Hot August Reads

I just finished Dave Eggers' latest, Heroes of the Frontier, and I was inspired, both by the book and by the current temperature, to post about other novels featuring fire. That theme swiftly fell apart when I couldn't think of any fiery novels I hadn't already written about (see Bill Clegg's Did You Ever Have a Family, Joe Hill's latest, that one by Evie Wyld, etc), except for Jesse Ball's How to Set a Fire and Why (which is super good so far but I haven't finished it yet). Anyway, I still want to tell you about Heroes of the Frontier, so theme-schmeme. The family at the center of the story is on the run from a lot of things, one of which is a wildfire sweeping across Alaska. Not gonna lie--Eggers is one of my top ten favorite authors and I'll read everything he comes out with, ignoring all reviews to the contrary. Josie and her two children, Paul and Ana, are spending the summer fleeing Josie's life--her dental practice, her failed marriage to loser Carl, bad memories of her parents--by driving all over Alaska in a used RV with her kids. They encounter the sort of oddballs one generally encounters in the Alaska of novels (perhaps Alaska is really an oddball magnet, but I've only experienced the state through books), as Josie runs into, and then quickly away from, mostly self-inflicted trouble and also a raging wildfire.

Josie is the best kind of protagonist--and one that Eggers excels at creating: self-effacing, flawed, honest, and my new literary best friend. I really and truly want to join Josie with a bottle (or three) of wine and hang out for hours. When one meets a new LBF, it's hard to part with them at the end of the book. There was a moment there when I got hung up on the last 4 pages, afraid to finish the book and let go.

I'll miss you Josie, you and your weird, funny kids.

Speaking of weirdness and besties...Don't you just love quirky horror novelist Grady Hendrix? Well, you should. If his cheeky, and unusually scary, Horrorstor, done in the style of an Ikea catalog, didn't ring your bell, then the cheeky yearbook-style 80s teen horror parody, My Best Friend's Exorcism, maybe won't be your thing either. If "cheeky, yearbook-style 80s teen horror parody" makes your mouth water, than you are probably me, and you will enjoy the heck out of it. Especially enjoyable: the Teen Magazine style personality quiz snippets. Also, P.S. for you fans of adult coloring books--there are coloring pages to download over at the Quirk Books site. You're welcome, world.

And speaking of "too much fun"--you need The Regional Office is Under Attack by Manuel Gonzales in your life. Chock full of awesomely witty, tough, fighting female characters who may or may not have robotic arms, and non-stop action, The Regional Office may not be the best book you've ever read, but I promise you won't regret it*.

*I can't promise that.

"U mad, bro?"

Books to take to the beach that will scare you out of the water

I recently made the excellent decision to read Tananarive Due's wickedly, chillingly wonderful short story collection, Ghost Summer, just after a dip in the James River. The first story kept me up all night worrying about what would happen to me. (I'm fine...so far.) Seriously, this book is insanely creepy and wonderful. It has literally every kind of scare: zombies; post apocalyptic things; conjure tales; vengeful ghosts; possession; good ol' swamp monsters. Put this in your beach bag and keep an eye on what might be lurking in the lake.

Ruth Ware's (author of In a Dark, Dark Wood) The Woman in Cabin 10 JUST walked in the library and leaped right into my weekend reading pile aaaand I'm already done with it. Fans of Paula Hawkins (The Girl on the Train) and Emma Healey (Elizabeth is Missing) will love this damp and claustrophobic thriller with a wonderfully flawed, unreliable narrator, set on board a cruise ship. No vacation destination is spared.

Now for the gross-out novels to end all gross out novels: Nick Cutter's nightmarish and cleverly disgusting  (sort of series?) The Troop and The Deep.  If you liked The Ruins by Scott Smith but thought it would have been better with worms, The Troop, a terrifying tale of Boy Scouts trapped on an island with a science experiment gone horribly awry, is for you. If you thought The Troop could have been a whole lot ickier, then go check out The Deep and never, ever get back in the water again. Fan of Stephen King's Dreamcatcher and Chuck Palahniuk's Haunted--these are for you.

Summer binge-reading time is here!

The Girls by Emma Cline imagines the lives of the young women who, in the summer of 1969, joined the cult of a charismatic figure known only as "Russell" (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Charles Manson).

Get. On. This. Book! It's Go Ask Alice meets Helter Skelter.

Before the Fall, Noah Hawley's summer blockbuster, leads with a pulse-pounding plane crash followed by a dramatic survival scenario that will suck you in and hold you under. This is the perfect thriller for people who like that kind of thing.



(People like us, am I right?)

The Fireman by Joe Hill, the latest from the author of Horns and NOS4A2, is here to scare you into replacing the batteries in your smoke detectors (It's a public service!) with a chilling tale of spontaneous human combustion.

Is it a little...hot in here?

Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler: Young woman from the village meets New York City, is never the same again. Do you really need more than that?



No.

Grunt by Mary Roach, because, Mary Roach, you guys. The author of Gulp, Stiff, and Bonk is the undisputed best ever at delivering the curious science of stuff in an entertaining, humorous, and informative way. Her latest book explains the curious science of humans at war. Check it out and learn a little something this summer, huh?

***Hey! Adults! You too can participate in summer reading! Log five books between June 18th-August 13th and be entered to win a 3 month family pass to the YMCA! ***

Packing Light: 9 lightweight novels that pack a punch

All weighing in at under 300 pages, these slender novels are no less powerful for their diminutive size and they fit perfectly in your carry-on luggage while keeping you pinned to the very edge of your airplane seat. Put up your tray table and put down Capital, Summer's "least read" monster, then grab a handful of these little guys hot off the new books shelf. 

Your Fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? by Dave Eggers

Mr. Eggers brought us the pretty darn long The Circle last year (which was great and you should read it too). This year I guess he just decided to go with a pretty darn long title.  Your Fathers, [etc.], written entirely in dialogue, is the humorous and suspenseful story of a man kidnapping people and holding them hostage on a decommissioned Naval base because he just wants to ask them some questions.  I read it on a weekend hiking trip so I can confidently recommend it as vacation-friendly.

The Scent of Pine by Lara Vapnyar


A Russian woman now living in the United States remembers  the Soviet summer camp of her youth as she embarks on a sudden and unexpected affair, and discovers how unreliable memory can be.

The Transcriptionist by Amy Rowland


I had to read this in one sitting, pausing only to recommend it to a friend 2/3 of the way through. Lena, a lone transcriptionist with a large and reputable New York City newspaper, becomes obsessed with a story of a blind woman who apparently committed suicide by climbing into a lion's cage at the zoo. In her quest for the truth about this peculiar story she uncovers much more.   

Chop Chop by Simon Wroe


Sharp, mordantly funny, and sometimes horrifying and gross, this witty story of one man's brief career in restaurants might make you think twice about going out to eat while on vacation.

The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham


I am going to get around to reading you, Snow Queen, I swear! Michael Cunningham, who brought us The Hours,
now brings us this gorgeous story that follows the divergent paths of the Meeks brothers as they each seek their own meaning in life. Highly recommended by a trusted source, and Goodreads, who seldom steers me wrong, described it as "beautiful and heartbreaking, comic and tragic". Sounds pretty good to me.

Next Life Might be Kinder by Howard Norman


In Next Life Might be Kinder, Sam Lattimore is a widower recalling his brief marriage to his wife, and her tragic murder and its aftermath, as he visits with her spirit on the beach in Halifax, Nova Scotia. You might want to grab the tissues for this tender and melancholy little romance.

Sleep Donation by Karen Russell


Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove, is out with a new novella that promises to be every bit as unsettling and entertaining as those were. Sleep Donation is another novel about sleep deprivation--the other being the terrific Black Moon by Kenneth Calhoun--so maybe this is a trend forming. There are about a billion zombie stories out there so the literary market can probably handle a few more insomnia themed tales. This one is on my "to read soon" list, which never seems to get any shorter.

Every Day is for the Thief by Teju Cole


This one is also on my "to read soon" list. Cole's unnamed narrator returns to visit Lagos after 15 years abroad and rediscovers his hometown, and himself. Originally published in Nigeria in 2007, this novella is now available in the United States and just sounds really lovely.

All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld


For once I beat the New York Times review of books and read this before they reviewed it. All the Birds, Singing was originally published in the UK in 2013 and finally released in the US in 2014. Told in reverse, this book is riveting and eerie with a complicated central character. Jake Whyte lives an isolated life as a sheep herder and grapples daily with scars from her difficult past while a threatening predator attacks her flock at night.

13 Books I loved as a teenager

We hear a lot about YA, or young adult, literature these days, and it is constantly on my mind as of late with the frenzy of Summer Reading upon us. I have been asked for a lot of recommendations for teen readers over the past couple of weeks which has caused me to reflect on what books I immersed myself in as a teenager, way back before the recent  explosion in literature published with teenagers in mind. It is probably not too surprising to find out that your librarian was a library-loving teenager, always tucked into a corner somewhere with their nose shoved in a book.  It didn't take much to get me to sit still and read, in fact it probably required force to get me to do much of anything else.  I usually sought out stories with a rebellious spirit and a dark side.  If asked my favorite genre, I probably would have answered "horror" or just glared (teenagers!) but if asked for a list of my favorite books, this would have been it.

Yep, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.  I remember reading this moody American classic for the first time immediately after I bought it at Goodwill for a quarter and feeling like I had discovered some great secret.  The Bell Jar follows the unraveling of the brilliant and talented Esther Greenwood into insanity.  This haunting novel is especially perfect for teen girls and budding artists.

I had to read The Great Gatsby in a high school English class.  I didn't love everything we had to read in school--I'm not that kind of book lover.  In fact, I still hate The Scarlet Letter.  There, I said it.  Sorry, Hawthorne.  The Great Gatsby is a fantastic read for teens, especially for anyone fascinated by the roaring 20s.

With my up-all-night reading of The Joy Luck Club began my lifelong love of multi-generational family sagas.  I remember having many discussions with my mom over this novel we shared at an age when that didn't always come easy.  This book could be great for a teen who is having trouble seeing eye to eye with their parents, not that there are very many of those around...*ahem*.

I still list The Women's Room as one of my all time favorites.  Checked out from my high school's library, this is another novel that made me feel like I had discovered a secret world of really cool, super adult literature, and it probably influenced my adult taste in literary fiction more than anything else I've read. Young feminists will find a lot to love about this story of a woman's journey of self-discovery through marriage and children, divorce, and later-in-life college study and academia set in tumultuous mid-20th century America.

My mom gave me her much loved paperback copy of The Good Earth when I was about 12 or 13 and I read it twice.  I remember many tears.  Good for a teen who likes to have a good cry over a book now and then, The Good Earth is the story of a Chinese farmer, Wang Lung, and his family in agrarian China. 

20 years after this book's publication, ebola is back in the news in a really horrible way so it may or may not be a good time to recommend The Hot Zone but I'm all about honesty and this book was one of my most favorite favorite reads as a teenager.  I bought it at a drugstore on a family summer vacation to the mountains in 1994 because I was "really interested in viruses" at the time. The Hot Zone is the terrifying true story of a virus which is currently wreaking havoc in west Africa. 

Ending up in Richmond was extra cool for me as a hardcore teenage E. A. Poe fanatic.  I had memorized a good deal of "The Raven" and would quote it often, and I carried around the complete works in my backpack.  Poe is excellent for lovers of horror and tragic romance, and the short story is great for teens who don't take easily to hefty novels.

What began as an act of rebellion (because my mom wouldn't let me see the movie so I checked out the book at the library and made a point to read it in front of her) ended up as another book that will remain a favorite of mine forever.  A Clockwork Orange works a pretty cool message about redemption that teens will respond to into a story of a violent future taken over by criminals, and the Slavic slang used by the gangs made me want to study Russian, which I later did in college.

Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson's novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was another rebellious read from the Davenport (Iowa) Public Library.  At least, it felt like rebellion.  Depictions of alcohol and drug use abound in this raucous classic about a reporter on a long weekend road trip. 

It really doesn't get better than this dark short story by Franz Kafka about a man who awakens to find himself transformed into a giant beetle. Considering all the changes one goes through at that age, it isn't surprising that The Metamorphosis strikes a chord with many a teen.

Siddhartha, first published in 1922, tells the spiritual journey of a boy from the Indian subcontinent during the time of the Buddha. This novel is peaceful, elegant, and spiritual--great for contemplative teens. I read it between shifts at the restaurant where I worked for some much needed respite from the diners.

Written in 1962 by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is a powerful story of one day in life of a man imprisoned in a gulag (prison labor camp) in Soviet Russia. It's hard to be a teenager, which I suppose is why stories of terrible struggle are so popular with them.

The novel that defined the beat generation, On the Road was written by Jack Kerouac in 1957 and has been carried around by teenagers as a badge of cool ever since.  It usually needs little introduction and has inspired many a road trip across America. 

We would like to know, what sort of books did you discover as a teenager? Why did they speak to you?  

Happy Summer Reading!

Books for the Father's Soul

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there! We have been spending so much time getting ready for our Summer Read program, we forgot about Father's Day!! Anyways, several of us librarian got together yesterday to look up some great books for the dads. We hope you take an opportunity to see what is in our collection. And again...Happy Father's Day!

If you sign up for Summer Reading, add these titles to your list!

Books for Cool Dads Like You!


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