This week’s offerings show us back in Paris (like we ever really leave), in the English countryside, enjoying a parody and the real thing, and a philosophical musing regarding leadership.

Let us begin!

Barbara M. reports that she is “plodding through The Greater Journey:  Americans in Paris  by David McCullough, about the Americans who ventured to Paris in the early 1800s.  It’s very informative but not an easy read.”

I am really enjoying The Orchid House by Lucinda Riley.  This is the perfect read for those of us waiting for the new Kate Morton to show up again.  Julia Forester, world famous concert pianist, has come back to Wharton Park, where her grandfather was the gardener in charge of the greenhouses, after a personal tragedy to heal.  She discovers an old diary and sets out to find out what really happened when Harry, a former heir to Wharton Park, married Olivia in the days before World War II.  This one while not in the catalog yet will be by the beginning of next week and it is due out on February 14^th.

Citizen Asha says, I just started Option$: the Secret Life of Steve Jobs by Daniel Lyons. It’s a fascinating, and irreverent parody on the life of Steve Jobs. I’m a fan.

Pat T. reports that she is “Continuing with Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson and I am enjoying the biography about this multi-faceted man. Jobs was a man of contradictions - on a personal level he was Zen like in his life style, yet his business dealings were with multimillion dollar corporations. “  

Pat S. spins it this way:” I cannot say enough how much I (unexpectedly) enjoyed Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson.The surprise is the history of Silicon Valle-while it was becoming Silicon Valley! Every company name, CEO, and mover and shaker in the industry is easily recognized and remembered. Oddly enough, it took much of the 'mystery' out of the myth of Silicon Valley. For those of us of 'a certain age' it is like a companion piece to ones' professional life.  As to Jobs himself, he is really no more than a misanthrope-albeit a brilliant one. However, no tears were shed for what some might refer to as his 'untimely' passing. Issacson did an outstanding job-on all accounts.”

 Priscilla muses on the following: Catherine the Great : Portrait of a Woman by Peter Massie is a wonderful read. So many women during this period were running countries and we have not had a woman president yet?

Indeed!

Have a great weekend!

After a brief Helliday Hiatus we are back!  This week’s offerings include a William T. Sherman reference, a happily married woman looking forward to getting to know a man who is not her husband, some recklessness, alternative history, and some deaf people.

Let us begin!

Barbara M reports that, “I'm late to the show I know but I'm finally readingUnbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and it's a riveting piece of World War II history. So far, war is hell.”

Pat T says, “Along with many other readers, I was ‘gifted’ the new biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson for Christmas and have just started this long read on cold winter nights! I am looking forward to better understanding this multi-faceted man who revolutionized our world with his technology innovations.

Jeanne who is finally back with us after a rather unfortunate spill weighs in with the following: “ I read and enjoyed A Good Hard Look - Ann Napolitano. Set in Flannery O'Connor's hometown of Midgeville, Ga, she plays a part in the rather sad, but hopeful cast of characters who were looking for happiness, but found tragedy as a result of their reckless but human actions. This was well-scripted; artfully drawn characters and landscape.

Abby has moved away from a Swedish Mystery and asks us the following:   “If you were given the key to change history, would you?  Should you? 11/22/63 by Stephen King  explores that question in regards to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.  Love him or hate him, how would the butterfly effect have impacted our country had Oswald's bullet missed it's mark?  This exploration was a fun and interesting read.”

I am loving Burn Down the Ground by Kambri Crews so much so that I keep almost missing my train stops!  Kambri and her brother were hearing children born to deaf parents.  Her mother was smart, beautiful and kind.  Her father was a bad boy with a bad temper.  A very bad temper.  Such a bad temper that the book begins with Kambri visiting her father in prison.  This is a fascinating look at two very different worlds; the hearing and the Deaf.  

Have a great weekend!

 

And shiny and new!

Come on down and check out our Best Books of 2011 display!

We ordered additional copies of our favorites from the  past year  and they are out and ready for you to take home for the Holiday weekend!

Here is what is coming in just in time for the long Holiday Weekend!

Here is what you can expect to find on the shelves next week. 

This week the Desketeers are remaining pretty true to form.  No big surprises this week.  I think we are still a tad waterlogged.

The offerings are as follows:  red, not pickled herrings, polygamy, a dabbling in a nasty business, an abandoned book, times gone by, and some healing.

Let us begin!

Abby wants to remind us all that “It's no secret I'm a fan of Scandinavian crime fiction and have really enjoyed Norwegian author Jo Nesbo's Detective Harry Hole series.  Headhunters is a standalone novel.  Roger Brown is the top corporate headhunter in Norway.  What he lacks in height he more than makes up for with ego, a sweet car, and exceptionally good hair.  Height is actually an obsession with him as it factors in strongly when considering job candidates and just about everything else. Roger has a lovely (tall) wife, and appears to have everything...except money to finance their lifestyle.  A smart fellow, he comes up with a risky way to keep him and his wife in the style they have become accustomed. There are lots of twists and turns in the story, which become a bit much.  In the end I felt Nesbo was somewhat self-congratulatory about what a clever writer he is to have come up with this plot.    It has some very nice Holy Cow moments along the way, but overall, a bit too many tricks and red herrings.”

Citizen Asha reports, “I am reading Love Times Three: Our True Story of a Polygamous Marriage. The book is about the Mormon family (Joe, Vicki, Valerie and Alina Darger) who inspired the HBO series Big Love. As a fan of the television show it was fascinating to read about the actual people, sadly it’s not as risqué and drama filled as the show. They live a fairly normal life; PTAs, minivans and blackberries which offers a different view of Mormonism. I just started reading Johannes Cabal: The Detective by Jonathan L. Howard. I am a major fan of Johannes Cabal. He is witty, cranky, arrogant, amoral and he also dabbles in necromancy but don’t hold it against it him. Cabal just wants to practice his experiments in peace and yet, he always finds himself in trouble. Apparently necromancy is not considered a proper way to make a living. Who knew?”

Barbara M. weighs in with the following: “I have done something I do not do easily. I just stopped reading The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht. What started as a somewhat interesting book turned into a very strange disjointed one two thirds through and so I abandoned it. I have just begun Still Alice by Lisa Genova about a woman experiencing early onset Alzheimer’s disease and it promises to be a more satisfying read. “

 

Pat T. has just  “finished listening to the audio book Rules of Civility by Amor Towles, and I would highly recommend this audio book because the narrator had the perfect voice for the book's main character, Katey Kontent. It is a good story that realistically depicts the era, styles, and the well-to-do and working singles of the late 1930s and early '40s just as the nation is coming out of the grips of the Depression into a robust manufacturing economy before World War II.”

I am in love with The Healing which is due out in February.  When the mistress of the plantation has a breakdown after her 12 year old daughter dies she takes in a new born slave baby and renames her Grenada.  Master Satterfield has not only his wife’s increasingly fragile mental state and opium addiction to worry about. Something is causing his field hands to die off in large numbers.  He buys Polly Shine who is a healer to help determine what can be done to halt the epidemic.  In Grenada, Polly recognizes a fellow healer and proceeds to apprentice her.  

Have a great weekend!


 

Yes Tom.  October does bring out the nesting instinct in us all.  And what better to bring into the house as the nights get longer than some wood for a fire and some books to read?

This month we are looking forward to new works by 4 old favorites. 

The Very Picture of You by Isabel Wolff brings us the story of 35 year old  English portrait painter Ella Graham.  Ella’s gift is that she can see right away what makes a person unique and can then translate it onto canvas.  When her sister Chloe asks her to paint a portrait of her American fiancé Nate, Ella feels some hesitation at doing so.  Ella feels Nate and sister may not the right fit for each other.   As the portrait comes to life will Ella discover her hunch is correct or will some trick of light prove her wrong?  We loved Wolff’s first book A Vintage Affair and we are really looking forward to this one.

When She Woke is the newest offering from one of our favorite authors,  Hilary Jordan.  In this Dystopian retelling of The Scarlett Letter, Hannah Payne finds herself accused of murder.  The victim?  Her unborn child.  Her punishment?  She is now a Red .  Literally.  Hannah is red so that everyone will know her crime.   

In The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides asks the question, in this age of unromantic love brought about by pre-nups, sexual freedom and divorce can  a traditional love story or marriage plot survive?  Meet Madeline, the English Major, her boyfriend Leonard, the boy science genius, and Mitchell their friend with a strong interest in Christian mysticism who is convinced the Madeline is his romantic destiny.  It is the early 1980s and they have just graduate from Brown University ready to embark on their lives.  Over the next year they learn things and have experiences that will color their lives forever.  

Boomerang;  Travels in the New Thrid World  by Michael Lewis takes a hard look at the United State's financial crisis and its ripple effect on markets world wide.  We look forward to hearing his take on a rapidly changing reality.

Here’s to crisp cool days and falling leaves!

 

No longer are we second class citizens in the world of e-Readers!  Now we too can enjoy the library's e-Book collection!

The Amazing and Delightful Amanda G. has the low down on the downloads right here:  www.darienlibrary.org/2011/09/23/ebooks-amazon-kindles-are-now-available

And here is the link to what we can offer you and your Kindle: digital.darienlibrary.org/605BE088-FCAB-4F76-86F9-166BFA65FA83/10/375/en/SearchResults.htm

Just remember that to access our collection you need to either be a Darien resident, work in town full time, or be a Friend at the $300 level.

Here’s to loving our Kindles even more than  ever before!
 

 If you read and loved Laura Ingalls Wilders' autobiographical series years ago, The Wilder Life might feel like a book you could have written. Author Wendy McClure re-discovers her prized Little House books as an adult, awakening her own childhood spent reading the books and imagining herself in Laura's pioneer world.

Now firmly back under the spell, she and her ever-patient boyfriend drive to sites around the country where the Ingalls family homesteads once stood, encountering back-to-the-earth groups and some slightly over-focused internet fans who dissect the books, television series, and various spin-offs to an extreme. She attempts to churn butter and grind wheat for bread, and examines the politics between various fan factions: Team Mary vs. Laura's followers...the "official" vs. "family-approved" sites...fact vs. fiction...

Finally, she concludes that the Little House world has come full circle for her, and she puts everything back into perspective. It's a nice place to visit, in other words, but you wouldn't want to live there. This quick read is a great reminder that good children's literature creates lifelong memories that never really go away, especially for fans of a certain sunbonneted pioneer girl named Laura.

This week we offer you the following:  hilarity at the expense of a country, talking dogs and lusty werewolfs, shattered dreams, an errant scholar, and a Sardinian grandmother.

Let us begin!

Citizen Asha reports: “I just finished The Girl with the Sturgeon Tattoo by Lars Arffssen. It’s his irreverent and absurdist parody of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. I loved it, I think everyone should read this book—he has fun poking at Swedish society. I laughed so hard, I think I may have to reread it. “

 

Abby is reading One Dog Night by David Rosenfelt and The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan.  “Sometimes a light read is just what you need, and I have needed that around 9 times now with the Andy Carpenter series.  Set in the non-glam city of Paterson, New Jersey, Andy is a defense attorney who can afford to be choosy with the cases he accepts.  Andy's top assistant is Tara, a Golden Retriever he rescued and to whom he is deeply devoted.  Along with Tara, Andy's colorful group of associates provides fun banter as they investigate cases and pursue romance. In this book, Andy's accepts a seemingly hopeless case when he learns the defendant was Tara's original owner. Owing the man a debt for bringing Tara into his life, the defense teams kicks into high gear.

“Last week I said that despite the title, The Family Fang was not a werewolf book.  The Last Werewolf, as the title states, most definitely is. Jake Marlowe is the last of his kind, a real werewolf and all that goes with it.  He's lusty, physical and feels some conflict over what he must do to survive.  Being the last also means he is a target for the greatest werewolf slayer of them all.  While Jake is ready to say goodbye and pack it in without a fight, Jake's hunter will not be denied the fight he has dreamed of and believes he deserves.  This book is not to be confused with the recent werewolf teen fad.  This, is a werewolf book.”

 

Marianne is weighing in with The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuko.  “Let me start by saying how much I love Julie Otsuko's writing style.  She conveys in spare and haunting prose the plight of Japanese mail-order brides who were brought to this country in the 1920's expecting to enjoy a prosperous and full life.  Once here, their dreams were shattered as they became field hands, house servants and low level laborers.  In addition, they faced racial prejudice and ultimately the internment camps during WWII.  To really appreciate the poetic aspect of this book, I think it should be read in small increments of a few pages at a time. If read, straight through, the author's use of repetition can become a little monotonous and the impact of the tragic lives these women led may become lost.”

Jeanne is reading The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach.   “I am about 200 pages in.  I want to put it in a headlock and give it a big noogie.  Hope I can sustain this bonhomie through another 300 pages. It's really the first book that I have read in a while that keeps me from my studies!”

 

Barbara M is reading a From the Land of the Moon by the Italian author, Milena Agus.  “An unnamed granddaughter tells the story of her Sardinian grandmother who, because she was thought to be crazy, didn’t marry until she was 30, had one child (the narrator’s father), and dreamed of true love. Although it is a translation the language is beautiful and poetic.”

 

Have a great weekend!