Great book you may have missed

From Booklist (starred review): "Berry Jackson's life is turned upside down one scorchingly hot summer when a tornado tears through Pinetta, her small Florida town, and her father, the local school principal, vanishes into the night. Is he dead? Has he run away with the young woman who has also vanished? And what will this mean to barely adolescent Berry, who has always defined herself as "the principal's daughter"? Small southern towns, vanishing husbands, and adolescent narrators are staples of Kincaid's earlier fiction, and once again her great strength is the creation of a memorably regional, wryly funny, and naturally artful first-person voice. Like seemingly everyone else in Pinetta--where the heart is definitely not a lonely hunter--Berry looks to love for answers, unwisely becoming infatuated with a young prisoner who has been brought to town on a chain gang in the wake of the storm. Love's lessons are sometimes painful ones, but Berry--a terrific character--discovers she can cope when others can't. Kincaid brings a wonderfully engaging authorial sensibility to her story, while her obvious affection for her characters--and theirs for each other--is downright irresistible."

The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin

From Library Journal: "Cora Cash may be America's richest heiress in 1893, but her father's money can't buy what her social-climbing mother most desires for her: a title. Desperate to escape her mother's control, Cora urges her friend Teddy Van Der Leyden to marry her, but he chooses to pursue his art. Cora and her mother then head to Europe to find a bachelor, and Cora becomes engaged to the Duke of Wareham. Their opulent New York wedding attracts throngs of gawkers and garners headlines. Back in England, Cora is despised by her powerful mother-in-law. Servants ignore her. Aristocrats delight in her every misstep. Most distressing are the Duke's moodiness and hesitation to reveal his past. The only one loyal to Cora is her maid, Bertha, equally out of place because of her race, class, and nationality. Readers likely will recognize the lingering impact of the Duke's past affair before Cora does, but the story is more complex than it first appears. Top-notch writing brings to life the world of wealth on both sides of the Atlantic. This debut's strong character development and sense of place will please fans of historical romance."

2010 Bram Stoker Award Winner for best horror novel

From Publishers Weekly: "In this tour de force from bestseller Straub (In the Night Room), four high school friends in 1966 Madison, Wis.-Hootie Bly, Dilly Olson, Jason Boatman, and Lee Truax-fall under the spell of charismatic "wandering guru" Spencer Mallon. During an occult ceremony in which Mallon attempts to break through to a higher reality, something goes horribly awry leaving one participant dead. Decades later, Lee's writer husband interviews the quartet to find out what happened. In Roshomon-like fashion, each relates a slightly different account of the trauma they experienced. Straub masterfully shows how the disappointments, downturns, and failed promise of the four friends' lives may have stemmed from this youthful experience, and suggests, by extension, that the malignant evil they helped unleash into the world has tainted all hope ever since. Brilliant in its orchestration and provocative in its speculations, this novel ranks as one of the finest tales of modern horror."

From Publishers Weekly: "Memories-real, false, and a bit of both-are at the heart of British author Watson's haunting, twisted debut. Christine Lucas awakens each morning in London with no idea who she is or why she's in bed with a strange man, until he tells her that his name is Ben and they've been married for 22 years. Slowly, Christine learns that she has amnesia and is unable to remember her past or retain new memories: every night when she falls asleep, the slate is wiped clean. Dr. Nash, her therapist, has encouraged her to write in a journal that she keeps secret from Ben. Christine realizes how truly tangled-and dangerous-her life is after she sees the words "don't trust Ben" written in her journal, whose contents reveal that the only person she can trust is herself. Watson handles what could have turned into a cheap narrative gimmick brilliantly, building to a chillingly unexpected climax."

From Library Journal: "Sakey's latest thriller begins with Daniel Hayes, naked and nearly drowned, lying in the surf off the coast of Maine. Suffering from amnesia and a vague feeling of guilt, he believes the answers to his current state lie in Los Angeles and heads there trying to find his identity. He discovers that he is a successful screenwriter and that his glamorous TV star wife has just been murdered in a car accident. The cops are after him as a suspect, and a blackmailing hard guy is also pursuing him. Still, he remembers only bits and pieces, just enough to make him suspect even his wife. The action is fast-paced, the tension is nearly constant, and there are more twists in the plot than in a double helix. Sakey is a master at nudging characters out of their element, ratcheting up the suspense and then, just as resolution seems near, doing it again. A possible threat to readers' cardiac health and a likely candidate for Hollywood interest."

If you liked The Hunger Games, you may enjoy Matched, another novel set in a dystopian future. From Publishers Weekly: "All her life, Cassia has never had a choice. The Society dictates everything: when and how to play, where to work, where to live, what to eat and wear, when to die, and most importantly to Cassia as she turns 17, who to marry. When she is Matched with her best friend Xander, things couldn't be more perfect. But why did her neighbor Ky's face show up on her match disk as well? She's told it was an error, but something once noticed clamors for attention, and now Cassia can't look away. Ky has many secrets, but the most stunning to Cassia is something she never suspected still existed: creativity. As they fall in love, Cassia's eyes are opened to the truth of the Society, and she knows she can no longer blindly follow its dictates. But the Society isn't through with them, and things get much, much uglier. Condie's enthralling and twisty dystopian plot is well served by her intriguing characters and fine writing. While the ending is unresolved (the book is first in a trilogy), Cassia's metamorphosis is gripping and satisfying."

Newly arrived at the library:



Winter's Bone (Rotten Tomatoes rating 94%)







Illegal (Rotten Tomatoes rating 70%)






Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Rotten Tomatoes rating 85%)

From Publishers Weekly: "Israeli novelist Grossman returns with an epic yet intimate story of an Israeli family and the shadow of war that haunts it. A love triangle between Ora, Avram, and Ilan ends when Avram returns to war, and Ora settles down with Ilan to raise two sons. But when her youngest is called to duty, Ora flees for Galilee, dragging with her Avram, who, deeply scared by his experience as a POW during the Yom Kippur War, has refused contact with her for years. Their shared history poignantly reveals the way conflict, war, and the loss of humanity have traumatized generations of people living in this region. Grossman, whose own soldier son was killed during the writing of this novel, connects a wide-reaching canvas of battles and bombings to the intimate realities of the relationships among family and friends. Although the atmosphere of paranoia and the flood of details can overwhelm, they also connect the reader to the characters so hypnotically that this nearly 600-page literary novel reads like a thriller."

Help for parents!

A type of question we are frequently asked at the library goes something like this: "My child reads at [X] level - what do you have that's about that level?" Reading levels are not yet consistently in our catalog, so it can be a bit tricky finding an answer to such a question. Generally, we turn to other tools, such as Scholastic's free Teacher Book Wizard. Among the neatest features is the ability to separate out Interest Level from Reading level. This is extremely helpful for children reading either far above or far below their grade level. A 6th grader may read at 12th grade level, but many parents wouldn't want them reading many of the books aimed at 12th graders (due to language, sexuality, violence, etc). By the same token, a 10th grader doesn't have much interest in the types of books aimed at 5th graders, but if they cover a subject of interest to him but do it with easier to read language, that's a different story. Using this tool, you can find something your child is interested in and that is age appropriate. Check it out!

Finding good books to read is getting more and more difficult due in part to the huge numbers that are being published, especially with the boom in self-publishing. New tools to help you find books to read are springing up all over the web, and one of the latest and most talked about is BookLikes. Give it a try and let us know what you think!

From the Publisher: "Lake Superior, the north country, the great fresh-water expanse. Frigid. Lethal. Wildly beautiful. The Long-Shining Waters gives us three stories whose characters are separated by centuries and circumstance, yet connected across time by a shared geography. In 1622, Grey Rabbit-an Ojibwe woman, a mother and wife-struggles to understand a dream-life that has taken on fearful dimensions. As she and her family confront the hardship of living near the "big water," her psyche and her world edge toward irreversible change. In 1902, Berit and Gunnar, a Norwegian fishing couple, also live on the lake. Berit is unable to conceive, and the lake anchors her isolated life, testing the limits of her endurance and spirit. And in 2000, when Nora, a seasoned bar owner, loses her job and is faced with an open-ended future, she is drawn reluctantly into a road trip around the great lake. As these narratives unfold and overlap with the mesmerizing rhythm of waves, a fourth mysterious character gradually comes into stark relief. Rich in historical detail, and universal in its exploration of the human desire for meaning when faced with uncertainty, The Long-Shining Waters is an unforgettable and singular debut."

More summer reading

Check out this list from BookPage of the 20 most anticipated books of the summer and then get your requests in early - they are sure to be hot!

From Library Journal: "This is the eagerly anticipated sequel to See's Shanghai Girls, and what a sequel it is! Continuing the story of Pearl and May Chin, who escaped the Japanese invasion of China during the 1930s, the novel centers on Joy, the daughter that both women have raised, one as aunt, one as mother. When 19-year-old Joy discovers the identity of her "real" mother, she returns to China in 1957. Readers will be drawn in as they experience Joy's life in Mao's Communist China: her life on a commune, starvation, love, oppression, and her fight to stay alive. It's this struggle for life that May and Pearl understand all too well, and it's what sends Pearl back to China. Pearl has the fierce mother love that allows her to disregard her own life to save her daughter. And that's the essential question: What makes a true mother? Readers of historical fiction will appreciate the authentic details that See weaves into her novel. You don't have to read Shanghai Girls to love this book, but if you have, this sequel will make you want to reread its predecessor"

From Publishers Weekly: "This book, by Greitens, a senior fellow at the University of Missouri and founder of the Mission Continues charity, confronts the same dilemma as the American military, which strives to be a strong deterrent against the evils of the world while protecting the sick and powerless. The concept of a mighty warrior with a good heart is not an original one, but the humanitarian soldier epiphany comes to an idealistic Greitens after stints in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Gaza, and Calcutta where he sees unspeakable carnage and suffering without end. He takes the words of philosopher John Stuart Mill as his credo: "The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature." The rigors of his Navy SEAL training are intensely depicted, as are his deployments in Kenya, Afghanistan, and Iraq, with Greitens slowly evolving into a balanced man with equal parts of compassion and warrior spirit. A glorious tale of humanity, resolve, and strength, Greitens's book reminds us of how many things we take for granted in our well-ordered lives."

New music at the library

Staring Down the Brilliant Dream by Indigo Girls




Kaleidoscope Heart by Sara Bareilles





WOW hits 2011





Sigh No More by Mumford & Sons

From the publisher: "Styling girls' hair is easy with advice from the owner of Cozy's Cuts for Kids. Little girls love to have pretty hair, and parents and grandparents can spend hours trying to achieve the best styles for their daughters. This book gives an insider's look at how to make the task trouble-free and fun for both girls and their caretakers. Cozy Friedman shares her years of training to give each girl the best look to fit her style and personality. Starting with a hair identification guide, the book recommends the products, methods, and tools for each hair type from curly to straight. Expert advice includes step-by-step instructions for how to cut hair at home and how to fix bad-hair days. Best of all, there are wonderful styles (with clear directions on how to achieve them) for girls' everyday hair, dress-up dos, and fantasy looks, and even suggested styles for babies, too. Chock-full of color photographs, the look-book aspect of Cozy's Complete Guide to Girls' Hair will appeal to both girls and their parents. Grown-ups can browse through photographs of more than thirty different hairstyles and choose one that works best for their little girl!"

From Publishers Weekly: "Offit presents a smart, hard-hitting expose of vaccine pseudoscience. Offit brings outstanding credentials to the subject: he's a vaccinologist at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia and an expert in infectious diseases, and he tackles claims that childhood inoculations cause brain damage, autism, diabetes, and cancer, finding a farrago of misinformation, faulty research, and sly deceptions fed to distraught parents by media hype, ax-grinding activists, and personal-injury lawyers. He embellishes his account with a sprightly history of paranoid medical populism-19th-century critics of the cowpox-derived smallpox vaccine insisted it could turn people into cows-and a blistering attack on celebrity antivaccine ideologues Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carrey, and Bill Maher and the medical writers who pander to parental anxieties. Offit dwells less than [others] on the sociology of the controversy and more on the science. The result is a thorough dismantling of antivaccine notions and a sober warning about the resurgence of deadly childhood infections stemming from declining vaccination rates. Worried parents, especially, will find this a lucid, compelling riposte to antivaccine fear-mongering."

Speaking of summer reading...

Today definitely feels like the first day of summer! That of course means summer reading lists! Here are a few for you to check out:

• Daily Beast
• NPR
• Christian Science Monitor
• Indie Booksellers
• USA Today
• NY Times
• LA Times
• NY Daily News
• Wired
• Good Housekeeping
• LJ: Men’s Summer Fiction
• LJ: Women’s Summer Fiction

Summer reading is almost here!

Starting Monday, June 6 you can pick up the forms that you will need to earn daily passes to Colvill Aquatic Center. Learn more about that and the other fun things going on this summer on our Summer Reading Page!

From Publishers Weekly: "Schwartz and Sharpe, both professors at Swarthmore College, explore our increasing distrust of and disenchantment with our institutions-governmental, medical, legal-an alienation shared by professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and teachers and the populations they serve. The authors exhort a revival of what Aristotle referred to as "practical wisdom"-figuring out the right way to do the right thing at the right time-not merely following established rules. Particular circumstances call for specific responses-the key is a flexibility impossible in ossified bureaucracies. Schwartz and Sharpe focus on finding a balance between professional commitment and financial profitability, praising "canny outlaws" who find ways to exercise practical wisdom, from judges to hospital custodians attentive to context. This highly recommended and important book offers an antidote to the mistrust that plagues the morale both in the workplace and beyond."

From Booklist: "It’s no spoiler to acknowledge that Skippy, the main character in Murray’s second novel, does indeed die, since the boy is a goner by page 5 of the prologue. Following his character’s untimely demise, Murray takes the reader back in time to learn more about the sweetly engaging Skippy—a 14-year-old student at a historic Catholic boys’ school in Dublin—and his friends Ruprecht, a near genius who is passionately interested in string theory; Mario, a self-styled lothario; and Dennis, the resident cynic. We also meet the girl with whom Skippy is hopelessly in love, Lori, and his bête noire, Carl, a drug-dealing, psychopathic fellow student who is also in love with Lori. In this darkly comic novel of adolescence (in some cases arrested), we also learn about the unexpected consequences of Skippy’s death, something of contemporary Irish life, and a great deal about the intersections of science and metaphysics and the ineluctable interconnectedness of the past and the present. Hilarious, haunting, and heartbreaking, it is inarguably among the most memorable novels of the year to date."