The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

There’s a lot to think about in The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe (Find this book in our catalog). At the same time it is one of those books that draw the reader in so completely that he or she lives uncritically within the covers until they have closed them for the last time. Shuttling smoothly between the Marblehead, Massachusetts of around 1692, the year of the Salem witch trials, and the Marblehead, Salem, and Cambridge of 1991 the author draws us into her worlds: the world of the early colony, with medieval superstition, hardship and fear, and the opposing world of twentieth century academia, with infighting, competing egos - and fear.

When we first meet Harvard graduate student Connie Goodwin she is in the middle of taking her four-hour oral doctoral qualifying exams. We see that despite years of study and weeks of cramming she is extremely doubtful of her ability to be accepted for her dissertation. At the last minute, however, she turns her examination around and gives an ace answer to a question about the witchcraft panic in Salem around the year 1692. Suddenly the mood lightens and Connie and the reader realize that she has passed her examination with flying colors. Connie is in fact a rising star in the field of colonial history. She hopes that by cooperating on a forthcoming conference presentation with her mentor, the chair of the history department her reputation will be made. The professor suggests that she does some more research in the field of seventeenth century witchcraft allegations and that she finds some unique primary source document on which to hang her dissertation.

Meanwhile, it is summer and Connie is burned out from her studies, so she agrees to do her mother a favor and go to Marblehead to sort out her grandmother’s empty house and put it on the market. When the house turns out to be an almost ruinous medieval vernacular cottage left empty for nigh-on twenty years and surrounded by a jungle of herbs and poisonous plants we are not surprised, since we have already been introduced to a young mysterious healing woman and her role in a 1681 tragedy that is obviously going to reverberate down the centuries. The reader is predisposed to think that Connie’s grandmother had at least some skill in healing. Connie herself is slow to see the connections between herself, her mother and grandmother and the past, but the reader enjoys following the clues and anticipating their possible meaning. The house itself is vividly described and almost takes on its own role in the story.

Connie is a capable young woman making her way in an extremely competitive field. She has already had considerable success but she fails to see it and still is very immature. She has been sequestered away with her books for years, and though she has had a few unsatisfactory and depressing dates, she really has no experience of men. Then Connie meets Sam, a steeplejack and restoration specialist. There is a mutual powerful attraction, but Sam may find that a relationship with Connie is going to cost him more than he bargained.

Connie begins to clean out her grandmother’s possessions and finds an ancient Bible and in it a mysterious slip of paper bearing the words, “Deliverance Dane.” The quest to find out the significance of the paper eventually leads Connie to think that she might be on the trail of that unique research source that her professor was so keen on. In fact the professor is beginning to take an almost insane and threatening interest in the progress of the quest as Connie follows the puzzle clues from one archive to another.

As the pieces fall together Connie finds out more about the person of Deliverance Dane. Her harrowing story falls into place with Connie’s research results, the flashbacks to the 1600s that the author gives us , and with the disturbing visions of the past that are vouchsafed to Connie. Connie begins to live with fear – could someone be threatening her life and those she loves? Are there forces at work here that she hasn’t understood until now?

This book is a sort of coming-of-age story and a love story. It will appeal to readers who enjoy stories of how the events in the past must inevitably effect what happens today. It will also appeal to readers who like quests for ancient artifacts, codes, ancient signs and puzzles. If you liked The Lace Reader, you will like this, especially if you liked old ruinous houses, the Salem, Massachusetts setting and the element of witchcraft.

In Memoriam Dominick Dunne

Vanity Fair journalist and novelist Dominick Dunne passed away on Wednesday, August 26 of cancer. He was 83. Click here for his official website, which includes now a short obituary.

Born to a well-connected and wealthy family, Dunne frequently socialized with, wrote about, and was photographed with celebrities. He was an investigative journalist and wrote books and articles on events that happen where high society intersects with the judicial system. Again, he often wrote about what he knew. Sadly, in November 1982, his daughter, Dominique Dunne was murdered. Dunne attended the trial of her murderer and wrote the article "Justice: A Father's Account of the Trial of his Daughter's Killer" for Vanity Fair. Dunne went on to write for Vanity Fair regularly and fictionalized several real-life events for best-selling books. He eventually hosted the TV series Dominick Dunne's Power, Privileg, and Justice on Court TV (later truTV) in which he discussed justice, injustice and their intersection with celebrities. Famous trials he covered include those of O.J. Simpson, Claus von Bulow, Michael Skakel, William Kennedy Smith, and the Menendez brothers.

We currently have these Dominick Dunne books in HCPL:
Justice : crimes, trials, and punishments (also in audiobook)
"Here in one volume are Dominick Dunne's mesmerizing tales of justice denied and justice affirmed." (catalog notes)
The Way We Lived Then : recollections of a well-known name dropper
Another City, Not My Own : a novel in the form of a memoir
"Told from the point of view of one of Dunne's most familiar fictional characters-Gus Bailey-Another City, Not My Own tells how Gus, the movers and shakers of Los Angeles, and the city itself are drawn into the vortex of the O.J. Simpson trial." (catalog notes)
A Season in Purgatory
"They were the family with everything. Money. Influence. Glamour. Power. The power to halt a police investigation in its tracks. The power to spin a story, concoct a lie, and believe it was the truth. The power to murder without guilt, without shame, and without ever paying the price. America's royalty, they called the Bradleys. But an outsider refuses to play his part. And now, the day of reckoning has arrived. . . ." (catalog notes)
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles : a novel
"When Navy ensign Billy Grenville, heir to a vast New York fortune, sees showgirl Ann Arden on the dance floor, it is love at first sight. And much to the horror of Alice Grenville, the indomitable family matriarch, he marries her. Ann wants desperately to be accepted by high society and to become the well-bred woman of her fantasies. But a gunshot one rainy night propels Ann into a notorious spotlight--as the two Mrs. Grenvilles enter into a conspiracy of silence that will bind them together for as long as they live." (catalog notes)

Author of The Other Boleyn Girl starts new series about the Plantagenets

The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (Find this book in our catalog)

Shelf Awareness, a book trade e-newsletter had this to say Thursday, August 27: "Philippa Gregory was an established historian and writer when she delved into the Tudor period and wrote the novel The Other Boleyn Girl, which was made into a TV drama and a major film. Six novels later, she has turned her attention to the family that preceded the Tudors on the English throne: the Plantagenets, a family of complex loves, rivalries and hatreds. The first in the new Cousin's War series, The White Queen was just published by Touchstone." Ms. Gregory lives with her family on a small farm in Yorkshire, where she keeps horses, hens and ducks. Click here for her website. In the "Study" you will find a family tree to help keep track of the relations in the Cousin's War series.

This is what it says about The White Queen in our catalog: "Philippa Gregory, "the queen of royal fiction" (USA Today) presents the first of a new series set amid the deadly feuds of England known as the Wars of the Roses. Brother turns on brother to win the ultimate prize, the throne of England, in this dazzling account of the wars of the Plantagenets. They are the claimants and kings who ruled England before the Tudors, and now Philippa Gregory brings them to life through the dramatic and intimate stories of the secret players: the indomitable women, starting with Elizabeth Woodville, the White Queen. The White Queen tells the story of a woman of extraordinary beauty and ambition who, catching the eye of the newly crowned boy king, marries him in secret and ascends to royalty. While Elizabeth rises to the demands of her exalted position and fights for the success of her family, her two sons become central figures in a mystery that has confounded historians for centuries: the missing princes in the Tower of London whose fate is still unknown. From her uniquely qualified perspective, Philippa Gregory explores this most famous unsolved mystery of English history, informed by impeccable research and framed by her inimitable storytelling skills. With The White Queen, Philippa Gregory brings the artistry and intellect of a master writer and storyteller to a new era in history and begins what is sure to be another bestselling classic series from this beloved author."

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson

Before Stieg Larsson died in 2004, he was the editor of Expo, the journal of the Swedish Expo Foundation, an organization dedicated to tracking the activities of racist organizations. He was also an expert on Nazi and other extreme right-wing organizations. Not surprisingly, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has within it the most unsavory of evils, loosely linked to Nazis of the past and present.

The novel’s narrative focus is captured in its original Swedish title, Men Who Hate Women, and flows from two major plots: a failed investigation of a corrupt businessman, and a crime case of a murder long ago committed and recently resurrected. Linking both stories are the characters of Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist is a journalist found guilty of libel for his investigative work on industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerström. He’s lost his job and his integrity, and he’s about to lose his freedom when he begins his jail sentence for his crime. Millionaire industrialist Henrik Vanger, however, intercedes and asks him to investigate the cold case of Vanger’s long-dead niece, Harriet, who decades before was probably murdered. No body was ever found, but the suspect must be one of Vanger’s unsavory family members. Blomkvist is to conduct the case privately, under the guise of his work on a Vanger family chronicle. If Blomkvist agrees to investigate the old crime, Vanger will give him much-needed information on Wennerström.

Running parallel to this is the narrative of Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo, as well as other tattoos and various body piercings. She is small and anorexic-looking, disagreeable, mistrusting of people, probably mentally ill, and a computer genius. She works for a private security firm and collides with Blomkvist in an uncomfortable way – she’s been investigating him for Vanger. That aside, Blomkvist takes her on as a partner in the search for information on the missing Harriet and subsequently the continuing investigation of Wennerström.

The intricate interwoven plots lead readers to a cast of hideous characters, who are as appalling in their portrayal as in their crimes. Neither Salander nor Blomkvist escapes the evil that swirls around them, in a heart-stopping climax where good and evil clash.

The last section of the book may, ironically, seem to slow to a crawl, but after the grisly events of the previous pages, the reader might instead breathe a sigh of relief in this complex follow-up to a corrupt industrialist’s crime investigation.

D. L. S.

In Memoriam Edward Kennedy

With news just out about Edward Kennedy's death, a number of books about the longtime Massachusetts senator will be of interest.

Last Lion : the Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy edited by Peter S. Canellos. (Find this book in our catalog)

Ted Kennedy : the Dream that Never Died by Edward Klein. (Find this book in our catalog)

True Compass: A Memoir by Edward M. Kennedy. (Find this book in our catalog)

Another Man's Mocassins: a Walt Longmire Mystery wins Regional Book Award

The 2009 Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association Regional Book Award for Adult Fiction has been awarded to Another Man's Moccasins: A Walt Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson (Find this book in our catalog)
Summary in catalog: "Walt Longmire unravels a mystery that connects two murders across forty years When the body of a young Vietnamese woman is found alongside the interstate in Absaroka County, Wyoming, Sherriff Walt Longmire is determined to discover the identity of the victim and is forced to confront the horrible similarities of this murder to that of his first homicide investigation as a marine in Vietnam. To complicate matters, Virgil White Buffalo, a homeless Crow Indian, is found living in a nearby culvert and in possession of the young woman’s purse. There are only two problems with what appears to be an open-and-shut case. One, the sheriff doesn’t think Virgil White Buffalo—a Vietnam vet with a troubling past—is a murderer. And two, the photo that is found in the woman’s purse looks hauntingly familiar to Walt. In the fourth book in Craig Johnson’s award winning Walt Longmire series, the tough yet tender sheriff solves two murders tied in blood but separated by nearly forty years."


The Adult Nonfiction Award was given to American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon by Steven Rinella (Find this book in our catalog).

International Women's Fiction Festival to Recognize American Author

Brunonia Barry, author of The Lace Reader (Find this book in our catalog), has won the 2009 Baccante literary prize and will receive it September 26 during the sixth annual International Women's Fiction Festival, located in Matera, Italy. Each year, the Women's Fiction Festival awards its literary prize, the Baccante award, to someone who has made major contributions to women's fiction. Read more...

The prize judges called the book "an amazing journey through the world of publishing, a debut that turned a self-published story into a massive global success. . . . It's the story of a wounded woman, a symbol of women readers everywhere, who seeks to understand and interpret the world around her by delving deep inside herself. . . . The Lace Reader is a richly evocative book guaranteed to sweep the reader along in a headlong rush of events, against the brilliantly-described backdrop of modern-day Salem, Massachussetts and with a fascinating cast of characters, guaranteed to keep readers captivated all the way to the shocking ending."

If you like The Lace Reader, you may also like:
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane : a novel by Katherine Howe (Find this book in our catalog)
"While cleaning out her grandmother's house near Salem in the summer of 1991, Connie discovers an old key along with a fragment of paper bearing only the words Deliverance Dane. At the urging of her adviser, Connie embarks upon a frenzy of research in local archives. Evidence mounts that Deliverance was a local herbalist and wise woman who became a victim of the witch trials. Finding Deliverance's "physick book" of recipes becomes a priority for Connie, particularly when she realizes that it may hold the key to curing her new boyfriend of his mysterious ailment" (catalog notes)
The Heretic's Daughter : a novel by Kathleen Kent (Find this book in our catalog)
"Martha Carrier was one of the first women to be accused, tried and hanged as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts. Like her mother, young Sarah Carrier is bright and willful, openly challenging the small, brutal world in which they live. Often at odds with one another, mother and daughter are forced to stand together against the escalating hysteria of the trials and the superstitious tyranny that led to the torture and imprisonment of more than 200 people accused of witchcraft..." (cataolg notes)

Library of Congress Announces National Book Festival Authors

On August 4, The Library of Congress issued this press release about the authors who will be appearing at the forthcoming National Book Festival:
"August 4, 2009
Authors James Patterson, George Pelecanos, Nikki Grimes, Marilynne Robinson, Daniel Silva Join National Book Festival Lineup; New Social Networking and Interactive Features Engage Book-Lovers Online
Authors James Patterson, George Pelecanos, Nikki Grimes, Marilynne Robinson, Sharon Creech, Daniel Silva and W. Ralph Eubanks will be among the writers and illustrators joining the stellar lineup for the ninth annual National Book Festival, to be held on the National Mall from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26. The event is free and open to the public.
Patterson will present at the Mysteries & Thrillers Pavilion, and also at the Teens & Children pavilion this year. He is the author of the widely popular Alex Cross series of thrillers set in Washington, D.C., and writes novels aimed at teens as well. Authors Daniel Silva and George Pelecanos—the author of 15 crime novels set in and around Washington, D.C.—will present in that pavilion.
Also coming to the Teens & Children pavilion will be authors Nikki Grimes, Sharon Creech and Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah, who will appear with his collaborator, Carmen Agra Deedy. Authors joining the popular Poetry & Prose pavilion include Marilynne Robinson, Julia Glass and W. Ralph Eubanks. These authors are among the more than 70 celebrated writers and illustrators participating in this year’s event. (Click here for an updated list of authors).
To provide festival-goers with the latest event news and information, the Library of Congress has added a variety of social networking features, including updates through Twitter and Facebook. To receive up-to-the-minute information for this year’s event such as author activities, day-of event details and much more, follow the Library on Twitter (@librarycongress, hashtag #nbf) or become a Fan of the Library on Facebook (www.facebook.com/libraryofcongress).
Book-lovers will also enjoy the launch, at the festival, of the website Read.gov, which will pull together all of the Library’s literary-promotion programs into a single, accessible platform for readers of all ages.
The Library also will offer a new collection of podcasts, featuring interviews with festival authors. Available free of charge through the Library’s website or on iTunes, these personal interviews make it possible for book-lovers around the country to participate in the event. Event webcasts will also be made available on the Library’s site this year and have been archived from previous festivals.
Don't forget to download and display the festival poster in your home, school, local library and community. It can be found at www.loc.gov/bookfest/2009/poster.html. Right-click it to download.
Members of the media can register for the festival via the online media pressroom and request interviews with authors at www.loc.gov/pressroom.
For more information about this year’s National Book Festival, visit www.loc.gov/bookfest.

Midwest Booksellers' Choice

Award winners make good book group choices. Winners of the 2009 Midwest Booksellers' Choice Awards, which honor "authors from the Midwest Booksellers Association region and/or books about the region" and are voted on by MBA members, have been announced.
Winners include:
* Fiction: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (Find this book in our catalog)
"Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. For generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dog whose thoughtful companionship is epitomized by Almondine, Edgar's lifelong friend and ally. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar's paternal uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles' once peaceful home. When Edgar's father dies suddenly, Claude insinuates himself into the life of the farm-and into Edgar's mother's affections. Grief-stricken and bewildered, Edgar tries to prove Claude played a role in his father's death, but his plan backfires-spectacularly. Forced to flee into the vast wilderness lying beyond the farm, Edgar comes of age in the wild, fighting for his survival and that of the three yearling dogs who follow him. But his need to face his father's murderer and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs turn Edgar ever homeward. David Wroblewski is a master storyteller, and his breathtaking scenes-the elemental north woods, the sweep of seasons, an iconic American barn, a fateful vision rendered in the falling rain-create a riveting family saga, a brilliant exploration of the limits of language, and a compulsively readable modern classic." (catalog notes)
* Nonfiction: Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs and Parenting by Michael Perry (Find this book in our catalog)
"In over his head with two pigs, a dozen chickens, and a baby due any minute, the acclaimed author of Truck: A Love Story gives us a humorous, heartfelt memoir of a new life in the country... Alternately hilarious, tender, and as real as pigs in mud, Coop is suffused with a contemporary desire to reconnect with the earth, with neighbors, with meaning . . . and with chickens." (catalog notes)
Honor recipients:
* Fiction: A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (Find this book in our catalog)
"Rural Wisconsin, 1909. In the bitter cold, Ralph Truitt, a successful businessman, stands alone on a train platform waiting for the woman who answered his newspaper advertisement for "a reliable wife." But when Catherine Land steps off the train from Chicago, she's not the "simple, honest woman" that Ralph is expecting. She is both complex and devious, haunted by a terrible past and motivated by greed. Her plan is simple: she will win this man's devotion, and then, ever so slowly, she will poison him and leave Wisconsin a wealthy widow. What she has not counted on, though, is that Truitt - a passionate man with his own dark secrets - has plans of his own for his new wife..." (catalog notes)
*Nonfiction: Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter (Find this book in our catalog)
"Traces the author's discovery of a half-frozen kitten in the drop-box of her small-community Iowa library and the feline's development into an affable library cat." (catalog notes)

Camus, A Romance by Elizabeth Hawes

Camus, A Romance by Elizabeth Hawes Find this book in our catalog

Most biographers like and admire their subjects, especially after years of researching the person’s life, even if they assume that their words are unbiased and free from slant. They might insist that, in fact, this is truly a detached look at a person’s life held at arm’s length. Elizabeth Hawes, on the contrary, uses her admiration, indeed, love for Albert Camus to uncover his life for interested readers, in an unabashed and openly sympathetic manner. This is, then, not just a biography of a twentieth-century author, but a story about the biographer’s actual search for that author to whose writings and life she is deeply devoted, a kind of memoir of the Camus and also of Hawes.

In a typically biographical fashion, readers learn of Camus’s early life as a student and author, and later as a member of the Resistance during the Second World War, his subsequent affiliation with radical literary movements, his friendship and eventual ideological and literary split with Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, his life-long battle with tuberculosis, his foibles and his strengths in authorship and in his personal life. But readers also see the struggle in which Hawes engages as she tracks down friends and acquaintances to interview, as she travels paths Camus also walked, places where he lived and loved.

Hawes readily admits that her research on this author has drawn her more and more into a wish that she could have met him in his lifetime, talked to him, been his friend. And readers develop similar feelings, experiencing disappointment, for example, when they see how close Hawes comes to meeting or interviewing a close acquaintance of Camus, but misses that chance because the person has passed away only recently or is no longer offering interviews. She embraces for Camus what other biographers might hesitate to admit: a desire to be the subject’s friend. In the end, she recognizes that she and Camus are friends, even if he died when she was a student, before her college research on him could be turned onto a more serious path towards a biography. This is the story, then, of a journey in search of a friend. Along the way, readers see before them Camus’s life uncovered, revealed in a gentle, enlightening, and appreciative way, with respect and love.

Hugo Award

The 2009 Hugo Awards were presented on August 9, 2009. The Hugo Awards are awards for excellence in the field of science fiction and fantasy. They were first awarded in 1953, and have been awarded every year since 1955. The awards are run by and voted on by fans.

Best Novel Award went to Neil Gaiman for The Graveyard Book (Find this book in our catalog).

We also have this title in Harford County Public Library in large print , as a digital audiobook, and as an audiobook on CDs. This is what it says about the book in our catalog notes: "Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy-an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack--who has already killed Bod's family. . . . Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his "New York Times" bestselling modern classic coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, the graveyard book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages."

The Graveyard Book also won the Newbery Award for most distinguished contribution to American literature for children; so, it would be an excellent choice for cross-generational book groups or for families to read together.

Sand Sharks by Margaret Maron

Sand Sharks by Margaret Maron Find this book in our catalog

I have just finished reading this latest entry in the hugely popular mystery series about the feisty and attractive North Carolina district judge, Deborah Knott. Deborah is the daughter of the local (reformed) bootlegger and the last of a big family which included eleven older brothers. All of the series are vastly entertaining with a cast of characters who include Deborah's often colorful family, friends from way-back-when, and eccentric neighbors. The mysteries are well-plotted and have reasonably suspenseful endings when the bad guys get their deserts. Deborah herself has had a colorful past having kicked over the traces when her mother died when she was a teenager. She had some lost years away from home, but returned eventually to the Carolinas with her law degree and became a judge. Throughout the series Deborah has had several love interests that have not worked out and readers have been anxious to see how her love life progresses.

In Sand Sharks Deborah has been married just six months. She and her husband go their separate ways to summertime conferences, Deborah to a plush beach hotel near Wilmington, North Carolina. Deborah's is a conference of judges. During a pre-conference dinner at a riverside restaurant one very unpopular judge, rumored to be corrupt and to have caused by a careless judicial ruling the death of a young woman, is found murdered. Deborah, the one who found the body, is recruited by the local homicide detective to nose around for clues. I found this part particularly unbelievable, but the detective was using Deborah's involvement as a pretext to get closer to her attractive and recently single best friend. I thought that in Sand Sharks way too much attention was given to the love lives of the middle-aged!

I also thought that there was too much emphasis on what people were wearing, and where and what they ate, and not enough on their characters. I also thought the ending was a little cursory.

Still, don't let that put you off! This book set on the beach is a great summertime read! Deborah Knott is still a charming and all too human character: an honorable woman with a checkered past. She has a "preacher" whispering in one ear and a pragmatist" in the other. Deborah tries to do the right thing, but sometimes she and everyone else will just go on making the same old poor choices!

Shortlist for Thurber Prize for American Humor

The finalists for the $5,000 Thurber Prize for American Humor are:

Lamentations of the Father by Ian Frazier Find this book in our catalog
"Frazier’s work is funny and elegant and poetic and of the highest literary aspiration, all at the same time. More serious than a “gag” writer, funnier than most essayists of equal accomplishment, Frazier is of a classical originality." (catalog notes)

I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley Find this book in our catalog
"Wry, hilarious, and profoundly genuine, this debut collection of literary essays is a celebration of fallibility and haplessness in all their glory. From despoiling an exhibit at the Natural History Museum to provoking the ire of her first boss to siccing the cops on her mysterious neighbor, Crosley can do no right despite the best of intentions-or perhaps because of them. Together, these essays create a startlingly funny and revealing portrait of a complex and utterly recognizable character that's aiming for the stars but hits the ceiling, and the inimitable city that has helped shape who she is. I Was Told There'd Be Cake introduces a strikingly original voice, chronicling the struggles and unexpected beauty of modern urban life." (catalog notes)

Wrack and Ruin by Don Lee Find this book in our catalog
"The trick to reading Don Lee's wonderfully silly second novel... is to take nothing seriously, even when you should. The book concerns the eccentric sculptor-turned-brussels sprout farmer, Lyndon Song, and his estranged brother, Woody, an uptight Hollywood producer. Lyndon's refusal to sell his farmland to a golf course developer results in an unwelcome visit from his brother, who has been secretly hired by the developer." (extract from PW review in catalog)

The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death : reflections on revenge, germophobia, and laser hair removal by Laurie Notaro Find this book in our catalog
"The "New York Times" bestselling author of "The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club" returns with her first collection of all new essays and personal observations in three years--and her funniest yet." (catalog notes)



The winner will be announced October 1


See Readers Place for my suggestion list of more recent American humor, called "Generation Gap."

Cookbook fans can dialogue with authors, share recipes

A couple of days ago I did a blog post about culinary memoirs like Julie & Julia and in July I did a post about reading cookbooks for pleasure. I stand by my opinion that cookbooks are really big with the reading public. Americans of the "Food Network generation" are into food trends and conscious eating, also eating economically. According to Lynn Andriani in Publishers Weekly, 8/10/2009, "While it's been a difficult year for many sectors of the book business, cookbooks and food-related titles...are simmering nicely. According to Nielsen BookScan, sales in the cooking/entertaining category were up 4% in the first four months of 2009 over the same period last year, while sales of adult nonfiction overall dropped 9%."

Foodies in Harford County have in Harford County Public Library a great resource for the big, beautiful books that are the source of their reading pleasure and of new ideas. The cookbook section is probably the biggest adult nonfiction section in each of our branch libraries. Next time you are in a branch, browse the new books shelf and the 640s shelves for all the current and attractive titles we have covering the new trends.

To continue the cookbook experience beyond the bookshelves, why not join in one of the newest trends in 2009: visit the new social networking sites that cookbook publishers and authors are using to successfully promote their books and to enlarge their audiences. These sites provide feedback and dialogue between readers and authors.

Among the most popular sites are MixingBowl and Delish, both of which are aligned with publishing companies—MixingBowl with Meredith; Delish with Hearst - though Meredith has invited all publishers to participate. Mixing Bowl has 28,000 members. Authors and cookbook brands can create groups and fan pages on MixingBowl. A growing number of groups are focused on specific books or series, though anyone can start a group and post recipes and photos. Go online to chat with other fans of your favorite cookbook or celebrity chef. Browse the new recipes or register to share your own. It's free to join.

Laugh on the Beach (but not too loudly, or they will take you away!)

August is here! and judging by the lack of traffic on the road to work, everyone but me is off taking a well-earned beach vacation. For light nonfiction beach reading that you can put down for a snooze or a game of volleyball few things can beat an irreverent and satiric look at life from some of our well-known humorists and comics.

How Not to Act Old : 257 Ways to Pass for Phat, Sick, Hot, Dope, Awesome, or at Least Not Totally Lame by Pamela Redmond Satran has just arrived at Harford County Public Library (Find this book in our catalog).

For the last few days this book has been getting a lot of media exposure. This is what it says about it in our catalog: "How to be cool when you're afraid you've forgotten how . . . Sure, you can try to stay younger by exercising, coloring your hair, and wearing stylish clothes--but how do you respond when someone asks, "Do you Twitter?" "How Not to Act Old" gives you simple ways to come back from over the hill and to act as young as you look. Covering everything from old-people entertainment (cancel that dinner party!) to old-people communication (it's called a "voice mail," not a "message," and no one leaves or listens to them anyway), Pamela Redmond Satran decodes the behaviors, viewpoints, and cultural touchstones that separate you from the hip young person you wish you still were. This irreverent guide is essential for anyone who doesn't want to embarrass their kids--or themselves."

For other irreverent, satiric, and laugh-out-loud funny guides to the stages of life, check out my suggestion list on My Next Good Book.

World Fantasy Awards - Shortlisted Novels

Finalists have been named for this year's World Fantasy Awards. The winners will be announced at the World Fantasy Convention, October 29-November 1, in San Jose, Calif.
The shortlist includes these novels available in Harford County Public Library:
The House of the Stag by Kage Baker
The Shadow Year by Jeffrey Ford
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory
Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

Julie $ Julia and Other Culinary Memoirs

The movie Julie & Julia, based on the memoir by Julie Powell, Julie and Julia : 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen : how one girl risked her marriage, her job and her sanity to master the art of living (Find this book in our catalog), opens this Friday, August 7.

In the movie (starring Amy Adams and Meryls Streep) and the book Julie Powell decides to make her life more interesting by cooking in a single year all 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Find this book in our catalog).

If you enjoy reading about cooking, culinary memoirs, and the art of living, you may enjoy these books in our HCPL catalog:

The tenth muse : my life in food by Judith Jones "Living in Paris after World War II, Judith Jones broke free of the bland American food she had been raised on and reveled in everyday French culinary delights. On returning to the States... she published Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The rest is publishing and gastronomic history. A new world now opened up to Jones..."

Trail of crumbs : hunger, love, and the search for home : a memoir by Kim Sunee "Already hailed as "brave, emotional, and gorgeously written" by Frances Mayes, this is a unique memoir about the search for identity through love, hunger, and food."

Alice Waters & Chez Panisse : the romantic, impractical, often eccentric, ultimately brilliant making of a food revolution by Thomas McNamee "...in 1971, in a corner of Berkeley, California, a young Francophile named Alice Waters opened a small counterculture restaurant for her friends called Chez Panisse and launched an entirely new way of thinking about and serving food in America."

From Julia Child's Kitchen by Julia Child ; photographs and drawings by Paul Child

My life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme

Bon Appétit, Y'all : recipes and stories from three generations of Southern cooking by Virginia Willis Georgia cook, Virginia Willis attended the prestigious French cooking school Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne.

Death of E. Lynn Harris Mourned

Thursday, July 23 E. Lynn Harris died while on a business trip to Los Angeles. Click here for the CNN news article and obituary by John Blake. Blake wrote of Harris' work, "Harris wrote a series of novels that exposed readers to characters rarely depicted in literature: black, affluent gay men who were masculine, complex and, sometimes, tormented... In books like "Invisible Life," "A Love of My Own," and his New York Times best-selling memoir, "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted," Harris virtually invented a new genre: books that depicted black gay men living double lives... Though Harris wrote primarily about black gay men, some of his biggest fans were black women.... He eventually became one of the nation's most popular writers with an estimated 4 million of his books in print."

Harris' latest book, Mama Dearest (Find this book in our catalog) will be published in September. A planned book tour will go forward as scheduled, despite his death: a number of the author's friends, including Eric Jerome Dickey and Kimberla Lawson Roby, will meet with local book clubs.

Find these E. Lynn Harris books and others in our catalog:

Invisible Life

A Love of My Own

A Love of My Own (audiobook)

Not a Day Goes By

If This World Were Mine

I Say a Little Prayer

Just Too Good to Be True