Ages 18+.
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #85
by muffy
Considered by people-in-the-know (Bill Ott @ Booklist) to be possibly “the thriller of the year” - HeartSick* by Chelsea Cain is a must read for fans of Thomas Harris and Ridley Pearson, and those who likes them "gritty, grim, and gory".~Publishers Weekly
Set in Portland, OR, this outstanding thriller pits Archie Sheridan, a police detective addicted to painkillers and pink-haired newspaper reporter Susan Ward, against a psychotic serial killer targeting high school girls. Added to the suspense is Archie’s ambiguous relationship with the imprisoned Gretchen Lowell, a sadistic serial killer who carved her trademark (a heart) on Archie two years ago. Archie now hopes Gretchen could help him catch the After School Strangler.
“Cain (Confessions of a Teen Sleuth: A Parody) never misses a beat here, turning the psychological screwdriver tighter for both Sheridan and Ward while drawing us deep into the nightmare that lives inside Gretchen Lowell's head”. Projected to be the first of a series, so don't let this one slip by.
* = Starred Reviews
Blog Post
"In Bloom" at Toronto Film Festival
by annevm
It’s a big weekend for Laura Kasischke, the Chelsea author and U-M faculty member whose 2002 novel The Life Before Her Eyes is now a film to be shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film, “In Bloom," starring Uma Thurman, may soon be in wide distribution. A Michigan Radio broadcast is here.
Blog Post
Fantastic Fiction Firsts #84
by muffy
Emergency room physician Vincent Lam’s debut collection of linked stories - Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures* is the 2006 winner of The Scotiabank Giller Prize, Canada’s premier literary prize for fiction. It revolves around four young multicultural Toronto medical students. (Think Grey’s Anatomy!)
Along with the requisite sex, death and sleep deprivation crucial to any hospital drama, it's action-packed and insightful. "The stories' quiet strength lies in Lam's portrayal of the flawed humans behind the surgical masks". ~Publishers Weekly
For a clear-eyed look at what it is like to be a doctor-in-training, try The Soul of a Doctor: Harvard Medical Students Face Life and Death, and Audrey Young's What Patients Taught Me: A Medical Student's Journey.
*= Starred Reviews
Blog Post
Man Booker Prize shortlist for 2007
by sernabad
The 39th Man Booker Prize committee has announced the short list of fiction titles for the 2007 Booker Prize.
The short list of 2007 authors is:
Anne Enright The Gathering – a lyrical, three-generation Irish family saga
Mohsin Hamid The Reluctant Fundamentalist– a Pakistani Muslim, disillusioned with his successful life in America, meets his would-be assassin, post-9/11
Lloyd Jones Mister Pip – the lone white man on a down-under island, teaches Great Expectations to a group of children in the midst of war
Ian McEwan On Chesil Beach – in 1962, newlyweds, Edward and Florence, stumble toward their wedding night as they reflect on their short lives.
Also, Indra Sinha (Animal’s People) and Nicola Barker (Darkmans) have not yet been scheduled for U.S. publication
The winner will be announced on October 16th.
Blog Post
The End of Mr. Y
by Van
The End of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas
I like novels that incorporate the texts of other imaginary books and provide scads of non-fiction detail about topics on which I would be unlikely to read an actual non-fiction book. Add an interesting narrator, a little narrative drive, and The End of Mr. Y becomes an excellent choice to read. The book within the book shares the title and is by the nineteenth-century writer Thomas E. Lumas. The scads of non-fiction detail involve Derrida and French deconstruction, Samuel Butler, Einstein and thought experiments, theoretical physics, and homeopathy. Ariel Manto is a poor graduate student working on a dissertation about Lumas. The library classifies the book as Science Fiction, not unreasonable since it involves the ability to jump into the minds of others in the troposphere (the world of the mind). This ability is brought on by drinking a mixture of Carbo Vegetabilis and holy water then staring at a white card with a small black circle at its center. A fantastical story, most compelling before the author has to bring the story to an end.
Blog Post
The Martians are coming, the martians are coming.
by RiponGood
Few works of science fiction, let along 19th century science fiction have touched peoples lives than War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. I remember my first exposure to the story, the 1953 movie. My favorite version of the story is the radio show produced by Orson Wells. You can also find a graphic novel version of the story as well as see Tom Cruise evade the martians in the 2005 movie.
Blog Post
More new Japanese books at the library!
by Tara LS
There will soon be new Japanese books for adults at all branches. The selection varies from branch to branch and includes original Japanese works and works translated into Japanese from other languages. Browse the shelf for new books or place holds through the library catalog. Questions, comments or suggestions, please contact stantont@aadl.org. Click on "read more" to see a list of books.
Blog Post
New adult books in Japanese at all branches
by Tara LS
There will soon be new Japanese books for adults at all branches. The selection varies from branch to branch and includes original Japanese works and works translated into Japanese from other languages. Browse the shelf for new books or place holds through the library catalog. Questions, comments or suggestions, please contact stantont@aadl.org. Click on "read more" to see a list of books.
あなたがパラダイス BY 平安寿子 (Anata ga paradaisu by Taira Asuko)
クジラの彼 BY 有川浩 (Kujira no kare by Arikawa Hiroshi)
ダーティ。ワーク BY 絲山秋子 (Dāti wāku by Itoyama Akiko)
水底の光 BY 小池真理子 (Minasoko no hikari by Koike Mariko)
みずうみ BY いしいしんじ著 (Mizumi by Shinjii Ishii)
(Seeing a series of question marks? It's possible your browser is not capable of showing Japanese characters.)
Blog Post
A fine postapocolyptic Robinsonade
by annevm
Among the best books I read this summer was The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The genre is Robinsonade, which means it bears some resemblance to Robinson Crusoe. But this is the story of a father and his son walking alone through a totally devastated, burned America. Normally I don't choose this type of book, but my brother assured me that the warmth of the father-son relationship would carry me right through the darker parts. He was right. After it came out last year, this book became an Oprah's Book Club pick, a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist, and a New York Times Notable Book.
Blog Post
Linda Peeno, Health Care, and Sicko
by emilyas
In 1996 Louisville physician Linda Peeno testified before Congress for the debate over patients' rights versus HMOs. This article from NPR covers Peeno's latest reappearance in the news, involving the same testimony and her spot in Michael Moore's recent movie, Sicko.