Thursday, September 29, 2011

Congratulations to...

... our Grand Prize Winner, JamBob
... Library Trivia Challenge Winner, Karen
... Scavenger Hunt Winners, Saraswati and BookWorms 1 & 2
... Party Door Prize Winner, Carol M.
... Email Contest Winner, libraryaimee
... and Feedback Form Winner, jlb.
 
Congratulations again to all our weekly prize winners:  Tucker2011, DebH09, Teddy Bear, Mich D, Saraswati, queenbee, KeeRead, Barbie, babygirlshaina, P Kerr, acorn, Debster, the reader, and Page Turner.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Just Jennifer

If Jack’s in Love by Stephen Wetta (Amy Einhorn, September 2011)


Jack Witcher doesn’t even live on the wrong-side of the tracks; he lives on a pass through piece land to the nicer houses in the Virginia suburbs of 1967. His father is mostly unemployed, his mother is nice and a hard worker, but not much to look at and his brother Stan is a pot-smoking trouble maker. Most of the neighbors see the Witcher’s as trash and hillbillies, but father and son Stan have a particularly cantankerous relationship with father and son, Gaylor, Joyner. This is particularly unfortunate for twelve-year-old Jack who is very much in love with Myra Joyner who is able to see past Jack’s family and realizes how smart and kind he is. When Gaylord disappears, it is Stan who is the police’s main suspect, causing Jack all kinds of pre-teen angst and keeping him from the girl he loves. Jack’s other closest friend is the Jewish jeweler, Moses Gladstein, who helps Jack win Myra’s heart. Jack is a marvelously complex character whose voice is at times grown up and wise, and other times is that of a confused twelve-year old. He knows he should be loyal to his family, but how can he be when they are the main source of his embarrassment and troubles at school. Jack is a character to root for and readers will have a certain amount of empathy for him as he stays positive and tries to make the best out of his situations.

Friday, September 23, 2011

New This Week

Here are some new titles coming out this week. Check them out…



The Affair by Lee Child


A latest release by the Anthony Award-winning author of Worth Dying For traces the story of Jack Reacher's early life in the military before the events that rendered him a vigilante hero on the road.


Feast Day of Fools by James Lee Burke

Sheriff Hackberry Holland patrols a small Southwest Texas border town with a deep and abiding respect for the citizens in his care. Still mourning the loss of his cherished wife and locked in a perilous almost-romance with his deputy, Pam Tibbs, a woman many decades his junior, Hackberry feeds off the deeds of evil men to keep his own demons at bay.


Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever by Bill O’Reilly

In a first work of history by a best-selling conervative author and talk-show host, a riveting narrative describes the events surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.


1225 Christmas Tree Lane by Debbie Macomber

The people of Cedar Cove know how to celebrate Christmas. Like Grace and Olivia and everyone else, Beth Morehouse expects this Christmas to be one of her best. Her small Christmas-tree farm is prospering, her daughters and her dogs are happy and well, and her new relationship with local vet Ted Reynolds is showing plenty of romantic promise.

Nightwoods by Charles Frazier

The extraordinary author of Cold Mountain and Thirteen Moons returns with a dazzling new novel of suspense and love set in small-town North Carolina in the early 1960s. Charles Frazier puts his remarkable gifts in the service of a lean, taut narrative while losing none of the transcendent prose, virtuosic storytelling, and insight into human nature that have made him one of the most beloved and celebrated authors in the world. Now, with his brilliant portrait of Luce, a young woman who inherits her murdered sister’s troubled twins, Frazier has created his most memorable heroine. Before the children, Luce was content with the reimbursements of the rich Appalachian landscape, choosing to live apart from the small community around her. But the coming of the children changes everything, cracking open her solitary life in difficult, hopeful, dangerous ways. Charles Frazier is known for his historical literary odysseys, and for making figures in the past come vividly to life. Set in the twentieth century, Nightwoods resonates with the timelessness of a great work of art.


Lost Memory of Skin by Russell Banks

Taking up residence with other convicted sex offenders, the Kid, on probation after doing time for an affair with an underage girl, forms a tentative partnership with the Professor, a university sociologist who finds him the perfect subject for his research, until he is faced with a new kind of moral decision.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Stitches: A Memoir

Author: David Small
Stars: 4
Review by: Miss Lucy
Destination: Michigan


This is one of the best graphic novels I have read.  Children's book illustrator and recipient of the Caldecott Medal, David Small tells the story of his childhood in this heartbreaking memoir.

The Playful Brain: The Surprising Science of How Puzzles Improve Your Mind

Author: Richard Restak, M.D., with puzzles by Scott Kim
Stars: 3.5
Review by: Miss Lucy
Destination: 


 If your family thinks you spend too much time lolly-gagging around doing puzzles, this is the book for you!  Any puzzle lover will enjoy it.  Read about how different types of puzzles do different things for your thinking.  Especially interesting to me was Chapter 8 - Time: Clock Time vs. Brain Time - where I got some amazing insight into why I am always late!!!  Challenging puzzles sprinkled throughout the book.  I want to actually buy this book so that I can write in it and solve the puzzles!

Catching Fire

Author: Suzanne Collins
Stars: 3.5
Review by: Miss Lucy
Destination: 


I like this book better than its predecessor, The Hunger Games.  It has some interesting twists.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Killer Stuff and Tons of Money: Seeking History and Hidden Gems in Flea-Market America

Author: Maureen Stanton
Stars: 3
Review by: Miss Lucy
Destination: Massachusetts


 Caution - if you read this book, you just may consider quitting your job and becoming an antiques dealer!  But read on... with the current state of the economy, the antiques market is suffering too.

Secret of the Andes

Author: Ann Nolan Clark
Stars: 4
Review by: KM
Destination: Peru


Classic juvenile fiction work that is written in a poetic style. A beautiful tale of a young Incan llama herder who finds his heart's desire, and his place in life.

The Winter Thief

Author: Jenny White
Stars: 3
Review by: Barbie
Destination: Turkey


 Wow, a lot happening in this book with many characters.

Plugged

Author: Eoin Colfer
Stars: 2
Review by: BigDa
Destination: USA


A Carl Hiaasen-like attempt that doesn't quite make it.

Digging New Jersey's Past

Author: Richard Veit
Stars: 4
Review by: Marianne S.
Destination: NJ


An overview of selected historical archaeological sites in NJ and why they are relevant.

A Death in Summer

Author: Benjamin Black
Stars: 3
Review by: BigDa
Destination: Ireland


The third in a series about Dr. Quirke, a most unlikely "detective".

Quaker Summer

Author: Lisa Samson
Stars: 3
Review by: Barbie
Destination: Maryland


The protagonist, Heather Curridge (pronounced "courage") is quite funny as she explores spiritually what good she can do with her life. The Curridge family is one that treats each other with a great deal of love and admiration, and that is so nice to see. Lots of things to think about, and cake does solve all problems.

Rules of Civility

Author: Amor Towles
Stars: 5
Review by: libraryaimee
Destination: NYC


Historical fiction about 1939 Manhattan.  I couldn't put it down!

Back of Beyond

Author: C.J. Box
Stars: 4
Review by: BigDa
Destination:Yellowstone National Park


One of my favorite authors scores another home run.

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

Author: Erik Larson
Stars: 4
Review by: Jelsey
Destination: Germany


 An interesting and frightening non-fiction book about the rise of Hitler in the 1930s.  It follows the career of William Dodd, a college professor who was named Ambassador to Germany in 1933 by President Franklin Roosevelt, and moved to Berlin with his wife and two grown children.  A fascinating story of an era that led Europe, and ultimately the world, into World War II.

Wicked Bugs

Author: Amy Stewart
Stars: 3
Review by: libraryaimee
Destination: all over the world


Every gross bug you can imagine and the destruction the bug can cause.  Not for the squeamish!
By the same woman who wrote Wicked Plants.

Secrets of Windows 7

Author: INtel
Stars: 3.5
Review by: bobjam
Destination: cyberspace


This is a very big book filled with computer information for Windows 7 ...truly a super reference guide.

The Summer of Moonlight Secrets

Author: Danette Haworth
Stars: 5
Review by: KM
Destination: Florida


This is juvenile fiction so I highly recommend for those who like a simplistic break from adult level issue-oriented material. A delightful read. Summary: During the summer of 1987, Allie Jo, whose family runs an antebellum Florida hotel, meets Chase, who is staying there with his father, and they become friends when they discover a mysterious teenager hiding on the grounds of the hotel. 

Certain Prey

Author: John Sandford
Stars: 3
Review by: Carol M.
Destination: 



Good, but a bit too unbelievable.