Kayleigh George

It's that time of year....A fresh new year (and a new decade!!), the semester is just starting, mid-terms and papers are far into the future, and you need a good book.

You asked, "What should I read?"

So I go to my trusted source - Kayleigh George, the HarperLibrary Marketing Coordinator. We met when she put into my hand a fresh and fun zine aimed at the 20somethings. Now, even better, it is online - as a blog.

You will find she totally gets you, how your days are "hectic, stressful, strange, and euphoric". She makes a point of having something for "hipsters, English majors, poetry buffs, and those making their first foray into the sometimes-unforgiving corporate world."

Subscribe (you know the drill) and check out the links on the left. I especially liked EarlyWord. It lets me get on the waiting list ahead of the crowd.

Hey, I hope this does not mean you won't come in, browse and visit.

Dave Askins: Dave Askins, alongside Michigan's most famous teeter totter, in his Ann Arbor back yard.

Dave Askins, the bearded, long-haired interlocutor of a blog called Teeter Talk has one of the more interesting pedigrees, in New Journalism. After completing a master's degree in German, and studying theoretical linguistics, toward a Ph.D. that never was completed, he embarked on what he describes as "a collection of odd jobs" in the Ann Arbor area. Those included work as a frozen foods clerk, a kennel keeper and a data programmer for a company that conducted public opinion surveys.

He's best known for his blog, and the question-and-answer sessions that he conducts with people of interest--while riding on one of his two handmade teeter totters. Askins has achieved equipoise with former President William Jefferson Clinton, Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje, various media personalities, and Ann Arbor District Library Director Josie Parker.

WAYR: Patrick Pine: Patrick Pine, at Encore Recordings of Ann Arbor. He's listening to a Bo Hansson cut on the turntable.

Bo Hansson's 1972 album "Lord of the Rings" is like "a Renaissance fair with MOOG synthesizers," in the words of one staff person at Encore Recordings of Ann Arbor.

Patrick Pyne said he took the 36-year-old LP off the shelf and put it on the turntable one afternoon last week, because he likes the psychedelic vibe of the MOOG synthesizer. He has also enjoyed a Hansson album entitled "Magicians hat," which he described as "silly, but a good record."

Hansson also used drums, guitars, standard organs, and a saxophone to produce the album. But the MOOG is what lends the music its ethereal sound.

Pyne, a musician himself, said he likes the artistic innocence he perceives in Hanssons work, which he summed up as unpretentious. He said he's also been listening to Bruce Haack, another musician who used synthesizers to compose, but who built his own.

Mary Morgan: Mary Morgan and her restless housecat, Elle. Morgan recommends "Magnetic North," by Ann Arbor poet Linda Gregerson to AADL readers.

Mary Morgan's transformation into an entrepreneur probably shouldn't surprise anyone, since she started her journalism career as a business reporter. In August, after 16 years as a newspaper journalist, Morgan gave up editorship of the opinion pages at the Ann Arbor News and became the publisher of an online newspaper. The Ann Arbor Chronicle was born Sept. 2, 2008. It features articles written by Morgan, by her husband Dave Askins (host of another well-known site, Teeter Talk), and by other local writers. The site is supported by local advertising.

We convinced Morgan to take a break from writing, editing and managing the business side of the site, just long enough to recommend a book for library patrons. Here it is.

Watcha reading: Robin Agnew discovers 'The crazy School,' by Cornelia Read: Robin Agnew, with "The Crazy School, by Cornelia Read.

If you're searching for a good mystery, Robin Agnew would like to make a couple of suggestions.

Robin is the vice president of the Kerrytown BookFest (which takes place this Sunday, Sept. 7). What's more, she and her husband Jamie own Aunt Agatha's, the peculiar book shop at 213 South Fourth Ave. that specializes in mystery and detective books.

They founded the store in 1992, after Jamie, also a bookworm, spent some time working for Borders, another book store that originated in Ann Arbor. The choice to sell mystery and detective fiction was natural, Robin said. She worked her way through Nancy Drew in elementary school, and in middle school she read every one of Agatha Christie's mystery novels. She's remained a mystery reader ever since.

Robin is usually on the lookout for new authors to share with other book lovers, and this year she's telling people about Cornelia Read, after being impressed with her first novel, A Field of Darkness. She emailed us last week that the book was "terrific," and the writing "beautiful."

Now, here's what she has to say about Cornelia Read's latest novel, The Crazy School: