Still Missing

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens
Adult New Books Display Main Level– STEVENS

It was another ordinary day for Annie O’Sullivan. She had an open house to run then she was off to have dinner with her boyfriend. The open house was slow but Annie had high hopes when just before closing another prospect came for a viewing. Annie was not as lucky as she thought, after showing the house to the man he abducted her and kept her captive for about 12 months in a remote cabin in the mountains. You learn Annie’s story through sessions with her psychiatrist. As you hear the horrific story unfold it is hard to imagine Annie’s life being put back together. Annie is also assisting in the police investigation to figure out who the kidnapper was and why he was fixated on Annie. There are some clues that do not make sense to Annie or the investigators. Readers will be shocked once the true story of Annie’s abduction unfolds. Chevy Stevens debuts a shocking, disturbing and great first novel.

Round Trip

Round Trip
Picture Book Shelves-Lower Level JON


Recently, I was talking with a fellow library worker about the importance of picture books, especially regarding the recent article in the New York Times about the declining popularity of the picture book. The idea of words and pictures together opens up children's minds to different ways of reading. There are picture books for adults, too. We call them Graphic Novels.

She recommended this picture book, Round Trip, as an example of what could be accomplished within the framework of the picture book. Round Trip is phenomenal. The story is relatively simple, with prose details that mainly serve to further the graphic element of the book. However, the book is interactive. Once one is done reading the book, one simply flips it over and reads it the other way. The simple, black and white illustrations are transformed into completely different images before your eyes.

I never read this book growing up, and had never heard of Ann Jonas before. As an adult, I really appreciate the art that went into this book and highly recommend it for children of all ages. Even grown up ones.

An Impartial Witness

An Impartial Witness by Charles Todd

Adult New Book Mystery Todd


The second in the WWI nurse Bess Crawford series. Having brought back wounded soldiers from the war in France to Hampshire in Britain, Bess was at the train station for a short leave in London. There she saw a woman sobbing and holding the arm of an officer in a Wiltshire regiment. Her distress stopped Bess because she knew her face from the photograph that one of her patient's, pilot Lieutenant Evanson, had kept by his side. When the Wiltshire officer mounted the train, the woman dashed out of the station. Bess tried to follow her, but lost her in the crowds.

Back in France Bess read in a newspaper that Mrs. Marjorie Evanson had been found dead. So begins a mystery that has several other people murdered or almost murdered, Bess crossing over to England as often as possible, a large cast of characters, including her wonderful father who had had his own regiment in India and his aide, Simon, who assists Beth.

A quicker read might have helped keep all of these characters straight, but it has a great sense of life in Britain during WWI and of the battlefields in France. Not as good as the Maisy Dobbs series, but a pleasant read nonetheless.

The Lacuna

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

Adult Cd Book Kingsolver


Kingsolver reads this beautifully written book herself, and while her voice is a bit soft, she does the book justice in an understated, non-dramatic way. I like her way of letting the book speak for itself without over dramatization. Kingsolver actually performs many of the accents very well, North Carolina and Mexican especially. Her Russian is serviceable. Kingsolver's greatest narration is for the character Violet Brown, Harrison Shepherd's stenographer, thanks to whom this story was not burned, but was instead locked away for 50 years.

The book is a saga of a boy who grew up in Mexico with his flighty Mexican mother who had left his American father in Washington, D.C. for an oil man who lived on an island. While that affair didn't last long, it provided Harrison days of pleasure of diving into water and finding a cave full of fish, that he discovered had another entrance on the ocean side that could be accessed at low tide. He loved to see how long he could stay under.

Later they move to Mexico City where he attends a church school, this in the days when the church is banned from pretty much everything; it is a school for the slow witted, though Harrison is very bright. He happens upon Frida Kahlo in the marketplace one day and offers to help her carry her bundles, thus coming into the employ of Diego Rivera as a plaster mixer. Harrison spends years in the Rivera household as cook, typist for guest Leon Trotsky, but after the brutal murder of Trotsky he returns to the States. There, in Ashville, N.C. he has a successful career as a writer of romantic novels about the Aztecs, until the House of un-American Activities begins to pursue him. It is a chilling reminder of our past 50 years ago, and a warning of what seems to be brewing in some circles today. Spectacular novel.

Stiltsville

Stiltsville by Susanna Daniel

Adult New Fiction Daniel


This piece of domestic fiction follows 26 year old Frances Ellerby on her first trip to Miami in a community of houses built on stilts in Biscayne Bay called Stiltsville. There she meets Dennis DuVal, the owner, and it isn't long before she moves from Atlanta to become part of his world, which includes his parents, his wild sister Bette, with whom she lives for a time, and his friend Marse who becomes her best friend.

Dennis and Francis eventually marry and have a daughter. Their life is wound into Miami's lush tropical beauty and way of life. They take their boat out to Stiltsville to fish, eating out on porches. They don't have many friends, mostly Dennis's parents, Bette and Marse and her various boyfriends of the moment. Neither Franny nor Dennis is extraordinary, but they have a singular love that enables them to ride out hurricanes and temptations and that holds them up when difficult times come. A heartwarming and unforgettable book.

Wink

Wink: The Ninja Who Wanted to Be Noticed by J.C. Phillips.
Picture Book Shelves – Lower Level - PHI

Wink has always wanted to be a ninja, but when he finally is admitted to ninja school, he keeps getting into trouble. His kicking and jumping skills are fine, but he has difficulty with the silent and stealthy part. Every day, he returns home dejected and listens to advice from his grandmother over their evening tea. Finally, he finds a career where he fits in perfectly. The bright cut-out illustrations suit the story perfectly. This book is perfect for young would-be ninjas who have yet to master the silent and stealthy aspect, as well as anyone trying to find their place in the world.

Blood, Sweat, and Chalk: The ultimate football playbook

Blood, Sweat, and Chalk: The Ultimate Football Playbook
by Tim Layden Adult Nonfiction – New Book Shelves Upper Level 796.332 L

Despite the scholarly pretensions of Baseball, Football is the most intellectual of the major sports. The physical aspects are more obvious, but strategy and concepts have a major effect on the games. “Blood, Sweat, and Chalk” by Tim Layden traces the evolution of offensive and defensive strategy throughout football history. From the Single Wing offense designed by Pop Warner in the early 1900’s to the Double A-gap blitz of today, football has always been an escalating intellectual arms race between offense and defense. Layden does an excellent job of making the basic concepts understandable to laymen. For fans who want to really understand the game of football and its history, this is a must-read.

College, Inc.

College, Inc.
College Search-Upper Level – 378.04 C


Frontline is a TV series produced by WGBH and shown on most PBS stations. Each episode is an hour long investigative documentary. There have been many great ones over the past 10 years, but a recent one that was released to DVD and is quite interesting in my opinion is College Inc.

College Inc. is about the history, rise, and issues with for profit colleges and universities which are different than public universities or non profit universities. Publicly funded higher education, such as community colleges and public universities, are run with publicly raised funds, either from the state or raised through a community college district, much like a library district or K-12 school district. They are governed by either community college district boards (locally elected) or in the case of public universities, by boards either elected directly by voters or appointed by other publicly elected officials.

Non profit colleges, such as Madonna University, receive no public funding, and raise capital through endowments and donations (mostly from alumni). They are run in many ways, like other non profit institutions. For profit schools, such as University of Phoenix, are run like corporations. They are run by publicly traded companies and therefore are responsible to shareholders. Like other publicly traded companies, their primary goal is to turn a profit.

College Inc. delves into the issues of for profit universities. It covers issues of priorties, funding, accreditation, admissions approaches and their focus on online education. The film discusses how many community colleges struggle, with falling funding, to accommodate the higher education capacity that for profit colleges step in to take up. Unfortunately, most for profit schools are much more expensive than community colleges and even most publicly funded universities, saddling more Americans with additional debt.

In a time when funding is dropping for many public institutions, this documentary raises the issue of how we should be providing education to those for whom other traditional universities and colleges are not an option or not appropriate. Recommended viewing for those interested in issues of education, public versus private control, and the nature of for profit instiutions.

39 Clues Book One: The Maze of Bones

The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan
Youth Fiction-Lower Level – THIRTY-NINE CLUES

Amy (age 14) and Dan (age 11) heard the devastating news that their grandmother Grace Cahill passed away. Amy and Dan were very close to Grace. They would visit her on the weekends and some relatives considered them to be Grace’s favorites. Amy and Dan are orphans; their guardian is Aunt Beatrice who wants nothing to do with them. She set them up in an apartment with an au pair, the most current of whom is Nellie Gomez. Aunt Beatrice accompanied the children to Grace’s funeral. They were amazed by the amount of relatives that were in attendance. At the funeral Amy and Dan were invited to the reading of Grace’s will along with a select few other relatives. They learn that they had a choice between receiving one million dollars from Grace or they could enter in a contest to find the greatest treasure of all. Amy and Dan decide to go for the treasure. They are offered the first clue and need to find a total of 39 clues. Amy and Dan are not the only family members fighting for the treasure either. The first clue is hard enough and now in competition with other relatives the race is on. As they decipher the first clue Amy and Dan learn how powerful the Cahill family is, especially with legendary relatives such as Ben Franklin and Wolfgang Mozart. Nellie accompanies Amy and Dan in their adventurous and dangerous quest for the 39 clues. Will they be able to find the second clue before the others?

The Maze of Bones is the kickoff novel in the 39 Clues series, all which are penned by famous authors. To continue onto the treasure check out the other titles:

One False Note by Gordon Korman
Youth Fiction-Lower Level – THIRTY-NINE CLUES

The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis
Youth Fiction-Lower Level – THIRTY-NINE CLUES

Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson
Youth Fiction-Lower Level – THIRTY-NINE CLUES

The Black Circle by Patrick Carman
Youth Fiction-Lower Level – THIRTY-NINE CLUES

In Too Deep by Jude Watson
Youth Fiction-Lower Level – THIRTY-NINE CLUES

The Viper’s Nest by Peter Lerangis
Youth Fiction-Lower Level – THIRTY-NINE CLUES

The Emperor’s Code by Gordon Korman
Youth New Book Shelves-Lower Level – THIRTY-NINE CLUES

Storm Warning by Linda Sue Park
Youth New Book Shelves-Lower Level – THIRTY-NINE CLUES

Into the Gauntlet by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Youth New Book Shelves-Lower Level – THIRTY-NINE CLUES

The Heirloom Tomato

Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table: Recipes, Portraits, and History of the World's Most Beautiful Fruit by Amy Goldman, photographs by Victor Schrager

Cooking Collection - Upper Level – 641.65642 G

Here's another gorgeous book for all the foodies out there! It is filled with recipes that sound great (like "Green Tomato and Currant Chutney"), and gorgeous color pictures as well. Every possible variety of tomato is profiled in the first half with full-color photos. The photos aren't just pictures of tomatoes, though; they are artfully designed so that the light shines perfectly on the tomatoes, with pretty dishes and pedastals and interesting backgrounds. This is as much an art book as it is an exhaustive history and portrait of tomatoes. There is a listing of seed sources at the back of the book. Stunning, mouthwatering, and practical all at once!

Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary

Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary
by Neil Corry Adult Nonfiction – New Book Shelves Upper Level 791.457 D

TARDIS. Dalek. Slitheen. Judoon. Ood. Krillitanes. Racnoss. Plasmavores. Carrionites. Toclafane. Sontaran. Vashta Nerada. Vespiforms. Pyroviles. Raxacofallapatorians. Bannakaffalatta. If these words mean anything to you, you need to read “Doctor Who: The Visual Dictionary.” This book will keep you up to date on post-2005 events in the world’s longest-running sci-fi television series. While full coverage since 1963 would require a set of encyclopedias, this book gives the reader a solid background on events following the 2005 relaunch. It contains few new revelations, but will keep most fans sated until the new season begins. And no, the book isn’t bigger on the inside.