Collected Stories by Amy Hempel

Collected Stories by Amy Hempel

Adult Fiction Shelves
HEMPEL

In Collected Stories by Amy Hempel, one is reminded what words can do when written by a capable hand. The collection features Hempel’s previously published work starting with her first, “Reasons to Live” first published in 1985 and follows her publications to her most recent, “The Dog of the Marriage” published in 2005. Hempel writes of longing and the desire to connect to others; she writes of grief and of happiness, of the observations of characters who notice what others may not. Hempel’s stories range from just a few pages to longer pieces but they all offer up to the reader stories that, though short, will stay with the reader long into the following days. In one story Hempel writes, “The other day I was playing Scrabble. I saw that I could close the space in D-E- -Y. I had an N and an F. Which do you think I chose? What was the word I made?” Hempel’s language and superb ability to tell a story with a small economy of words has left a lasting impression on this reader.

Other Short Story Collections I would suggest:

We Others: new and selected stories by Steve Milhauser
We Others recently won the Story Prize.

The Angel Esmeralda: Nine Stories by Don Delillo
The Angel Esmeralda was a finalist for the Story Prize.

Binocular Vision: new and selected stories by Edith Pearlman
Binocular Vision was a finalist for the Story Prize, National Book Award, and was the Winner for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction 2012.

Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature

Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande
Teen Zone Fiction-Main Level - Brande

Mena Reese has a rough start to high school. Her old friends hate her. Even her parents won't talk to her. The worst part, though, is that she believes she did the right thing. It's just that her church disagrees. Church is the most important thing to Mena's friends and family, and to be kicked out hurts her deeply. (You'll have to read the book to find out what she did!)

Enter Casey Connor, who has been assigned by biology teacher Ms. Shepherd to be Mena's lab partner. He is a super-smart science geek, and Mena quickly learns to trust him. His family is warm and friendly, and she loves hanging out with them. She has to lie to her parents, who won't allow her to socialize with a boy, but she thinks it's worth it. One of the lessons Mena learns throughout the story is that lying is never a good idea. As Ms. Shepherd says, "Lying is for the weak-minded. If you can’t think of a truthful way to solve your problems, you’re not thinking hard enough.”

When Ms. Shepherd starts teaching a unit on evolution, Mena's ex-church friends revolt. Mena begins to see things a little differently, influenced by the Connors. Things she never would have questioned in the past are now not so clear to her. How can she hold on to her beliefs without the support system of her church, but also accept the science that now seems so obvious to her? Can she have both?

While religion is a major theme in this book, the lessons Mena learns about respect and tolerance are universal. Anyone of any belief (or non-belief) affiliation can appreciate this story.

Women's Health Big Book of 15 Minute Workouts

The Women’s Health Big Book of 15 Minute Workouts by Selene Yeager.
New Book Shelves – Upper Level – 613.7 Y

I waited several months for this book, as I was not the only person in the library who thought that 15 minute workouts were a fabulous idea. For your benefit, dear reader, as well as my own, once I got my hands on the book, I decided to follow their program for the full three weeks that I was allowed the book (there is still a wait list on it, so I couldn’t keep it longer) and then report on it. Their program is to do their workouts every other day for a total of three days in the week, alternating with light aerobic activity and/or stretching on days 2 and 4. Day 6 is high intensity aerobics from the book – I did jump roping, as it was the only one I could do from home with equipment I already had. I developed a love-hate relationship with this book:

Love
- The workouts are designed to be done in 15 minutes. This is a stretch with my schedule, but it seems to be mostly possible.
- They make a very good case for 15 minutes of their routines being better for you than hours of less intense routines.
- The workouts have clear color photos with easy-to-follow written instructions under the photo of each step.
- The focus is on strength training with large muscle groups doubled up, making it hard enough work to count as cardio as well.
- There is a good variety of workouts – 85, grouped into the categories of lower body, upper body, core, fat-burning, by body type, anywhere, special gear, better sex, healing, sports, stretch and strengthen. You will not get bored, you’ll develop broader strength, and if you don’t like one workout on a topic, you can pick from several others.
- The models are a variety of different ethnicities.

Hate
-The models are all extremely fit, naturally small twenty-somethings.
- The workouts assume a pretty high fitness level – for example, assuming that you not only can do a full push-up, but that you’d like to make it even harder. And that you can assume a fairly challenging pose and hold it while lifting weights. They have few to no notes on adapting the exercises to a lower fitness level. If I can’t hold a full plank pose while lifting weights up to shoulder level.
- They use a lot of equipment, even within a workout, from free weights, therabands, and an exercise/birth ball, which I have, to medicine balls, aerobic steps of different heights, weight benches, a bosu, and even a cable pull-down station for the Michelle Obama Arms workout. Though the equipment list at the beginning says you don’t need all of this, it isn’t prioritized in any way, and they seem to assume that money and space are no object, and that most people have easy access to an already stocked gym. However, I was able to do almost everything using what I have, substituting a large squash for the medicine ball (until we ate it) and my son’s spooner board for the bosu in some exercises. Still, I would really have appreciated a “get started for under $100” list, and instruction on adapting the exercises for less equipment.
-Though Yeager’s bio says she’s a mother, she seems never to have heard of a diastasis recti, the separation of the vertical abdominal muscles that most mothers get. Crunches, especially cross-crunches & bicycles, double leg-lifts, and the Pilates V all make a diastasis worse and the tummy more rather than less poochy. These exercises appear in almost every workout.

I was able to stick with the program, which is in itself amazing, and am already noticing benefits in my increased strength and fitness. Even though I was frustrated with some of the aspects of the book, I found I enjoyed the challenge of doing lots of new things that I wasn’t able to master right away. You might enjoy it if you want a book with a good choice of challenging and intense but short work-outs with clear instructions. If you are a mother, I’d recommend looking at Julie Tupler’s Lose Your Mummy Tummy either instead or for alternative ab exercises that do take the diastasis into account.

A men’s version of this book, The Men’s Health Big Book of 15 Minute Workouts, by the same author, is also available.

Fracture

Fracture by Megan Miranda
Teen Zone New Fiction - MainLevel - MIRANDA

17-year-old Delaney Maxwell was pulled from an icy lake, dead. Somehow, they revived her and she was in a coma for a week. When she awoke, her brain scans showed irreparable damage...and yet, she seemed perfectly fine. She could walk, talk, and understand everything just as she did before the accident. Repeated brain scans showed the same thing: a brain in a basically vegetative state.

Even stranger, though, is the "itching" and "pulling" that Delaney feels sometimes. She finds herself drawn to certain places: places with dying people. She begins to think she's either predicting those deaths or causing them. Then she meets Troy Varga, who emerged from a coma with the same ability. Delaney is relieved to have a kindred spirit to figure this all out with.

Is it a gift? A miracle? Or maybe it's more of a curse...

The Night Tourist

The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh
Youth Fiction-Lower Level MARSH


The hallmark of an excellent mythology is the ability to be retold in various ways. The stories from classic Greek mythology endure because of their timeless characters and themes. With The Night Tourist,author Katherine Marsh tells a tale inspired by the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. While Orpheus traveled to the underworld to rescue his beloved Eurydice, Marsh’s main character Jack journeys into the spirit underworld of New York City to find his deceased mother. He meets a young ghost named Euri who acts as his guide while trying to avoid being caught by the underworld authorities and their dog Cerberus.

Youths looking for a supernatural tale will find much to offer with this novel. There are naturally many references and parallels to the Orpheus legend but readers will also learn about some of New York City’s famous locations, history, geography, and people. Marsh clearly has a love for the city. Young readers do not need to already be aware of the Orpheus myth as the characters do bring up the story and how their situation mirrors it. I was surprised that the ending followed through on the myth from which it was based but the characters still manage to mostly find a happy state of mind in the end. Readers who enjoy this story might also want to check out the sequel entitled The Twilight Prisoner.

A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle.
Youth Fiction – Lower Level – L’Engle

2012 year marks the 50th anniversary of one of my all-time favorite books. There was even a whole blog tour about it, to go along with the new 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition. This has yummy extras, such as a brief bio and memories of L’Engle by her granddaughter Charlotte Voiklis, photos, a facsimile of the manuscript for the first chapter with corrections, and L’Engle’s Newbery acceptance speech.

When I was ten, I got into a fierce argument with my best friend about which was better, Wrinkle or A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. I had not read the second and third books yet, but loved Wrinkle so much that I wouldn’t believe her that the second two were as good or better. I saw her point when I finally did get around to reading them, though Mari Ness’s thoughts on A Swiftly Tilting Planet felt like unwelcome disillusion, with criticisms of the book that I couldn’t really disagree with, despite having loved it so hard since childhood. Though Robin McKinley’s Beauty still has to be my most re-read comfort book of all time, I am likely to pick up any of the first three time trilogy books during stressful times.

In case you haven’t read or don’t remember the book, here’s a brief summary of the plot: prickly teenager Meg Murry and her genius kid brother, Charles Wallace, meet up with the popular but surprisingly nice and very smart older boy Calvin in the woods near their property. They also meet with some strange old women who are clearly making a joke of pretending to be witches, but just as clearly really are much more than ordinary humans. These three – Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which (much to Microsoft Word’s chagrin, I am leaving the periods off of the “Mrs”, British-style, as L’Engle intended) – send the three children off to find Mr. Murry, a physicist who went missing while researching the tesseract some years ago. This journey that takes them to many other planets, including ones where the inhabitants are sightless but still have better knowledge of the universe than humans. They see a dark shadow of evil over earth and even more heavily over the planet of Camazotz, where Mr. Murry is being held captive by a disembodied brain called IT. In the end, it’s up to Meg to save the day, Meg who has been used to relying on Charles Wallace for comfort. There’s also a grand mix of theology (implicitly Christian) and science, both real and invented. I love the strong and memorable characters, Meg’s journey to independence and acceptance of herself, and the easy relationship between science and religion, increasingly rare these days. Some people may find the science of the tesseract a little fuzzy, and others say that Charles Wallace’s character could be a little more fleshed out. They may be right, but this is still a book that does so very much well, with a story and characters that stand on their own and give plenty to chew on afterward. L’Engle’s world is one where the Dark is real and ever-present, filled with the knowledge that fight will be hard and still worth fighting, that love (to say it tritely) makes the world go around. Perhaps most importantly to my adolescent self, it shows an unpopular girl (in other ways rather unlike me) turning out OK in not-miraculous fashion and learning to accept herself.

Hope Was Here

Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
Teen Zone Fiction - Main Level - Bauer
Youth Fiction - Lower Level - Bauer

Hope Was Here is a very touching book. If you like heartfelt fiction then this is the novel for you.

Young Hope Yancey is moving from New York City to Mulhoney, Wisconsin because an unscrupulous boss has cheated her and her Aunt Addie out of their jobs as a waitress and a cook. Now they are scheduled to work at a new restaurant named the Welcome Stairways in "dairy land" Wisconsin. Of course this is a frightening prospect for a 16-year-old. However, Hope is used to change and facing obstacles. She was born premature and abandoned by her mother to her aunt as an infant. Further, she has faced many moves in her life because of her aunt's job changes. Still this move is especially tough for Hope because she was happy in New York with good friends and a fun job. How will she deal with small town living?

When Hope arrives in Wisconsin, everything is so different. The town is small, there are dairy trucks everywhere, and she feels lost. Soon however, Hope becomes mired in a political campaign between the shady town mayor, Eli Millstone, and her new boss, caring G.T. Stoop. G.T. is the owner of the Welcome Stairways and is very ill with cancer. He decides that he must help his town overcome the underhanded dealings of the current mayor by running for office. The whole idea of a sick man running for office tests the town's beliefs in what is or isn't possible. Along the way, Hope learns that all things are possible if you have "hope" and "faith." She also reaffirms what she already knew about life, that it is messy and joyful all at the same time.

Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer won a Newbery Honor in 2001. While the novel definitely offers hope, it does not sugarcoat the highs and lows that come with living. It is a good read for those that enjoy facing life with a positive attitude.

The Coldest Winter

The Coldest Winter:A Stringer in Liberated Europe by Paula Fox
Adult Biography-Upper Level FOX


While the continent of Europe has an incredibly rich history, the Second World War era is one of the most prolifically written about in literature. The drama of the actual war and the immediate aftermath not only speaks to us on the horrific actions mankind is capable of, but also of the enduring hope and strength human beings have in the face of tragedy. In 1946, author Paula Fox visited various European countries and chronicled her experiences in The Coldest Winter: A Stringer in Liberated Europe. Her memoir glimpses into the lives of several ordinary people during her travels.

Paula Fox was only twenty-two years old when she visited Europe in 1946. Her diverse travels saw her visit London, Prague, Warsaw, Paris, and parts of Spain. This book is not for someone looking for in-depth political analysis or debate. While the political atmosphere of Europe was starting to heat up with the communists consolidating their control in several nations she visited, Fox’s comments deal more with the thoughts and outlook of the everyday people she interacted with during this period and her own struggle to understand the world. Many of the people she meets have hauntingly sad stories to tell. On the Polish border, Fox visits an orphanage which houses children who were born in the concentration camps. In Warsaw, she is told how dead bodies will continue to be discovered when the brutal winter season ends. Despite these terrible situations, there are some encounters that are more hopeful. An elderly man tells her how he made an effort to rescue a terrified stray dog stuck on a railroad track. An opera house in Yugoslavia plays a violin concerto so beautifully that the audience is completely enthralled. These kinds of anecdotes may rarely make the headlines or turn the course of human history on their own, but they are a reminder of how ordinary people can rediscover meaning and find hope in life despite catastrophic events. In the current era of uncertainty that is gripping Europe and the world, that is a message more people need to be reminded of.

The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man

The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man by Michael Chabon. Illustrated by Jake Parker.
Youth New Book Shelves – Lower Level - CHA

Awesome Man himself takes through a day in the life of… Awesome Man. He describes his costumes, his powers (the “Awesome Power Grip,” aka hugging), and his sidekick dog, Moscowitz. We see Awesome Man beating villains like Radioactive Jell-o from Outer Space and Dr. Von Evil. And then, alas, Awesome Man is beaten by his arch nemesis. He must flee to his secret fortress, a small patch of suburbia in an undersea bubble. After some deep reflection huddled on his bed, Awesome Man realizes that the problem is that he’s out of positrons. He needs to eat to regain his strength! But once on the job again, will he ever stop long enough to reveal his secret identity to the reader? The ending is undeniably sweet. The bright, smooth pictures have occasional retro-feeling dot fills, giving a hint of old-school comics. There are just enough details to let you discover new details in subsequent readings. This is ideal for superhero-obsessed preschoolers and early elementary kids, with just the right blend of action and innocence.

The Ruins of Gorlan

Ranger’s Apprentice. Book 1: The Ruins of Gorlan. By John Flanagan.
Print : Teen Zone Fiction – Main Level – FLANAGAN
CD book: Teen Zone CD Books – Main Level – FLANAGAN
EBook: Visit our Download Page

Will has grown up an orphan, raised in a group of foundlings sponsored by the Baron at Castle Redmont. Now all five of them are 15, and it is Choosing Day, time for them to be chosen as apprentices. Will is small and mischievous, but, believing that his father was a hero knight who died in the battle against the evil Morgarath, his dearest wish is to go to Battleschool and train to be a knight himself. All the other four foundlings are given their wishes, but Will is apprenticed to the Ranger Halt. Rangers are mysterious and much distrusted, even suspected of using black magic. Will is less than thrilled about this assignment, but as the alternative is field labor, he takes it. Of course the apprenticeship itself is lots of hard work, taking care of the menial tasks around the Ranger’s cabin as well as learning volumes of new things. He is learning things like tracking, how to stay hidden moving or holding still, how to use range weapons and to stay out of the line of battle if possible. The Rangers, it turns out, are spies of sort, spending their time in the wilds and small villages in and around the kingdom, keeping track both of political tides and the lay of the physical land. They are, in short, very cool, in a subtle way completely opposed to the flashy, bashy knights. Early on, Will’s story alternates with that of his rival from the castle, the big boy who made it to Battleschool. This boy is bullied very badly, and then takes it out on Will whenever they meet. In a plot turn that seemed inevitable from the beginning, events conspire to make these two the best of friends. Eventually he will proceed to help Halt and a former apprentice defeat some new monsters that Morgarath has sent forth in his latest bid for power.

The intense bullying subplot makes this book in my view inappropriate for younger readers, but it isn’t really any more violent than many other books for older elementary kids and teens, and there are a lot of very good points to this book. It’s got constant action paired with a strong and likeable main character. Even though Will and his friends are all Above Average and it’s a fantasy, the skills are all ones that exist and could be useful in our world – no simple wand-waving here. This series is aimed squarely at teen and perhaps pre-teen boys. Although most of the characters are boys, two of the five foundlings are girls, and they are given real, important careers as well, making it less gender-imbalanced than, say, Lord of the Rings. So far, there’s only the smallest hint of romance. There are ten books in this very popular series, making it perfect for teens who want to be able to immerse themselves in a series before picking a new one. This book is available in print, audio and ebook formats.

Taft 2012: A Novel

Taft 2012: A Novel
by Jason Heller Main Level New Book - Heller

First a quick fact check. In the real world, William Howard Taft lost the Presidency to Woodrow Wilson and left the White House in 1913. He taught at Yale law school until 1921, when he became the first former President to become a Justice on the Supreme Court. He served as Chief Justice from 1921 until shortly before his death in 1930.

In Jason Heller's fanciful Taft 2012: A Novel Taft inexplicably disappears from the White House lawn on the day of Wilson's inauguration and reappears in 2011, disrupting an Obama press conference and getting himself wounded by a secret serviceman. Once he recovers and has his identity scientifically verified Taft begins discovering what he missed during his century's absence. Entranced by all the new technology (How DO they get the cream inside these Twinkies?) but appalled at the state of the country, Taft lets himself get talked into an independent bid for the 2012 Presidential election alongside his Congresswoman great-granddaughter.

Heller intersperses his main text with "tweets" and "television commentary" from fans, enemies, and journalists that serve as commentary on the reaction to Taft's return and struggle with modern political lunacy. Given that we are now in the midst of that lunacy, this entertaining reminder that things weren't always this way provides some much-needed perspective.

The Rope

The Rope  by Nevada Barr

Adult New Book - Mystery Barr

Fans of Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon series, rejoice! After the last couple of misses, Barr is back in top form. The Rope has the elements that make the Anna Pigeon series so special -- it features the dual lead characters of nature and a strong woman who appreciates it.
This book is a prequel to the series featuring National Park Service Ranger Anna Pigeon. We learn about her life before she was a Ranger and how her first foray into nature lead her to become one.


In an effort to move on after the loss of her husband, Zach, city girl Anna leaves New York City behind and takes a seasonal job at the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. One day she goes for a hike and doesn’t return. Her coworkers assume the job was too much for her and she simply packed up and left. Anna, however, finds herself trapped in the bottom of a solution hole, naked, and with no idea how she got there. And with no idea how to get out.


The suspense is constant in The Rope. I am normally a slow reader but I had to force myself to put this book down each night. As always, Barr interweaves glowing descriptions of the park with dark tales of humanity. You feel as if you are with her, on a very beautiful, very scary vacation.

Envy

Envy by Sandra Brown
Adult Fiction- Main Level– BROWN

Maris Matherly-Reed is the daughter of Daniel Matherly, the head of Matherly Press. She is also the wife of Noah Reed, second in command at Matherly Press. Maris is a well respected old fashioned editor, she still believes in going through the unsolicited manuscripts that get sent her way. She is immediately intrigued by the prologue to a book titled Envy and wants more. She takes the time to track down the author, who only sent in his initials (PME) with the manuscript. What Maris does not know is that the author has some unfinished business with Noah and will do anything to settle the score regardless of who gets hurt in the process. What the mysterious author did not count on was falling in love with Maris. Maris unravels the true story about Noah and PME. Will PME have his revenge and get the girl?

A Pair for the Queen

A Pair for the Queen by Barbara Comfort
Adult Mysteries-Main Level - COMFORT


Feisty seventy-seven year old Tish McWhinny tries to live a quiet life with her niece Sophie in the town of Lofton, Vermont in B. Comfort’s A Pair for the Queen. Tish’s serene existence is rattled when her friend Hilary Oats asks Tish for a personal favor. Hilary’s blunderer nephew Bruce is hoping to sell dog themed art at an upcoming dog show and hopes that Tish will create an original painting and try to pass it off as an older, more prestigious piece of work. Tish is hesitant to create a forgery but instead restores an older painting from a junk shop. The painting is a hit but the ruse is in danger of unraveling when the signature “Landseer” appears after Bruce cleans the painting’s corner at the show. Events take a turn for the worse when Bruce is soon found murdered and the painting is stolen. The book does offer up one too many red herrings such as Bruce’s former wife and her new husband, Bruce’s daughter, a city couple looking to manage the general store, and Sophie’s new boyfriend just to name a few. The relationship between the central characters, however, elevates the plot and makes the book a mystery well worth uncovering.

Ruby Red

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier. Translated from German by Anthea Bell.
Teen Zone New Fiction – Main Level – GIER

16-year-old Gwyneth grown up living life as a normal kid, especially compared to her cousin Charlotte. Charlotte, glamorous and sophisticated, has been trained all her life to prepare her to be a time traveler. Except that Gwyneth turns out to be the one with the time travel gene, something she never wanted. Time travel is dangerous unless controlled – Gwyneth ends up in the same place but a different unknown period in the past for an unpredictable length of time, with only a few minutes of nausea and dizziness for preparation. To counteract them, the secret organization known as the Guardians trains time travelers and owns the Chronograph, a clockwork machine that can send time travelers to a planned place for a planned length of time. Gwyneth is the Ruby, the last of twelve known time travelers, each represented by a jewel. The other time traveler in her generation is handsome 18-year-old Gideon de Villiers. The previous two time travelers, close friends with Gwyneth’s mother, fell in love and are hiding in the past with the only other existing Chronograph. The Guardians want to send Gideon and Gwyneth on missions to meet with all of the previous time travelers and complete the Chronograph – but what will that mean? Should Gwyneth trust the Guardians, or Lucy and Paul, the couple she’s never met but whom her mother trusted? Though the prologue makes it seem that Lucy and Paul are Good Guys, Gwyneth and her best pal and research buddy Lesley have yet to figure out why Lucy and Paul distrusted the Guardians enough to give up their lives in the present. There’s a slowly percolating romance between Gwyneth and Gideon, which helps nicely to make Gwyneth’s choices harder, as Gideon has no reason to distrust the Guardians.

Despite the dangers of time travel and the potential evil nature of the Guardians, the book never gets bogged down in seriousness. There’s the romance, more fun than fraught; Lesley and Gwyneth’s friendship, and – I really loved this part – costumes. The Guardians hire a full-time French costume designer, whose sole job is to make historically accurate clothing for each of the trips back in time, which are all described in detail. I really like the original German cover, right, which I think shows the light-hearted nature of the story a little better. This is the first of a trilogy, all of which are now published in Germany but which English speakers still have to wait on. The translation is done by the inestimable Anthea Bell, who also translated the Inkheart books as well as many others. The time travel, romance and history combined to make this a quite lovely book, and I’m now anxiously waiting for the next installment to arrive.

Three and Out: Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines in the Crucible of College Football

Three and Out: Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines in the Crucible of College Football  by John U. Bacon

Adult New Nonfiction 796.332 B


The Rich Rodriguez era of Michigan football can best be described as one thing, a nightmare. From the disorganized search to replace Lloyd Carr to the two day media circus surrounding Rich Rod’s dismissal, it’s a three year period we would all like to forget. However, John Bacon was given unfettered access to the program over these three years and now we can relive this period of tumult and learn what really happened. The results will come as no surprise to some, while others will have to begrudgingly accept what has been written here.

It all began with Michigan’s historic loss to Appalachian State and blowout loss the following week at the hands of Oregon. After these losses, public opinion began to turn against Coach Lloyd Carr, who announced his retirement at the end of the 2007 season. The process of finding a new coach was poorly handled as multiple candidates turned down the job. On the morning of the SEC Championship Game, ESPN reported that Michigan’s own Les Miles had agreed to come back and coach the Wolverines. However, Les was preparing his current team, LSU, for that SEC title game and a possible National Championship appearance. Miles held an impromptu press conference that afternoon denying the reports. The real story of that day, revealed in the book, will enrage most Michigan fans.

Rich Rodriguez’s tenure began on the wrong foot and the program was engulfed in controversy and losing for the next three years. Many have placed the blame solely of Rich Rod’s shoulders, but this is a mistake. Certainly he could have done more to help Michigan succeed, but various media members, boosters, and a former coach did whatever they could to undermine Rodriguez. If you would prefer to believe the narrative that Rodriguez was not good enough for Michigan and he alone damaged Michigan football, avoid this book. However, if you want to know what really happened in Ann Arbor from 2007 – 2010, this is definitely the book for you.

The Last Speakers

The Last Speakers: The Quest to Save the World's Most Endangered Languages by K. David Harrison
Adult Non-Fiction Upper Level - 408.9 H

This is a fascinating book, published by National Geographic. It is written by a linguist who traveled around the world to places where indigenous languages are still spoken. He wanted to bring attention to, and preserve, these rare and unknown languages. Of course, along the way he met really interesting people and had exciting adventures in places most of us will never visit. I was especially interested in the Tuvans of Siberia, who are known for their "throat singing." He also visited places like Papua New Guinea, Australia, and Mongolia, among others.

You can leaf through this book at random and learn something interesting on any page!

Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude

Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude written and illustrated by Kevin O’Malley. Illustrated by Carol Heyer. Illustrated by Scott Goto.
Picture Book Shelves – Lower Level - OMA

Two children, a girl and a boy, are assigned to give a school report on their favorite fairy tale. Only as they couldn’t agree on a favorite fairy tale, they decide instead to write their own. The girl starts, telling a romantic tale of the sweet and beautiful Princess Tenderheart, whose beloved unicorn ponies are tragically being kidnapped by a giant. Then the boy interrupts, having a cool motorcycle dude come and battle the giant every night while the princess spins golden thread for him in payment. Then the girl interrupts again, incensed at her princess’s new role. Princess Tenderheart now goes to the gym to pump iron and becomes Princess Warrior, so she can rescue her ponies herself. From here, the interruptions from one side and the other become more and more frequent, until the children find a story and characters that they can both enjoy. The story is funny to start with, and the illustrations really make it. O’Malley draws the two children in a fairly realistic cartoon style with pen and ink. Heyer illustrates the girl’s story in oil paintings that you might find in a straight-up Beautiful Fairy Tale book, except for the obviously little girl elements like having Princess Tenderheart wear only bright pink and purple dresses. Goto illustrates the boy’s story in bright, vigorous pastels where the motorcycle dude and his motorcycle vie for space with the hideous giant and exploding volcanoes. This book was a hit with everyone who saw it, including adults, my son and his K-1 class, and my two-year-old.

Try these other funny, nontraditional fairy tale-inspired picture books, too:

The Princess and the Pizza by Mary Jane and Herm Auch.

Fairly Fairy Tales by Esme Raji Codell. Illustrated by Elisa Chavarri

An Undone Fairy Tale by Ian Lendler. Illustrated by Whitney Martin.

A Discovery of Witches

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Adult Science Fiction-Main Level- Sci Fic Harkness

Diana Bishop comes from a long line of witches dating back to the very first Salem Witch Trial that put her ancestor, Bridget Bishop to death. After her parents’ deaths at a young age, Diana decides to stay as far away from magic as she can, despite her family legacy and the powers that run through her blood. Diana graduates from high school at a mere sixteen years old and enters college. After acquiring her PhD and getting a tenure track position at Yale University, she goes to back to familiar Oxford, England where she once studied abroad, to conduct some more research on the history of science, specifically, alchemy. While at Oxford, she runs into a few…shall we say, creatures, that are after something that she has found in the Bodleian Library. What will happen when Diana is cornered by a warlock, other witches, daemons, and vampires who will do anything to get this magical book, Ashmole 782? Check out, Deborah Harkness’, A Discovery of Witches to find out! This gripping plot will pull you in and bring you to a place of fascination, excitement, and intrigue.

After Life

After Life by Kore-eda Hirokazu
Dvd Collection - Main Level - FOREIGN AFT

What if the afterlife is not what we expect? What if heaven was simply one happy memory from a person’s life that would be repeated for eternity? Would you be able to pick just one memory to take with you to heaven and let go of everything else? This is the premise of the Japanese film After Life . In this world, when a person dies they are sent to a way station building where they have three days to decide on the perfect memory they want to forever relive in heaven. The departed souls are given case worker type individuals to help them along the process and chose their memory. Several of the souls are having trouble making a decision because some feel their lives were empty while others do not think one memory can sum up an entire life. Throughout the story, one of the caseworkers, Takashi, comes to re-evaluate his own afterlife when a client turns out to have married his former fiancée after Takashi was killed in the Second World War.

The film is incredibly low key. It poses many existential questions and naturally examines the nature of life and death. Learning to let go but also to celebrate the goodness in our lives are important themes of the movie. The bureaucratic nature of limbo was both amusing but might seem alarming at first to some people. Would you really want the first part of your afterlife to seem like the start of a job or loan interview? But it is clear that the caseworkers do have compassion and are just trying to comfort these people. The film presents a multitude of life stories from people that come from all walks of life during the client interviews. I have learned that some of the stories were actually real people telling about their lives to the camera. Yet despite all the differences between these people and their stories, they all want the same thing: to simply be happy and find a way to define their lives. That is an uplifting message that can apply to everyone no matter where they are from.