Oh No, George!

OH NO, GEORGE! by Chris Haughton
Youth New Book Shelves – Lower Level – HAU

When the owners are away, the dogs (or at least George) will play! When George’s owner Harry leaves for the day, George promises to be good. But, as George finds himself faced by a number of temptations, including cake on the kitchen table and a cat that is just begging to be chased, he realizes that being good is a lot harder than he ever expected.

With its retro illustrations and simple humor, Oh No, George! is sure to be a hit in any household. Children will love looking at the different comical expressions on George’s face and repeating the phrase 'Oh No, George!' with you as you read this book aloud. Released this year, Oh No, George! has all the right stuff to become a classic picture book.

Why Don't Penguins Feet Freeze?

Why Don't Penguins Feet Freeze? by New Scientist
Adult Non-Fiction-Upper Level 500 N

Life is filled with little questions that we sometimes do not even think about until they are spoken out loud. Why does skin become wrinkled after being in water? Why do birds not fall off their perches after falling asleep? What makes a boomerang come back to the thrower? And of course the age old question, why don’t penguins’ feet freeze? New Scientist magazine answers these types of questions and more in Why Don’t Penguins’ Feet Freeze which is a collection of questions written by the public to the magazine. Anyone who has had a random question such as these and cannot get to a librarian for answers would find much to enjoy in this book. The book is a quirky composite of scientific fact, trivia, humor, and also anecdotes from the experts in the various fields the questions come from and is sure to amuse all types of readers. Also pay attention to the penguin illustration on the far right of each page while flipping through the book to get a funny cartoon effect.

Six Feet Under: The Complete First Season

Six Feet Under: The Complete First Season
DVD Collection-TV SIX

Six Feet Under is a show about saying goodbye. With rare exception, each episode begins with the death of a person whose body will pass through Fisher & Sons Funeral Home. The deaths range from devastatingly sad to darkly humorous and involve everything from interactions with machinery gone awry to visions of the Rapture. You see the Fisher family talk with the deceased person’s loved ones (or, in some cases, the person who is stuck tying up the loose ends for someone they only knew in passing…or for an ex-spouse). Sometimes, you even see the Fishers talk with the deceased themselves. Such interactions are similar to when Dexter Morgan interfaces with his dead father on Dexter. The words and actions of the deceased are dictated by whatever issue is currently vexing the living, making the visions less like hallucinations and more like projections.

Among those who are laid to rest by the Fisher family is patriarch Nathanial Fisher Sr. (Richard Jenkins, The Visitor), whose death kicks off the pilot episode when he is hit by a bus on Christmas Eve. He reappears throughout the series, interacting with wife Ruth (Frances Conroy, American Horror Story), adult sons Nate Jr. (Peter Krause, Parenthood) and David (Michael C. Hall, Dexter) and teenage daughter Claire (Lauren Ambrose, Can't Hardly Wait) in some of the show’s most poignant moments.

Part of what makes Six Feet Under so memorable is the complexity of its characters. You see each of the Fishers and their acquaintances in their best and worst moments. As a result, you’ll love and loathe each in turn. For better or for worse, you’ll also wonder about the interior lives of everyone you know or meet in real life.

When creator Alan Ball (American Beauty, True Blood) announced in 2005 that the show’s fifth season would be its last, I remember thinking, “surely this is a mistake.” There were still so many stories that could have been told and so many aspects of each character that could be explored. However, as anyone who has watched the show’s powerhouse finale knows, it wasn’t an error but rather the decision of someone who knew how to say goodbye with grace.

Defending Jacob

Defending Jacob William Landay

Adult New Fiction Landay




Imagine your teenage son has just been accused of murder. You have a happy family, a powerful job as a District Attorney, and your family is beloved in the community. Now it’s all gone. That is what happens to Andy Barber when his 14 year old son, Jacob, is accused of murdering a classmate.

This novel reads like a cross between John Grisham and Jodi Picoult. The setting is primarily in the courtroom where Jacob is being tried but the now unemployed Andy is our narrator and his instincts to protect his family are central to the story. He refuses to believe that Jacob could do such a thing while his wife, Laurie, isn’t so sure. The evidence does seem compelling. And then there is the “murder gene.” Nope, I’m not going to tell you about that one. You’ll have to read the story to find out.

The book is as compelling a read as any I’ve experienced. And the ending! Well, when I finished the book, I uttered a single expletive and sat there feeling utterly spent. What a book.

Bird & Squirrel On the Run

BIRD & SQUIRREL ON THE RUN by James Burks
Youth Graphic Novels – Lower Level – BIR

In this colorful graphic novel, two unlikely friends, a nervous squirrel and a carefree bird, join together to escape the menacing cat that wants to eat them. When Squirrel’s winter nut supply is destroyed in his attempts to save Bird from the evil cat’s claws, Bird and Squirrel decide to escape the upcoming cruel weather by embarking on a road trip south. Along the way, Bird annoys Squirrel with his laissez-faire attitude and the theme song he created for the duo.

Despite their differences, Bird and Squirrel must find a way to work together to escape the hungry cat that seems to be lurking around every corner. Will they survive the cat, and each other? Recommended for children and adults alike, Bird & Squirrel On the Run will have you laughing and rooting for the animal pair until the very end.

Homeland: The Complete First Season

Homeland: The Complete First Season
DVD Collection-TV HOM

CIA officer Carrie Mathison receives intelligence that an American prisoner of war has been turned by terrorists. When U.S. Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody is found alive after having been presumed dead for eight years, Carrie cannot shake her suspicion that he is the POW in question. While the CIA pats itself on the back for helping to recover Brody and media outlets clamber to interview the man everyone considers a war hero, Carrie will stop at nothing to prove that he is not what he seems. Glimpses into the past eight years of Brody’s life reveal that he has plenty to hide. However, Carrie has secrets of her own. The early revelation that she is taking an anti-psychotic casts doubt on her sanity and judgment.

In Homeland: The Complete First Season, Carrie Mathison and Nicholas Brody engage in an intense game of cat-and-mouse. Both are nuanced characters who compete for the viewer’s sympathy and trust. Claire Danes (My So-Called Life, Temple Grandin) as Carrie Mathison and Damian Lewis (Band of Brothers, Life) as Nicholas Brody turn in three-dimensional performances. Though their characters are damaged, you cannot help but care about them. A taut thriller, the drama in Homeland unfolds organically. The twists—while shocking—never feel contrived. This show is an excellent choice for people who enjoy complex dramas like Six Feet Under, Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones. The second season premieres September 30th on Showtime.

Empress of the World

Empress of the World by Sara Ryan
Teen Zone Fiction Ryan

Nicola Lancaster attends a summer camp for the talented and gifted. She hopes to discover whether she can make her dream of becoming an archeologist a reality. She uncovers more than artifacts, though, when she meets Battle Davies. Battle has the grace of a dancer, the reserve of a preacher’s daughter, and the defensiveness of someone shielding an emotional wound. Battle’s older brother, Nick, ran away from home and has not been heard from since. Battle keeps the pain she feels over Nick’s absence a secret. Among their friends at camp, only Nicola knows about Nick. She wants to do something for Battle—make a sweeping gesture that will set her world right again. She also wants to sort out her own feelings regarding Battle. She’s been attracted to boys before, but now finds herself fancying another girl. Ryan expertly captures how tricky it is to negotiate a new relationship—especially when you are unsure of your own identity.

Clockwork Angels

Clockwork Angels by Rush
CD Bins - Rock - R

The newest album from Canadian progressive rock group Rush is amazing. I've been a fan of Rush for years. Whenever you're a life-long fan of a music group, you begin to worry that each album is as good as it can possibly get for them. How could Rush possibly top themselves again? Well, they've done it. I really, really loved Snakes & Arrows (2007), but Clockwork Angels is just as good. It's a concept album with a companion science fiction novel, coming in September (Clockwork Angels: The Novel by Kevin Anderson, who's a long-time friend of drummer Neil Peart). Themes of time, angels, miracles, divinity, voyages, and characters called "The Watchmaker," "The Anarchist," and "The Pedlar" create steam-punk greatness. Halo Effect, Wish Them Well, and The Garden are among my favorite tracks, but there's not a bad song on the album! Rush is touring soon, making a stop in Detroit on September 18. Get your tickets soon!

Blue Asylum

Blue Asylum by Kate Hepinstall
Adult New Book Display-Main Level - HEPINSTALL

Iris Dunleavy was sent to Sanibel Asylum to be restored to a good wife. Her crime? She disagreed with her slave-holding husband and helped his slaves to escape. Even worse in his eyes, she escaped with them. At Sanibel, she meets Ambrose Weller, a confederate soldier. He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from the war, but the civil war-era doctor just considers him as crazy as the others. Iris and Ambrose fall in love, and conspire with the doctor's twelve-year-old son to get off the island. But where will they go? Who will take them in? Can Iris handle Ambrose's fits of rage and grief? This is a beautifully-written novel with layers of complexity.

At the Mountains of Madness

At the Mountains of Madness by H.P Lovecraft
Adult Science Fiction-LOVECRAFT

The horror/sci-fi genre has a number of pioneers when it comes to well-known authors. H.P Lovecraft may not be as famous as other authors from his era, but his ideas influenced a generation of fiction writers and he has a dedicated contemporary fan base. His book At the Mountains of Madness is one of his essential works and a part of his Cthulhu Mythos. Horror readers who are unaware of his writings and mythology have probably at least seen his ideas in other people’s work. Movies such as Hellboy and some novels from authors like Stephen King are admittedly done in the Lovecraftian style. The plot itself for At the Mountains of Madness is deceptively simple. A scientific expedition to Antarctica discovers a vast city and also uncovers evidence of an ancient civilization that once ruled over the planet before humans. As the scientists Danforth and Dyer piece together the history of these Old Ones, the two quickly realize that they are not alone and that something has awakened after eons of sleep.

The themes of the story are similar to previous Lovecraft works. Lovecraft’s horror comes not from the typical blood and guts common in horror works now, but from building a sense of dread and fear along with showing humanity’s basic cosmic insignificance when compared with the Old Ones. The story makes it clear that the former masters of the world would have little trouble retaking what was theirs if they reawaken. This central tenant of Lovecraft’s mythology, that mankind’s power and place on earth is nowhere near as secure as we seem to think, is a far more horrifying prospect than is typically seen in horror stories then and now.

The Beginner's Goodbye

The Beginner's Goodbye Anne Tyler

Adult New Fiction Tyler


When a tree falls on Aaron's house, killing his wife Dorothy, he feels
completely lost. Everyone in his neighborhood and at work wants to cook
for him or take him out, but all Aaron wants to do is be alone with his
grief. So he empties out casseroles, dumping them in the garbage and
sending thank yous. In his grieving, the one person he longs to speak with
is Dorothy. There's a beautiful quote to that effect, but I can't find it.



After staying in the hospital for days on end, he returns to his torn up
home until a rainstorm forces him to move in with his overbearing sister.
Dororthy starts to visit Aaron for brief moments as he recalls his
courtship and their 10 year marriage. Dorothy, or Dr. Rosales as she would
always correct everyone, was a plain, no frills woman. Aaron was crippled
as a boy on his right side. The two seemed to converse through silences
and it takes Dorothy's visits after her death to show Aaron how to say
goodbye and to realize the truth of his marriage, that it wasn't really a
happy one.



This is a brief book. Aaron is a publisher of a vanity press, inherited
from his father, not something he would have wanted to do after having
graduated from Stanford. His company publishes "beginners' guides to..."
and in this way this book is a guide for Aaron to say goodbye. As usual
Tyler sets this in Baltimore and she has a way of drawing upon the most
ordinary of characters and finding their humanity and quirkyness.

The Marriage Plot

The Marriage Plot Jeffrey Eugenides

Adult Cd Book Eugenides


During her senior year of college, Madelaine Hanna, a lover of British
novels by Jane Austin and George Eliot, is embarking upon her senior
thesis on the marriage plot, a theme that runs through the works of these
writers. Then she takes a class in semiotics where she meets the
charismatic Leonard Bankhead. Beginning as an intellectual relationship,
it quickly becomes erotically charged and wildly unpredictable as
Leonard's manic depression cycles from mania to depression.



Throughout this relationship, her friend from freshman year, Mitchell
Grammaticus, like Eugenides from Detroit, resurfaces. He's been reading
Christian theology, saying his mantra, the Jesus prayer, over and over and
is planning a trip to India to work with Mother Theresa. Mitchell has been
madly in love with Madelaine since freshman year, but has never been able
to get anywhere with her, which has caused him a great deal of self
loathing.



With this love triangle, Eugenedes writes a marriage plot of our time that
has humor but long bouts of depression as Leonard tries to find his way
through his mental illness.



I listened to the audio book, performed ably by David Pittu. He did a
remarkable job with the many voices, only failing in pronouncing a few
foreign words. I highly recommend it.

Away

Away Amy Bloom

Adult Fiction Bloom


Barbara Rosenblatt does an excellent job narrating the story of Lillian
Leyb who comes to America in 1924 after her family is killed in a Russian
pogrom. Here she manages to get a job as a seamstress in the Goldfadn
Yiddish Theater where she becomes the mistress of the leading actor and
his father. Her friend at the theater, Yaakov Shimmelman, gives her a
thesaurus and coaches her in English. When she learns that her daughter
Sophie did not die in the pogrom, he helps her procure cheap passage to
Seattle, her launching off point for a trip to Siberia to find Sophie.
There she falls in with a kind African-American prostitute who rescues her
after she is robbed.



Lillian's trip by foot across Alaska is amazing, helped along the way by
kind strangers. Lillian's voyage is filled with tragedy, humor and
compassion; she is not one to wallow in self-pity. Lillian is open to all
experiences and without umbrage. A wonderful read or listen.

Salvage the Bones

Salvage the Bones Jesmyn Ward

Adult Fiction Ward


This powerful book is set in the woods of Mississippi in the days leading
up to Hurricane Katrina. It's a gritty story about a family of 3 boys and
their father, told by the 14-year-old sister, Esch, who discovers she is
pregnant. She is a lover of mythology, especially the story of Medea and
Jason and her ideas of Medea and Jason surround her unrequited love for
Manny, her sun, who made her pregnant but rejected her. Esch's brother
Skeetah loves his pitbull, China, who has just given birth to puppies
which he hopes to sell to pay for the older brother's basketball camp.
There is the youngest, Junior, whose birth was their mother's death, and
who has been cared for by all of them. Their lives are filled with grief
from the death of their mother and their father's most important
possession seems to be photos of her. West's writing is earthy and filled
with metaphore as well as love and respect for this family living in
desperate poverty.

Caleb's Crossing

Caleb's Crossing Geraldine Brooks

Adult Fiction Brooks


In 1665 a young Indian man from Martha's Vinyard graduated from Harvard
College and upon this fact Geraldine Brooks creates a dramatic account of
two cultures engaging and colliding. Bethia Mayfield is growing up in
Great Harbor (Martha's Vineyard) where her widowed father is a tolerant
preacher and where she has time to wonder the island. In her wonderings
she meets an Indian boy, Cheeshahteaumauck, whom she will later call
Caleb. Caleb and another Wampanoag, Joel, eventually come to live with her
family and study with her father. It is at that time that two more
tragedies strike and Makepeace, her brother, along with Caleb and Joel go
to study at Cambridge. Her wealthy grandfather offers her as an indentured
laborer to the school master in order to pay Makepeace's fees.



Eventually Joel and Caleb will attend the Indian College at Harvard
College and distinguish themselves as scholars of Latin, Greek, Hebrew all
for the study of the Bible. While Bethia is prohibited from learning, she
listens in to all their lessons, even getting a job at the Buttery at
Harvard after her brother leaves school.



Brooks uses archaic terms and turns of phrase that give authenticity to
what she calls her diary. What incredibly beautiful writing. I haven't
loved reading/hearing language like this in a long time. Jennifer Ehle
gives a careful reading, timing it as a woman might have spoken in the
1660's.

In One Person

In One Person John Irving

Adult CD Book Irving


The early part of In One Person focuses largely on the amateur theater
productions of First Sister Playhouse for which Billy's mother is the
uptight, rigid prompter, his Grandpa Harry prefers to play women, and the
director, Harry's business partner is an hysterical Norwegian who
constantly gets his word order wrong and brings levity to a pretty heavy
book. There is also the theater at the Academy where Billy plays Ariel in
The Tempest, Ariel whose sexuality is mutable.



Following graduation, Billy leaves Vermont and goes on to college, travel,
explore his sexuality with gay men, transsexuals, and women. Perhaps it
bogs down a bit here, but as the 80s commence, the novel takes on a
deepening cast as friends and lovers start to get sick and die. Irving
goes into much detail about the ravages of AIDS, not wanting us to forget
what it was like.



Told from the point of view of a nearly 70 years old William Abbot, the
novelist, he will confront many ghosts from his past before the novel ends
and he will support the younger generation of GLBTQ teens that he comes to
teach. This is an extraordinary novel from one of my favorite novelists,
one that bears rereading.



I listened to the audiobook and found the narrator, John Benjamin Hickey,
quite good. I would have liked him to have more of a Vermont accent for
Grandpa and other family members, but he reserved accents for foreign
characters, which was okay and perhaps for the best.

The False Prince

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Teen Zone New Fiction – Main Level - NIELSEN

High-spirited orphan Sage, always a troublemaker at his orphanage, is sold to the noble Lord Conner, who is buying up orphans the right age who resemble Prince Jaron. Prince Jaron was lost four years ago, and presumed to have been killed by the pirates who took the ship he was on. Lord Conner’s plan is to train all four boys to impersonate the prince, and thus prevent the civil war that would otherwise break out when it’s discovered that the king, queen, and crown prince have all been poisoned. There’s a lot at stake, as it’s clear from the get-go that the boys who don’t get chosen won’t have any future at all. While Sage refuses, somewhat inexplicably, to buckle down to his studies, the other boys are doing their level best, including studious and sycophantic Tobias and the less educated but tough and street-smart Roden. Sage is too smart to want to be a pretend prince, forever doing Lord Conner’s bidding, but he’s walking a tightrope between making it clear that he won’t give in to Conner’s demands while co-operating just enough not to get booted out altogether. All too often, his open defiance gets him hard knocks from Conner’s toughs. He’s got two weeks to learn enough to stay in the contest, figure out what Lord Conner’s real motives are (surely not as virtuous as he claims), and find a way to get out of the whole situation alive, preferably saving the lives of the other boys as well. Sage is cagey about his history, even with the reader, and it’s clear he’s got secrets of his own. Having read reviews of this other places, I already knew the Big Secret. (Hint: why does Sage both refuse to pretend to be the prince forever if he’s chosen and tell Conner “I am your prince.”?) Theoretically, knowing this ahead of time could have spoiled the book for me, like already known whodunit in a mystery. Not so. There are still so many gaps in Sage’s story, past and future (and present, the wily kid) that I was sucked in. Ultimately, Sage has to decide if he should go for being a prince or not – and how to get there without Conner coming with him if he does. As I get tired of books leaving me hanging waiting for the next in the series, I was somewhat surprised to see that the catalog record for this says “Ascendance Trilogy Book 1”. Nielsen has been very considerate with her series making: while I definitely want to read more of Sage’s adventures, this is a nicely rounded story in its own right, without being awkwardly chopped off at the right page count. The False Prince combines strong characters with fast and tricky plotting, similar to – dare I invoke the name? – Megan Whalen Turner’s the Queen’s Thief series. That series has similarly strong characters who hold on to their secrets to the end, combined with top-level politics with a small number of players, though the gods and magic don’t play a noticeable role in The False Prince. That means that despite it not being set in any place definitely on our earth and having a very similar feel to fantasy books, it not really fantasy. Still, highly entertaining and well worth reading.

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson

Before I go to sleep by S. J. Watson

Here is a thrilling read for the beach this summer! This is the story of Christine Lucas who has amnesia. Christine wakes up every morning thinking that she is in her twenties with life waiting to be lived. However, throughout the day she learns that she is married, is in her forties, and was in an accident that erased her memory. She holds on to her memories throughout the day but as soon as she goes to sleep...everything is erased. With the help of a therapist Christine begins writing in a journal as a way to have a memory, even if it's on the page.

After a few days of writing in her journal, her adult memories come back and the memories she is remembering aren't matching up with the realities of her life. As she writes more she starts to suspect that the man claiming to be her husband isn't her husband, that there is something he's not telling her, and then there is the problem of how she got her amnesia--which may not be the car accident she's been told about.

This mystery by S.J. Watson will keep you reading through the night to unravel Christine's past and all of the unanswered mysteries surrounding her new memories.

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen
Adult Biography - Upper Level - JANZEN

After a difficult divorce and a car accident, Rhoda Janzen returns home to her Mennonite parents to heal. She recounts her Mennonite upbringing and finds that all the things that drove her away as a young adult are the same things that she finds safe and comforting now. The author is funny in a sarcastic, plain-spoken way, and the passages about Mennonite traditions are especially entertaining. This is an easy, fast read - perfect for a summer weekend!

American Salvage

American Salvage Bonnie Jo Campbell

Adult Paperbacks Campbell


American Salvage is a highly atmospheric collection of short stories set in rural Michigan. The author, Bonnie Jo Campbell, is from the rural Kalamazoo area and in this collection she introduces us to her neighbors, people who know how to survive but have no clue as to how to prosper. The stories are gritty and dark yet compassionate and quirky, and have an authenticity that moves them along. These are people we know – damaged people who are somehow salvaged like the old trucks and machinery that they keep alive. This book is part of the Made in Michigan Writer Series and was a finalist for the National Book Award in Fiction. It’s a quick and worthwhile read.