Blog Post
60 Years of Honoring Great American Books
by muffy
For the first time in its history, the National Book Award for Fiction is open to public vote. To participate, cast your vote for your favorite National Book Award recipient from 1950 to 2008.
Why fiction? You might wonder. Well, for one thing, 74 of the 77 fiction winners are in-print and available, the highest percentage of any category. Here is a complete list of the winners.
There is also a Book a Day Blog feature which today happens to be on the 1984 winner Victory Over Japan, by Ellen Gilchrist, a favorite of mine. This second story collection is recognized for "the art of high wit and dark humor, the audacious charms of characters whose eccentricities are original and whose proclivities tilt toward the racy and the illicit.".
Blog Post
Teen Stuff: The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
by Caser
The novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, may have been published in 1999, but it doesn't look like it's lost much of its controversy or readership over the last 10 years. A CNN article published late last month reported a battle over book banning in West Bend, WI, in which this Stephen Chbosky novel is cited as one of those that a group of patrons wants moved from the public library's youth section and labeled offensive.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is structured as a series of letters written by fictional high school sophomore, Charlie, to an unstated confidant in the early 1990s. In the letters that cover one year of his life, Charlie discusses the difficulty he has making and maintaining friends, dealing with emotional instability, and trying to make the right decisions despite pressure to do otherwise. Of course, within those larger themes are incidents -- not atypical of many teens -- that have drawn ire from some readers, hence the controversy. The AADL owns copies of the novel, though you'll have to jump on the hold list due to its resurgence in popularity.
Blog Post
Teen Stuff: The Oxford Project
by manz
This book with text by Stephen G. Bloom and photographs by Peter Feldstein is a fascinating leap into a great project. The Oxford Project was one of the ten books to receive the 2009 Alex Award, given to the top ten books written for adults that have a special appeal to young adults, age 12-18. The book features photographs taken in 1984 of every resident in Oxford, Iowa, and then also photographs of many of them again in 2005. The Oxford Project offers a peek into the lives of many, showing how much a person can change in 21 years. It is an interesting social study, and the large black and white photographs keep you turning the page to see who’s next. I couldn’t help but keep smiling with each turn of the page. It really makes the ordinary seem extraordinary! Check out the books’ website for a look inside, as you can actually "flip" through the pages.
File under: fabulous coffee table book.
Blog Post
Your Adventure Ends Unfavorably
by eby
If you were a fan of the Choose Your Own Adventure book series you may have wondered how likely it was to turn out well. Over at flowing data they investigate the book Journey Under The Sea and find that that only about 8 of the 42 endings are favorable. The odds are stacked against you as their flow diagram of the book shows:
You can view a full size version and PDF copy on their site. How you die? The choice is yours.
Blog Post
Teen Stuff: Over and Under, by Todd Tucker
by manz
Over and Under is one of ten books to receive a 2009 Alex Award. The Alex is given to the top ten books written for adults that have a special appeal to young adults, age 12-18.
Andy and Tom have been best friends for life, enjoying their adventures, hunting, crawling through the caves and the woods of the deep south, and getting caught up in general boyhood mischief. During the summer of 1979 their friendship is put to the test as the small rural Indiana town they live in is divided amidst a strike at the local casket factory. Tom’s dad is on the line with the strikers while Andy’s dad is management and is sneaking into the factory to avoid verbal assault from the strikers. Andy is always quick to follow Tom’s lead, and during the strike they witness more than they can handle. When an explosion at the factory causes a death, the boys get deeper than they ever dreamed and they get caught up in secrets and lies, while trying to support their families opposing viewpoints and remain friends.
It’s a great tale. The back of the book mentioned the movie Stand By Me, and I was immediately grabbed, as I’m always up for "little boy adventure" stories, be they film or book.
Blog Post
New dvds coming soon to your district library!
by Maxine
The following three new movies are on order at the library. Place your holds now to get on the list:
The Soloist - Based on the moving true story by Steve Lopez, the film adaptation brings to life the characters: Lopez, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times played by Robert Downey Jr., and Nathaniel Ayers, a mentally ill homeless street musician portrayed by Jamie Foxx. Their providential meeting leads to transformation for both men.
Obsessed - When a successful businessman is being stalked by a temp worker played by Beyonce Knowles, his life spirals out of control.
Coraline - Based on the graphic novel by Neil Gaiman, the movie captures the dark, creepy feeling of the book. Stop-motion animation shot in 3-D plus spooky music gives these stick figures menacing presences as Coraline, dissatisfied with her home life, moves through the wall of her house to a home with "perfect parents," or are they?
Blog Post
"A good page of prose remains invincible."
by andersone
The above was spoken by a cancer-riddled, near-death John Cheever on the occasion of his receiving the National Medal of Literature at Carnegie Hall. And in the nearly three decades since that utterance, Cheever has so far been proven correct. His masterful short stories, collected in The Stories of John Cheever, continue to be republished, continue to circulate at the library, continue to live on even after the author and many of his peers (including Raymond Carver, with whom he taught at the Iowa Writer's Workshop and John Updike who was there at Carnegie Hall) have since died.
More a short story writer than anything else, he did craft a handful of novels. Reading one, Bullet Park, is to spend time experiencing linguistic skill without rival. Unfortunately, for some, the skill may seem wasted, as Cheever spends more time exploring the writing, the setting, and the characters rather than the plot. If you enjoy reading great writing, and are not worried about a direction, than his novels are worth a read. However, if you desire focus -- stick to his short stories. They are tightly and carefully constructed, without a wasted word or meaningless moment.
Much of what Cheever writes feels similar to Updike or Carver, real people in real events, dealing as best they can under the crushing weight of their problems, their families, their mortalities. However, some have the touch of the fantastic and the surreal. The Swimmer (here made into a movie staring Burt Lancaster), relates the end of a summer party, and an attempt by the protagonist to swim through all the pools from the site of the party back home.
Blog Post
826Michigan books for you
by manz
The library owns a few books put out by 826Michigan (the fabulous local non-profit that offers tutoring and workshops, and supports writing endeavors for kids age 6-18.) They have many books that are samples and collections of students’ work, highlighting the best and brightest of writing talent that will knock your socks off. True Stories and Tall Tales culminates a year’s worth of work at Ypsilanti’s Childs Elementary School and features histories, fantasies, and other such silliness written by the students, while lead by 826Michigan volunteers.
Another book written by 826Michigan students, and other 826 chapters across the country, is Thanks and Have Fun Running the Country: Kids' Letters to President Obama. Which is essentially just that: a collection of letters written by kids and addressed to President Obama. Some are funny, some are heartfelt, all are worth reading.
If you’re looking for more works put out by 826, or some McSweeney’s titles, or want to hear more about what they do there, check out the shelves at the Liberty Street Robot Repair and Supply Shop at 115 E. Liberty.
Blog Post
Oh, the moors, the dark, dark moors!
by Maxine
I remember that summer I took Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte everywhere I went. I embraced the tragedy of unrequited love and walked the moors with the brooding Heathcliffe. Bronte was born in Thornton, England on July 30, 1818. She and her sisters, Charlotte and Anne and their brother Branwell schooled themselves at home with the large collection of classics in their father's library. They made up highly developed fantasy kingdoms and wrote reams of notes on the characters and histories they created. Emily was the quietest of the bunch. She died of consumption at the age of thirty, a death she may have described if she had been able to write another grand gothic novel.
Blog Post
Icelander by Dustin Long
by manz
The main character in Icelander is known only as Our Heroine. Set in an alternate universe, this postmodern tale starts out with Shirley MacGuffin found murdered the day before the town’s annual celebration of Our Heroine’s mother, the famous sleuth, Emily Bean. Our Heroine has no interest in following in her mother’s footsteps and running around town solving cases, but she gets wrapped up in “the facts” and is thrown into a wild predicament which takes her places she never imagined.
Told from multiple points of view, Icelander is an intense, confusing, absurd, wacky, and magical adventure, akin to The crying of Lot 49, with Nabokovian influences, only laced with Norse mythology. The book is a treat, if you’re up for falling into a rabbit hole. A friend gave me this McSweeney’s book as a gift, and it ended up being quite a delightful surprise. You’ll find yourself either loving or hating this book.
If you still have questions after reading the book, I recommend the following
Q&A with the author, and also this author interview.