Farewell to Summer

They say all good things must come to an end, like Summer.  Enjoy these back-to-school reads to cool down and transition to Fall.  All books in the Teen Scene. 


Perfect Chemistry
by Simone Elkeles

When wealthy, seemingly perfect Brittany and Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, develop a relationship after Alex discovers that Brittany is not exactly who she seems to be, they must face the disapproval of their schoolmates--and others.






The Year of Secret Assignments
by Jaclyn Moriarity

Three female students from Ashbury High write to three male students from rival Brookfield High as part of a pen pal program, leading to romance, humiliation, revenge plots, and war between the schools.







Looking For Alaska
by John Green

Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash.







Marked:  A House of Night Novel
by P.C. Cast

Sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird is Marked as a fledging vampyre and joins the House of Night where she will train to become an adult vampyre.









Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie
by David Lubar

While navigating his first year of high school and awaiting the birth of his new baby brother, Scott loses old friends and gains some unlikely new ones as he hones his skills as a writer.

Birdies, Bogeys and Eagles

It’s almost the end of summer, baseball and volleyball… a new season, another sport! Let’s talk GOLF. Although the PGA season is almost at its end, the golf courses are still open; the weather is still warm, so_­­ there’s still time to practice our swing, our putting or our short game.  

Should you need some visual aid, there are instructional DVDs at the library to start you off. If you are a beginner and looking for lessons on how to grip a club, stand, and swing; putting; chipping, pitching, and sand shots, then perhaps Golf for Dummies is for you. Then you can check out David Leadbetter’s Golf Instruction Series: Secrets, Tips for Today’s Golfer and Pure Power for Beginners.

Then when the weather gets too cold outside, sit back and enjoy The Greatest Game Ever Played, Caddyshack, and Happy Gilmore.

As someone once said “Golf is a good walk spoiled”. Let’s do a lot of walking while we can.

The Joys of Listening

I’ve listened to a wide variety of audiobooks recently and found that for me, the best times to listen are while walking at night or driving long distances after dark. With minimal visual distraction, the words come alive and images play in my mind. Not all of the following audiobooks won awards, but each was memorable:

The Marriage Plot - Jeffrey Eugenides

Madeleine Hanna breaks out of her straight-and-narrow mold when she falls in love with charismatic loner Leonard Bankhead, while at the same time an old friend of hers resurfaces, obsessed with the idea that Madeleine is his destiny. Read by David Pittu.

 Caleb’s Crossing - Geraldine Brooks

            Brooks imagines the life of Caleb Cheeshahteaumauk, the first Native American to graduate from Harvard. The story is told by Bethia Mayfield, the daughter of a preacher who traveled from England to Martha's Vineyard to try and bring Christ to the Indians. Read by Jennifer Ehle.

Cloud Atlas - Stephen Mitchell

A lively exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution. Read by a full cast.

The Beautiful Ruins - Jess Walter

In this novel that spans fifty years, an Italian hotel keeper and his long-lost American starlet form the center of a glittering story filled with unforgettable characters. Read by Edoardo Ballerini.

The Pale King - David Foster Wallace

David Foster Wallace presents a fictitious version of himself as the protagonist in his final novel. When Wallace arrives for training at the IRS Regional Examination Center in Peoria, Illinois, everything appears normal. However, as Wallace quickly learns, normal just isn't the case. From the bizarre boredom-survival training to the wild personalities among his co-workers, Wallace is convinced the IRS is determined to dehumanize and humiliate him. The book was compiled by Wallace's friend and editor after his death.  Read by Robert Petkoff.

The Buddha in the Attic - Julie Otsuka

Otsuka presents the stories of six Japanese mail-order brides whose new lives in early twentieth-century San Francisco are marked by backbreaking migrant work, cultural struggles, children who reject their heritage, and the prospect of wartime internment. Read by Samantha Quan and Carrington MacDuffie.

State of Wonder - Ann Patchett

A researcher at a pharmaceutical company, Marina Singh, journeys into the heart of the Amazonian delta to check on her co:worker who  has been silent for two years--a dangerous assignment that forces Marina to confront the ghosts of her past. Performed by Hope Davis.

Summer Concerts in Chicago

Every summer I try to get tickets to a couple of concerts around town. This summer I saw Justin Timberlake and Taylor Swift, my teenage daughter's picks. None the less, I have to say I really enjoyed the shows. It was my first time at Soldier Field and as big as it is, it was nice to be under the stars in the second-city with the moon shining upon us. I felt inspired once again to enjoy all that the city has to offer. This summer's lineup of concerts seemed bigger and better than years past. Here are a few CDs of the artists that played in our lovely city this summer. If you have a favorite, there is a good chance they were here this summer. This list is intentionally eclectic. 

The 20/20 Experience - Justin Timberlake
Magna Carta Holy Grail - JayZ
Based on A True Story - Blake Shelton
A Decade of Steely Dan
Red - Taylor Swift
2112 - Rush
What About Now - Bon Jovi
Pearl Jam Twenty - Pearl Jam
I Am, Yours - Beyonce
Delta Machine - Depeche Mode
Believe - Justin Bieber 
The Best of 25 Years - Sting

Fall Film Series: Autumn Vignettes

We have a busy slate of great films scheduled this fall for our Glenviewings film series -- including additional Friday screenings in September, October, and November. All Friday films screen at 2:00 and 6:30 PM. The Sunday matinee showing of Before Sunset will start at 1:30 PM. We're excited to be showing both of Richard Linklater's Before (Sunrise and Sunset) films in November as a preview to showing the final film in the trilogy (Before Midnight) in December. 

Here's what we have in store for you at the library this fall. Please check the events calendar -- or call the Audiovisual Desk if you have any questions. 

We hope to see you at the movies!

September 6th:  Quartet 

September 20th:  Amour 

October 4th:  Great Gatsby 

October 18th:  42 

November 1st:  Before Sunrise 

November 3rd:  Before Sunset 

November 15th:  Mud 

Forthcoming Fiction for September

Here are some titles coming out this September. You can reserve them by clicking on the links to our Online Catalog. 

The Darling Dahlias and theTexas Star by Susan Albert Wittig

Roxy’s Story by V.C. Andrews

Maddaddam by Margaret Atwood

Traveling Sprinkler by Nicholson Baker

Something Borrowed, Someone Dead: an Agatha RaisinMystery

by M.C. Beaton

Catch and Release by Lawrence Block

Robert B. Parker’s Damned Ifyou Do by Michael Brandman

Deadline by Sandra Brown

Deadly Heat by Richard Castle

Never Go Back: a JackReacher Novel by Lee Child

Killing Custer by Margaret Coel

The Childhood of Jesus by J.M. Coetzee

The Final Cut by Catherine Coulter

The Mayan Secrets by Clive Cussler

Dick Francis’s Refusal by Felix Francis

W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton

Second Watch by J.A. Jance

Styxx by Sherrilyn Kenyon

The Bones of Paris: a Novelof Suspense by Laurie R. King

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Secret Keeper by Beverly Lewis

Beloved Enemy by Eric Lustbader

King’s Mountain by Sharyn McCrumb

Christmas Carol Murder by Leslie Meier

Blindsided by Fern Michaels

Evil Eye: Four Novellas ofLove Gone Wrong by Joyce Carol Oates

Gone by James Patterson

Thankless in Death by J.D. Robb

The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks

Deceived by Randy Wayne White

The 2013 Man Booker Prize Longlist

The Man Booker Prize longlist was announced on July 23rd. This distinguished fiction prize is awarded annually to the best English-language novel written by a citizen of the U.K., one of the Commonwealth nations or the Republic of Ireland. The prize is considered to be one of literature's highest honors and encourages the widest possible readership for exceptional literary fiction. The 13 titles recently announced are listed below:

Five Star Billionaire by Tash Aw
We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton  (U.S. publication expected October 2013)
Harvest by Jim Crace
The Marrying of Chani Kaufman by Eve Harris
The Kills by Richard House
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
Unexploded by Alison MacLeod
Transatlantic by Colum McCann
Almost English by Charlotte Mendelson
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan
The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin

A shortlist will be culled from these titles and announced on September 10th. The single winner will announced on October 16th and awarded a prize of £50,000, or approximately $75,000. Not only is the monetary award substantial, but sales of the winning title typically skyrocket after the Booker Prize is awarded.

More than half of the current longlist titles have already been published in the United States, with more scheduled for U.S. publication before the final award is announced. Some recent Booker Prize winners that have enjoyed success in the United States have been Life of Pi, The Sense of an Ending, Wolf Hall, and Bring Up the Bodies.

Country Music Hall of Fame 2013

COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME - 2013                                    The following musicians have been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.  Check out the music display in the Audiovisual Room for these and other inductees.

Bobby Bare (April 7, 1935 - Singer and songwriter)

He was born Robert Joseph Bare in Lawrencee County, Ohio and began his career in Springfield, Ohio.  In the mid-1950s Bare moved to Los Angeles where he recorded for Capital and Challenge and later wrote with Opal Music. 

In early 1962, Bare's rendition of "Detroit City" became his first Top Ten hit.  It earned him a Grammy for Best Country & Western Recording.  Another Top Ten hit on both the Country and Pop charts in 1963-64 was "500 Miles Away From Home."  Other hits included "Miller's Cave," "Four Strong Winds," "The Streets of Baltimore" and "(Margie's at) The Lincoln Park Inn."

In the 1970s he wrote other Top Ten hits including "How I Got To Memphis," "Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends," and "Come Sundown."  In 1973 he released the album Ride Me Down Easy.

From 1983 to 1988 he hosted the TV show Bobby Bare and Friends on TNN: The Nashville Network.  He has worked in a variety of musical styles - rockabilly, country, outlaw, and southern rock.

"Cowboy" Jack Clement (April 5, 1931 - Musician, songwriter and record producer)

Jack Henderson Clement was born April 5, 1934 and was a native of Whitehaven, Tennessee.  He toured with a bluegrass band after leaving the Marine Corps.

While in Memphis  he worked at Sun Records as a staff producer-engineer (1956-1959).  While there he worked with Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Charlie Rich.  Two #1 Country hits for Cash that he produced were "Ballad of a Teenage Queen" and "Guess Things Happen That Way."

In the 1970s, Clement established the JMI label as well as opened three Nashville recording studios.  He produced Waylon Jennings's classic album Dreaming My Dreams.  Other artists who cut songs with Clement were Tammy Wynette, Eric Clapton, Perry Como and Elvis Presley.

During the 1980s Clement produced records for Johnny Cash and U2's Rattle and Hum.  He has also been inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and Nashville's Music City Walk of Fame.

Kenny Rogers (August 21, 1938 - Singer and songwriter)

Between 1977 and 1987 Kennry Rogers logged twenty #1 country hits, some also on the pop charts.  He has sold more than 50 million albums in the United States.

Kenneth Donald Rogers grew up in public housing in Houston and was exposed to R&B, pop and jazz as well as country.  "That Crazy Feeling (1958) earned him an appearance on American Bandstand.

While at United Artists Records in the 1970s he had hits such as "Lucille" (Grammy, #1 country, #5 pop - 1977), "The Gambler" (1978-79), "She Believes in Me" (1979), and "Coward of the county (1979-80).  Successful duets included "Every Time Two Fools Collide" (1978) with Dottie West and
"Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer" (1980), with Kim Carnes.

Rodgers hit "Love the World Away" was the theme song in the 1980s film Urban Cowboy.  Other 80s hits were "Love Will Turn You Around" (1982), "We Got Tonight" (1983) Sheena Easton duet, and "Islands in the Stream" with Dolly Parton (1983).

Additionally, he has invested in Branson, Missouri, ventures, published several photography books, wrote two children's books, engaged in major philanthropic endeavors and launched a chain of restaurants.