New Fiction on the New York Times Best Sellers List (10/29/06)

Fri, 10/27/2006 - 1:24pm by Mazie

Michael Connelly is my favorite American mystery writer. With his Hieronymous (Harry) Bosch series he has become the heir apparent to Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald. In these novels, Connelly explores the same strange and surreal southern California landscape. Harry may be just as ironic and world weary but he does not don the same famous blue raincoat as Philip Marlowe and Lew Archer. He is passionate in his fight for the lost innocents of his world. With splendid writing that evokes an aching nostalgia for a better world, Connelly creates his own films noir.

At #2 is Echo Park by Michael Connelly: Harry returns to solve a cold case.

At #3 is Act of Treason by Vince Flynn: A CIA agent investigates an attack on a presidential candidate. Is Flynn the heir to Tom Clancy?

At #6 is Short Straw by Stuart Woods: A Santa Fe lawyer wakes up to find his wife gone and his world turned inside out and upside down. Ed Eagle fights for his life and his good name.

Unsquared Book Group Meets Nov. 13, Downtown library

Fri, 10/27/2006 - 11:19am by K.C.

The next 2nd Tuesday book group will discuss Unsquared: Ann Arbor Writers Unleash Their Edgiest Stories & Poems, a jointly published new work by Neutral Zone and 826michigan. Unsquared contains stories, poems, and essays by leading AA adult and teen writers.

To register call 327-8301. The next few teens to sign up will receive a copy of Unsquared to read and keep.

19th Annual Jewish Book Festival

Fri, 10/27/2006 - 9:52am by ulrich

The 19th Annual Jewish Book Festival will take place at the Jewish Community Center at 2935 Birch Hollow Drive from November 5-12. Speakers include a number of prominent authors such as journalist and radio commentator Steven V. Roberts who will open this years's festival with a talk about his book My Father's Houses: Memoir of a Family; Jeffrey Goldberg, the 'New Yorker' magazine's Washington correspondent; and editor Ruth Andrew Ellenson who'll speak on her anthology The Modern Jewish Girl's Guide to Guilt. For more information about the festival and the names of other speakers visit the Jewish Community Center web site.

Unsquared unleashed on Ann Arbor!

Thu, 10/26/2006 - 6:02pm by K.C.

Soon to appear on AADL’s shelves - a new anthology, Unsquared: Ann Arbor Writers Unleash Their Edgiest Stories & Poems, jointly published by Neutral Zone and 826michigan. Sonja Brodie of AA News describes the anthology as “a mix of stories and poetry, with some essays thrown in for good measure. A final section focuses on previously unpublished work by young poets from this year's Youth Poetry Slam team. What these works have in common is that they are gritty and offbeat. . .”

Meet some of the contributors at Nicola’s Books this Friday, October 27 at 7:30 p.m. You’ll hear poet and novelist Laura Kasischke, quirky fictional writer Jeff Parker, Hopwood Award winning poet Scott Beal, rising poetic star Adam Falkner, and 2006 AA Youth Poetry Slam Team member Courtney Whittler.

Move over, Martha.

Thu, 10/26/2006 - 4:02pm by Sancho Panza

Amy Sedaris, everyone’s favorite comic shape-shifter and newly minted solo author, wants you to get drunk. On her witty repartee, that is (and maybe a few well-chosen cocktails). Her new book, I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence delivers plenty of the expected sardonic humor, and some recipes, too. If you consider yourself a fan of both plastic food and Martha Stewart, this book is for you.

Soyuz 3 Anniversary

Thu, 10/26/2006 - 11:57am by anned

Thirty-eight years ago, on October 26, 1968, the Soviet Union launched Soyuz 3, piloted by cosmonaut Georgi Beregovoi. The mission was to dock with Soyuz 2, an unmanned spacecraft that had been launched October 25, 1968. This was to be the first manned space docking for the Soviet Union; the United States had already accomplished this during the Gemini VIII mission in March of 1966. Even though Beregovoi was able to maneuver Soyuz 3 to within 1 meter of Soyuz 2, docking attempts failed.
The library has many items on the space race. For even more information visit the databases on the research section of our website. The New York Times Historical database is a good place to find exciting articles that were printed when the events were taking place. General Reference Center Gold will find you periodical articles.

Leaving childhood behind is sometimes painful

Thu, 10/26/2006 - 10:52am by K.C.

Annemarie, or Shug as her family calls her, thinks there's nothing worse than being twelve. She's too tall, too freckled, and way too flat-chested. Shug is sure that there's not one good or amazing thing about her. And now she has to start junior high, where the friends she counts most dear aren't acting so dear anymore -- especially Mark, the boy she's known her whole life through.

Life is growing up all around her, and all Shug wants is for things to be like they used to be. How is a person supposed to prepare for what happens tomorrow when there's just no figuring out today? (Summary from book jacket.)

Get Shug in book or CD format.

Chicken With Plums

Wed, 10/25/2006 - 4:30pm by anned

Marjane Satrapi’s newest graphic novel, Chicken With Plums, was released this month. In her earlier Persepolis books, she tells her story of growing up in Iran during (and after) the 1979 revolution. This time it is 1958 and we witness the last eight days in the life of her great-uncle, Nassar Ali Khan, a revered tar player.

Satrapi’s personal and sometimes humorous look into her great-uncle’s life is wonderfully enhanced by her simple black and white drawings. She has a gift for illustrating complex human issues and making them universally understandable.
Be on the lookout for Persepolis in animated movie form, to be released sometime in 2007 by Sony Pictures Classics.

Little Mama Forgets by Robin Cruise

Wed, 10/25/2006 - 3:46pm by Tahira

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Lucy’s grandmother Luciani Maria Isabela Galvez-Molinero often forgets things like the toast in the toaster and which way to turn to go to the park. What Lucy’s Little Mama remembers is what makes this book so endearing. An excellent read about the warmth, love and family traditions that only a grandmother can share.

A Tempest in Trinidad

Wed, 10/25/2006 - 11:32am by Maxine

In addition to "The Tempest" brewing at Power Center, there's a storm of wills in Elizabeth Nunez's latest book, Prospero's Daughter. Dr. Peter Gardner has been exiled to Trinidad with his daughter, Virginia, after the discovery of a gruesome experiment he performed on a human subject. In this reworking of Shakespeare's play, Nunez poses questions about race and class. Carlos, a Caliban of sorts, is a mixed race orphan who has been living with the Gardner's. He and Virginia have fallen in love. When Gardner who is depicted as a racist lunatic finds out, he accuses Carlos of attempted rape. At the same time, he sexually abuses his native servant, Ariana. Into this mix comes John Mumsford of the British police who fears an uprising of natives against British rule in Trinidad's quest for independence and uses Carlos as an example of the continued stability of his country's authority.

For other fiction that takes place in Trinidad, try:
A Perfect Pledge by Rabindranath Maharaj and
A Thirst for Rain by Roslyn Carrington.