Best of Romance in 2014 - Some Lists

Sometimes in the hectic rush around the holidays, the avid reader misses seeing the various end of the year book lists that come out seemingly everywhere.

Maybe the best time to take a look at these titles is really in January and February - when the season and the weather can sometimes bring a little down time or aka extra reading time.

I don't always agree with the various book lists that are put out there - but for Romance titles - these two sources do a fine job with their lists and feature some great titles (and authors.)


Library Journal's Best Romances of 2014

Kirkus Reviews' Remembering Best Romances of 2014


Take a chance on one of these books - and discover a new Romance author or  a genre for you!

Or if the specific title is checked out - look to see if these ladies' have back-list titles. ( Most do!) Just ask at the Reader Services desk if you need assistance.

The Museum of Extraordinary Things

Alice Hoffman, long known for incorporating magical realism into her novels has once again proved a master by combining the best elements of historical fiction, magical realism, mystery and now romance in her latest novel The Museum of Extraordinary Things. Coralie Sardie is the daughter of  promoter "professor" Sardie behind the Museum of Extraordinary Things, a Coney Island boardwalk curiosities show. An excellent swimmer, Coralie appears as the Mermaid in her father's museum. One night after a long swim in the cold Hudson River Coralie stumbles upon a dashing young photographer taking pictures of the trees in the moonlight. The handsome young man is Eddie (Ezekiel) Cohen, a Russian immigrant who has run away from his father's Lower East Side Orthodox community and his job as a tailor's apprentice. After Eddie photographs the devastation on the streets of  New York following the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he becomes entwined in the suspicious mystery behind a young woman's disappearance and ignites the heart of Coralie. Novelist Alice Hoffman delights once again with her powerful and captivating storytelling.

Amy Tan is back!

In years past, before I worked in a library I had periods of time when I wasn't reading as much as I do now. In one of those periods I picked up an Amy Tan book called The Joy Luck Club. From that moment on I became a reader again and I basically have not stopped since. This book made a big impression on me.
 The Joy Luck Club was also a movie and it was very entertaining, but read the book first. Amy Tan is a talented writer and she has made a recent sort-of-comeback with her new book Valley of Amazement which is on my list of what to read next. Here is a list of some of her other works of fiction. You won't be disappointed.

The Bonesetter's Daughter
Saving Fish From Drowning
The Hundred Secret Senses
The Kitchen God's Wife

Become an Armchair Traveler !

Want to travel to Naples, Kenya or Iceland? Longing to see Timbuktu, Newfoundland, and Australia? Don't have the money to go to Brazil, Malta or  Patagonia this year? Become an armchair traveler with some suggestions from Nancy Pearl.

Pearl's latest publication, Book Lust to Go: Recommended Reading For Travelers, Vagabonds and Dreams is the perfect guide for you.  She has a plethora of book titles (both fiction and non-fiction) to suggest to those readers who want to travel within the comfort of their own home.

Want to go to...

Newfoundland? Try The Shipping News by Annie Proulx or Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky

Wyoming? Try The Cold Dish by Craig Johnson or the Eye of the Wolf by Margaret Coel

Burma? Try The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason or Burmese Lessons: A Love Story by Karen Connelly

Adventure travel to scare you out of your seat? Adrift by Steven Callahan or The Eiger Obsession: Facing the Mountain That Killed My Father by John Harlin

Travel the world with Nancy Pearl's book or ask for your Glenview librarian's suggestions. It is easy and you don't have to pay those extra luggage fees.

Happy travels!


P.S. For those who want a regular dose of travel writing - come join our GPL book discussion group, Travel With Me, with moderator Jean Goetzke.

Water for Elephants

If you haven’t already, you’ll want to be sure to read the book Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen before the movie is released. It’s scheduled to premier in New York on April 17th, opens around the country on April 22nd, and will star Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon and Christopher Weitz.

I remember being asked to lead a book discussion for this book when it was first published in May of 2006. I didn’t think it was something that would appeal to me. Once I started reading it, however, I found I couldn’t put it down as I was swept into the world of the circus during the depression.

The novel’s main character is a cantankerous, 93-year-old man. Still sharp, but trapped in an old man’s body, he reflects on the story of his incredible life and adventures with the Benzini Brothers circus. His story is emotionally wrenching, filled with richly drawn, eccentric characters as well as the alarming treatment of animals and circus performers and animals.

There is something in the novel for everyone – adventure, romance, mystery, history, and fiction memoir. Check out a copy today – before you see the movie.

Reality Check By Peter Abrahams

Cody Laredo is the star quarterback for his high school's football team plus he is dating the prettiest girl in school. Not only is Clea pretty and an honor student, her father is the most powerful man in town and he does not approve of Cody dating his daughter. In an attempt to keep Clea away from Cody, he sends her to Hong Kong for the summer to live with her uncle and then he enrolls her in an elite private boarding school thousands of miles away. The separation takes a toll on Clea and Cody's relationship and they break up after a fight. During a game, Cody tears his ACL which ends his hopes at a college football career and an education. The injury and the break up with Clea are too much for Cody, and he spirals into a depression. He eventually drops out of school and gets a job. When Cody finds out Clea is missing, he drives out to Vermont to help in the search. Cody is in way over his head, putting both himself and the investigation in danger. While “on the case” Cody meets Clea’s new boyfriend, makes friends with some of Clea’s new friends, and has a few encounters with the police. The ending is somewhat predictable however, Abrahams generates a fair amount of suspense that both teens and adults will like. There is a hint of sex in the book, but nothing explicit. There is strong language and some violence, so sensitive readers beware. Reality Check is a solid mystery from a great storyteller.

Check out some of these other books by Peter Abrahams:

Up All Night: a short story collection
Bullet Point
Delusion
Nerve Damage
Lights out 

Attention Anna Quindlen Devotees

Anna Quindlen has a devoted following of readers. She wrote five best-selling novels as well as books of nonfiction. There are also movies based on her fiction. She writes columns in Newsweek and her New York Times column, "Public and Private" was awarded the Pulitzer in 1991. Moreover, she has appeared in high school literature and anthologies. She is a gifted writer who uses prose that appears simple. She has an ear for dialogue and an ability to tell a story. She engages readers on a variety of challenging topics from difficult career choices to domestic violence. Her novels feature complex family relationships and mainstream female protagonists struggling with personal crises and grappling for self-awareness. Quindlen's novels are loved for their all-too-human characters and universal conditions. Black and Blue, for example, dealt with family violence. Her most recent novel, Every Last One, delves into a social issue theme.

Every Last One is an unforgettable portrait of a mother, a father, a family, and the explosive, violent consequences of what seems like inconsequential actions. Mary Beth Latham is first and foremost a mother, whose three teenaged children come first, before her career as a landscape gardener, or even her life as the wife of a doctor. Caring for her family and preserving their everyday life is paramount. And so, when one of her sons, Max, becomes depressed, Mary Beth becomes focused on him, and is blindsided by a shocking act of violence. What happens afterward is a testament to the power of a woman's love and determination. Mary Beth must face "every last one" of her fears as she holds onto love and pursues hope and healing.

So, for her devoted readers, Every Last One, is about facing every last one of the things we fear most, about finding ways to traverse an unintended path, and to be brave enough to try to live a life we never dreamed we'd have to live.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

"I realize now that dying is easy. Living is hard." Told through the voice of Mia, the reader is brought into a world where a teen girl is standing outside of her body, after a tragic car accident that took the lives of both parents and her little brother, Teddy. She must decide: should I stay, or should I go? What would life be like without her parents and brother? How would this young cellist go to Julliard as "an orphan" as she hears herself referred to by the nurses in the ICU. Mia has to contemplate this big decision as she watches over her body in the hospital, hooked up to machines. She watches as the people in her life come and go as visitors: her best friend, boyfriend, aunts, uncles, cousins. Beautifully written, the decision is "a choice" that one has in their own destiny. Flashbacks of Mia's life sprinkle throughout the book to bring the reader up to date with where Mia's life has gone, how she became to love music, how relationships with her boyfriend was central, and how her struggle to "stay or go" not only was meaning of her life, but she had wrestled with this same question as one who was living: should she stay in Oregon to stay closer to Adam, the boy she had intense connection with, or follow her dream of going to Julliard if she was accepted, and make a new life in New York. Detail was given to each parent, the way they were as individuals in the present day, and how they transformed into what they are from years back, before Mia was born. Many references to music, both punk and classical, are weaved throughout the book as well. Not until the very end do we know what Mia's choice will be. If I Stay is an excellent read for teens going through a tough personal struggle as well as a great choice for parents.

Leftovers by Laura Wiess

Another page-turner from the author of Such a Pretty Girl, Leftovers is another brilliant weaving of an unfortunate teenage existance.


Ardith and Blair are not likely friends but the two become best friends and find some common ground as both live with a dysfunctional family. Blair, only child to an up-and-coming judge to whom "appearance is everything" and professional father who dims in her limelight, befriends Ardith, who lives among keg parties and her parents unwillingness to grow up, along with an obnoxious older brother and his many friends that grace their house.


Both girls could for the most part fade into the furniture, that is how unimportant they are to their families. Though Blair is from a wealthy home, she is also emotionally abandoned by both parents, who are always out about town with the other socialites, even on Christmas, except to dictate to Blair who she is to be seen with and how she should act. Ardith is trying to build a life for herself by staying out of all the trouble she has in her home, even to the point of sleeping with a hammer near her pillow and padlocking her bedroom door every night. Blair is raped by Ardith's brother, and Ardith wanted no more than to see her brother pay for that, plus all of his other other narcissistic ways. Blair wants nothing but her old dog Wendy, her old house, and old life back, and Ardith is trying to escape her current living condition, dreaming of one day become a podiatrist. A rumor sets the story in motion...


As the reader, I hoped the girls would seek revenge in a way that they would gain confidence in themselves and eleviate the hurt they had been feeling. The way did this was both remarkable and unexpected.


Leftovers can be seen as a psychological thriller, as the way the girls schemed to get back at those who had shattered their teenage years was absolutely brilliant. A shocking story of those who are abandoned by society, and the consequences it leads to. Excellent read for mature teens and for anyone who has ever felt alienated in their lives.

Fran--tastic

Are you buying into the Jonathan Franzen buzz this week? Franzen's new book Freedom hit stores on Tuesday after last week's advanced reading copy kerfuffle involving President Obama sent publishers and booksellers into a frenzy. I have yet to read a single negative review and some book scribes are even calling it a masterpiece in the first sentence of the review! I'll admit I fell for it and even nabbed a copy at the bookstore (I know, I know) for myself. I'm not sure when I'll get to it but I WANTED to have it in the reading pile at home. You can grab a copy when the library reopens (October 9th) and let us know if you think the Great American Novel is alive and well or if FranzenFrenzy is old fashion bloviating.

NoveList Plus - An Online Readers' Resource

Are you looking for a good book to read? Do you belong to a book discussion group and need help selecting a title and preparing discussion questions? Have you read a book in a series and want to learn about other books in the same series, and in what order to read them? Do you like cozy mysteries, but you need a suggestion for a new author to read?

All these questions and more can be answered by NoveList Plus, a Readers Advisory database that the Glenview Public Library subscribes to. All you need is your Glenview Public Library Card number and you'll have access to information beyond your wildest dreams!

A partial list of NoveList Plus features includes:

• Over 150,000 fiction and 50,000 nonfiction titles


• Booklists organized by genre or topic


• Book discussion guides


• Recommended reads - by genre


• Author read alikes


• Award lists


• Series information


• Titles for adults, young adults and kids


• Full-text searchable reviews and descriptions from top review sources


• Subject and keyword access


• Book cover images


• First chapters


• Booktalks for young adult titles


• More!

Please take a minute to explore this informative and exciting database. As always, if you need help, contact the Reader Services Desk at extention 112 and we'll be happy to help.

Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture

In the book, Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture, Ellen Ruppel Shell writes about how the United States' retail culture has gone from one of value to one of low prices and low quality. And while in today's economy everyone is trying to save a buck, these "savings" start to translate into lost jobs and industries for the USA.

Shell makes a seeming dry topic very interesting - her writing style is clear and concise and her examples allow the average consumer to understand the "bait and switch" game that is going on. Among the chapters, she talks about; the rise of outlet stores that have nothing to do with their corporate parents - except in perceived value, the notion that IKEA is a green company - it's wood suppliers are among the worst in terms of ecology violations, the recent scandal of poisonous toys coming from China and the impact that all this outsourcing of goods is having on foreign workers and American jobs.

If you consider yourself to be frugal or an informed consumer - you should read this book. Worth the time and an enlightened read. It might change the way you shop.

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang

By Chelsea Handler

Star of Chelsea Lately on E! Television network has another New York Times bestseller on her list of accomplishments. The Comedienne and host can tell a story. Whether letting us in on her fathers Jamaican girlfriends aka (housekeepers), or being a used car salesman or growing up in New Jersey, she’s terrific at giving us a glimpse of her early childhood and relationships with her siblings no one in her family is exempt from her practical jokes and sarcasm.

We read about many of the familiar characters like Brad Wollack, comedian and part of her panel on many of her shows to her CEO boyfriend Ted Harbert, 20 years her senior and head of the network who owns her TV show. Recently broke up after the release of her book and my favorite side kick, her little nugget Chuy.

She is brilliant, clever and a hilarious writer. Many times I found myself laughing out loud, as long as you don’t mind her candor and at times her filthy mouth. She tells it as she sees it. If you watch her show you can hear her voice in your head which makes it all the more funny.

Her humor probably would be considered raunchy to some, but as in her first two books My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One Night and Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea. This current book is a continuation of her stories from childhood to most recently a few of the pranks she played on just about everyone.

What's the word?

Many genres have their own periodicals. There are magazines that review mysteries, romances, and historical fiction. For those who enjoy science fiction and fantasy, that magazine is Locus. Whether you prefer Larry Niven or Tad Williams, Connie Willis or Alistair Reynolds, this magazine covers it. Locus covers information in the publishing world, news about authors and publishers, rights sold, books delivered, awards received, births and deaths, and so on.

Locus magazine was founded in 1968. It was Published and edited by Charles N Brown until his death in 2009. Its current editor in chief is Liza Groen Tombi. Since 1971, it has presented the Locus Award, given to winners of its annual readers’ poll. Also at the beginning of each year is a “year in review” issue which provides recommended reading lists from books published in the previous year.

Not only is it a good source of reviews for books and magazines, it’s a good way to find out what is being published in the near future. Four times a year a “forthcoming books” issue is done that gives a general schedule for books due to be published in the near future.

In addition to reviews, Locus also interviews popular authors and editors as well as those that are up and coming. Typically two authors are interviewed per issue. Conventions are also covered, often with a photo gallery.

Issues of Locus can be found in the Periodicals department. It also has a website, which contains an index to the reviews and interviews it has done, at locusmag.com

-JK

Blacklands: a novel by Belinda Bauer

Within the pages of this small, just over 200 pages, novel is the chilling story of 12-year old Steven Lamb, who is determined to unearth the grave of his Uncle Billy, missing for 18 years and presumed murdered by child serial killer Arnold Avery. Steven lives with his downtrodden mother Lettie, his 5-year old brother Davey and his grandmother Nan in Shipcolt, Somerset. Steven’s grandmother anxiously awaits the return of her missing 11 year-old son by keeping vigil by the window and has been unable to move forward with her life since that horrible day.

The police believe that convicted serial child killer Avery is responsible for Billy’s murder having found Billy’s Nike’s in the killer’s van, but not his body. Steven is convinced that if Uncle Billy’s remains can be found his family can move on with their lives, so Steven has been relentlessly digging holes in the English moor were Avery’s other victims have been found in hopes of finding his uncle’s remains and win the affection of his mother and grandmother. Nearly defeated in his lack of progress in the moor Steven writes a cryptic letter to Avery in hopes that he can trick the killer into revealing his uncle’s grave. Avery, who is in prison and serving a life sentence for his crimes, responds with his own cryptic message and a game of cat and mouse is started that will have dire consequences for one of the players.

With the naïveté of a lonely and desperate boy, Steven is convinced he can win this game; however, he is no match for the cunning villain. When Steven unknowingly sends a photograph of himself to Avery, revealing that he is of the age and type that the killer prefers, Avery’s only thought is of escape and making Steven his next victim. What follows is somewhat far fetched, but none the less exciting. Bauer is at her best with the superb characterization of the sociopathic child killer and the desperate young boy. Bauer writes a fast-paced and suspenseful drama that will keep the reader engaged from start to finish.



Belinda Bauer grew up in South Africa and England and now resides in Wales. Blacklands is the former journalist and screenwriter’s debut novel.

The Broken Teaglass

The Broken Teaglass by Emily Arsenault says it is a novel but it is really a mystery. What happens when co-workers find coded clues that makes them think that something is amiss in their quiet workplace? The workplace in question happens to be a dictionary publisher and the clues are words. Is this just a puzzle? Is this just a workplace prank? There are several eccentric people who work here. Is it one of them? And what happens when the slip of paper says murder?

This slowly moving story combines a love of words, a deadly puzzle and a recovery/coming of age story all in one. The author draws you in and involves the reader in the discussion about words (how they change, develop and grow) and the lives of the lexicographers who are working on the changes to the new edition. And was there really a murder?

It is a very interesting first work by a new author. It will be intriguing to see what she writes next. A book for the word lover.

Below Zero

Below Zero is the ninth installment in highly regarded Joe Pickett series by C.J. Box. Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett’s teenage daughter Sheridan receives a mysterious text message from someone claiming to be April, her dead sister. April was killed six years earlier in a Waco-style shoot out gone bad. Still suffering with guilt over her death Pickett will enlist the help of his fugitive friend Nate Romanowski, keep the FBI at bay and receive a crash course in cell-phone-tracking technology to solve this thriller.


Box has done it again with another winning addition to the Pickett series! The writing is a smooth combination of interesting characters and intelligent sleuthing. Box’s environmental theme is global warming and he does a good job in discussing the complex issue. The chase scene through the rugged back roads of the Black Hills is suspenseful and believable. I have read every book in the Pickett series and I just love them. Are they the best mysteries out there, no, however they are well done and entertaining and if you like the out –of-doors setting these will not disappoint. The stories are fact paced with good twists and meaningful conclusions. It will be interesting to see where Box will take the characters next.

The next installment Nowhere to Run is scheduled for release on April 6, 2010, can’t wait.

Search our Online Catalog for these titles.

Honor in Space

On Basilisk Station

A young naval officer has embarrassed some important high-ranking people and is banished to a distant outpost. Crew morale is low, smuggling and corruption is commonplace, and the native population is threatening to rise up. While politicians meddle, merchants complain, and two powerful nations edge closer to war, the crew of the Fearless will do their duty to protect their kingdom.

Yes it is a naval story. However, while the commander in question’s initials are “HH”, this is not Horatio Hornblower, but Honor Harrington. The Fearless is a light cruiser of the Star Kingdom of Manticore’s navy. The outpost in question is Basilisk Station, located near a wormhole of strategic importance to both Manticore and its enemy, the People’s Republic of Haven.

On Basilisk Station by David Weber is the first book in the ongoing Honor Harrington series. It is of course reminiscent of C. S. Forrester’s Hornblower stories as well as the Napoleonic Wars and other historical events. The cast list is quite large and varied. Some are quite decent. Some “allies” you would not want to turn your back on. Honor herself is honest and courageous, though has a temper that gets her in trouble. The technology, while futuristic, is not fanciful or particularly hard to believe, given how far into the future the story is being projected.

The Honor Harrington series currently numbers eleven novels and four short story anthologies. Two spinoff series are also being written; the Saganami Island series and The Wages of Sin series (the latter being co written with Eric Flint).

-JK

Offical Book Club Selection

Official Book Club Selection

by Kathy Griffin



“Are you there, Oprah? It’s me, Kathy”. She has made it no secret that she wants to be on the Oprah show and have her book become an official Oprah book club selection. This is her big chance to score that coveted book club endorsement that she has always wanted.

A funny honest look at Kathy Griffin, she writes like she talks and I found it entertaining and a great read, but being a fan I’m probably biased. Whether you’re a fan, you’ll respect her tenacity, work ethic and loyalty to her parents. It’s an honest intimate look at her life before and after she made it big, living in a dysfunctional family in suburban Illinois, her plastic surgery disasters to her highly publicized divorce.

Along the way, she shares her celebrity encounters on the red carpet and stories about her early years with Lisa Kudrow, Julia Sweeney, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz and Margret Cho just to name a few.

Check out the nifty reader’s guide provided at the end as a clue that there’s intellect, wit, politics, religion, romance, tragedy and plenty of gossip at work on these pages, which merit careful reading and reading between the lines.

Goodreads

Goodreads is the largest social network for readers in the world. 2,500,000 members have added over 60,000,000 books to their virtual bookshelves. I am hooked on the concept because it helps me keep track of my reading and I can more easily recommend books to friends and patrons. Others use it to keep a list of what they want to read; some don't post books but still enjoy the reviews and comments. My favorite feature is that an email is sent directly to you when a friend posts a book. It is heartening to know that my Goodread friends enjoy the same books that I do.

The founder, Otis Y. Chandler, a software engineer, has loved reading since his early discovery of the Hardy Boys. And the idea sprung from his wanting to know what his friends were reading. Goodreads has a blog for their employees where I learned that potential members can register with their Facebook or Google login credentials.

In addition, WorldCat.org now provides Goodreads reviews to help users evaluate materials with fellow readers’ comments. Goodreads reviews can be found in the “Reviews” section alongside WorldCat, weRead, Amazon.com and Educational Media reviews.

You'll probably think of other ways it can accelerate your reading life.



-I.F.