Westport Public Library BOOK blog

No surprises in the top ten books in demand this week. I thought you might like to know more about the authors of these popular books. Here are the first five authors.

1-Sue Miller. Remember The Good Mother (1986)? It was the tale of a recently divorced young woman whose two passions were her 4-year-old daughter and her lover. A heart-breaking custody battle is the centerpiece of the story. Sue Miller entered Radcliffe College at age 16, graduated at age 20 and was married two months later. She later divorced and worked at a variety of jobs as a single parent. Eventually a grant enabled her to concentrate on her writing and her first book was published. Miller writes with images that capture the emotional intensity of family relationships. The most recent of her nine novels is The Senator’s Wife (#1). Read an author talk about this popular book
2-John Grisham. Twenty one books published in nineteen years- the legal profession’s loss is the readers’ gain with this prolific output. The first was A Time to Kill, written as a hobby while a busy law practice in Mississippi filled most of his time. Grisham devotes time and money to charity- most recently the Rebuild the Coast Fund for recovery from Katrina. His undying passion is baseball and his literary success has enabled him to build six ball fields on his property. He is the local Little League Commissioner. His latest book: The Appeal (#2).
3-Sue Grafton. Published in 26 countries & 28 languages, Grafton has her female detective working her way through the alphabet of criminal cases. Grafton is a native of Kentucky and graduated from the University of Louisville with a degree in English Literature. She was writing, but also working at a variety of jobs, when she turned to screenwriting. She spent 15 years writing screenplays before she returned to novels. A is for Alibi was published in 1983. Main character private investigator Kinsey Millhone even has her own biography on Grafton’s website. In current demand is T is for Trespass(#3).
4-Ken Follett. 1978 was the year of Follett’s first big hit The Eye of the Needle. It won the Edgar Award and was made into an acclaimed movie. Four more widely-read thrillers followed. On Wings of Eagles was based on the rescue of two of Ross Perot’s employees during the Iranian revolution of 1979. It was made into a mini-series. His latest book, World Without End is a sequel to the 1989 Pillars of the Earth (#4) Tracing the building of a cathedral in medieval England, the two books follow the stories of all the people involved. Follett, born in Wales, lives in England, where he is involved in several charities and indulges his passion for Shakespeare by attending performances at the Royal Shakespeare Company. He also plays bass guitar in a blues band. He continues to write novels of which around 100 million copies have been sold worldwide.
5-Geraldine Brooks. Australian born and raised, Brooks has a journalism degree from Columbia University and was a Middle East reporter for The Wall Street Journal. Her Nine Parts of Desire: the Hidden World of Islamic Women reveals the inaccuracies of many stereotypes and provides first-hand reporting on the lives of women who have been oppressed by the misinterpretation of Islam. Brooks won the Pulitzer Prize for March, her novel about the Civil War. She and her family split their time between Sydney and Martha’s Vineyard. People of the Book (#5) traces the journey of a rare illuminated Jewish manuscript. To learn more

Five more authors tomorrow!

Local author Lawrence Goldstone will be our speaker on Monday, February 11th, to discuss his recently released forensic thriller, The Anatomy of Deception.

A young doctor is plunged into a maze of murder, secrets and unimaginable crimes and tracks a daring killer through the operating rooms, drawing rooms, and back alleys of 1889 Philadelphia.

Special guest appearance by controversial painter Thomas Eakins … I love it when historic personages turn up in novels.

Wondering if this book is for you? Read a sample on Amazon.com.

I will be here to do the author introduction at 7:30 (McManus Room on the lower level) and hope to see you there.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

Members include authors, readers, publishers, agents, booksellers and librarians, who are, as their website states, “bound by our affection for the mystery genre and our support of women who write mysteries.”

In honor of its twenty-year anniversary, a new twenty story anthology, Sisters on the Case, has been released, edited, appropriately enough, by Paretsky herself. She has contributed a story featuring an eleven-year-old V.I. Warshawki who is searching for her missing father during the Chicago race riots of the summer of 1966.

This eclectic collection also includes stories by Margaret Maron, Barbara D'Amato, and Carolyn Hart, as well as the late Charlotte MacLeod.

Another new addition to the Library’s mystery story collections is Dead Man’s Hand, an anthology of fourteen poker-related stories, edited by Otto Penzler.

Michael Connelly fans will enjoy watching Harry Bosch's exquisite bluff in One-Dollar Jackpot. Other contributors include Alexander McCall Smith, Laura Lippman, and John Lescroart.

There are a number of mysteries that play out around the poker table, including the recent Cashed In, by Jackie Chance in which an amateur Hold 'Em player boards a high-stakes poker cruise where someone is turning card sharks into shark bait, and The Picasso Flop: A Texas Hold 'Em Mystery by Vincent Van Patten, set at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

By the way, Robert Randisi is ready to take you back in time to the mythical Vegas of yore once again in Luck Be a Lady, Don't Die, the second “Rat Pack” mystery. Frank needs Eddie Gianelli's help again when the woman he was planning to meet in Sin City disappears, leaving behind her luggage and a “stiff” in the bathtub.

So, stick with me baby.... and Luck, be a lady tonight!

I hear that some parents and caregivers have chosen The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to read aloud together. In 1900, L. Frank Baum wrote the story “to please a child” and the classic story continues to fulfill his intention.
Pick up a copy of the original edition reprint and enjoy it with your family. The young people will anticipate each new adventure as Dorothy makes her journey and the young- at- heart will refresh their appreciation for a story that has endured for over 100 years.

In March, we will celebrate WestportREADS 2008 with a wide range of events and activities for all ages. Watch for people wearing the WestportREADS 2008 button and start a conversation about The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Sara Nelson is the editor of Publishers Weekly, one of the review journals librarians read each week. In a recent column, she wrote about her dismay, when she realized she had left her new Kindle behind on an airplane. She tried to trace it, but such an unfamiliar device was difficult to describe. And Amazon has sold out of the Kindles, so having become accustomed to reading on the Kindle, she was most unhappy without it.

What’s a Kindle? It’s a simple–to-use electronic-paper display that provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper. It’s wireless. Purchase a book and it is auto-delivered wirelessly immediately. The Kindle weighs 10.3 ounces and holds over 200 titles. Curious? The Westport Library has an Amazon Kindle for you to try.

Go to the Reference desk and ask to try the Kindle. You can read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz- (try out the Kindle and get started on WestportREADS 2008, at the same time.)
When available, another Kindle will be added to the Library collection and available for borrowing. Meanwhile, come and try it out. While you’re here take a look at our old-fashioned books, too!

Happy reading…however it’s delivered.

You can find lots of tips there on how to get started and stay motivated.

Here’s an idea. How about a walking vacation?

Crown Journeys, a series of literary travel books, matches interesting writers with interesting places. The only rule of the format is that the writers take their journeys on foot.

In the latest addition to the series, Charm City, Madison Smartt Bell takes us on a tour of Baltimore, from the Inner Harbor to neighborhoods not on the tourist map. Bell’s tour reveals why Baltimore was nicknamed Charm City and why the nickname stuck.

Best selling authors have contributed titles. There is Edwidge Danticat’s After the Dance: A Walk through Carnival in Jacmel, Haiti, Myla Goldberg’s Time's Magpie: A Walk in Prague, and Michael Cunningham’s Land's End: A Walk through Provincetown.

My personal favorites are Christopher Buckley’s Washington Schlepped Here: Walking in the Nation’s Capital, and Bill McKibbin’s Wandering Home: A Long Walk across America’s Most Hopeful Landscape, Vermont’s Champlain Valley and New York Adirondacks. Both cover places where I have spent a great deal of time and about which I thought there was nothing else to know, but was pleasantly surprised by the new insights they offered.

The Library has other practical walking guides as well, including Frommer’s Memorable Walks series, and there is a wealth of information on the Internet. Start with Country Walkers, a tour provider that offers walking tour packages around the globe. I like their slogan: “Explore the world … one step at a time.”

And just think of all those calories you will burn up …

Among many other terrific features, it has an A-Z listing of “everything you ever wanted to know about private eyes & other tough guys ... listed by character, with all appearances in novels, short stories, film, television, radio and other media.”

According to thethrillingdetective.com, Rick Riordan’s fictional detective, Tres Navarre “… is many things -- an unlicensed TexMex private eye, a tequila drinker, tai chi master and an outcast from Academia with a PhD in medieval studies.”

The first Tres Navarre mystery, Big Red Tequila (1997) managed to hit the bestseller lists, and even win a Shamus for Best First P.I. Novel. To date, there are seven titles in the series.

Along with his enchilada-eating cat and many other colorful characters, Navarre explores the dangerous, dark, and often bizarre back streets of San Antonio, Texas.

Author Riordan says “I want people to feel like they've been dropped into the middle of South Texas when they read one of my books” and he definitely succeeds at capturing the many flavors of his home town.

Besides being the triple-crown winner of the Edgar, Anthony, and Shamus Awards, three of the mystery world’s highest honors, Riordan is also a nominee for this year’s Nutmeg Book Award for The Lighting Thief, the first of a series of three (so far!) parts of the immensely popular Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

The Nutmeg Book Award encourages Connecticut children in grades 4-8 to read from a list of ten titles and choose their favorite. Voting is currently underway and the winner will be announced on February 14th.

From hard-boiled private eyes to Greek gods still at war with each other in our 21st century world, Riordan enthralls adult and juvenile readers alike.

The music of The Wizard of Oz turns up in the most unlikely places! Did you see President Bush being serenaded while in Israel?

“Over the Rainbow” was written by lyricist E.Y. “Yip” Harburg. Known as “Broadway’s social conscience, Harburg collaborated with composer Harold Arlen to create the enduring songs for the 1939 film.

In Manhattan,Singer Karen Oberlin is presenting a tribute show, “The Wizard of Words: Yip Harburg’s Songs of Wit and Wisdom” at the Metropolitan Room on Sunday January 27 at 9:30 pm.

Want to enjoy Harburg & Arlen’s songs right here in Westport? On Saturday March 1, follow the yellow brick road to the WestportREADS 2008 kickoff at the Library and listen to the Flying Monkeys Quintet play your favorites in the Great Hall from 12:30 -1:30. (a/k/a Norwalk Symphony Orchestra Woodwind Quintet.)

Come to the Emerald City Bash on Friday March 14 from 7-9 pm and sing along as Ted Simons accompanies our favorite Wizard tunes.

As Yip Harburg said: “Words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. A song makes you feel a thought.”

Can you identify which books are most in demand at the Library?
Click on the links to see the answers. Here are the clues:

1. The senator may be similar to President Clinton, according to the critics.
2. The author has used A to T as a title gimmick. Only six more letters to go.
3. The historical story of the Sarajevo Haggadah from 1996 back to its origins.
4. Twelfth century England cathedral building melodrama.
5. The Camel Club to the rescue!
6. Establishing schools in Pakistan & Afghanistan.
7. “Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun.”
8. From the “king of page turners” with Maxine Paetro as co-author, this time.
9. Novel of circus life. A book club favorite.
10. Forensic details from Dr. Scarpetta.

How did you do?

When you hear about a new book and think "that sounds interesting," your next thought might be the Westport Library. Usually, the book you hear about is here -or on order -and you may place a hold.

• Today, I heard Dana Milbank on WNYC talking about his insider's view of the political culture in Washington, DC. His book is Homo Politicus:the Strange and Barbaric Tribes of the Beltway.


• Yesterday's big news was the unauthorized biography Tom Cruise by Andrew Morton- keeping us up to date on the latest Scientology rumors.


• Are you ready for the next Stephen King book? It's Duma Key- supernatural horror set in the Florida Keys, this time.


• On NPR today,Bob Edwards hosted David Aneregg, a psychologist who wrote Nerds: Who They are and Why we Need More of Them.

Just being one of the finalists is reason for celebration! The National Book Critics Circle has announced this year’s awards finalists, who will be getting together this evening to celebrate. The list of nominated books is a nifty way to get some suggestions for your reading plans. The National Book Critics Circle, started in 1974, is a non-profit organization of about 700 active book reviewers dedicated to honoring quality writing. The annual awards (winners to be announced on March 6 this year) are of keen interest to publishing insiders, librarians, booksellers and readers looking for “good reads.”
And the finalists are…
FICTION: Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz, In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar, The Gravedigger’s Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates, and The Shadow Catcher by Marianne Wiggins.

NONFICTION: American Transcendentalism by Philip Gura, What Hath God Wrought by Daniel Walker Howe, Medical Apartheid by Harriet Washington, Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner, and The World Without Us by Alan Weisman.

Go to Critical Mass (the blog of the NBCC) for the complete list of nominees in all categories.

John Lescroart’s Betrayal tells the story of Evan Scholler, a young National Guard reservist riddled with “survivor guilt” who is having difficulty readjusting to civilian life after his service in Iraq.

Seven men in Scholler’s platoon, as well as an innocent Iraqi family, were killed in a deadly incident because of the apparent mistakes of an ex-Navy SEAL and private contractor named Ron Nolan. Scholler publicly vows to kill him, and when Nolan is indeed murdered, is convicted of the crime.

When fellow attorney Charlie Bowen suddenly vanishes, Lescroart’s long-time protagonist Dismas Hardy agrees to take on his open cases, one of which is an appeal of Scholler’s conviction. It is left to Hardy to uncover terrible truths that take him far beyond the case and into the realms of assassination and treason.

The Mystery Gazette calls Betrayal “a fascinating timely thriller that is incredible when it looks into the legal accountability of contract guards in a war zone and into the post traumatic stress including survivor guilt of returning veterans especially those suffering physical injuries.”

Edgar and Gold Dagger winner Minette Walters’ latest book, The Chameleon’s Shadow, tells the story of Lt. Charles Acland who survived a tank bombing in Iraq that killed two of his men. He is badly scarred, both physically and emotionally. As his behavior becomes more and more irrational and violent he finds himself under investigation for a series of recent beatings and murders in London.

Publishers Weekly calls it a “sizzling psychological thriller.”

If you want to learn more about PTSD, the United States Department of Veteran Affairs National Center for PTSD (NCPTSD) has a huge website devoted to stress-related disorders. The Connecticut National Guard has also put up an “open letter to all returned soldiers” with information on the services available to Guard members returning from active duty as they readjust to life in the Nutmeg State.

Did your father wear "I Like Ike" stretch socks in 1956? Did you sample a Good Humor Kennedy Bar in 1960?
Or maybe, you had a sip of Johnson Juice (A Drink for Health Care) in 1964? Did you give the Kerry yo-yo a few ups-and-downs in 2004?

Fascinating pictures of presidential campaign memorabilia fill Jordan M. Wright's book Campaigning for President. His collection stretches from a 1789 George Washington picture flag to a 2004 boxing poster with "Love Ya, Dubya" Bush vs. "Bring It On" Kerry. It's a visual history of our elections and is timed to resonate perfectly with the current political scene.

Jordan Wright will speak at the Library on Tuesday January 15 at 7:30 pm.

Find out which candidate's poster made him look like "Ed Grimsley's" father. Hint:It was the 1968 election.
(The answer is on page 240 of Campaigning for President.)

The new year has begun and those book clubs that took a break in December have reconvened and are reading and discussing again. So what did everyone read in 2007?
The top choice for last year was Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. I had a feeling it would be the top choice for 2007 when I wrote about it in my February blog. At the time it seemed like every book club wanted to read it. It’s also no surprise the number two selection was The Glass Castle, a memoir by Jeannette Walls. The Glass Castle is Walls’ unsentimental tale of life with a set of very eccentric parents. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See followed closely behind in popularity. Published in 2005, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is still in demand by book clubs. Set in 19th century China, this haunting tale of love and friendship among women is filled with historical details of customs and rituals that women endured and practiced. This novel is sure to be a book club favorite for many years.

Although fiction titles are still the most popular choices for book clubs, there were a few favorites among non-fiction books. Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire continues to be a popular choice for clubs. Eire’s memoir of his childhood in Cuba before the revolution was the National Book Award winner for 2003 in nonfiction. Becoming Justice Blackmun by Linda Greenhouse was another favorite. Greenhouse is a NY Times reporter who covered the Supreme Court and had access to Justice Blackmun’s papers. Her book details the story behind some of the most famous court cases of the last century and the part Blackmun played in those decisions.

If your club missed one of the top choices for last year, keep them in mind for this year. And don’t forget the upcoming WestportReads. There’s still time to request copies for your book club of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Check out the list of programs we’ll be having centered on this classic favorite. Even if you read it as a child, you’ll find lots to enjoy, think about, and discuss this time around. If you need multiple copies or a discussion guide for any of these books, contact me.

A Person of Interest is set in Chicago – her hometown – where detective Craig McHugh is working undercover to bust a powerful Chinese gang that traffics in heroin. Meanwhile, his teenage daughter, Ivy, is caught with a small amount of ecstasy, and his wife, convinced he's having an affair, begins flirting with Ivy's boyfriend.

Schwegel deftly weaves these three subplots together. Her vivid characterizations of a family in crisis elevate the story beyond the crime thriller and into the realm of the literary novel.

Her first book, Officer Down, was an auspicious debut and won an Edgar for Best First Novel.

Although her stories are stand-alones, Schwegel hopes to be able to reintroduce some of her characters in later books, as Ed McBain did in his 87th precint novels.

In an interview in the November issue of Mystery Scene magazine she says, “I’ve developed such a relationship with these characters that I realize that some of them might be best to tell certain stories.”

Mystery Scene attributes her "taut pacing and hard-driving action” to her training as a screenwriter. “In screenwriting," says Schwegel, “you really have to be selective. You can’t write about the furniture. Every single thing on the page has a purpose and a place.”

In an earlier interview, Schwegel shares that she is a great fan of Ross Macdonald’s writing. What is it that she likes about him?

“First, the no-frills style: he’s one of those writers who manages to pinpoint a character in their entirety in the matter of a single sentence. Second, voice: when I read Macdonald, the crime is hardly the point. For me, Lew Archer and the people he bounces around are what make the story work.”

Here’s some good news for all Ross Macdonald fans. Crippen & Landrau, one of the smaller mystery presses, will be releasing The Archer Files: The Complete Short Stories of Lew Archer, Private Investigator, Including the Newly Discovered Case Notes.

Here they are - this week’s top ten titles:

1-T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton
2-Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perotta
3-Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
4-Stone Cold by David Baldacci
5-Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell
6-The Choice by Nicholas Sparks
7-Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo
8-Letters of Noel Coward
9-Playing for Pizza by John Grisham
10-Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin

Don’t overlook other intriguing titles available at the Library. Each week you can read about a few of our newest arrivals by going to the New & Recommended pages of the Library website. New annotations are added three times each week. And if you hear about a new book we do not have, just let me know. We will order it and place a hold for you.

The New York City American Girls Place – which offers Broadway-style shows, gourmet dining, and even a hair salon for dolls – is located at 609 Fifth Avenue (at 49th Street) in Manhattan.

This is a day trip you have to plan way in advance.

There is a two-month wait, at least, for café reservations -- call toll-free 1-877-247-5223. Online reservations are not accepted, but you should check out their website anyway.

For the uninitiated, The American Girls Collection is a brand of dolls where each character represents a particular period and region of U.S. history. They come with period costumes and a variety of interesting accessories. You can even buy matching outfits for doll and child.

The best part is the books. Each doll in the set has her story told through several volumes of fiction, with craft books, cookbooks and all sorts of companion volumes, that enable your girl to totally lose herself in another time and place.

Written for seven-to-twelve-year-olds, the books cover topics such as child labor, child abuse, poverty, racism, slavery, animal abuse, and war, among other topics, with a gentle, yet enlightening, tone.

I know I am getting old because the latest “historic” doll, Julie, is from the 1970s. That must seem as long ago to today’s girls as the Civil War did to me!