Westport Public Library BOOK blog
May 8, 2008
May 5, 2008
100 YEARS of DISCUSSIONS
Social, literary, biblio-therapeutic, or competitive, book clubs have long been an adjunct to the Westport Library. From 1908 on, the Library has always been a place to expect some conversation about reading. In the 1970s, there was a Great Books discussion group and also a Seniors Book Club, which met in the YMCA in the winter and under a tree by the water at Longshore in the summer. (That was a pleasant assignment in many ways.) Now, the Library sponsors two groups, The Usual Suspects and Pageturners, which meet at the Library each month. In addition, the Library supports 52...
And the winners are …
This year’s Best Novel Edgar went to John Hart for Down River. Quite an achievement, as this is only his second published work. His first book was The King of Lies which was nominated for a Best First Novel Edgar. Both books made the New York Times Bestseller list. This year’s Best Novel Agatha went to Louise Penny for A Fatal Grace, which is the second title in her Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series, preceded by Still Life and followed by the recently released The Cruelest Month.May 3, 2008
TOP TEN
1-Exile, identity and disappointment infuse these tales of families straddling two cultures and uncomfortable in both. Lahiri’s writing is seamless, her characters strike no false notes, her understanding of immigrant experience gives unusual emotional depth as the generations sort out their lives. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri 2-The world’s largest defense contractor stars in this terrifying thriller. Events are set in motion to change the world. Whole Truth by David Baldacci 3-A condemned inmate offers an organ transplant. Picoult builds her dramatic story around current issues of transplants, capital punishment, justice and redemption and glues it all together with family...
April 30, 2008
The Greatest Generation
In 2004, John Gimlette set off across Europe to retrace the footsteps of the United States Allied Expeditionary Force of 1944–45. His book is called Panther Soup. His guide was Putnam Flint, an eighty-something-year-old Bostonian who had landed in Marseille with his tank destroyer battalion, nicknamed The Panthers, during the war. Join them both as they travel across some of the most spectacular landscapes in the world, and through the modern cities that have risen from smoldering ruins.April 29, 2008
Give it a burl
Although English is Australia's official language, Australians use a lot of slang, sometimes called "Strine", short for "Aw-strine"! To give it "a burl" is to give it a try, and if you like your mysteries set in more unusual locations, here’s one for you, mate. Part-Aborigine Emily Tempest returns to her tribal home in the beautiful wilds of Central Australia after being educated and traveling abroad in Adrian Hyland’s debut novel, Moonlight Downs, which won the Ned Kelly Award, Australia's highest crime fiction prize. Emily is no sooner settled in when her best friend’s father, a highly respected community leader,...
April 28, 2008
Then she found me.
If you attended our author series when Elinor Lipman spoke about her book My Latest Grievance (2006), you will recall she told us that one of her previous novels, Then She Found Me was slated for film with Helen Hunt directing and starring. It's the story of a young woman whose birth mother pops up in the middle of her already complicated life. Authors often mention the possibility of their books becoming films, but usually with an implicit or explicit “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Well, it has happened! Helen Hunt has been ubiquitous in the media talking...
April 23, 2008
Double indemnity re-defined
As an addendum to Monday’s posting about the pseudonyms of mystery writing literary authors, I just encountered a problem with a new book from a “new” author named Inger Ash Wolfe – which the book jacket says “is the pseudonym for a North American literary novelist.” I did a quick Google to see if I could solve the mystery of her true identity and found out that there is quite a flap in the book world over the name because it turns out there is already a Danish mystery writer named Inger Wolf – no “e” at the end. Several of the major blogs are abuzz about it. If you want to join the fray, check out Scrivener's Error and Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind.April 22, 2008
Andrew Carnegie loved libraries!
In 1919 there were 3500 libraries in the United States. Half of them were funded by Andrew Carnegie. Books were always important to Carnegie from the time of his childhood in Scotland to his eventual fame as a wealthy American industrialist and philanthropist. One important feature of Carnegie libraries was the “self-serve stacks.” Library users were allowed to browse, instead of requesting that certain books be retrieved. We’ve come a long way! The Westport Library was not established as a Carnegie Library. We are not sure why Mr Carnegie’s largesse was not accepted. But, of course, Morris Ketchum Jesup funded...
April 21, 2008
A classy case of mistaken identity
Acclaimed Irish novelist and journalist – and Man Booker Prize winner – John Banville is better known to mystery fans as his noir writing alter-ego Benjamin Black. His two mystery novels to date, Christine Falls and the recently released The Silver Swan are darkly set in 1950s Dublin and both feature pathologist-cum-detective Garret Quirke. Sarah Dunant, author of many international literary fiction bestsellers, including The Birth of Venus and In the Company of the Courtesan, is also a writer of hard-boiled detective fiction. Her character, Hannah Wolfe, is a private investigator in London.
About The Library | Catalog
| Statewide
Catalog | Events | New
& Recommended | Great Web Sites
| Research | Kids
| Teens