The Hunger Games Revisited

Today’s post is from Annie at Parr Library.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I just finished The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, a novel for 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th graders that made the 2009 Texas Lone Star Reading List.  The Lone Star list, by the way, is a great place to find interesting books.  The books are chosen by public and school librarians in the Young Adult Round Table of the Texas Library Association, not in support of the school curriculum, but just because they are great reads.  The Hunger Games was reviewed in our blog way back in November of 2008 (you can read the review here) and I totally agree with the reviewer Cecily that this is a riveting book for teens and adults.  It  reads like a deadly combination of Survivor and American Idol.  The second book in the series is Catching Fire.  It currently has 129 holds on it, but I’m adding my name anyway—these books are such page turners that it only takes a few days to finish one.  I hear the second book is just as good as the first.

Crocodile on the Sandbank

Today’s post is from Cynthia at Harrington Library:

Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

Crocodile on the Sandbank is the first book in a series of addictive mystery novels. It is 1884 and Amelia Peabody has decided to see Egypt after inheriting a substantial fortune from her father. Amelia is a Victorian gentlewoman with an unflagging self-confidence, a strong will, a dash of feminism, and a journal to record events. Amelia and her companion Evelyn Barton Forbes sail down the Nile to see the pyramids. They meet Radcliffe and Walter Emerson two Egyptologist brothers who are excavating. A mummy makes nocturnal appearances that throw the excavation into turmoil and someone tries to kidnap Evelyn. Amelia in her inimitable way must find the culprit behind the mayhem. Interesting characters, the colorful background of Egypt during the first modern excavations of the ancient sites, big doses of humor, and a bit of social commentary makes the Amelia Peabody series a winner. Amelia will make you laugh out loud.

If you like audio books, Barbara Rosenblat’s superb narration of the series brings the characters to life.

This Republic of Suffering

Today’s post is from Cynthia at Harrington Library:

This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War by Drew Gilpin Faust

The generation of the American Civil War had to deal with death on a scale unknown before or since. An estimated 620,000 soldiers died on both sides of the conflict. An equivalent proportion today would be 6 million dead. Faust explains how the living responded to the devastating carnage. How does one make sense of individual death in the face of mass death? Gilpin explores the change in attitude regarding the government’s responsibility to the massive army of citizen soldiers. For the first time the federal government awarded widow and orphan pensions to the families of Union casualties. The rise in importance of the undertaking profession is discussed. The development of necessary bureaucratic methods of counting the dead is a result of the Civil War and the search by so many bereaved families for what happened to their loved ones. The evolution of the military cemetery system also was a result of the carnage. The fact that only Union dead were reinterred and honored in these military cemeteries was a source of bitterness in the South for decades to come. Gilpin gives us a window on a previously unexplored aspect of the Civil War. This is a fascinating and poignant book of social history.

Arsenic and Old Lace

Today’s post is from Cynthia at Harrington Library:

Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)  directed by Frank Capra, starring Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Josephine Hull, and Peter Lorre

“Insanity doesn’t run in my family…it practically gallops” Mortimer Brewster

It’s Halloween and theater critic and confirmed bachelor Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) marries Elaine Harper (Priscilla Lane), the girl next door. Packing for his honeymoon Mortimer is horrified to discover the nature of one of his beloved Aunts’ (Josephine Hull & Jean Adair) charitable activities. The Aunts have been serving elderly bachelors homemade elderberry wine laced with arsenic. The Aunts see their work as permitting the men a peaceful escape from loneliness. Mortimer is concerned about the bodies in the basement. Further complications ensue when Mortimer’s older brother Jonathon (Raymond Massey) arrives with his companion Dr. Einstein (Peter Lorre). The zaniness continues to escalate in this black comedy as Mortimer tries to contain his family. Create a new Halloween tradition and enjoy Arsenic and Old Lace, the original horror spoof.

Daemon

Today’s post is from Brad, a patron at Harrington Library:

Daemon by Daniel Suarez

This is a cyber-thriller where technology is used to wreak havoc on the world by a computer genius who has just died of brain cancer. The book grabs you early and keeps you turning pages as fast as you can to find out what is going to happen next. It has many twists and turns and not your normal ending. Suarez is good about explaining the technology in the story for those that are not technical – making it easy to follow. Daemon is a thrilling and thought-provoking read that leaves you wanting more.

2009 Teens Top 10

Today’s post is from Annie at Parr Library.

Looking for the best of the best in teen fiction?  Eleven thousand teens recently voted for their favorite 2009 book in an online poll sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association.  Check out the results below:

1. Paper Towns by John Green
2. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer  
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
4. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
5. Identical by Ellen Hopkins
6. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
7. Wake by Lisa McMann  
8. Untamed by P.C. and Kristin Cast
9. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
10. Graceling by Kristin Cashore

And the good thing is that most of these titles have no hold list!

Discworld – The City Watch Novels

Today’s post is from Erik at Schimelpfenig Library:

  

  

Discworld: The City Watch novels by Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels may seem entirely overwhelming at first, after all there are over 35 of them and they seem to just keep coming.  However, when you know how they work then the whole idea gets much easier to swallow.  Sure, there are a bunch of them BUT they are actually conveniently grouped into a series of books each pertaining to a different character set in Discworld, for example the City Watch novels I’ll be talking about today.  Clear as mud?  Well, stick with me cause there’s a big payoff at the end.

The City Watch novels consist of 6 books: Guards, Guards!, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch and Thud!.  They all follow the exploits of the much-put-upon City Watch of Ankh-Morpork, Discworld’s largest city, led by Sam Vimes, Sgt. Fred Colon, “Nobby” Nobbs and Carrot Ironfoundersson (who might just be the rightful heir to the whole darn city).  As the story goes, the cast of characters grows but it mostly stays centered around this group.  The stories are basic police procedural mysteries (albeit with a quirky set of procedures) set in a town where technology meets fantasy meets cornball humor meets highbrow pathos.  The characters are fantastic, some of the best written in fantasy literature and they form the main hook for the stories.  It’s not that the writing isn’t good, it’s wonderful, it’s just that the characters are that much better.

There are other discworld series that focus on different character sets such as The Witch novels, Rincewind, Death, Moist Von Lipwig and even a series for the teens about a young witch named Tiffany Aching.  They range from about 3-6 books in length and most are still growing.  There is some overlapping of characters (Death makes and appearance in every book) but there is nothing that takes away from the characters primary arc.  The Watch novels are my personal favorites but all of them are absolutely wonderful and you will develop your favorites over time as you get attached to certain characters. 

My advice, read the first book or two in each series, you can literally track them down anywhere, and see what you like.  If you’re anything like me, you’ll like them all and you’ll find that you can’t wait for the next one no matter who Terry Pratchett decides it’s about.  And I will try over the course of the next several weeks to cover some of the other character sets, just to whet your appetite.  Look at it this way, at 37+ novels and growing, these may be able to keep you busy reading for quite a while!

2009 Man Booker Prize Announced Tuesday

Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall is the 2009 winner of the Man Booker Prize.

It is described on the Man Booker website as “a truly great English novel,” and is the story of Thomas Cromwell, an adviser to King Henry VIII, who must confront the political chaos that ensues after the king’s decision to divorce Catherine of Aragon. Cromwell is depicted as a complex, powerful, and enlightened figure in a historical period that still fascinates us today.

Wolf Hall had been the frontrunner on the short list, but surprised many in being named the winner; apparently, it is unusual for the favorite to win the top prize.

The novel is currently on order in PPLS, and has a short list of holds. For more information on the prize and author, see the Man Booker Prize website at www.themanbookerprize.com.

The Crack in the Lens

Today’s post is from Erik at Schimelpfenig Library:

The Crack in the Lens by Steve Hockensmith

I’ve mentioned before that I love Sherlock Holmes stories and Jack the Ripper stories.  I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned I love westerns as well but I do.  This one has all of that…sort of.  The Holmes on the Range mysteries of which The Crack in the Lens is the fourth, follow the adventures of Otto “Big Red” Amlingmeyer and his brother Gustav, aka “Old Red.”  We learn, just prior to the first book’s action,  that while spending time out on the dusty trail, the ever-affable Big Red has introduced his older, laconic brother to the real-life adventures of Sherlock Holmes; and in so doing, opened Old Red’s eyes to his true calling, namely solving crimes using the “deducifyin’ ways” of the Great Detective.  This sets the stage for what have been, up to now, four extremely enjoyable mysteries.

The fourth book sees our heroes with their arrow finally pointed upward.  They have some cash, some success and for Big Red, even a fancy new outfit; so what better time to go back to San Marcos, Texas and solve the crime that may have started it all in the mind of Old Red, the murder of his “soiled dove” fiance, Gertie.  How do Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper fit into all this…well, you just need to read and find out.

This series has lots of things to enjoy; the plots are fast-paced and the characters and characterization are great.  One convention that I really enjoy is that Holmes, though only referred to in the context of his books to this point, actually does exist in this world, with one of the characters in the fourth book having met him, much to the chagrin of Old Red.  The stories themselves do follow an order beginning with Holmes on the Range; however, The Crack in the Lens can be read as is since the action in this one is relatively self-contained.  But where is the fun in that, go get the first one and enjoy the story from the beginning.  You’ll be happy you did.

Man Booker Prize Shortlist Announced

The shortlist for this year’s Man Booker Prize for Fiction was announced this week.

The six books on the shortlist are:

The Children’s Book by A. S. Byatt

Summertime by J. M. Coetzee

The Quickening Maze by Adam Foulds

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

The Glass Room by Simon Mawer

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

The Little Stranger is the only title on the list currently available  in the United States and in PPLS.  A. S. Byatt’s The Children’s Book and Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall are on order. PPLS also owns other books by all of the authors on the list except Adam Foulds.

Publication in the United States of the titles by Coetzee, Foulds and Mawer hasn’t yet been announced.

British critics consider this a very strong shortlist. The current favorite to win the prize  is considered to be Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall. The winner will be announced on October 6.

For more interesting information, visit the Man Booker Prize website at http://www.themanbookerprize.com/prize/thisyear/shortlist.