New Arrival!

How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely

From Publishers Weekly
Biting, hilarious and improbably affectionate, comedy writer Hely's debut skewers the literary world with a sendup of the quest to write the Great American Novel. Words are Pete Tarslaw's thing, and after watching a bestselling novelist prattle on about the truth, his calling and other ridiculous ideas on TV, Pete concludes that the sole way to save face at his ex-girlfriend's upcoming wedding is to become a famous novelist himself. His quest to construct a by-the-numbers bestseller is guided by rules like "At dull points include descriptions of delicious meals and where to live (An easy way to get credibility as an author is to live someplace rugged), though the real adventure starts once he bags $15,000 for The Tornado Ashes Club: his dance card is full of one-night stands, dizzying meet-and-greets with Hollywood big shots and appearances at grad schools. Meanwhile, Pete senses his moral barometer plummet as his Amazon ranking rises. Granted, Hely's shooting at some pretty easy targets that have been hit before, but it's hard not to love the way he does it with such merciless zeal. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reviews
“Biting, hilarious, and improbably affectionate.”—Publishers Weekly

“A hilarious send-up of literary pretensions and celebrity culture. . . . Will hit close to home for publishers, writers, and readers.”—Bob Minzesheimer, USA Today

“A satiric, facetious, and laugh-out-loud funny first novel.”—Kirkus (starred review)

Trips on a Tankful

Although stories about the economic crisis are becoming fewer and farther between, many of us are still watching our wallets like hawks. We want (o wait! make that NEED) to vacation without putting ourselves into the poor house. So how do you get that invigorating "just vacationed" feeling without breaking the bank? Take a trip on a tankful!

Visit Rhode Island offers some great ideas of day trips, links to tourist information centers all across Rhody, maps, contests, you name it! The site is meant to promote the awesomeness that is Rhode Island and to alert you to all the wonderful local fun stuff and businesses happening in our very happening state.

So go ahead: take a day trip with the loved ones and feel like a new person when Monday rolls around again!

Just Arrived! Great Debut Novel!

You or Someone Like You by Chandler Burr

Summary
Anne Rosenbaum leads a life of quiet Los Angeles privilege, the wife of Hollywood executive Howard Rosenbaum and mother of their seventeen-year-old son, Sam. Years ago Anne and Howard met studying literature at Columbia—she, the daughter of a British diplomat from London, he a boy from an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn. Now on sleek blue California evenings, Anne attends halogen-lit movie premieres on the arm of her powerful husband. But her private life is lived in the world of her garden, reading books.

When one of Howard's friends, the head of a studio, asks Anne to make a reading list, she casually agrees—though, as a director reminds her, "no one reads in Hollywood." To her surprise, they begin calling: screen-writers; producers, from their bungalows; and agents, from their plush offices on Wilshire and Beverly. Soon Anne finds herself leading an exclusive book club for the industry elite. Emerging gradually from her seclusion, she guides her readers into the ideas and beauties of Donne, Yeats, Auden, and Mamet, with her brilliant and increasingly bold opinions. But when a crisis of identity unexpectedly turns an anguished Howard back toward the Orthodoxy he left behind as a young man, Anne must set out to save what she values above all else: her husband's love.

At once fiercely intelligent and emotionally grip-ping, You or Someone Like You confronts the fault lines between inherited faith and personal creed, and, through the surprising transformation of one exceptional, unforgettable woman, illuminates literature's power to change our lives.

Review
"Smart, literate, and humane...deftly melds an entertaining tour through...the culture of the moment with an original investigation into the timeless themes of great literature and the painful, private fault lines of deep marital love. In the process, he creates a heroine that few readers will forget." (John Burnham Schwartz, author of The Commoner and Reservation Road)

"Provocative...weighs in on the issue of identity politics and also makes a powerful case for why great books are a great danger to small minds." (NPR's Fresh Air )

"You Or Someone Like You is a pitch-perfect, often very funny novel about why, in this crazy world, we still bother to read. It's for anyone who defiantly clings to the belief that a book can change our lives." (David Ebershoff, author of The 19th Wife and The Danish Girl)

"In his first, well crafted and thoroughly enjoyable novel, New York Times scent critic Chandler Burr presents a sweeping spectrum, set in Hollywood, of contemporary religious and social issues...it is well worth the read." (Jewish Book World)

"A true celebration of intellect.examines the personal decision each of us must make to run from, or embrace, our identity." (Publishers Weekly)

"A savvy novel that deals with Hollywood from a cultural rather than a tabloid perspective." (Kirkus Reviews *starred*)

"[Burr's] field work serves the novel well, with depictions of Los Angeles culture that feel spot-on...It's a genuine thrill to read what people like Albert Brooks, to give just one of many examples, might think of Jude the Obscure..." (Time Out New York)

And Now Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Program...

Sorry about the break. It's been almost one week since I've updated our blog. But I'm back and I've got something for ya (don't I always?). Here's a new mystery we just ordered and you will love it!

Last Known Address by Theresa Schwegel

Summary

Detective Sloane Pearson is new to the Sex Crimes Division but no stranger to being treated like an incompetent blonde by her hardened male co-workers. She’s also no stranger to hard-to-crack cases, and her latest is as tough as they come: A rapist is on the prowl, dragging women to deserted building sites or vacant apartment buildings peppered all over downtown Chicago, and forcing them to fight---knowing, of course, that he’ll win.

When a real estate agent Sloane knows is attacked by the violent predator, Sloane finds herself taking a case that threatens her secret plans to leave her long-time lover. Her personal bond with the victim and a would-be relationship with a man she interviews along the way lead Sloane down a dangerous path---one that poisons the investigation as well as her personal life.

Sloane’s balancing act topples when her father falls ill. Between coping with his weak heart and following the few weak leads she has, her case begins to go the way that many rape cases go: The victims fall away, one by one, suddenly unsure of what they saw or unwilling to relive the horrifying moments again and again.

When Sloane helps a hungry young Sun-Times reporter declare the case serial, she loses support: Her bosses demand she get a suspect or move on. Sloane stays on the case, though---no matter how much it strains her personal relationships. Even her partner claims she’s in too deep: He doesn’t believe there’s an arrest on the planet worth a cop’s life. Sloane disagrees: Someone’s got to take up the fight.

From the worst slums of Chicago’s west side to the glittering Loop skyscrapers, Sloane finds no shortage of suspects. As she loses everything she’d called home, she can only hope to find the rapist before she also becomes a victim.

Alas Dear Reader, a Great Sadness Fall Upon Us...

Blah. Blech. Yuck.

Okay, I've officially "had it" with this weather! It's June 6th and I want to get a sunburn. I want the backs of my thighs to helplessly stick to the vinyl seats in my car. I want to complain about the unbearable humidity like the dutiful New Englander I am! And thus far I have not been able to do any of my traditional summer activities yet. I'm starting to become logy (great word, no?). Then I thought if I'm logy, you might be logy too. So that makes for a logy party of two. And what if a great number of other people are feeling logy as well? Oh my! That's a disturbing amount of logy for little Rhody.

Thus to combat the vast, mass loginess abounding in the Ocean State, let's watch this silly video.



Now don't you feel better?

New Arrival!

Do Not Deny Me: Stories by Jean Thompson

Do you love David Sedaris? (You do?! Yet another reason I liked you!!) Here's a wonderful new author (fiction, mind you) for you to read.

Product Description
Jean Thompson, heralded as "America's Alice Munro...one of the best contemporary short-story writers" by Kirkus Reviews, delivers twelve exquisite new stories that combine her beloved trademarks of dark humor, seductively sharp wit, and uncanny observations on human nature. Do Not Deny Me is a fictional primer on how Americans live day to day: Thompson's characters -- a middle manager in the midst of midlife crisis, an urban single visiting her best friend turned suburban mother, a grieving woman looking for guidance -- are instantly recognizable in their predicaments, foibles, and sensibilities.

A brilliantly wrought exploration of the myriad circumstances that Americans are experiencing right now, this superlative collection perfectly captures the joys and amusements, trials and sorrows of its fictional inhabitants. Do Not Deny Me should be savored, word by word.

For more information about Jean Thompson, check out her website.

New Arrival!

Perpetual Check by Rich Wallace

This is a gem of a book that only 3 libraries in Rhode Island own. And we've got it!

Summary
Randy is a chubby ninth grader with a Cub Scout hair cut who guesses M&M colors with his eyes closed and makes up words. He’s also a chess whiz who has defeated his older brother Zeke in nine of their last ten matches. Zeke is a high school senior, a soccer champ, and a chess natural who can beat just about anyone if he decides to really concentrate. So why is his loser little brother the better athlete, the better chess player, and the first to have a girlfriend?

The competition heightens when both Randy and Zeke qualify for the Northeast Regional of the Pennsylvania High School Chess Championships (Randy is seeded, Zeke is not)—and play their way right into a brother-to-brother final round. Told in alternating points of view between brothers, Rich Wallace’s new novel brings to life one of America’s favorite pastimes in a suspenseful story about competition and family loyalty.

Rich Wallace is the author of several books for young adults, including One Good Punch, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; and Wrestling Sturbridge, an ALA Quick Pick. He lives in Pennsylvania.

Review from Booklist
Two brothers endure a weekend chess tournament in this novel told in alternating viewpoints. Zeke, a high-school senior, has an edgier personality than his brother, Randy, a freshman who takes a relaxed, humorous, and savvy approach to life. The brothers are not helped by their jerk of a father, who spouts off clichés glorifying aggression. Both brothers’ voices describe Zeke’s gradual realization that emulating his angry and shallow father will get him nowhere, in chess or in his relationships. Eventually, the brothers meet in a match and grow closer through the experience. Wallace makes a subtle connection between the ability to see potential moves on a board and the ability to see the truth of life, and he tells his story in a series of revealing details. Wisely, he doesn’t let the story go on too long and offers a short novel that presents a fascinating study of two fully formed characters.
Grades 8-11.
--Todd Morning

Young Adult Summer Pen Pal Program

A very cool thing is happening in RI thanks to the amazing Aaron C., Young Adult librarian at Greenville Public Library. Aaron is putting together a YA summer pen pal program for teens 11-18 years old. And we are talking old school pen-pal'ing. Paper and pen! (Come on, you know you want to try it. See how old people did it way back in the 1980s.)

Here's the 411:

~Fill out an introductory letter form* and turn it in to the MPL Reference Department by July 3rd. (*Forms are available in the YA section or email ChristinaWolfskehl@yahoo.com for a copy.)

~Aaron C. (the YA librarian I mentioned above) will match you with someone your age who has the same interests. Your pen pal will be from another town or city in Rhode Island.

~Check back after July 14th to find out who your pen pal partner is.

~Write letters to your pen pal and turn them in at the Reference Desk. (Don't worry! The letters are only read by your snail-mail buddy. We just save you the postage when we forward them to your pen pal.)

~I will email/call when you receive a new letter from your pen pal.

So whaddaya say? Take a break from texting and try connecting with someone the old fashion way.