doyle to pen The Lost World (1912). In effect, Haggard created the "Lost World" genre that would become incredibly popular and still is today.

Set in middle Africa in the 1880's and based somewhat on Haggard's experiences in South Africa as a 19 year old British civil servant, the novel is basically a fictional journey across dark, unexplored Africa in search of the Biblical King Solomon's rumored wealth.

Quatermain, an experienced hunter and explorer, is hired by Sir Henry Curtis and his trusty sidekick Captain Good to find Sir Henry's brother who has disappeared while searching for the fabled treasure. The story that follows, as told through the first person narration of Quartermain himself, is an epic trek through arid, deadly deserts, freezing caves, treacherous mountains and fierce African tribes.

As corny as it can be by today's standards, this story really is pretty good. Sometimes the first of something really is the best and that certainly holds true in this case.

If you absolutely must watch one of the many film versions of this story, skip the cheesy 1985 version starring Richard Chamberlain and Sharon Stone and go for the much better 1950 version starring Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr.

Better yet, put this truly classic novel on your summer reading list and, after finishing it and being thoroughly enthralled, pass it on to your best friend so they can enjoy the thrills too!

Submitted by Dan@Central

Christine Lucas was in a car accident that resulted in amnesia of an odd sort. Every time she goes to sleep she forgets who she is and what happened in the last 24 hours. When we first meet her she receives a phone call from a Dr. Nash who tells her about a journal she's been writing in. We discover, along with Christine, the details of her past and present. We're left guessing from the very beginning as page one of her journal says 'don't trust Ben.' Ben is her husband--or is he? Who should Christine trust? This is Watson's debut novel which was inspired in part by the lives of several amnesiac patients, most notably Henry Gustav Molaison and Clive Wearing. He has given us a thought provoking thriller topped off with psychological drama. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central

In Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters, Ella lives on the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina. The island was named after Nevin Nollop, author of the pangram (a sentence or phrase that includes all letters of the alphabet). "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." All is well in the land of Nollop until the letters on the pangram memorial statue begin falling off. Totalitarianism takes over as the island council decides to ban the usage of each letter that falls. Each letter that the council bans also disappears from the book and the reader is left to decipher the hilarious phonetic spelling of the townspeople. It's up to Ella Minnow Pea to outwit the council and save the alphabet before it disappears from their lives forever.

Submitted by Maria @Central

Untold Story: A Novel by Monica Ali (Brick Lane, In the Kitchen) is about what might have happened if Princess Diana hadn't been killed in 1997. If alive, she would turn fifty on July 1, 2011. Ali imagines a fictional Princess of Wales whose life mirrors that of Diana's. She did not die in an accident, her death was faked, and now she is living in the United States. She calls herself Lydia Snaresbrook and is living in Kensington, North Carolina. Slowly, she makes friends and dates, but can never divulge the truth of her past. Eventually a British paparazzo comes to town and threatens her secret. Fans of Diana may enjoy this fairy tale of 'what if;' for as many questions as it answers, it's likely to leave readers asking more...what is it to live a life of peace, and is it worth leaving your children behind?

While you're waiting for Untold Story, take a look at what Newsweek's Tina Brown has to say about what Diana's life would be like in her article Diana at 50.

Submitted by Jacki @ Central

If you're looking for a book to transport you into another family's life for a while, look no further. Maine is told from the point of view of four women in the Kelleher family; Alice, the matriarch, Maggie, Alice's granddaughter, Kathleen, the daughter, and Ann Marie, Alice's daughter in law. In this Irish Catholic family everyone talks about everyone else behind their backs; they have a love-hate relationship with one another. Each thinks they know just what the others shortcomings are and, as we find out, they're not too far off the mark. This summer, as they arrive at the family beach house in Maine, they slowly share secrets including a pregnancy, an inappropriate crush and a deeply held resentment for past misdeeds.

Sullivan (Commencement) has written a very intuitive portrait of family. The mother-daughter relationships resonated for me quite strongly because I fear I will turn into my mother. We often don't see eye to eye and spend a good deal of time practicing our passive aggressive communication skills with one another. The Kelleher women have similar relationship dynamics and it was amusing to watch them learn to come to terms with the fact that, like or not, they're family. Though relationships would stretch toward a breaking point, and things did snap, they never broke.

Submitted by Jacki @ Central

For followers of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, Ann Brashares reacquaints readers with the four Septemberists in her newest novel Sisterhood Everlasting. It is 10 years later and Carmen, Bridget (Bee), Lena and Tibby are now on the brink of turning 30. They are in seemingly predictable places in their adult lives. Carmen is acting in New York City and engaged. Bee is as free-spirited as ever and now in California with a former love. Lena is an isolated art teacher working in Rhode Island and Tibby has moved to Australia.

We discover at the beginning of the story that these four have lost touch; they have painfully drifted apart which is evident in how much they miss each other. Tibby attempts to resolve this by sending them all tickets for a reunion in Greece. Unfortunately, the women are met with tragedy once they converge in Greece. This tragedy, in addition to how the Septemberists deal or fail to deal with it is the prevailing theme for the rest of the novel. Although the traveling pants are no longer present, the reader travels with the characters along the California coast, from New York City to New Orleans on a train and revisits Bapi's house in Santorini. This novel is a worthwhile read, especially as a nice wrap-up to the lives and relationships of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants girls.

Although this is a continuation of the Traveling Pants series, it is important to note that this book is written now with an adult point of view and includes mature themes and subject matter.

Submitted by Lori @ Central

I can honestly say this quirky novel is my first fictional literary experience regarding escaped Nazi POW's hanging out in Detroit!

The joy of reading Elmore Leonard, in my opinion, is the snappy dialogue between absurd characters that frame each chapter into "scenes" that move the story along. Each "scene," when compounded into a collective narrative, tells the story in a jagged, jutty style that is sure to answer any unclear plot developments in the very next chapter, usually through some remarkable dialogue between freaky characters.

Speaking of freaky characters, this book has some memorable doozies! Besides the above mentioned Nazi POW's, we are also treated to a drunken, washed up Nazi spy and her cross-dressing houseboy with a "Buster Brown" haircut, a naturalized Nazi butcher who is the splitting image of Heinrich Himmler, a U.S. Marshal with amazing self control and a racist obstetrician!

Oh, I almost forgot about Honey. Honey is the main character of the book. Honey is a woman comfortable in her own skin. She's also comfortable shedding her clothes, sometimes with a Nazi POW and sometimes with a U.S. Marshal. She was also married to the Himmler lookalike! She's hilarious. She's an individual. I really liked Honey and found myself rooting for her throughout the story.

I'm not going to say what this book is about, but it takes place in Detroit circa 1945 and involves eradicating a Nazi spy ring made up of total goofs.

Ya just can't go wrong with any Elmore Leonard book.
Check catalog availability.
Submitted by Dan @ Central

A number of us grew up with Harry Potter, but in between re-reading those fabulous seven books, these titles should fulfill a desire for magic, history and coming of age.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman stars Quentin Coldwater. He is a senior in high school, but he's totally hung up on a series of fantasy novels set in a land called Fillory that he read when he was younger. So he's completely surprised when he finds himself admitted to an elite college of magic where he learns the craft of modern sorcery. Want more? The sequel, The Magician King will be out in August.

If you want to find out how hard it can be to truly live and how easy it is to kill, you want to read The Secret History by Donna Tartt. A group of smart students at a New England college are groomed by their enigmatic classics professor to live beyond the boundaries of typical morality and their lives are changed forever.

In Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey we meet James Stark. He was kidnapped by demons when he was nineteen and is working as a sideshow gladiator in Hell. He escapes and goes to Los Angeles where he makes plans to ruin the magic circle that stole his life.

Edward Moon, a stage magician and detective, works with a silent assistant, the Somnambulist. Together they scheme to recreate the apocalyptic prophecies of Samuel Taylor Coleridge to bring down the British Empire. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Jacki @ Central

On the 15th of June, 1767, twelve year old Cosimo Piovasco di Rondo goes up into the trees and refuses to come down for the rest of his life. So begins Italo Calvino's whimsical novel The Baron in the Trees. In order to escape the confines of his title and all the duties that come along with it, Cosimo never sets foot on the ground again. Narrated by his brother Biago, the story follows Cosimo's life in the trees and takes the reader through his loves, adventures, and his relationship with his elusive neighbor Viola. The story gives a unique view of Enlightenment in 18th century Italy. This is a must read for any fans of magical realism.

Submitted by Maria @ MPL Central

Imagine wallpaper that is repellant, atrocious, infuriating, grotesque and horrid. This is the kind of wallpaper that drives one woman crazy in Charlotte Perkins-Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper. The story is told from the point of view of an un-named woman character suffering from nervous conditions in a rented mansion in the English countryside. Deprived of society and stimulation of any kind by her well-meaning husband, the woman is only allowed to lie around and stare at the wallpaper in her room. As she becomes absorbed in the wallpaper she slowly loses her sanity trying to make sense of the pattern that she believes is somehow out to get her. Perkins-Gilman is an accomplished narrator of women's lives and this book is a shining example of some of her greatest work.

Submitted by Maria @ Central

New Orleans. Ghosts. Murder. Romance. Historic Mansion in the French Quarter. Heather Graham uses all of these elements in her book Phantom Evil. Jackson Crowe heads a secret government unit which deals with the paranormal. The members in this unit all have psychic talents and are called in to investigate the death of a Senator's wife. Senator Holloway does not believe that his wife committed suicide. He thinks that his wife was killed by the ghosts in this haunted mansion once inhabited by a serial killer. Suicide, ghosts, or someone or something more sinister?

Perfect for a summer night when you can stay up late, read the whole book, and sleep in the next morning. I have the next book in the series on hold; I'll just have to wait for the right night to read it.

Submitted by Connie @ Central

I picked up This Beautiful Life by Helen Schulman because a review said it will appeal to readers who thrive on discussing moral ambiguities. Indeed. The Bergamots are a thriving family of four until 15 year old Jake attends a party and meets 13 year old Daisy. After a make-out session she invites him to spend the night and 'hook up.' He thinks she is too young, among other things, and heads for home. The next morning he checks his email and finds Daisy has made him a sexually explicit video. Unsure what to think, he forwards it to a friend, who forwards it to a friend, and soon his whole family is suffering the consequences of his action.

Submitted by Jacki @ Central

Leo Tolstoy's last days in 1910 were dominated by a struggle between his wife (Sofya Andreyevna) and his closest disciple and friend (Vladimir Grigorevich Chertkov) concerning his will and the royalties from his books. Sofya desperately wants this inheritance (the copyrights) for her family and Chertkov would like the funds to provide continuing support for the Tolstoyan movement which he would personally lead. Tolstoy is caught in the middle of these warring factions and the obvious personal contradictions between the way he lives as Count Tolstoy and the precepts that he preaches for his countrymen. Sofya is demonized by those opposed to her as a controlling madwoman whose hysterical outbursts destroy everything in her path.

The author Jay Parini has written an excellent historical novel based on the actual diaries kept by all involved. The Last Station: A Novel of Tolstoy's Final Year in turn is written in individual chapters from the first person viewpoint of the main characters - in many cases retelling an actual event from multiple viewpoints. Sofya is the most interesting and sympathetic of all the characters - as a young bride she painstakingly transcribed War and Peace in longhand from her husband's cryptic and convoluted notes about the text. (I would have given her the inheritance just for having accomplished that task alone). The pain she suffers is not just that others are plotting against her but that ultimately her husband is physically taken away from her by his followers and her daughter. Sofya is not even allowed to visit with him as he lay on his deathbed - she is allowed to visit only after he has completely lost consciousness. Sofia Tolstoy's diaries have been recently revised and newly translated with an introduction by Doris Lessing - The Diaries of Sofia Tolstoy.

Leo Tolstoy might have been the greatest of Russian authors but as a reader of this novel you are left with an iconic author who is struggling to match the persona that he has created for himself. He ends up as just another grumpy old man who more than anything else just wants to be left alone. He does not even have the backbone to be honest with his wife - he and Chertkov secretly meet in the woods to rewrite his will unbeknownst to his wife. Sonya might not have shared her husband's lofty idealism but she certainly cared more for him than he did for her. Novel was also recently made into a movie - The Last Station with Helen Mirren as Sofya and Christopher Plummer as Leo Tolstoy and a conniving Paul Giamatti as Chertkov.

Submitted by Tom O. @ Central

Camille and Caleb Fang are performance artists and that is their life. Even their children, Annie and Buster (known as Child A and Child B in the art world), play second fiddle to their work while being reluctantly cast as stars in the performances. The Family Fang is told in the alternating voices of the children when they return home to live with their parents after finding their own adult lives a mess. When Camille and Caleb disappear the children attempt to locate them, though with skepticism, because they can't help wondering if this isn't yet another fabulous show that they've once again been unwittingly cast into. Bizarre, yet funny in a very subtle way, this story of family will amuse and spark thoughtful discussion.

Submitted by Jacki @ Central

Earlier this week, the PEN American Center annouced their 2011 PEN Literary Awards winners. Highlights include:

Fiction Debut - Susanna Daniel, Stiltsville (Harper Perennial) &
Danielle Evans, Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self (Riverhead)

Nonfiction - Robert Perkinson, Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire (Metropolitan Books)

Science Writing - Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Emperor of All Maladies (Scribner)

Sports Writing - George Dohrmann, Play Their Hearts Out (Ballantine Books)

Biography - Stacy Schiff, Cleopatra: A Life (Little, Brown and Company)

Click on cover images to check catalog for availability.

Ready Player One is a debut novel by Ernest Cline. Set in a dystopian America in 2044, the only way to escape a world full of famine, poverty and disease is a vast virtual reality simulation game based on geek culture from the 1970s and '80s. The person able to solve the increasingly difficult series of puzzles will become an heir to the creator of the game. Millions of people have been trying for years to attain the prize, but have been unable to unlock all the puzzles. Would you be able to win? If you're an expert at Pac-Man, can recite Devo lyrics at random and are overtly familiar with John Hughes' work--it may be possible...

Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central

Norwegian Wood tells the story of Toru Watanabe, a young student who is trying to come to terms with the death of his best friend Kizuki. He soon grows close to Kizuki's girlfriend Naoko and a romantic relationship develops that confuses them both. Unable to deal, Naoko becomes unstable and tries to isolate herself from the world by checking into a sanatorium. While Toru attempts to be faithful, he becomes drawn to Midori, an outspoken student at his school. As Naoko's mental state deteriorates Toru is torn between the two and can only make a decision when a tragic event changes each of them forever. Set in the turbulent world of 1960s Japan, this is a bittersweet story of young love gone awry.

Submitted by Maria @ Central

No, The Dead of the House is not yet another vampire or supernatural novel. It's the story of an American family from Ohio as told through the eyes of young Vanessa Nye. Originally published in 1972, this long out of print book was rediscovered by Jeannette Watson of the now defunct Books & Co. store in New York and reprinted in 1995.

Vanessa tells her family's history in three segments. The first part, "In My Grandfather's House," takes us through the childhood, adolescence and marriage of Grandpa Nye. He's quite a character who went through life with an amazing sense of wonder and adventure. He owned his own business, wrote history and biography books and was the 'keeper of genealogical records' for the DeGloyer/Nye family.

The second part is entitled "Summer Afternoon, Summer Afternoon." This segment is all about Vanessa's vacations at the shores of Lake Michigan with her mom, dad and sister Lisa. Although they spend time with a lot of the same neighbors and friends year after year, it's never boring. Playing games, swimming in the lake, flirting wih the boys, and nights spent telling stories 'round the campfire are just a few of the good times that Vanessa mentions.

The third and last section, "And Here Tecumseh Fell," recalls Vanessa's homecoming from California for the holidays and reminiscences with other family members of time spent with Grandpa Nye. Grandpa is very ill and in the hospital, so everyone goes to spend a moment or two with him. After the return to the Nye's house, they receive the call that Grandpa Nye has passed away.

I enjoyed this book immensely and I only wish that Hannah Green had been a more prolific writer. She actually published very little in her lifetime. She wrote a number of short stories for magazines, but only published two books: The Dead of the House and one non-fiction book The Little Saint. (Many people confuse Ms. Green with another writer, Joanne Greenberg, who used the pseudonym Hannah Green when she wrote I Never Promised You a Rose Garden and several other books).

Hannah Green passed away in 1996. I'm hoping there will someday be a publication of her other stories--I know I'd certainly like to read them, too!

Submitted by Marge W. @ Central (CCDM)

Kindred follows the story of Dana, a black woman living in 1970's California. While celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday, Dana is inexplicably transported to 1815 Maryland to save Rufus, the white son of slave-owners. This becomes habit as Dana is transported back more frequently and for longer periods, each time having to save Rufus from some near death experience. As Dana becomes aware of the link between her future and Rufus's, she must watch as the boy she risks her life for grows up and becomes a cruel slave owner himself. Dana is forced to assume the role of Rufus's slave bringing untold danger to herself and her husband. Realizing that Rufus will never change, Dana makes a decision that will change the lives of people in the past and present.

Submitted by Maria @ Central

Though it wasn't until 1925 that Winnie-the-Pooh officially became a storybook character, he was a stuffed bear given to A. A. Milne's son Christopher Robin 90 years ago on his first birthday, August 21, 1921. The bear then became the model and inspiration for the honey-loving hero of the children's book series that is loved by millions.

Milne made a contribution to the Christmas Eve issue of the Evening News; a bedtime story that he had made up for his son about adventures he had with his Teddy Bear who was known as Winnie-the-Pooh. This bedtime story formed the first chapter of Milnes book entitled Winnie-the-Pooh and was famously followed by Now We are Six and The House at Pooh Corner. The New York Public Library has a timeline about the Real Pooh.

Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central

The main players in this novel are Aziraphale, "an angel and part-time rare book dealer" specializing in autographed first edition books of prophesy, and Crowley, "an angel who did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards" to Earth who enjoys driving all over the place in his bizarre vehicle while listening to rock 'n roll and singing along. What they are playing with is Armageddon and the boy whom they think is an antichrist or as known in this account as the "Adversary, Destroyer of Kings, Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Great Beast that is called Dragon, Prince of This World, Father of Lies, Spawn of Satan, and Lord of Darkness." The absolutely ridiculous, fast paced dialogue packed full of historic, literary, mythological and biblical references is absolutely hilarious. With this tone you wouldn't guess that the ultimate good versus evil war for the outcome of the end of the world is about to take place eleven short years from today.

I listened to this story on CD performed by Martin Jarvis. His fantastic performance had me laughing out loud.

Submitted by Valerie @ MPL Central

Orozco's writing is haunting. Even in the longest of his short stories, "Somoza's Dream," when you're not sure where he is going with the story and how - or even if - all the pieces will fit together (they do, I promise), you want to keep reading so very badly because the writing is so very good. He writes as well about the regular everyday things (starting a new job, shopping for groceries) as he does about the extraordinary ones (assassinating exiled dictators, witnessing a murder).

Many of his stories have a unique writing style associated with them. In "Orientation," a story about the orientation given to a new office worker, Orozco writes in the clipped, no-nonsense manner of a human resources manual, and in "Officers Weep," a story about the relationship between two police officers, he writes in a police blotter format. Both formats, and indeed every writing style in the book, work very well.

Orozco excels at writing about the "human" of "the human condition." His characters and stories are complex without being overly complicated. You'll find yourself relating to many of the characters, recognizing both their good and bad traits as parts of yourself. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Matt @ East

In The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters writes an engrossing tale of a postwar British doctor who is peculiarly connected to a historic manor house from his childhood and the aged family who has occupied it for generations. Bordering on obsessive, Dr. Faraday half-heartedly pursues the manor's eldest daughter, Caroline Ayres, who is steadily slipping into a downward spiral, going from eccentric to seemingly downright mad. Unclear by his own motives, the doctor cannot decide what continues to draw him closer to the family. Is it truly his affection for Caroline or his own childhood connection with the manor? The Ayres family - worn and from an era past, struggle to maintain their grip on reality as countless tragedies ensue and obscurity surround them. The house - now similarly dilapidated, adds to the layers of mystery. Is the house haunted with spirits of the past? Or are the inhabitants haunted by their loss of sanity? Prepare for a story that takes readers on a journey with ghosts from the past and a tale that has a family continually questioning their sanity. Waters writes a riveting gothic ghost story that grabs readers and fails to let go until the very last page is turned.

Submitted by Danielle R. - Technical Services, Serials Department
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The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters is the kind of ghost story that fans of Henry James and Shirley Jackson wish there were more of. The horror is subtle and psychological, not explicitly gruesome. The place is Warwickshire England and the time is shortly after WWII. The narrator, a local physician, is called to treat one of the maids at the home of an upper class family whose fortunes are in decline. Awed by the family's wealth as a child, the doctor is now taken aback to see how much things have deteriorated. The once grand house is crumbling and in need of repair, it's inhabitants' money almost gone.

The doctor finds himself paying frequent visits to the household and getting involved in the lives of the family members. He develops a romantic interest in the unattractive spinster sister who is just barely keeping the family finances together. As strange, inexplicable things begin to happen in the house, the doctor becomes obsessed with getting to the bottom of them.

Although the pace of the narrative is leisurely, the story is gripping. Keep reading at least until you reach the part where the child is bitten by a dog--after that you will not be able to put the book down. Not just a ghost story, this is also an examination of England's class system, as well as a perceptive character study. The chilling ending took me completely by surprise, and had me wanting to reread the entire book in search of clues.

Submitted by Mary @ Forest Home

Finding a new novel that is thoughtful and intellectually stimulating is always a summer treat. Jane Austen has been gone a long time. Finding a novel that deals with grief and aging sounds depressing, but in the hands of a skilled author it can be healing, as the central character, retired Army Major Ernest Pettigrew, finds a way to live again after his beloved wife's death. Can there be love a second time? The characters in Helen Simonson's prose are challenged to stretch and grow as their core values and principles are challenged. The reader is also challenged.

Simonson is an author who can skillfully use a rich vocabulary to paint a complex three-dimensional picture: a charming English village, very real twenty first century racial problems between descendants of long-time residents and Pakistani immigrants, intergenerational misunderstandings and reconciliations, religious tensions and even city development problems. Some have compared her dry humor to P.G. Wodehouse. This is a rare find. The characters are entirely believable and not all are likable. If one is looking for a modern book as far from fast-action thrillers, sexual exploitation and bad language as possible, this is an excellent choice.

Like a famous racehorse, the novel is a bit slow to get out of the gate but accelerates to a dizzying speed and ends a winner. This is Simonson's first novel but she has already mastered capturing the reader's interest and holding it to the satisfying end. Recommended. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Virginia S. @ MPL Central

Did you go see The Help on the big screen? USA today called it a "surprise summer hit," far surpassing attendance expectations for a mid-budget drama this time of year. Of course, those of us who loved the book aren't surprised! If the movie has whetted your appetite for some read-alikes, you may want to try these.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Lily Owens is a white girl living in the South in the mid-60s whose mother has died in a tragic accident. Her family's maid, Rosaleen, protects her until a racial incident puts them on the run. They are taken in by the beekeeping Boatwright sisters, who teach them about love, family, and womanhood in a story that is both beautiful and empowering.

The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Although set against a different backdrop than The Help, this book also explores the impact racial discrimination has on relationships throughout our lives. Chinese-American Henry Lee recalls his first childhood love, Japanese-American Keiko Okabe, whose family was placed in an internment camp during World War II.

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin
One of the criticisms leveled at The Help is that it portrays only a small slice of the Jim Crow experience, glossing over the harsher realities faced by many African Americans. If you're looking for a more complex, hard-edged examination of Southern race relations, this sophisticated crime drama both explores and rejects our stereotypes and prejudices. Two childhood friends, one black and one white, are torn about when the white boy is accused (though never convicted) of murder. Many years later, when another girl goes missing in their town, the two men are forced to face each other again.

Submitted by Audrey @ Forest Home

Girl in a Blue Dress is a fictionalized account of the marriage of Charles and Catherine Dickens. Dickens fans, used to seeing his warm and fuzzy side, will get an entirely different perspective.

As the story opens, the great writer of the Victorian age, Alfred Gibson, has just died. His widow, Dorothea, known as Dodo, has been exiled by her husband to a small apartment and denied contact with her many children. Meanwhile, Alfred has taken a mistress and announces to his adoring public that Dodo is an unfit wife and mother.

After her husband's funeral, Dodo remembers how ardently Alfred courted her and the great love he showed her before the births of their many children and 20 years of marriage to a boundlessly energetic genius have left her fat and too tired to enjoy life. Dodo reminisces about her husband known as "the one and only" and discovers a great deal about herself. This book will surprise Dickens' fans, however this first effort by Gaynor Arnold it is very will written.

Submitted by Nancy A. @ King

Elena Alvarez, a chef and the lone survivor of a horrific accident which claimed the lives of two of her cousins, her unborn child, and boyfriend almost 20 years ago is trying to move on. Trying to fulfill a dream of running her own restaurant, she's trying to defy the odds stacked against her. After being fired from her job by the head chef (and her boyfriend), she is offered a chance to start over by owner Julian Liswood, a famous director and restaurant owner in Colorado. Can Elena get a restaurant running from the ground up? Can her battered body withstand the demands of a chef? Will Elena's old ghosts get in her way of finally having happiness? Check the catalog for availability. Grab a comfy blanket and a pen (for jotting down the recipes throughout this novel) and enjoy!
Submitted by Nichole D. @ Villard

Growing up in New Jersey, Sabina and her upper-middle class Colombian family stood out in a "town of blancos," they were the only Latino family in a white community. Vida follows Sabina through young and early adulthood as she deals with feelings of isolation and comes to terms with her shifting Colombian American identity. Front and center are Sabina's relationships; her flawed relationships with lovers and her family in the United States and in Colombia. Sabina is at times reckless and self-absorbed, but she is also strong, intelligent and unafraid. She endures the hardships of lost loved ones and messy breakups, and finds it's the smallest of moments that bring the most momentous changes in life. Vida is Patricia Engel's first novel and is remarkable for its clarity, intensity and emotional honesty without sentimentality.

September 15th is the start of Hispanic Heritage Month. Revisit some of your favorite works by Latino authors like Julia Alvarez, Sandra Cisneros or Rudolfo Anaya, or check out newer titles like Conquistadora by Esmeralda Santiago or The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse.

Submitted by Kristina @ Central

Did you see Steve Earle in July at the Pabst? I'm part of his cult following, but the closest I've ever come to a drug experience was on a windy night in the 1980's when I ingested a Diet Coke and four tabs of an effervescent antacid. You might know the Earle of yore and lore: great music and a heroin habit; buddy of the late Townes Van Zandt; husband of six ex-wives; photos of joints the size of corn cobs dangling insensibly from his mouth. Earle once balanced on a wall above 17th Avenue in NYC with a whipped cream dispenser of nitrous oxide in one hand and a bottle of tequila with 16 dissolved LSD tabs in the other. Luckily, after a stint in jail he cleaned up his act and has since recorded music that makes poets cry themselves to sleep.

Earle's second shot at fiction, I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive, details the troubled life of heroin addict Doc Ebersole, haunted by his former patient and friend, singer-songwriter Hank Williams--and man, is this spook cheesed off. As angry as a bag of wasps and dead for nearly a decade, Hank torments Doc daily. The technical difficulty of distinguishing between illusion and reality is one of the oldest and most important problems faced by writers in particular and by mankind in general. The allegorical details throughout the book (stigmatas, miracles, spirits, and mysterious cures) never overwhelm the story, which is shot through with Earle's usual humor, insight, and elegiac humanity. The book will appeal to Earle fans, lovers of magical realism, and readers longing for a transcendental way of life or a page-turning fable. And if you're not interested in ghosts and miracles, click here to check out the library's collection of terrific Steve Earle music!
Submitted by Jane @ East

This is a fun, slightly sarcastic, but hysterically comic take on the debate over digital versus print books. A donkey with a laptop and a monkey with a hardcover book discuss the merits of their preferred formats. "How do you scroll down?" the donkey asks. "Do you blog with it?" "Can you make the characters fight?" At one point, the donkey reads a page of Treasure Island and decides it has too many words. So then he quickly transcribes the story as "LJS: rrr! K? lol! / JIM: :( ! :)." Finally, the donkey assures the monkey that he will charge the book up when he is finished with it; to which a mouse, the 3rd character in this book, responds with the side-splitting punch line. It's A Book is in picture book format with wonderful illustrations, and is sure to make kids and adults smile.

Submitted by Nancy A. @ King

I could start spouting off about how Modern Library considers this book to be in the top 100 English Language novels of the 20th Century or how critics and English professors almost universally love this depraved tale of Hollywood alienation and freakishness, but who cares what the "experts" say anyways?

Instead, I think I'll just recommend this book because it's simply fun if "kooky" floats your boat.

Published in 1939 and set in 1930's Hollywood, this rollicking novel takes exceptional glee in exposing the soft, white underbelly of the glitzy movie business. Tod Hackett, a graduate of Yale, accepts a job at an unnamed movie studio painting backdrops and movie sets while continuing his "artistic" painting at home in his cheap room at the San Bernardino Arms. What Tod finds is a savage town filled with heartbreak, booze and selfishness.

Every character throughout the novel seems to be a caricature of a typical 1930's Hollywood "B" movie. We have a determined dwarf, a beautiful damsel who only causes distress but is never actually in it, a concrete cowboy, a nerdy guy from Iowa named Homer Simpson and a child actor named Adore!

This grimy novel features, among other finely written scenes, multiple characters in love with the same dastardly dame, the bloodiest cockfight in gloriously depraved detail that I've ever read, a drunken, dying vaudevillian star who sells fake silver polish and enough rapscallion behavior to make Larry Flynt blush.

To sum it up, in the words of Dashiell Hammett, who is truly one of the great writers of the 1930's and was an accomplished screenwriter in Hollywood: "This is the Hollywood that needs telling about. It's a fine job. I got a kick out of it!" You tell 'em Dashiell!

Roll over Bukowski, Nathanael West beat you to the punch!

Check catalog availability

Submitted by Dan@Central

September 24th kicks off Banned Books Week, an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Join us in celebrating your freedom to read by picking up a banned or challenged book at your library today.

Below is a list of the ten most frequently banned or challenged books in the country in 2010, according to the American Library Association.

1) And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
At New York City's Central Park Zoo, two male penguins fall in love and start a family by taking turns sitting on an abandoned egg until it hatches.
2) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Budding cartoonist Junior leaves his troubled school on the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white farm town school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.
3) Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Huxley's classic prophetic novel describes the socialized horrors of a futuristic utopia devoid of individual freedom.
4) Crank, by Ellen Hopkins
Kristina Snow is the perfect daughter, but she meets a boy who introduces her to drugs and becomes a very different person, struggling to control her life and her mind.
5) The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
In a future North America, where the rulers of Panem maintain control through an annual televised survival competition pitting young people from each of the twelve districts against one another, sixteen-year-old Katniss's skills are put to the test when she voluntarily takes her younger sister's place.
6) Lush, by Natasha Friend
Unable to cope with her father's alcoholism, thirteen-year-old Sam corresponds with an older student, sharing her family problems and asking for advice.
7) What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones
A series of poems reflect the thoughts and feelings of Sophie, a fifteen-year-old-girl, as she describes her relationships with a series of boys and as she searches for Mr. Right.
8) Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich
In an attempt to understand the lives of Americans earning near-minimum wages, Ehrenreich works as a waitress in Florida, a cleaning woman in Maine, and a sales clerk in Minnesota.
9) Revolutionary Voices, edited by Amy Sonnie
An anthology of stories by gay youth reveal their fears and joyous moments as they attempt to survive and thrive.
10) Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
When seventeen-year-old Bella leaves Phoenix to live with her father in Forks, Washington, she meets an exquisitely handsome boy at school for whom she feels an overwhelming attraction and who she comes to realize is not wholly human.

The above annotations are from our catalog or the readers' advisory database NoveList.

Submitted by Audrey @ Forest Home

They say not to judge a book by its cover, but right away the creepy, floating child on the cover lets you know that this particular tome is unique. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children follows a young man named Jacob and his search for answers after a violent tragedy throws his life off course. Searching for answers, he heads to a tiny island off the coast of Wales and an orphanage that has been abandoned since World War II. What he learns about the home and its former occupants, the Peculiar Children, casts a whole new light on Jacob's life and the event that caused him to seek the island and its secrets in the first place.

Scattered throughout the text are a series of black and white photographs which enhance the other-worldly feeling set by the prose and the storyline. Among them is a headless boy, a man with a mouth on the back of his head, and the floating girl from the cover. All of the photographs are genuine items, and come from the collections of various different people, including the author. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is both a literary and visual experience, so it should come as no surprise that the movie rights have already been purchased. Perfect for a dark and rainy night, this will leave you feeling unsettled long after you set it down.

Submitted by Jennifer P @ Capitol

Oh, you've GOT to read this one! Sunny Nwazue was born in New York, but moves with her family to her parents' native Nigeria at the age of twelve. Sunny, an albino, has always felt a little like an outcast, and these feelings only intensify when she is the new girl at school. Through the help of two classmates, a teen from Chicago, and some adult mentors, she realizes that her skin is far from the only thing that sets her apart. The writing style is accessible for any reader, and I loved the interpretations of traditional African culture as Sunny explores her heretofore unknown abilities. There's a mystery to solve, too! Someone is using children in her town for a sinister purpose. How can the evil and magical Black Hat be stopped? And by the way, who wouldn't love a book where librarians are the richest and most powerful people in the community? Yes, you must read Akata Witch, it's a fun, fast-paced, and intriguing book!
Submitted by Ephemera, soon to be blogging from Villard Square Library!

In The Strange Case of Origami Yoda, when Dwight brings an origami finger puppet of Yoda to school, everyone assumes that it is just Dwight being a weirdo as usual. But then Dwight starts waving the puppet around and dispensing advice in a bad Yoda impression. And then people start to realize that the advice is good, and they wonder if maybe Dwight really is somehow channeling the wisdom of Yoda. The book is set up as a case file of stories gathered by Dwight's friend Tommy, each telling the story of how Origami Yoda has helped someone in class. Tommy's friend Kellen provides some great Star Wars related cartoons.

In Darth Paper Strikes Again, after suffering several Origami Yoda-related humiliations, Harvey gets Dwight suspended from school. Origami Yoda pleads with Tommy and Kellen to save Dwight by making a new case file. Tommy and Kellen record cases such as "Origami Yoda and the Pre-eaten Wiener," and "Origami Yoda and the Exploding Pizza Bagels." But Harvey and his Darth Paper puppet have a secret plan that could make Dwight's suspension permanent.

These books are written in notebook format with cartoon illustrations similar to The Wimpy Kid books and will certainly appeal to the same audience but beneath the humor is some wisdom that only Yoda could dispense. The movie references make it a great choice for any boy (or girl) who is more interested in watching Star Wars than reading. Included, of course, are instructions on making your own Origami Yoda and Darth Paper.

Submitted by Fran @ Bay View

The Man Booker Prize promotes the finest in fiction by rewarding the very best book of the year. The prize is the world's most important literary award and has the power to transform the fortunes of authors and even publishers....

The winner of the Man Booker Prize 2011 is Julian Barnes for The Sense of an Ending. This intense new novel follows a middle-aged man as he contends with a past he has never much thought about--until his closest childhood friends return with a vengeance, one of them from the grave, another maddeningly present. Tony Webster thought he'd left all this behind as he built a life for himself, and by now his marriage and family and career have fallen into an amicable divorce and retirement. But he is then presented with a mysterious legacy that obliges him to reconsider a variety of things he thought he'd understood all along, and to revise his estimation of his own nature and place in the world.

Julian Barnes has been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize three times previously, for Arthur and George (2005), England, England (1998) and Flaubert's Parrot (1984).

Submitted by Jacki @ Central

Save as Draft chronicles a love triangle evolving over e-mails, text, and Facebook messages that makes you wonder if the things we leave unsaid- or rather unsent- could change the story of our lives. If you have ever wondered how much your digital trail illuminates where you are in your life, this book illustrates how it does so if you string it all together. Izzy's relationships are on full display through message threads, online profiles (and subsequent deactivations), status updates, Facebook friendships (and defriendings), and Victoria's Secret invoices. Never sent messages (designated as "Saved as Draft", surprise, surprise) give us further insight into how characters are feeling and what they are (read:really) doing and how it all compares to what they are actually messaging/texting/updating to other people.

Submitted by Jacki @ Central

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and bring the transformative power of literature into the lives of its citizens. The Big Read in Milwaukee will focus on Harper Lee's American classic To Kill A Mockingbird.

Join us tonight, October 26, 2011, at Mill Road Library and hear the novel come to life as excerpts of To Kill A Mockingbird will be read by local actors, students and community volunteers. A moderated discussion about the themes of the novel will follow. The program begins at 6 p.m. We hope to see you there!

For a complete list of Big Read programs click here.

Submitted by Jacki @ Central

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and bring the transformative power of literature into the lives of its citizens. The Big Read in Milwaukee will focus on Harper Lee's American classic To Kill A Mockingbird.

Join us tonight, November 2, 2011, at Tippecanoe Library and hear the novel come to life as excerpts of To Kill A Mockingbird will be read by local actors, students and community volunteers. A moderated discussion about the themes of the novel will follow. The program begins at 6 p.m. We hope to see you there!

For a complete list of Big Read programs click here.

Submitted by Jacki @ Central

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and bring the transformative power of literature into the lives of its citizens. The Big Read in Milwaukee will focus on Harper Lee's American classic To Kill A Mockingbird.

Join us tonight, November 8, 2011, at Central Library in the Rare Book Room and hear the novel come to life as excerpts of To Kill A Mockingbird will be read by local actors, students and community volunteers. A moderated discussion about the themes of the novel will follow. The program begins at 6 p.m. We hope to see you there!

For a complete list of Big Read programs click here.

Submitted by Jacki @ Central

I have always had a bit of a fascination with Czar Nicholas and his family and the overthrow of his regime. I have also had an interest in the imprisonment of the Jews during World War II. But neither one of these is actually the main focus of The Mirador: Dreamed Memories of Irene Nemirovsky by Her Daughter, but are merely a part. Irene Nemirovsky (most famously known for her book Suite Francaise) never wrote her memoir. Instead, as the title suggests, Elisabeth Gille, Irene's youngest daughter, wrote her mother's memoir from her own memories and, as she calls it, her dreamed memories. In the book, Έlisabeth is Babet, younger sister to Denise, and is perhaps her mother's favorite, although both children were greatly loved by Nemirovsky.' It is a strange thing to be writing a memoir in the role of someone else, but Gille does it wonderfully, probably due to the closeness between her and her mother. This was an enchanting, and at times, electrifying, book. She aptly describes the beauty and awe that surrounded the Czar and his family in a way I have never read before. Nemirovsky's interest in all things literary is prevalent at an early age, much to her mother's chagrin. In fact, her mother was not enamored with her child at all, seeing her as a hindrance to the social life she longed to adhere to. Gille's (or rather Nemirovsky's) insights into all that was happening, and her fear and desperate attempt to save herself, are a literary experience.

Submitted by Mary S. @ Bay View

Toward the end of the novel one of the characters reflects: "We should all busy ourselves in being who we are, although many of us do not and spend so much of our time and energy being something else. We try to be what others want us to be, or what we ourselves want to be. And then we suddenly realise that our lives have shot past and we have not got round to being who we really are." The Dog Who Came in from the Cold is about a group of characters readers first met in Corduroy Mansions, living in or near the block of flats by that name in Pimlico. If Seinfeld was the "show about nothing," then in some ways The Dog Who Came in from the Cold is about nothing much more than people busy trying to be themselves. Just how they go about doing this, and how well they succeed at it, or not, is what makes the novels of the entertaining and endlessly inventive Alexander McCall Smith such a joy to read. Freddie de la Hay, the Pimlico terrier owned by William French, is recruited by MI6 and is wired to infiltrate a Russian spy ring. Literary agent Barbara Ragg travels to Scotland to meet her fiance's parents. Caroline sorts out her relationship with James. Dee and Martin take a chance on marketing an herbal "Sudoku remedy." And Berthea Snark intervenes when con artists try to take advantage of her gullible brother. Their lives intersect with apparent randomness, but with meaningful and sometimes comic results when their decisions lead to unintended consequences. Complicated and interconnected plots aside, It is the reflective sides of the characters and their pitch-perfect interior monologues that give their stories depth and vitality. Originally published online, a chapter a day at the Telegraph website, the novel is in the same format as the books in the 44 Scotland Street series. The short, pithy chapters give readers a lot to savor as they enjoy the crisscrossing storylines of a memorable group of people going about their lives.

Submitted by Chris @ Bay View

Join us tonight, November 15, 2011, at Atkinson Library and hear the novel come to life as excerpts of To Kill A Mockingbird will be read by local actors, students and community volunteers. A moderated discussion about the themes of the novel will follow. The program begins at 6:30 p.m. We hope to see you there!

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and bring the transformative power of literature into the lives of its citizens. The Big Read in Milwaukee will focus on Harper Lee's American classic To Kill A Mockingbird.

For a complete list of Big Read programs click here.

Submitted by Jacki @ Central

Join us tonight, November 16, 2011, at Washington Park Library and hear the novel come to life as excerpts of To Kill A Mockingbird will be read by local actors, students and community volunteers. A moderated discussion about the themes of the novel will follow. The program begins at 6:30 p.m. We hope to see you there!

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and bring the transformative power of literature into the lives of its citizens. The Big Read in Milwaukee will focus on Harper Lee's American classic To Kill A Mockingbird.

For a complete list of Big Read programs click here.

Submitted by Jacki @ Central

It's a fact of life that there is nothing we can do about the parents we are born to and even less the siblings we are related to. Sometimes we get lucky and our siblings marry great people. Sometimes they don't. When we meet Luce, she seems to have adjusted and overcome her parents and the events of her past. In fact, her life seems pretty pleasant and simplistic. She pretty much lives on the food she is able to grow, has simple pleasures and has not fallen prey to the materialistic world around her. Living in the Appalachian foothills, she takes care of a lodge that once upon a time hosted rich families who came to enjoy the summer sun and lake swimming. Her daily life is taken up by maintaining the garden and doing the things around the place that need taking care of. At night she falls asleep to the sound of the only station that comes through, a country station that sings melancholy songs of love. In fact, it's the only way she can get to sleep, its crooning blocking out the vacant sounds of the lodge's past visitors. She figures she's lonely, but only when she's trying to get to sleep. Her tranquil life comes to a screeching halt when she takes her dead sister's children in. Dolores and Frank are like something out of a horror film. She assumes it has to do with the trauma of being a witness to their mother's murder. Every game they play involves kindling and in a few instances, matches. They are stealthily quiet. Did I mention they don't talk? Soon the father comes looking for them. And the grandson of the lodge's owner arrives. Pretty soon, Luce's nights aren't lonely anymore. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Mary S. @ Bay View

Join us tomorrow, November 19, 2011, at Centennial Hall of the Milwaukee Public Library, 733 N. Eighth Street and watch the novel come to life as we screen the award winning film To Kill A Mockingbird. The free program begins at 1:30 p.m. We hope to see you there!

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and bring the transformative power of literature into the lives of its citizens. The Big Read in Milwaukee will focus on Harper Lee's American classic To Kill A Mockingbird. For a complete list of Big Read programs click here.

Submitted by Jacki @ Central

The baseball season may have ended on a down note in Milwaukee, but at least Wisconsin can lay claim to a great new baseball novel--Racine native Chad Harbach's The Art of Fielding, lauded by big-name literary critics like the New York Times' Michiko Kakutani and #1 on Amazon's Top 100 Books of 2011. Set in the fictional Westish College on the Wisconsin shore of Lake Michigan, it tells the story of Henry Skrimshander, a shortstop prodigy recruited to the school's baseball team by its captain, senior Mike Schwartz. Mike's coaching and advice mold Henry into a bona fide major-league prospect and the team into a top collegiate competitor. Westish College president Guert Affenlight takes a newfound interest in the team due to its recent successes and unexpectedly finds himself infatuated with Mike and Henry's teammate, Owen Dunne. Also woven into the story is Affenlight's daughter, Pella, his prodigal child returning home after a failed marriage and who becomes a romantic interest for both Mike and Henry. You don't have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this moving and gentle novel, and you'll find it just as hard to leave Westish College as it is for the characters.

Submitted by Brett R. @ Washington Park

Established in 1950, the National Book Award is an American literary prize given to writers by writers and administered by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization. 2011 winners include:

FICTION: Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones

NONFICTION: Stephen Greenblatt, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern

YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURE: Thanhha Lai, Inside Out & Back Again

POETRY: Nikky Finney, Head Off and Split

Submitted by Jacki @ Central

I randomly picked this book off the fiction shelves at the Central Library while simply looking for something light and engaging to read that night. It was like finding a four leaf clover in a field of grass and weeds. The tone of this short novel is light-hearted at best and pretty darn funny at times.

The basic plot describes a crumbling marriage involving cocaine addicted Carolyn and her gambling addicted husband Joe. Both are heavily in debt: Carolyn to her drug dealer and Joe to his bookie. Naturally, they both decide to hire professional killers so they can collect the life insurance policies from each other and pay off their debts.

The two murderous schemes go horribly awry when the hired killers fall in love with each other and both Carolyn and Joe realize they were both trying to bump each other off. The ensuing events reminded me of a twisted Monty Python or Inspector Clouseau skit.

Fun, simple, and short, reading Shoot! was a great way to spend an evening.

Check catalog availability.

Submitted by Dan@Central

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Reves (The Circus of Dreams), and it is only open at night.

In The Night Circus, Celia and Marco, two young magicians, are bound into a duel as children and though they recognize that they are playing a game of sorts, they have no idea that only one can be left standing. The circus is merely the stage for the game, a battle of imagination and strength. That they also cartwheel into a charmed love affair complicates the game even further and leaves the fates of everyone involved hanging in the balance.

Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central

The Ghost at the Table by Suzanne Berne

Thanksgiving at the New England home of the second of three sisters marks a reunion between the three Fiske sisters--including Cynthia, the youngest, an author writing a book about Mark Twain's daughters--and their long-estranged father, in a portrait of the unraveling of a family, set against the famous nineteenth-century author's own family dysfunction.

Strangers at the Feast by Jennifer Vanderbes

Celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday of 2007, three generations of the Olson family struggle with old grudges, personality clashes and the impending economic crisis while two African-American teens from a nearby housing project embark on a mysterious job that culminates in a violent encounter.

A Catered Thanksgiving by Isis Crawford

When the beautiful Thanksgiving turkey they prepared blows up in their client's face, sending Monty Field to the great dining room in the sky, sisters Bernie and Libby Simmons must convince the Field family that they are not responsible and whip up the real killer.

William Golding's classic novel was reportedly rejected by over 20 publishing houses before finally being published in 1954. What were they thinking? It would have been a travesty of monumental proportions if the world had been deprived of this controversial work.

The basic premise has an airplane full of boys crashing onto an uninhabited island with no adults for guidance. A boy named Ralph assumes leadership over the stranded kids and, with advice from his friend Piggy, decides that a signal fire should always be kept burning in hopes of signaling a passing airplane or ship. Over time, different factions of the stranded boys break from Ralph's leadership and their "society" becomes fractured. Chaos ensues with murder as an end result.

Lord of the Flies is a simple story that tackles very complex issues including morality, the good of everyone over individuality and the benefit of rules and laws that govern the populace. Can reason preside over instinct? After all, its mankind's ability to reason that separates us from other life forms. Give this excellent novel a try so you can decide for yourself whether the pig hunters who broke away from Ralph's leadership were truly savages or are the rules of society the true culprit?

This book has also been filmed. Click here for dvd or vhs availability.

The Milwaukee Public Library celebrated the 50th Anniversary of this landmark work of fiction by purchasing an attractive hardcover edition. Check here for this edition.

Submitted by Dan @Central

Join us today, November 30, 2011, at M. L. King Library and hear the novel come to life as excerpts of To Kill A Mockingbird will be read by local actors, students and community volunteers. A moderated discussion about the themes of the novel will follow. The program begins at 1:30 p.m. We hope to see you there!

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and bring the transformative power of literature into the lives of its citizens. The Big Read in Milwaukee will focus on Harper Lee's American classic To Kill A Mockingbird.

For a complete list of Big Read programs click here.

Submitted by Jacki @ Central

Marquette University Libraries and Milwaukee Public Library invite you to the fifth and final event in the fall series "Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women."

"Louisa May Alcott: Documentary and Biography Discussion"

Tuesday, November 29, 6:30 - 7:45 p.m.

Milwaukee Public Library, Central Library

Herzfeld Activity Center, Betty Brinn Children's Room (1st floor)

Marquette professors Angela Sorby and Sarah Wadsworth will screen the second half of the American Masters 2008 documentary film about Alcott and wrap up the entire programming series with a discussion of Harriet Reisen's biography, Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women. We will enjoy a birthday cake to celebrate Alcott's birthday (1832).

Programs in this series are sponsored by the American Library Association with the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Gift begins with a frozen turkey being hurled through a living room window and a police officer telling us a weird story...

Lou Suffern is a workaholic. Trying to be in two places at one time all of the time and constantly thinking about what needs to be done next, Lou completely forgets about his wife and two children. Lou often makes empty promises to his children, wife and family. He feels that his family should be grateful to him for the money he makes in order to provide them all with a better life.

Due to the holiday spirit, or more so his desire to get a huge promotion, Lou buys a homeless man, Gabe, a cup of coffee and gets him a job in the mailroom at his firm. And that's when things get a bit weird. Gabe is the first person in the office in the morning, appears and re-appears throughout the building, and seems to know a lot about Lou and his family. As the race for the promotion continues between a co-worker and Lou, Lou starts to learn some valuable life lessons from Gabe. Lessons not only important around the holiday season, but things we should know and remember at all times. This Christmas story is filled with twists and turns to keep your interest and it may make you reconsider decisions about how you live your life.

Submitted by Nichole @ Villard Square

When I heard the premise of Stephen King's latest novel 11/22/63 I was immediately intrigued. The novel explores the possibility of someone going back in time and preventing the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The front cover of the book carries this through by reproducing a Dallas newspaper that tells about the assassination and a back cover that celebrates the fact that the assassination attempt had failed. While not a big fan of horror or science fiction, I have always had a soft spot for time travel fiction and so, undaunted by the 849 pages of this massive tome, I started right in.

And what a wonderful book it turned out to be! The crack in the space and time continuum that allowed Jake Epping to go back and forth in time placed him in September of 1958 and also allowed him to return to 2011. King does not shy from the ethical and philosophical questions of his premise. Does one have a license to kill someone based on less than sure evidence? What if one's presence in the past alters the future in other unknowable ways? What if a different outcome to JFK's assassination didn't produce the safer and happier world one had hoped for? Does one have the right to change the future of someone else to bring about an event that might help a whole country or even the world?

Jake had time to build a life and relationships between 1958 and 1963. He attempts to use his time in the past to find out more about Lee Harvey Oswald and to effect other positive changes, but for some of that time he worked as a high school teacher in Texas and became close to his fellow teachers and students. In the end, the decisions he makes based on those relationships mattered more to me than the resolution of the assassination attempt. Midway through I was torn between turning the pages even faster and not wanting the book to end. By the last 100 pages I couldn't put the book down. Kudos to Stephen King for a wonderful and thoughtful adventure!

Submitted by Pat D @ Central

Join us today, December 3, 2011, at Villard Square Library and hear the novel come to life as excerpts of To Kill A Mockingbird will be read by local actors, students and community volunteers. A moderated discussion about the themes of the novel will follow. The program begins at 2:00 p.m. We hope to see you there!

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and bring the transformative power of literature into the lives of its citizens. The Big Read in Milwaukee will focus on Harper Lee's American classic To Kill A Mockingbird.

For a complete list of Big Read programs click here.

Submitted by Jacki @ Central

If you're a fan of short stories - especially those by writers such as Raymond Carver, Ernest Hemingway, Thom Jones and Tobias Wolff - then I highly recommend the following debut collections by Alan Heathcock and Shann Ray:

Volt: Stories by Alan Heathcock (c2011)
Chronologically set in the ill-fated nowheresville town of Krafton, these stories revolve loosely around a reluctant female sheriff. Dark clouds seem to incessantly hover over her and the rest of the town's inhabitant, but they occasionally break to let in a glimmer of light. Check catalog for availability.

American Masculine: Stories by Shann Ray (c2011)
Set primarily in the modern day American West, these stories of loss carry a heavy weight, but also the hope of redemption. The opener, How We Fall, stuck with me for days. Check catalog for availability.

-submitted by Tom S @ MPL Central

Have you ever wondered, if not for that one time you were in exactly the right spot at exactly the right time, or in the right spot at exactly the wrong time, how your life would have played out differently? For Katey Kontent, just such an incident occurred on New Years Eve of 1937, where a chance meeting with a young banker in a jazz bar drastically changed the course of the next year, and really, the rest of her life.

Rules of Civility starts out in 1966 at an art exhibit featuring photos taken by hidden camera in the New York subway in the late 1930s (a real exhibit whose photos were published in Walker Evan's Many are Called) where Katey chances upon two photos of the same young man, which bring back waves of memories from her youth. With just that small glimpse of her future life, we plunge back to New Years Eve, 1937, the night that she first met the man from the photos, Tinker Grey.

After this first meeting, Tinker, Katey, and her roommate Eve become fast friends and hurdle head first into 1938 together. Tinker is a wealthy young banker from a very different world than Brooklyn-born secretary Katey and Midwest-transplant Eve, but their friendship is fueled in part by their ability to introduce each other to different social worlds, and to new and exciting sides of New York City itself.

Through this chance meeting, we follow Katey on a winding path through 1938 that leads to a different social set, a new apartment and job, and a new perspective about the world and people around her. Even as their friendship is strained, Tinker continues to play a dominant role in Katey's life, representing most clearly how a person's circumstances - their names, their income, where they grew up - do not always have to define them, and are not the only test of happiness and achievement.

The novel transports you back to a 1930s New York just beginning to suffer the melancholy of the Great Depression. On top of a clear determination and work ethic is, especially for working class Katey, an unmistakable sense of renewed possibility and opportunity that subtly gives the novel a hopeful and revitalizing tone.

Submitted by Megan @ King

A dead man lies in the sand. Eyes still, covered in dirt and bound by rope, the body remains intact, serene almost, and shows little signs of the violence of the past few days. Achilles prepares to drag the corpse from his speeding chariot as he has each morning since Hector's death. Hector's grief-stricken and horrified family weep at the dishonor of Achilles' actions. Hector's father, King Priam, makes a decision: he will get his son's body back at all costs.

For those who have read Homer's Iliad this may sound awfully familiar. David Malouf's novel Ransom revisits and expands upon the encounter between King Priam and Achilles in Homer's epic. The result is a lyrical, artfully crafted tale of the human struggle to deal with loss. Malouf begins in medias res as Achilles learns his beloved friend has been killed by Hector. Sing, O goddess, of the anger of Achilles. Achilles' grief, expressed as unabated rage, leads to his murdering Hector, desecrating his corpse and denying the Trojan hero proper burial rights. Unable to bear the dishonor Achilles brings to his son, King Priam does the unthinkable by disguising himself as a beggar and sneaking into the enemy encampment with a ransom for his son's body. The meeting of Achilles and Priam is moving and revelatory. Their shared experience of loss cuts through circumstances of war and titles. They meet not as Trojan king and Greek warrior but as mourning father and desolate lover. The most exciting part of Ransom is that it makes you forget you're not reading material straight out of the Iliad. Characters are expanded, motivations explored, and it maintains the feel and tone of the original epic. This is a must read for all Iliad lovers.

Submitted by Kristina @ MPL Central

You'll find these books and more in this month's Reader from Milwaukee Public Library.

Home Cooking With Jean-Georges: My Favorite Simple Recipes by Jean-Georges Vongerichten. With 100 recipes and 100 color photographs, three-star Michelin chef Jean-Georges brings his quick, seasonal family favorites to you for the holidays.

11/22/63 by Stephen King. In the back room of a diner, high school teacher Jake Epping discovers a portal to 1958 and goes on a mission to try to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy. He has to re-acclimate to 1960's culture with sock hops and Elvis - and befriend a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald.

Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales (2011). What began in 1979 as a small station in Connecticut broadcasting local sports, became the most successful network in television history. ESPN is synonymous with all sports, spawning eight channels in the U.S. and the world, and changing how television broadcasts sports. This comprehensive history of the network details both the triumphs and the mistakes.

The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson and Richard Dilallo. Gaby's four children have drifted apart. They haven't celebrated Christmas together since their father's death three years ago. But when Gaby announces that she's getting married - and that the groom will remain a secret until the wedding day - she may finally be able to bring her family home for the holidays.

For more gift-giving books please see the Milwaukee Public Library Reader.

Song of the Cuckoo Bird is the life song of Kokila, a strong, independent woman who lives an unconventional life in a rigidly conventional society. After her parents die, recently married Kokila goes to live in Tella Meda, the home of a spiritual guru, until she is old enough to live with her husband's family. When Kokila is just thirteen she makes a fateful decision to remain at Tella Meda and forgo her marriage. Refusing to go to her husband and barred from marrying again, Kokila's position in a society that defines a woman's worth according her roles as wife and mother is that of an outcast. At Tella Meda Kokila and a band of similarly unconventional women make a life of their own.

A Breath of Fresh Air focuses on two very sensitive topics in Indian society: divorce and the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984. We see Anjali, a young, recently married woman waiting for her husband at the Bhopal train station. Her husband never arrives and instead she nearly dies as she is exposed to toxic gas released into the air from the nearby Union Carbide India plant. Years later Anjali is remarried and taking care of her twelve year old son who is slowly dying from health issues resulting from the gas incident. Anjali's first husband reappears in her life and she struggles with forgiveness and comes to terms with losing her son.

The Mango Season sees Priya, an Indian born woman living and working in the United States, visit her family and struggle to be truthful about her engagement with an American man. Priya finds the Indian summer hotter than she remembers and her family's expectations that she marry a "nice Indian boy" even more stifling. The Mango Season explores how we define and relate to family. This is one of Malladi's most popular novels.

Submitted by Kristina @MPL Central

I remember the inevitable Christmas pageants that took place in my schools when I was growing up. The manger scene with doll in the role of baby Jesus, the three wise men coming from afar, prettiest girl in the class playing the Virgin Mary, with the piano music in the background. Nowadays, these pageants are probably not so common, thanks to political correctness. In this delightful little tale, Doug Barnes, a junior high student, reminds us of all the craziness of such pageants. He also creates a terrific picture of life in junior high and family life around Christmas time in 1960. Dave Barry is known for his sense of humor and he doesn't disappoint here. This story of a couple of junior high Christmas pageants is filled with missteps, typical boys' mischievous behavior, bats in the belfry and Walter, the wonderful miracle dog of the title. Short, sweet, and funny, with photos and advertisements from the period to add to your pleasure. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Katherine @ Zablocki

Serge Storm is back in When Elves Attack: A Joyous Christmas Greeting from the Criminal Festive Nutbars of the Sunshine State, another installment of Tim Dorsey's comical series about a well meaning serial killer. Serge and his sidekick Coleman are hauling out the holly in Tampa and the holidays have Serge rethinking his life. Should he try settling down? Maybe across the street from his old friend Jim Davenport? Sure, that way he can see what a true suburban holiday entails. While watching his neighbor he notes some seedy characters lurking around and decides to take a closer look at what's going on. Enter elf suits, some good old-fashioned Christmas spirit and Serge and Coleman are ready to take down any dangers to holiday comfort and joy. As Serge says, "The most exciting holidays are the ones where not everybody is going to make it."

Submitted by Jacki @ MPL Central

If you're willing to ponder the darker side of humanity, consider reading Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk About Kevin.The narrator, Eva Khatchadourian was never completely sure she wanted to be a mother. She enjoyed the freedom that her career in travel writing afforded her, but it seemed inevitable that she would love her child as much as her she loved her husband. When she gave birth to Kevin, she felt an emotional numbness that she knew would dissipate as she got to know baby Kevin. When Keven cried all day, she tried to soothe him. When he refused to breast feed or engage in play, she questioned herself. When other parents didn't invite them back to play with their children, Eva knew why. When Kevin grew into a young man, things got even more difficult. Kevin is fiercely intelligent, but an unremarkable student. When he is out of sight, bad things happen to the people he's with, but nobody can ever prove he is at fault. Kevin's father readily accepts the excuses that seem so implausible in Eva's recounting. Kevin's power comes from a joylessness that leaves him indifferent to consequences. Eva's recounting of events makes you wonder who to believe in a family that's so divided. The book is as compelling as it is disturbing. Once you know Kevin, you'll never stop wondering about him.
A great book for discussion, We Need to Talk About Kevin has been adapted into a film featuring Tilda Swinton and John C Reilly. We Need to Talk About Kevin sold out in the 2011 Milwaukee Film Festival and is due for wide release in January of 2012.

Submitted by Anna @ Central

Submitted by Jacki @ Central

By George is truly told by two Georges. One George is the grandson of famous ventriloquist Echo Enders. This George delights in his performing family but struggles with finding truth and clarity in a family familiar with illusion and diversion. The second George is the dummy of Echo's son Joe. While it took Joe a while to find his voice as a ventriloquist, dummy George is exhilarated by performing and always eager to banter. This George is a witness to history as Joe performs for the troops during WWII. The two Georges inevitably meet and the human George is able to reconcile deceits with reality and also put his own mark on family history. It's a loving but unusual family and most of the characters are engaging. The information about performing in a past era adds interest too.

Submitted by Chris @ Central

Lauren Olamina, the fifteen-year-old narrator of The Parable of the Sower, a classic science fiction novel, is unusual in two ways. She suffers from a neurological condition called hyperempathy, which causes her to feel the pain of others when she sees it; her father has taught her to hide her condition to keep others from using it against her, but as a child Lauren would bleed through her skin if she saw someone else bleeding. Lauren's other unusual characteristic comes out in the poetry that is scattered through her journal: she is the author--the discoverer, as she puts it--of a new religion, one she calls Earthseed, which teaches that God is Change.

There's plenty of change going on in Lauren's world, which is nearly as compelling a character as Lauren herself. The story opens in 2024, and though it was written nearly twenty years ago this vision of the future remains creepily plausible. Lauren lives in a walled neighborhood in southern California, a last bastion of seeming normality in a world where unemployment, poverty, global warming, and designer drugs have left the world outside a terrifying chaos. Water is more expensive than food, arson is on the rise, and the government is powerless to help anyone.

In the midst of it all, Lauren is trying to be ready for what comes next, but no one is ever really prepared when the big change comes.

Submitted by Mary Lou @ Washington Park

Molly Fox and the narrator are long time friends with associates and experiences in common. Molly is an Irish actress and the nameless narrator is an Irish playwright. Molly is in the States, and the playwright is staying in Molly's Dublin home to jump start work on a new play. Being in Molly's house, surrounded by things Molly loves, the author begins to appreciate the subtleties of her dear friend. Visitors to Molly's home on her birthday bring opportunities for conversations with Molly's friends, fans and brother and provide more insight into the characters that have been part of their shared and private lives. The friendship between Molly and the narrator's brother, a Catholic priest, is particularly engaging and of great surprise to the narrator. Molly is more of an enigma after learning more about her. This is a character-driven rather than plot-driven book and the roster is varied and interesting. Check catalog for availability.

Submitted by Chris @ Central

In this debut novel, American Dervish, Hayat, a young Muslim-American boy, must juggle cultural identity, faith and family history in suburban life. At a time when he is only just starting to come of age, his mother's mysterious sister comes to live with his family in America. The rift between his father and his aunt, a beautiful, enigmatic and intelligent, but also devout Muslim, brings tension to the home. Hayat, however, develops a relationship with his aunt that bridges him to a world he has never known, with tragic consequences.

Ayad Akhtar, an American-born, first-generation Pakistani-American, grew up in Milwaukee, continuing on to earn degrees from Brown and Columbia universities. An actor and screenwriter, his 2005 film The War Within was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and an International Press Academy Satellite Award.