Ages 18+.
Blog Post
Two brothers in war torn Japan
by Maxine
Gail Tsukiyama's sixth book, The Street of a Thousand Blossoms is the story of Japan before, during and after World War II as seen through the eyes of the two main characters, brothers Hiroshi and Kenji Matsumoto. The boys are raised by loving grandparents in Tokyo. In 1939, Hiroshi dreams of becoming a sumo wrestling champion and Kenji of learning the art of making masks for the Noh theater. But when war breaks out, their plans are put on hold but not extinguished. Tsukiyama brings Japan to life in her vivid yet understated writing about the horror of war, the saving grace of art and the reconstruction of Japan.
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #88
by muffy
Interred With Their Bones*, a literary thriller by first time novelist Jennifer Lee Carrell was the big book at the 2005 Frankfurt Book Fair and was predicted to be most eagerly anticipated debut thriller of 2007.
At the heart of the richly imagined mystery that spans centuries and involves players from both the Old and the New World, is Shakespeare’s lost play Cardenio.
Kate Stanley, a Shakespeare scholar in London directing Hamlet at the Globe theatre is approached by her estranged mentor Roz Howard, bearing a mysterious gift and a cryptic message to “follow where it leads”. Where it leads is Roz’s murder and mounting body counts, a fascinating look at the history of English theatre, church politics, Renaissance literature and Shakespeare lore. More importantly for Kate, it is a race to find the lost play before the killer makes her the next victim.
The fast pace, intricate plot twists and plenty of red herrings will make this a pleasure for discriminating mystery fans. Shakespeare lovers will find a treasure trove of tantalizing trivia from a renowned Shakespeare expert. Well worth the hype.
* = Starred Reviews
Blog Post
New Fiction on the New York Times Best Sellers List (9/30/07)
by Mazie
Garrison Keillor returns to the comforting shores of Lake Wobegan in his latest bestseller Pontoon.
The other new entries include the juggernaut James Patterson team with You've Been Warned, The Wednesday Letters by Jason Wright, Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen, and The 47th Samurai by Stephen Hunter.
The complete list can be found online.
Blog Post
Enemy At The Gates
by french_film_grl
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This 2001 film done by Jean-Jacques Annaud is a cinematic jewel. It has all the right elements to make your "must see" list. The acting is superb! The story is torn from the pages of world history. The cat and mouse play is riveting. And the love triangle is
Jude Law plays Vassily Zaitzev, a Ural born sniper for the Soviet Army. Joseph Fiennes plays Commisar Danilov, a political officer printing propoganda for the war. German Major Konig, Ed Harris, plays a priviledged Nazi Germany officer
Blog Post
Stuart Dybek wins two big awards
by sernabad
This week, Stuart Dbyek, author and poet, won both a MacArthur Foundation Grant and the Rea Award for the Short Story.
The MacArthurs, known as the Genius Awards, are “…unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction.”
The Rea Award is “…given annually to a living American or Canadian writer whose published work has made a “significant contribution in the discipline of the short story as an art form”.
Dybek, 65, is the author of The Coast of Chicago and I Sailed with Magellan.
Blog Post
Refusing to be Enemies
by annevm
A screening of the film "Refusing to be Enemies: The Zeitouna Story" is coming up this evening at 7:15 p.m. at the Michigan Theater. Made by local filmmaker Laurie White, the film is about Zeitouna a local group of Arabic and Jewish women. This remarkable group also is the subject of the DVD Working together: the Arab and Jewish women of Ann Arbor's Zeitouna which you can check out at the library.
Blog Post
The birth of American journalism
by Maxine
Today, September 25 is the day the first American newspaper was published in 1690. This was the first and only edition of "Publick Occurences Both Foreign and Domestick" published by Benjamin Harris at the London-Coffee-House in Boston. The paper was four pages with the last left blank for readers' opinions. It contained news as well as exposes, was considered offensive and was shut down.
To read more on the history of American newspapers, check out these new titles from our collection:
William Randolph Hearst: Final Edition, 1911-1951, by Ben H. Proctor. The second and final installment of the biography of this larger than life newspaper magnate.
Infamous Scribblers : The Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism by Eric Burns. An entertaining history of colonial journalism which was not too different in its tenor than today's.
Black writers/black baseball: an anthology of articles from Black sportswriters Who Covered the Negro Leagues, rev. ed. edited by Jim Reisler. A collection of writings from the first half of the twentieth century.
Blog Post
National Latino AIDS Awareness Day
by Beth Manuel
Dovetailing off Hispanic Heritage Month is Latino AIDS Awareness Day Monday October 15, 2007. To mark this day,
the Washtenaw County Public Health department is providing free AIDS testing for adults or young people over 13 years old. While Latinos only make up about 14% of the U.S. population, they account for 19% of the AIDS cases in the U.S. since the start of the epidemic. In 2004, Latinos accounted for 20% of the new AIDS cases in the U.S. To read more about the impact of AIDS look for Aids in America by Susan Hunter.
Blog Post
Hot new (well, almost new) dvd releases from Amazon at your library
by Maxine
Following are several new dvds in our collection that are on Amazon's "Hot new releases" list:
We are Marshall. This film, based on a true story, stars Matthew McConaughey as Jack Lengyel, new coach of Marshall University's football team after coaches and team members die in a plane crash in the Appalachian Mountains in November, 1970. The usual football action but also some affecting performances.
The Lives of Others. Winner of best foreign film of 2006, the movie is a thriller which, according to Amazon, .."opts for character development over car chases." In 1984 East Berlin, a Stasi officer, Gerd Wiesler, is charged with spying on a playwright and his girlfriend but when he realizes his superior has a personal vendetta, his alliances change.
300. Frank Miller's grapic novel is vividly transformed to screen. Gerald Butler from Phantom of the Opera plays Leonidas, the Grecian king who leads his Spartans into battle against the Persian invaders.
Black Book. In this Dutch film, Rachel Stein, a Jewish singer, is living with a Gentile family in the countryside towards the end of World War II. She flees to the Hague when Allied forces bomb the area, changes her identity and joins the Resistance. Both a thriller and a tribute to Holland's Jewish population.
Blog Post
New Fiction on the New York Times Best Sellers List (9/23/07)
by Mazie
Back in 1996 The New Yorker magazine hailed Dominican-born author Junot Diaz as one of the best young writers in the US. He wowed all the critics with his first novel Drown and then he disappeared. With his second book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao the author must be experiencing a sense of deja vu. He is once again receiving rave reviews and popular attention.
The other new entries are Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson, Heartsick by Chelsea Cain, and Songs without Words by Ann Packer.
Click here for a look at the rest of the List.