friday may 29
I can trace my adult interest in spelling bees to my less-than-stellar performance at my sixth grade spelling bee circa 1983. I can’t remember how many rounds I lasted (probably 1) or what word I misspelled (probably something not too difficult), but the perfectionist in me remembers I should have studied harder. For 13-year-old Kavya Shivashanker, however, the word “Laodicean” earned her the title of 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee champion.
For the rest of us, there’s always next year, so let the library give you a head start with these great books, recordings, and DVDs!
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Sometimes we travel in order to get away from everything. Sometimes we travel in order to re-connect with people or places that have meaning in our lives. Either way, a good trip can be rejuvenating. For anyone who might like to entertain the notion of a literary pilgrimage, this little book is packed with delightful ideas.
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wednesday may 27
I should probably preface this by saying that on a zero to ten scale of inappropriate humor, Josh Bazell’s Beat the Reaper clocks about a twelve. But if the image of yourself snickering madly over some truly appalling things doesn’t worry you, this is the book for you.
Peter Brown is an intern at a really bad New York City hospital, and he’s having a really, really bad day. The mugger he beats half to death on the way in to work sets the tone (he does carry the would-be criminal in to the emergency room), and the delicate mix of drugs needed to balance the day from there is very hard to maintain.
That’s the least of Peter’s problems, though. One of his new patients is a mobster, and the man recognizes Peter as Pietro “Bearclaw” Brwna, a mafia hitman who’s in witness protection after testifying in a notorious trial and throwing his best friend (son of a mob lawyer) out a sixth floor window. For some very good reasons, but it’s kind of hard to explain while fending off disasters, medical and personal, and anticipating being whacked.
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tuesday may 26
Need suggestions for beach reading or books to bring to camp? Below are some of my favorite new titles, all published within the last year, that are ideal for the season. And don’t forget, the library’s summer reading program kicks off this weekend! Lots of great programs and prizes to be had all summer at every location.
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friday may 22
Jay Parini is mainly known as a poet and novelist, but in Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Changed America he veers into non-fiction. Thirteen books chosen from hundreds that shaped our national identity, Parini's list offers an inciteful and thoughtful view of the significance of books on our culture. Whether inciting the nation to war in Uncle Tom's Cabin, introducing the modern American novel in Huck Finn, or launching the women's movement with Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, books maintain an enduring power to change minds and hearts.
Parini appends a list of the hundred books he didn't select for his discussion and his annotations are equally as thoughtful as the analysis of his baker's dozen in the body of the book. A perfect catalyst for a new look at American history, literature and culture.
wednesday may 20
I was in Joseph Beth a couple of weeks ago, and the staff there made a point of telling me to read an upcoming book they just love: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, by Katherine Howe, which will be published in June. Then I saw the book on our Hot Titles web page, too.
The Physick Book is an appealing historical/supernatural/romantic story in which a modern student of American colonial history gets more than she bargained for when she starts researching witchcraft accusations in New England. Because, it seems, one of the witches accused in Salem just might have been guilty after all.
You can put an advance hold on the book through the Hot Titles page if that sounds intriguing to you.
But my actual point is this: the folks at Joseph Beth loved telling me about the book. I won’t use the word fanatic (hi, Annette! hi, Barb!), but some people just light up when they talk about a really good read.
Naturally, you can find many more of those book people here at the library.
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thursday may 14
People are fascinated with the US Navy SEALs. Witness the record turnout at the library for Marcus Luttrell when he came to talk about Lone Survivor, his book about the tragic loss of his SEAL team in Afghanistan. And the whole country fixated on the daring rescue of Captain Richard Phillips from Somali pirates by SEAL sharp shooters. Which leads me to Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooters Series.
In fourteen books published since 2000 Brockmann has created a fictional world revolving around the members of SEAL team 16. The most recent, Dark of Night, was published in January this year and episode fifteen is due out this summer.
This series is my pulp fiction fix with its continuing cast of characters, nonstop action, heavy romance, and humor. And, as a bonus, you get to learn all about the SEALs, the US Navy’s elite special operations force.
One of my favorite blurbs for Brockmann is the “reigning queen of military suspense” and while she is heavy on special ops lingo and hardware, she really writes about people, with all their foibles and flaws, who when pushed to the ultimate test, triumph over evil and their own personal demons. They also happen to find (and sometimes lose) the love of their life along the way.
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