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Fabulous Fiction Firsts#100

by muffy

"Emily Haxby is an up-and-coming attorney at a big firm in Manhattan. From the outside, she seems to have her life tied up flawlessly with a big red bow; however, the package is coming unraveled." so begins The Opposite of Love*.

Then comes the break-up with the perfect guy, an assignment from hell, and Grandpa Jack slipping away in an Alzheimer's haze. Can Emily pull it together — work, family, love life, and all? You'll be turning pages until you find out!

First-time novelist and Harvard Law alum Julie Buxbaum handles Emily's tale "with notable intelligence and grace" (Booklist). Just the buzz of her very generous 2-book deal could be a clue to this being a newcomer worth watching.

* = Starred Review.

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Not Just Oprah : The Free Book Frenzy

by muffy

Yesterday it was Oprah - She and author Suze Orman were giving away free download of 1283232">Women and Money: Owning the power to control your destiny, as announced on her show. You should have heard all the calls at the Reference Desk.

Now HarperCollins has join in on the fun (and great service) by offering free online books by Paulo Coelho, Neil Gaiman and Erin Hunter, available in their entirety on the publisher’s website as part of their "Full Access” program for the next 12 months.

No check-out, no return, and no overdue. Cool!

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Looking for a "hot" read to help you beat the cold?

by manz

The New York Times Best Seller list for adult fiction most recently includes an assortment of books that might catch your fancy.

The Appeal by John Grisham
Duma Key by Stephen King
Sizzle and Burn by Jayne Ann Krentz
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
Blasphemy by Douglas Preston
Beverly Hills Dead by Stuart Woods

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Kid Lit - "The Classics"

by ryanikoglu

People ask, "Where are the Classics" for children? Although there is no single list, there are web sites to help lead the way.
Rutger's University suggests "Read or reread some of the titles that have achieved classic status. As you read, consider whether these works are still of interest to and will appeal to today's young people." On the list they provide links wherever possible, to electronic text version of books that are out of print.

Madison Public Library suggests, "The following titles appear on lists of classic children's literature. Most have been issued in several different editions, offering a range of illustration styles from which to choose." The part I like is they also suggest "contemporary" and "future" classics for children and "further information".

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Bear River Writers Respond to War

by annevm

Here’s a new book with roots in northern Michigan: Bear River Writers Respond to War, edited by Chris Lord, with pieces by Thomas Lynch, Keith Taylor, Elizabeth Kostova, Richard Tillinghast and others. As Taylor writes in the introduction, “Since it is clear to us that writers are involved in the swirl of their moment in history, that we are all citizens of some part of the world, and that much of the discussion recently has been about the war in Iraq, it seemed only right to put together this special issue of work done and discussed at the Bear River Writers’ Conference in 2006.” The book is being sold as a fundraiser for the conference.

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Hugs and Homes

by StoryLaura

Will Bunny ever find his home? Will the beautiful cockroach, Senorita Martina, ever find a true love who will sing to her in the evenings? Celebrate Valentine's Day with songs and stories at the Wednesday Downtown and Thursday Pittsfield storytime this week.

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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #99

by muffy

Go with Me* by Castle Freeman Jr. is an engaging “small masterpiece of black comedy and suspense”~Kirkus.

The plot is simple, really – but the execution (wink wink), is marvelous! In a small backwoods Vermont hamlet, young Lillian has nowhere to turn with the sheriff claiming that his hands are tied when it comes to her stalker – big bad bully Blackway, not even after he butchered her kitty cat. But Sheriff Wingate did point Lillian to Whizzer; a wheelchair-bound mill owner and his gang of beer-drinking loafers.

With beautiful characterization, measured pace, and wicked quiet humor, this loose rendering of a King Arthur tale will entertain and delight, even though the ending won't surprise. Still, more fun than you would expect from a fiction debut.

* = Starred Review

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Life As A Polygamist's Wife

by darla

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A friend of mine emailed me saying "You have to read this!" about Irene Spencer's autobiography Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife. Now that I've started the book, I too am hooked. Spencer's story of growing up in a Mormon fundamentalist family, and eventually becoming the wife of a man with nine other wives and 56 children, is a glimpse into a world that I can't seem to wrap my mind around. Her story traces her painful journey through life in a polygamous relationship and her choice to leave that situation, despite the teachings of the faith she had been raised in. Irene Spencer is currently in a monogamous relationship, which is also discussed in her book (obviously from an unique vantage point), and the honesty of her life story is intriguing, horrifying, hilarious, and ultimately a page-turner. I am near the end of the book now, and can't wait to see how she ends this novel.

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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #98

by muffy

Critics are calling Alan Drew's The Gardens of Water "nothing short of extraordinary".

Set in a small town outside Istanbul, it opens as Sinan Basioglu, a Kurdish shopkeeper and devout Muslim, is preparing for his nine-year-old son Ismail’s circumcision ceremony. Among the guests are their American neighbors whom Sinan begrudgingly invite at the last minute.
When disaster strikes and both families suffer indescribable losses, their lives intertwined and become interdependent. Each must find a way to look beyond their disparate cultural backgrounds and centuries-old misunderstanding to survive.

Garden is ”a remarkable work from a compelling new voice in fiction”, ~Bookreporters.com, and " A richly detailed, finely plotted demonstration of culture clash." ~Booklist.

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Books for the President

by Maxine

Bill Moyers on his PBS program, Bill Moyers Journal asked viewers to submit titles of books they would like the next president to read and take to the White House with him/her. Moyers discussed a few of the titles on his program which airs on PBS stations Friday nights including his own recommendation of Command of Office: How War, Secrecy and Deception Transformed the Presidency From Theodore Roosevelt to George W. Bush by Stephen Graubard. Some other suggested titles are All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten by Robert Fulghum and the recently published Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen. Readers' comments on why they chose each book are interesting as well.