The Prodigal Nun

The Prodigal Nun

by Aimee and David Thurlo

This book takes us back to the Our Lady of Hope Monastery near Bernalillo, New Mexico where Sister Agatha is on the trail of another murderer. One Sunday, just before mass was scheduled to begin in the chapel, one of the parishioners was shot and killed. Jane Sanchez was a vitriolic woman but she did not deserve to be gunned in the monastery parking lot. Sister Agatha hops on the monastery's Harley and Pax, the retired police dog that the nuns adopted, jumps into the sidecar to protect her as she drives around Bernalillo to look for clues to Jane's murder. -- recommended by Donna G. - Eiseley and Walt Branch Libraries

[ official Aimee and David Thurlo web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think?

Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

Self-Reliance, and Other Essays

Self Reliance, and Other Essays

by Ralph Waldo Emerson

One of the great classics of American thought and philosophy -- a must-read for those wishing to experience true American voices. -- recommended by Bob B. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ Full text of Emerson's "Self Reliance" essay ] [ Ralph Waldo Emerson entry on Wikipedia ] [ Emersoncentral.com ]

Have you read this one? What did you think?

Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

2008 Nebraska Book Festival

Lincoln-area Book Lovers --

2008 Nebraska Book Festival

-- October 17-18 -- Lincoln, NE

The Festival is free and open to the public with no pre-registration required except for the luncheon. It will include panel discussions, writing workshops, round table discussions, poetry and prose readings, book sales, and other events for adult readers and writers. These will be held at various locations in downtown Lincoln.

The Festival will open with a keynote address on Friday by Kent Haruf, author of Plainsong (the first One Book One Lincoln selection back in 2002), Eventide and other novels of the midwest.

The Lincoln Children's Museum will host a program for children, developed by Erika Hamilton, of the Nebraska Humanities Council, which features storytellers and hands-on writing experiences.

The Festival will close Saturday evening with a reception at the Great Plains Art Museum honoring Professor Paul Johnsgard, author of more than fifty books on birds and the Nebraska ecosystem.

The Nebraska Book Festival is sponsored by the Nebraska Arts Council, Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Humanities Council, Nebraska Library Commission, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Anybody planning to attend?

Neuromancer

Neuromancer

by William Gibson

Spectacular and inventive science fiction -- one of the modern classics. Gibson is often credited with creating the framework for the genre tropes associated with Cyberspace and Cyberpunk as a literary form. In Neuromancer, we have the prototypical cyberpunk elements -- a young, counter-culture protagonist, who makes use of cutting edge technology...in this case a worldwide computer network that can be biologically "jacked into", to fight against a larger organization. Gibson's edgy imagery and terminology may sound commonplace to a present-day reader, but Neuromancer was extremely prescient at the time it first came out. It's a Hugo , Nebula and Philip K. Dick award winner -- and justifiably so. Neuromancer is an absolute classic and shouldn't be missed by any science fiction or speculative fiction fan. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ official Neuromancer page on the official William Gibson web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think?

Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

The Name of the Wind

Name of the Wind
by Patrick Rothfuss

Name of the Wind is a book for those that love being lost in descriptive worlds of nuance and good storytelling. The book is part coming-of-age story, part autobiography, and part myth. The story is about Kvothe, a larger-than-life figure known to be a powerful magician, bard, genius, and legend. He is also thought to be dead. But, one day a man named Chronicler discovers his whereabouts and begs for him to tell his story. Told in voices reflective of the different periods of his life the reader is drawn into all Kvothe has to offer. Those that enjoy richly drawn worlds with a touch of magic will love the easy-to-read storytelling style of Rothfuss. -- recommended by Sean S. - Virtual Services Department

[ official Patrick Rothfuss and The Name of the Wind web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think?

Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

Chuck Amuck and Chuck Reducks

Chuck Amuck and Chuck Reducks

by Chuck Jones

Chuck Amuck (and a follow-up volume Chuck Reducks) is the lighthearted but extremely informative autobiography of legendary cartoon animator Chuck Jones. Jam-packed with copious illustrations, Chuck Amuck delves into Jones' early animation career and culminates in the many years he spent working in the animation department at Warner Brothers, helping to create dozens of characters and writing and directing hundreds of classic cartoon characters -- like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety and Sylvester, the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote, and so many more. Jones has a playful sense of humor, and makes this read as if you were sitting down with an old friend sharing a series of humorous anecdotes. A must-read for classic animation fans, or anyone who grew up watching the classic Warner Brothers cartoons! I will have to admit, though, that I found the first volume far more entertaining than the second. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ official Chuck Jones web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think?

Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

New Mystery Booklist - The Phryne Fisher series

We've added a new booklist, in pdf format, to the listings on the BookGuide site -- a complete list of the novels in the Phryne Fisher mystery series. This popular Australian series, set in 1920s Melbourne, features a competent and cheeky young woman as a private investigator.

The 4th volume in the series, Death at Victoria Dock, is our September selection for the Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group, and this booklist was prepared as a handout to accompany that discussion.

The Lincoln City Libraries currently owns volumes 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, 12 and 14 in this 17 volume series. The others are available as requests through our Interlibrary Loan service.

Celebrate the Freedom to Read During Banned Books Week

Celebrate the Freedom to Read During Banned Books Week - Adult Fiction
Originally uploaded by BookGuide at LCL

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read
September 27th - October 4th, 2008

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year. Observed since 1982, this annual ALA event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted. This year, 2008, marks BBW's 27th anniversary (September 27 through October 4).

BBW celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met.

BBW is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, American Library Association, American Society of Journalists and Authors, Association of American Publishers, National Association of College Stores, and is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. --American Library Association Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read 2008.

Banned Books Week Resources:

Banned Books Week Basics: Why Banned Books Week? Why Are Books Challenged? Who Challenges Books? What Is the Difference Between a Banned Book and a Challenged Book?

100 Most Frequently Challenged Books 1990-1999

Most Challenged Books of the 21st Century

Paradise

Paradise
by Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison is risky, honest, and a brilliant writer! -- recommended by Andrea S. - former of the Anderson and Bethany Branch Libraries

[ unofficial web site dedicated to Paradise ] [ official web site of the Toni Morrison Society ]

Have you read this one? What did you think?

Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

Mystery Scene Magazine

Mystery Scene Magazine

Mystery Scene magazine is a bi-monthly publication that should be right up the alley of any mystery fiction fans. This slick-covered periodical features regular interviews with famed and up-and-coming authors, fascinating looks at subgenres and quirky mystery-related topics, and excellent reviews of new and classic works in the mystery field. The first few pages of every issue also feature "breaking news" and announcements about recent award winners (or nominees) in the mystery fiction field. For readers lamenting the loss of the classic Armchair Detective magazine several years ago, Mystery Scene should give you a fix nearly worthy of that literary giant. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library [Note: Currently available only at the Gere Branch library.]

[ official Mystery Scene magazine web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think?

Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

Agatha Awards

We've been updating some of the Award Winner booklists on BookGuide with new information. Here were the winners of the Agatha Awards (for traditional, or "cozy" mystery fiction), as presented at the Malice Domestic XX convention this past spring:

Best Novel: A Fatal Grace, by Louise Penny
Best First Novel: Prime Time, by Hank Phillippi Ryan
Best Non-Fiction: Arthur Conan Doyle, A Life in Letters, by Jon Lellenberg, Daniel Stashower and Charles Foley
Best Short Story: "A Rat's Tale", by Donna Andrews, in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Sep/Oct 2007
Best Children's/Young Adult: A Light in the Cellar, by Sarah Masters Buckey

King Con

King Con

by Stephen J. Cannell

Television's super-producer (he created, wrote for or executive-produced over 30 different series, including The Rockford Files, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Hardcastle and McCormick, The Greatest American Hero, Wiseguy, Profit, Stingray and Silk Stalkings) has become a full-time novelist, with fourteen novels to his credit. King Con was one of his earliest, and is still one of my favorites. Cannell was well known for his snappy dialog and quirky characters on TV, and King Con seems to capture that writing style more effectively than any of his other novels to date. Con man extraordinaire Beano Bates teams up with an agressive female New Jersey Assistant Attorney General to run a series of small cons, leading up to a "big con" against the notorious Jersey gangster who nearly killed him. John Travolta was rumored to be in the running as Bates in a possible movie version of this story, scripted by Cannell, which never came to be. So, in the meantime, enjoy this fast-paced thriller, filled with extremely quirky characters and powered by snappy dialog. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ official Stephen J. Cannell web site - focusing on both his books and TV series ]

Have you read this one? What did you think?

Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

Read It and Eat

Read It and Eat

by Sarah Gardner [028.9 Gar]

Sarah Gardner's newsletter, The Literary Gathering, is the inspiration for this book about two of her passions -- reading and food. The book is designed as a guide for book groups. Gardner offers a selection of fiction and non-fiction of books with lists of discussion questions and menus with recipes. For example, Gone with the Wind inspired the brunch menu of Eggs O'Hara, Georgia Peach Bread and Frankly My Dear, I Don't Give a Ham. Other menus are based on foods mentioned in the books. Such is the case with the menu for To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout frequently mentions Lane Cake and Gardner includes a recipe for this luscious dessert. Don't belong to a book group? Pick up this book anyway. I found it to be a wonderful walk down memory lane of old favorites and a good introduction to new books. -- recommended by Donna G. - Eiseley and Walt Branch Libraries

[ publisher's page for Read It and Eat ]

Have you read this one? What did you think?

Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

Don't Panic!

...or Do, depending on how strongly you feel about Douglas Adam's popular Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series. Still referred to, humorously, as the Hitchhiker's Trilogy, Douglas actually put out five volumes in his satirical science fiction series before his death in 2001.

Now, Douglas' wife, June Belson, and publisher have contracted with Eoin Colfer, author of the hugely successful Artemis Fowl juvenile fantasy series, to bring out a completely new sixth volume in the Hitchhikers series.

For the full story visit the following links:

Coverage in The Guardian
Announcement on Colfer's web site

Man Booker Prize shortlist for 2008

The Man Booker Prize 2008 shortlisted novels are:

• Aravind Adiga The White Tiger (Atlantic)
• Sebastian Barry The Secret Scripture (Faber and Faber)
• Amitav Ghosh Sea of Poppies (John Murray)
• Linda Grant The Clothes on Their Backs (Virago)
• Philip Hensher The Northern Clemency (Fourth Estate)
• Steve Toltz A Fraction of the Whole (Hamish Hamilton)

http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/stories/1134

Stardust on DVD

Stardust

based on a book and graphic novel by Neil Gaiman

This 2007 motion picture version of Neil Gaiman's 1999 fantasy adventure novel is a charming, humorous delight. Gaiman takes the classic fairy tale, puts some unexpected twists on it, but still leaves us with a recognizable "type" of story. For the feature film, Charlie Cox does a very capable job as the central character, Tristan, who leaves his safe rural village to complete a quest for his "one true love". In the fabulous, frightening world on the other side of the protective wall around his village, Tristan finds himself acting as acting as protector to a fallen star...sought by evil witches who wish to use the star's life to prolong their own. Filled with comical guest appearances, from such actors as Ricky Gervais, Rupert Everett and Robert DeNiro (as a gay pirate), the film's main trio is Cox, Claire Danes and Michelle Pfeiffer (as the main villain). Production values are top notch. Pacing is rapid. And the special effects are great. If you're looking for a fun, comic fantasy film...try this one on for size! -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ official IMdB page for Stardust ] [ Neil Gaiman web site ]

Have you seen this one? What did you think?

Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

New Reviewer Profile - Donna G.

We neglected to mention in August that we've posted another new Reviewer Profile on the BookGuide site -- this time for Donna G., the Virtual Services staffer at the Eiseley and Walt Branch Libraries in Northwest and Southwest Lincoln. You can see her profile responses at:

http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide/profiles/dg-profile.htm
and view previous Reviewer Profiles -- look for the bold link after individual reviewers' names -- at :
http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide/srec/staffrec-indexbyname.htm

Delicatessen

Delicatessen

directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet

This movie has been referred to as both a twisted black comedy and post-apocalyptic horror. The 1991 French film portrays a world where food (and sometimes running water) is scarce. The local currency is comprised of various grains. And, the postman carries a gun to protect himself from muggers. The butcher/landlord who runs the Delicatessen has an agreement with his tenants whereby they don't "squeal" about where he gets the meat from which is sold in his shop and he guarantees not to make them the cut of the day. Things take an interesting turn when the butcher's daughter falls for his newest selection to stock his shelves and aligns herself with the vegetable-eaters to save him. If you like dark comedy - this movie is for you! -- recommended by Jodene G. - Walt Branch Library

[ Internet Movie Database page for Delicatessen ]

Have you seen this one? What did you think?

Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

Read...Discuss...Repeat! - September - Restoring the Burnt Child

The September selection for BookGuide's Read...Discuss...Repeat! has been posted.

This month's title is Restoring the Burnt Child: A Primer, the 2003 autobiography (the 3rd volume in a planned 4 volume set) by Nebraska State Poet William Kloefkorn. Previously the 2008 selection for the statewide One Book One Nebraska program. Kloefkorn is a Lincoln resident, a Professor Emeritus at Nebraska Wesleyan University, and has celebrated over 25 years of serving as the Nebraska State Poet.

Stop by the Read...Discuss...Repeat! page on BookGuide for background information about the book, a list of "readalikes", and links to web sites related to the book and author. Then (or now), if you've read the book, stop by and fill out our on-line comment form to share your thoughts and opinions about Restoring the Burnt Child!

One Book One Lincoln 2008 -- It's The Thirteenth Tale

The selected title for the 2008 One Book -- One Lincoln community reading project was announced on Monday. This year's book is Diane Setterfield's haunting novel, The Thirteenth Tale -- a tribute to the Gothic Literary Tradition, featuring a lonely heroine's journey of discovery as she tries to unearth the truths in a reclusive author's mysterious past.

Visit the official One Book -- One Lincoln web site for background about the book and author, lists of special programming events and book discussion opportunities, and resources to help you appreciate the various topics and themes of the novel.

We look forward to seeing you at any of the upcoming One Book -- One Lincoln events!

Just Desserts moving to South Branch

Hey, mystery fans!

The Just Desserts mystery fiction discussion group, which has been meeting at Bennett Martin Public Library downtown for the past 2+ years, is relocating to the South Branch Library at 27th & South St. This comes as a result of the recent hours changes throughout the libraries. Just Desserts had been meeting 7:00-8:00 on the final Thursday of each month (Jan-Oct). We're continuing with the final Thursdays, but we'll now meet from 6:45 t0 7:45 p.m. at the South Branch (which closes at 8:00).

The book for discussion on September 25th is Kerry Greenwood's historical mystery "Death at Victoria Dock". The book for discussion on October 30th is the classic Sherlock Holmes novel "A Study in Scarlet" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. We encourage participants to have read the selected title, so the entire group can discuss the same book. Time will also be set aside for participants to share comments about what other mystery fiction they've been reading recently.

Participants are also encourage to bring a small dessert selection to share with other readers -- cookies, breads, bars, etc. Coffee and/or juice will be provided. Hope to see you there!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

by Mary Ann Shaffer

If you find yourself craving the inspiration of true friendship, synchronicity, and a heaping helping of the indomitable human spirit, pick up this new release. This novel unfolds as letters written between characters and gently reveals the depths of the devastating effects of the German occupation of Guernsey, one of the channel islands between England and France. Not just another war story, the pages of this volume bob the reader about much like the waves of the water surround this unforgettable island and its charming inhabitants who turn to literature in a time of dire need. -- recommended by Kay V. - Bennett Martin Public Library

[ Publisher's Mary Ann Shaffer web page ]

Have you read this one? What did you think?

Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.