Monday Fun Day - Macmillan Library

Wednesday Fun Day! (5/30/2012 Edition)

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Ali Fisher

It's Wednesday already?! Oh, Time, you sure are a fickle creature!

I hope you all had a beautiful Memorial Day weekend. I'm sure you all set aside at least one of the days to properly celebrate MY BIRTHDAY!! I know I did!

Here's a few fun links to get you excited for the rest of this short week:

- The New York Times Books Section recommended some Books for Basking including GRANDAD, THERE'S A HEAD ON THE BEACH by Colin Cotterill, BRING UP THE BODIES by Hilary Mantel, MOST TALKATIVE by Andy Cohen, and LOVE, LIFE, AND ELEPHANTS by Dame Daphne Sheldrick

"This year 'GRANDAD, THERE'S A HEAD ON THE BEACH' is the best beach title around, and its author, Colin Cotterill, isn’t even pandering." Ha!

- Debut mystery writer Chuck Greaves, who will be livin' it up at the Pop Top Stage at ALA Annual, wrote a heartfelt love letter to libraries and librarians. He writes in part about his impressionable years checking out copies of Ray Bradbury and Robert Heinlein and also about the twenty years he served on the board of directors of the Pasadena Public Library Foundation. Read his post here.

- The GeekDad section of Wired.com featured John Scalzi talking about his latest novel, REDSHIRTS.

"So how can we take these tropes that everybody knows, jump through all these hoops that everybody knows... and still put something in there, structurally speaking, that does the job that we’re supposed to do as storytellers? The real challenge for a storyteller is to take that ‘nudge-nudge-wink-wink’ thinking and simultaneously subvert and fulfill it." See the full article here.

- Also, if you're going to be at ALA Annual in Anaheim, don't forget to pack your Unshelved swag because Saturday is officially Unshelved Day @ ALA!

[...]

Know More...

Monday Fun Day! (5/21/2012 Edition)

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Ali Fisher

Now wait just a minute... it's Monday? Again?! For some reason I thought we were all out of Mondays... Guess not!

- AMONG OTHERS won the Nebula Award for Best Novel!! If you've been ignoring my unreasonably incessant affection (see right) for this title, now's the time to give in and just read it already!

- Talia's slides for the Boston Book Buzz are available to view now (link to Adult deck) (link to Teen deck), so if you're not going to make it to the event, you can still take a look at the lineup. And, more importantly, if you are going to make it to the event, you can fool your co-workers into thinking you're psychic by "guessing" all of the books before she reveals them.

- ATTN: Teen Librarians! Did you see that we're running not one, but TWO(!) delightful signed-series contests? One of them includes the necklace from the Midnight Dragonfly covers! Enter now!

- We have an event plug for ALA Annual... please don't miss The Great Non-Fiction Read-Alike: If You Like This, You’ll LOVE That!.

All-star panelists Alene Moroni (Manager, Selection & Order, King County), Anna Mickelsen (Reference Librarian, Springfield City), Kaite Stover (Manager, Readers’ Services, Kansas City), Robin Nesbitt (Technical Services Director, Columbus Metropolitan), and Stephanie Chase (Head, Reference, Adult Services, & Programming, Multnomah County) will cover major trends in popular non-fiction and recommend upcoming titles with pre-publication buzz as well as titles from your backlist will satisfy your patrons while the best-selling titles are on hold. Add it to your conference schedule now!

- THE SEVEN PEARLS OF FINANCIAL WISDOM received a great review from The Wall Street Journal.

They note that for most financial self-help books "the target reader is a man who has a job, is happily married and has 2½ kids. Some books target specific needs, such as caring and providing for an elderly relative, but they still make certain assumptions. A pioneering new book titled THE SEVEN PEARLS OF FINANCIAL WISDOM aims to fill the gap. Written by Forbes columnist Camilla Webster and financial planner Carol Pepper, the book is aimed at women. [...]

"What really sets 'The Seven Pearls' apart are the assumptions it makes about readers. If you know, love or support an alcoholic in your life, have an aging parent suffering from Alzheimer's disease, are worried about having children and considering or paying for expensive fertilization procedures, hate your job, are dependent on another income earner, or are responsible for someone who is sick, then this the book is for you."

- And finally...

Let me see your war face! twitter.com/EmergencyPuppy…

— Emergency Cute Stuff (@EmergencyPuppy) May 14, 2012

[...]

Know More...

Monday Fun Day! (4/23/2012 Edition)

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Ali Fisher

Hello again, librarian friends!

- TxLA was fantastic this year! Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth and joined us for our author signings, panels, and other events. Please stay in touch! We'll post more about our adventures later this week.

- Congratulations to Tracy K. Smith who won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry with her collection LIFE ON MARS! See all of this year's winners here.

- Tomorrow join us for Booklist's "The Murderous Month of May: Hot Mysteries for Spring" webinar at 2PM Eastern. Sign up now!

- Will you be in Chicago at the end of April? Join Ali for a book buzz on Monday, April 30 in the Harold Washington Library Center (400 S. State St.) in the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium! A complimentary lunch will be served at 12:30PM and the adult buzz starts at 2PM. Sign up now!

- We already mentioned that DON'T EVER GET OLD, the debut mystery from author Daniel Friedman, is getting great reviews. Well, now it has four(!) starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Booklist, AND Kirkus Reviews!

- Also we heard a rumor that Cat Fancy featured NO COOPERATION FROM THE CAT by Marian Babson in a "Books for Cat Lovers" article. We wholeheartedly approve.

bunny kiss

[...]

Know More...

Monday Fun Day! (3/26/2012 Edition)

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Ali Fisher

Happy Monday, librarians!

- Congratulations to Deborah Baker-Receniello of the Oakville Timberland Library who won our Jackie Collins "Pink" Collection giveaway. Enjoy!

- Register now for Library Journal's Spring Adult Book Buzz. I'll be telling you all about some of our hottest upcoming titles! Details here.

- A reminder to those librarians who didn't make it to PLA this year: Talia's book buzz slides are hosted here on the blog (link).

- We're delighted to see that LIE and WHEN THE STARS GO BLUE have been nominated for YALSA’s 2013 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults! See the full list of nominees here.

- And finally check this questionably bada** "library rap" brought to you by MC Poindexter and The Study Crew, the SciFi channel, and Sliders.

[...]

Know More...

Monday Fun Day! (3/12/2012 Edition)

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Ali Fisher

We're off to PLA on Tuesday, so this will be our last post until next Monday. If you're also going to be in Philly this week, please stop by our booth (#1540) and join us for our many wonderful author signings and events! We want to see you! See our full PLA schedule under Conference Info.

And take a peek at Talia's slides for the Book Buzz presentations with Nancy Pearl (link).

jc give While we're away, take a minute to enter the Jackie Collins "Pink" Collection Giveaway for a chance to win some excellent signed Jackie Collins books and audio books!

Three of our excellent titles were longlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction: HALF-BLOOD BLUES by Esi Edugyan, TIDES OF WAR by Stella Tillyard, and THE SUBMISSION by Amy Waldman! See the full longlist here.

Take another look at the letter we posted last week from author and librarian Eleanor Kuhns to librarians (link). Also, our buddies at Minotaur Books are running an A SIMPLE MURDER Advance Readers' Edition Sweepstakes right now! Enter here for a chance to win a galley.

[...]

Know More...

Monday Fun Day! (2/27/2012 Edition)

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Ali Fisher

Welcome back, Monday!

- Library Journal's Douglas Lord strikes again with another round of bada** books for dude-identified readers. He said there has been "mucho good new reading around BFD HQ lately," including two of our books:

On CITY OF BOHANE by Kevin Barry he said, "It’s elegiac, lyrical, rollicking fun that mixes Brian Friel with A CLOCKWORK ORANGE." And he recommends that you try it "if you are tired of the same old crap."

On THE FOREST LAIRD: A Tale of William Wallace by Jack Whyte he said, "There’s brotherhood, patriotism, and political intrigue. And archery."

See all of the good Lord's recommendations in "The Good Guys, the Bad Guys, and the Ugly Guys in Six Suspenseful New Novels."

- Flavorwire took a liking to this year's Debut with the Best Library-Themed Cover (according to us), GIRLCHILD! They said, "The book is an inventive, electric story of youth and survival, as smart, Girl Scout-obsessed Rory, refusing to accept her fate as one of the 'third-generation bastards surely on the road to whoredom,' navigates her world." Earn your literary girl survivalism badge by reading your way through Hassman's book list (link).

- Following up on my #FridayReads: I finished the curious debut SHINE SHINE SHINE this weekend... no thanks to this mischievous feline! Nice try, cat, but you can't sabotage my weekend reading that easily!

- Also check out my paperback book club picks!

- And finally, this week's Macmillan Library Author Crush, er, I mean Profile is... Brad Parks! If you didn't catch the Author Buzz Focus for THE GIRL NEXT DOOR in Shelf Awareness, take a peek here!

[...]

Know More...

Fat Tuesday Fun Day! (2/21/2012 Edition)

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Ali Fisher

Happy Fat Tuesday, librarians!

We wish you many pancakes and much mischief on this day.

- If you're Philadelphia-bound next month for the Public Library Association Conference (PLA), we posted our full schedule of events under Conference Info. RSVP to the author events now!

- Malice Domestic has announced the 2011 Agatha Award nominees and there are some excellent titles that made their list. Take a look!

- The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America have also announced a list of nominees, in their case for the 2011 Nebula Awards! I am particularly excited to see Jo Walton's AMONG OTHERS nominated for Best Novel. See the full list here!

- Finally, there's still time to enter our creative contest for THE LOVER'S DICTIONARY here on the blog! Enter here.

[...]

Know More...

Monday Fun Day! (2/13/2012 Edition)

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Ali Fisher

Happy Monday, lovely librarians! Let's kick of the week with some great reads.

- For the SHADES OF MILK AND HONEY fans out there, tor.com posted a nice long excerpt from the beginning of the sequel, GLAMOUR IN GLASS. It begins,

"There are few things in this world that can at once delight and dismay to the same extent as a formal dinner party."

Read the full excerpt here.

- Shelf Awareness reviewed Esi Edugyan's Scotiabank Giller-winning novel, HALF-BLOOD BLUES. They said,

"One of the risks of historical fiction is that the history can get in the way of the fiction; the author's imagination is often crammed into a box of flat characters and plodding narrative in the name of accuracy. Such is not the case with Esi Edugyan's atmospheric second novel. [...] Edugyan's prose sparkles not only with the jive and banter of jazz musicians, but also with the metaphors of a music built on improvisation."

Read the full review here.

- NPR did a feature on Tupelo Hassman's GIRLCHILD (which you will recognize as the Featured Cover from our January e-newsletter!).

"Tupelo Hassman writes with such an eye for rough-and-tough detail, she obviously knows something about kids who have been given the dubious gift of premature autonomy."

Read the full feature here.

- Author S.J. Bolton posted a piece on Goodreads called "Why we need our libraries." She talks about the experience of her local library (in the U.K.) transferring into the hands of the community after the government withdrew support. Bolton was then asked to manage the future purchase and rotation of books which she gladly accepted. Here are a few choice quotes from the article:

"A library, like the pub, the post office, the village shop, is part of the fabric of the community."

"No one, especially not my neighbours, should imagine the battle is over. Passing libraries into community ownership hasn't saved them, it has given them a stay of execution. If we are to keep them into the future, we'll need the ongoing commitment of our volunteers and the financial support of our sponsors. Most of all, though, we will need our libraries to be used."

Read the full article here.

[...]

Know More...

Monday Fun Day! (2/06/2012 Edition)

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Ali Fisher

Welcome back to the work week, folks! Here's a little Monday fun to get things started:

- Last week Talia, Stephanie Chase, Alene Moroni, and I were featured in EarlyWord modeling their brand new, mega-chic GalleyChat buttons. See the article here!

- Flavorwire puts THREATS and HALF-BLOOD BLUES on their list of "10 New Must Reads for February." We agree! See the full list here.

- Looking ahead to the Indie Next List for March, we see THE STARBOARD SEA, THE INQUISITOR, THE DOG WHO DANCED, and GYPSY BOY. See the full list here.

- And a word on the big game:

We would be remiss to ignore all of the sports excitement from this weekend, so we'll extend our congratulations to this year's MVP (Most Valuable Puppy, that is), Fumble!

Watch highlights from Puppy Bowl VIII* here.

*Apparently humans were playing a similar game this weekend, but that might just be rumor.

[...]

Know More...

Monday Fun Day! (1/30/2012 Edition)

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Ali Fisher

Well, well, well; if it isn't Monday. You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here again, Monday...

Only kidding! It's going to be a GREAT week, I can feel it in my bones (or maybe that's just the lingering post-Midwinter exhaustion). Either way, we've got a few fun tidbits to kick things off for you.

- Minotaur swept the 2012 Dilys Award nomination list boasting four out of the five nominated titles! The Minotaur nominees are:

WICKED AUTUMN by G.M. Malliet
TAG MAN by Archer Mayor
A TRICK OF THE LIGHT by Louise Penny
GHOST HERO by S.J. Rozan

See the full list of nominated titles here.

- I mentioned it last week, but I'm still tickled to see Talia and her librarian buddies pictured in Library Journal's recap of the RUSA awards ceremony. If you haven't seen it, take a look!

- Jonathan Galassi, president and publisher of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, was featured in The New York Times on Sunday. Read the article, "Contradictions of the Heart," now.

- We're loving blogger Tiffany Gibert's literary outfits. So far she's recreated the cover looks from SMUT by Alan Bennett and SKIPPY DIES by Paul Murray. I wonder what's next up her sleeve (or on it)!

And if you made it here from Unshelved, welcome! Feel free to poke around. We recommend our Books for Teens page and the About Us section. Also we would love it if you introduced yourself in the comments section.

[...]

Know More...