Westport Public Library BOOK blog
November 17, 2009
November 13, 2009
Across Generations
Book clubs registered at the Westport Public Library have many different formats. Many of our clubs are affiliated with larger organizations, such as the Y or the Westport Women’s Club, but many are small groups of friends that just enjoy a good book and discussion. We have clubs that are solely women, one that is solely males, several that are couples groups, and even one comprised of third graders and their moms. One of our reference librarians was recently asked to suggest some titles for a mother-daughter book club consisting of senior citizens and their daughters. A few of us here at the library put our heads together and came up with the following selections.November 9, 2009
A latter-day Dostoevsky
If there was a "Life’s Little Ironies" competition, author Ruth Rendell might be the winner. She was fired from her newspaper job after writing an article about the local tennis club's annual dinner which she had not actually attended – and so she “neglected” to mention the untimely death of the after-dinner speaker mid-speech. False alibis, erroneous statements, sudden deaths … some of the major ingredients of good crime fiction! Rendell moved on to become one of the most celebrated mystery authors of our time and has won the Silver, Gold, and Cartier Diamond Daggers from the Crime Writers' Association, three Edgars and a Grand Master from the Mystery Writers of America, and countless other awards. In addition to over forty psychological crime novels – which she also writes under the pseudonym Barbara Vine – Rendell has produced twenty two Chief Inspector Wexford police procedurals. The series began in 1964, and the latest book, The Monster in the Box, was recently released.November 1, 2009
Mutual admiration
“Librarians are my favorite people and libraries, my favorite places to be.” Kind words from one of the finest traditional mystery writers around. The Author's Note from Katherine Hall Page’s latest (and 18th) Faith Fairchild title, The Body in the Sleigh, is her thank-you letter to librarians everywhere. It is so nice to be appreciated. If you would like to meet Katherine Hall Page, stop by the McManus Room Monday night, November 2nd, at 7:30 when she will speak about the new book. Copies will be available for purchase and signing after the talk. It has a holiday theme, so this may be the perfect gift for some of the mystery readers on your list.October 29, 2009
Ten Best of 2009
Here’s a challenge! Select the ten best books of 2009 from more than 50,000 reviews. The editors at Publishers Weekly have come up with the following result: AGE OF WONDER: HOW THE ROMANTIC GENERATION DISCOVERED THE BEAUTY AND TERROR OF SCIENCE by Richard Holmes Focuses on British scientists of the late 18th and early 19th centuries who changed the cultural ideal of science to make it an adventure in the transformation of society. AWAIT YOUR REPLY by Dan Chaon Three stories of lost souls seeking their identities in an intricate interweaving of the real and the fake in an elegant...
October 26, 2009
Scary Stuff
Jane Wheel makes half of her living as an antique picker searching high and low at estate sales and antique shops and reselling her finds to other collectors. She makes the other half as a private detective, because she’s just as talented at digging up secrets. In Scary Stuff, the sixth book of the Jane Wheel series by Sharon Fiffer, Jane returns to her family’s home – just in time for Halloween – to straighten out a mess her brother has gotten himself into. He says he's been verbally attacked three times by men who accused him of swindling them on eBay. It becomes obvious that he has a doppelganger, which fans out into a family drama that takes on Hitchockian airs. Jane finds that besides finding delight in plowing through the accumulations of peoples’ lifetimes, you sometimes uncover secrets that others wish to remain hidden, at all costs.October 19, 2009
The Diamond Dagger
Award winning British author Peter Lovesey will be joining us at the Library on Sunday, October 25 at 2 pm, along with master blender of fact and fiction, Connecticut author James R. Benn. They will be interviewed by Joe Meyers of the Connecticut Post. This is a rare opportunity to meet Lovesey, the author Publishers Weekly says “has no peer in presenting a traditional mystery with all the clues hiding in plain sight. Skeleton Hill, his new Peter Diamond novel, is the tenth book in this contemporary series, which is set in Bath. The PW review says “Diamond remains one of the most realistic and human of fictional sleuths.”October 14, 2009
Great Group Reads
The leaves are rapidly changing color as we hit the midpoint of October. I think it’s fitting that one of my favorite months of the year also happens to be the month chosen as National Reading Group Month. Sponsored by the Women’s Book Association to ‘celebrate the joy of shared reading’, this month is the perfect time for book clubs to recognize the benefits that being a member of a book club bring. Sharing a good book with friends not only promotes literacy and reading, but the conversation can open a whole new world of ideas and knowledge. This year the National Reading Group committee has chosen nine discussible books for their Great Group Reads. The list has some well known book club choices, and a few of which you may not have heard.October 10, 2009
Movin’ on
The bad news is that Walter Mosley says that his beloved character Easy Rawlins “has officially moved on.” The good news is that Easy’s fans can join in next Sunday, October 18th at 2, when the Usual Suspects discuss the first book in the Rawlins series, Devil in a Blue Dress. Published in 1990, it won the Shamus Award, and was followed by ten critically acclaimed titles. The series played out over a twenty year period, from the Jim Crow 1940s to the politically charged 1960s. The author is known for his strong, black male characters and his passionate musings on race, politics and the writing life. When asked in a CNN interview if he missed Easy Rawlins at all, Mosley replied “No, he's right there on the shelf. All I have to do is reach up and pull him down.”
October 5, 2009
The Indy Five
The 40th Bouchercon World Mystery Convention will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, October 15 - 18, 2009. Author Michael Connelly will be the Guest of Honor. The Anthony Awards, named in memory of mystery writer and critic Anthony Boucher, will be given out at a ceremony on Saturday, October 17. The five Best Novel nominees are Trigger City by Sean Chercover, The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly, Red Knife by William Kent Krueger, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson and The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny. The Cruelest Month has already won this year’s Agatha Award for Best Novel and is nominated for the McAvity and the Barry awards as well as the Anthony. Louise Penny is an author that I suggest to readers often and they never come back to me disappointed. The New York Times attributes this success to the “elegance and depth” that she brings to her traditional village mysteries.
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