Happy Half Hour (6/12/23)

This Happy Half Hour takes us on an adventure with Sherlock Holmes’s sister, solving a murder with a newfound medium, following one larger-than-life family through travel and drama, and through the research and story of the Murdaugh family murders. ENOLA HOLMES AND THE MARK OF THE MONGOOSE by Nancy Springer | 9781250885739 | 9/5/23THE ACCIDENTAL […]

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Book Club Recommendations (5/17/23)

Wondering what to read next with your book club? Check out this list of recommendations filled with family dynamics, multigenerational sagas, the power of community, and more thought-provoking and highly discussable topics! Click here to view to find even more book club news, resources, sweepstakes, and more. THE BEE STING by Paul Murray Available for download […]

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New Edelweiss E-galleys (1/9/23)

Hello e-galley readers! Check out some of the exciting e-galleys that were recently added to Edelweiss for your downloading pleasure: EVERYTHING IS FINE: Volume One by Mike Birchall9781990259913 | 5/16/23 We need to forget. You know as well as I do. Sam and Maggie are a normal couple, in a normal house, in a normal […]

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Booklist Book Clubs Abuzz webinar

Booklist Book Clubs Abuzz webinar

Yesterday Talia “the troublemaker” Sherer highlighted her favorite titles during Booklist‘s Book Clubs Abuzz webinar. If you were lucky enough to listen in you chuckled at her jokes and cringed at her awful songs. If you missed out, don’t worry—we’ve got Talia’s top picks and a link to the archived webinar below. Fiction: For Women, […]

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Best Books of 2013!

Best Books of 2013!

We've had an amazing year in books and are thrilled to be represented on so many Best of 2013 lists. Here's a look at the highlights:
BOOKLIST

Arts & Literature
     IN THE BODY OF THE WORLD by Eve Ensler

Biography
     JACK LONDON by Earle Labor

Health & Medicine
     IN THE KINGDOM OF THE SICK by Laurie Edwards

History
     THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE by David Finkel 

Social Sciences
     EBONY AND IVY by Craig Steven Wilder
     GOSPEL OF FREEDOM by Jonathan Rieder
     HOPE AGAINST HOPE by Sarah Carr
     IN THE NAME OF GOD by Cameron Stauth
     THE UNWINDING by George Packer

Adult Books for Young Adults
  
     A CHANCE TO WIN by Jonathan Schuppe
     THE GAMAL by Ciarán Collins

Books for Youth 
     ELEANOR & PARK by Rainbow Rowell
     IF YOU FIND ME by Emily Murdoch

Audio for Adults
 
     HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN by Louise Penny

 

KIRKUS REVIEWS 

Best Fiction
     LOOKAWAY, LOOKAWAY by Wilton Barnhardt
     BOX OFFICE POISON by Phillipa Bornikova
     GHOSTS OF BUNGO SUIDO by P.T. Deutermann
     MIDNIGHT by Kevin Egan
     JEEVES AND THE WEDDING BELLS by Sebastian Faulks
     HAVISHAM by Ronald Frame
     TRANSCENDENTAL by James Gunn
     GOOD PEOPLE by Ewart Hutton
     SOMEONE by Alice McDermott  
     THE NIGHT GUEST by Fiona McFarlane
     SOMETHING MORE THAN NIGHT by Ian Tregillis
     THE LAND ACROSS by Gene Wolfe
     QUEEN VICTORIA’S BOOK OF SPELLS by Ellen Datlow 

Best Teen 
     ELEANOR & PARK by Rainbow Rowell 

Best Nonfiction  
     THE GUNS AT LAST LIGHT by Rick Atkinson
     REPORT FROM THE INTERIOR by Paul Auster
     SHOUTING WON'T HELP by Katherine Bouton
     MORTAL SINS by Michael D'Antonio
     THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE by David Finkel
     THE SEARCHERS by Glenn Frankel
     THE GREAT DISSENT by Thomas Healy
     THE BOOK OF MY LIVES by Aleksandar Hemon
     THE BROTHERS by Stephen Kinzer
     A FORT OF NINE TOWERS by Qais Akbar Omar
     THE UNWINDING by George Packer
     MEN WE REAPED by Jesmyn Ward
     EBONY AND IVY by Craig Steven Wilder

 

LIBRARY JOURNAL

Top 10 Best Books of 2013   
     THE SEARCHERS by Glenn Frankel 

More of the Best 
     JACK LONDON by Earle Labor
     OWNING THE EARTH by Andro Linklater

Best Books 2013: Memoir 
     HER by Christa Parravani

Best Books 2013: Consumer Health 
     MIDLIFE EATING DISORDERS by Cynthia M. Bulik 

Best Books 2013: Sci-Tech  
     BUG MUSIC by David Rothenberg

Best Books 2013: Audio  
     LOOKAWAY, LOOKAWAY by Wilton Barnhardt
     HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN by Louise Penny

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Top 10 Best Books of 2013  
     MEN WE REAPED by Jesmyn Ward  

Best Fiction  
     PERCIVAL EVERETT BY VIRGINIA RUSSELL by Virgil Russell
     SOMEONE by Alice McDermott

Best Mystery  
     HOUR OF THE RED GOD by Richard Crompton
     HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN by Louise Penny
     ENIGMA OF CHINA by Qiu Xiaolong

Best Poetry  
     METAPHYSICAL DOG by Frank Bidart
     INCARNADINE by Mary Szybist

Best SF/Fantasy/Horror  
     TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY SCIENCE FICTION, edited by David G. Hartwell and Patrick Nielsen Hayden
     VICIOUS by V.E. Schwab

Best Comics
     THE PROPERTY by Rutu Modan

Best Nonfiction  
     MEN WE REAPED by Jesmyn Ward
     MORTAL SINS by Michael D'Antonio
     THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE by David Finkel
     FORTY-ONE FALSE STARTS by Janet Malcolm
     SCARCITY by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir
     THE UNWINDING by George Packer

Best Children's Fiction  
     ELEANOR & PARK by Rainbow Rowell

Best Religion  
     MY BRIGHT ABYSS by Christian Wiman


SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL  

Best Fiction
     ELEANOR & PARK by Rainbow Rowell
     FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell

LibraryReads logoAnd here are all of our LibraryReads’ selections from 2013:

September list 
     #1: FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell
     #2: HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN by Louise Penny

November list
     #2: THROUGH THE EVIL DAYS by Julia Spencer-Fleming
     #8: THE RAVEN'S EYE by Barry Maitland

December list 
     #7: DANGEROUS WOMEN, edited by George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois
     #9: THE TRIP TO ECHO SPRING by Olivia Laing

While it's not technically a "Best of 2013" list, NPR's Book Concierge is definitely a collection of favorites throughout the year. 

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Monday Fun Day! (9/9/2013 Edition)

Monday Fun Day! (9/9/2013 Edition)

Our weekend involved authors & kittens. 

What more is there to life, really? 
 Louise Penny & Wilton Barnhardt events

Talia attended local bookstore events for Louise Penny (HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN) and Wilton Barnhardt (LOOKAWAY, LOOKAWAY) at Flyleaf Books and McIntyre's Books. All were smash hits as you can see from the standing room only pictures. 

Anne kitty beach

Meanwhile, Anne hit the Rockaways and found kittens living under the boardwalk. She (of course) wanted to take all seven of them home that instant! Fear not! a neighborhood kitten wrangler is keeping an eye on them.  Phew! 

We hope your week is off to a good start!

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NYTBR loves LOOKAWAY, LOOKAWAY

NYTBR loves LOOKAWAY, LOOKAWAY

We love Wilton Barnhardt's LOOKAWAY, LOOKAWAY and are thrilled to see the latest great praise from the New York Times Book Review:

“Lacerating but affectionate, as exuberant as it is shrewd, LOOKAWAY, LOOKAWAY is a Southern novel so sure-footed the only real question for Barnhardt is, 'What took you so long?' The book is all about its characters, each of them delightfully flawed. Southern literature is full of humor but strangely short on satire. Barnhardt gleefully leaps into this gap like a man with a very long to-do list.... LOOKAWAY, LOOKAWAY is that rare thing: an excellent long novel that’s not long enough.” (An Editor's Choice selection!)

More reviews are still to come from People Magazine and the Wall Street Journal (among others), and it’s a September Indie Next pick

But wait, there's more! He's got a great website, including drool-worthy barbecue pictures

And don't forget you can send your friends some sassy Southern-style e-cards (especially if they wear white after Labor Day). 

book e-card 

- A little tactlessness every now and then can be strategic—but there's never any excuse for tastelessness. 

- We have had the misfortune in this family to enjoy privilege and to enjoy fortune but, inconveniently, not at the same time.

- If you don't know how to sustain the simplest of white lies, you have NO place in High Society!

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Monday Fun Day! (8/12/2013 Edition)

Monday Fun Day! (8/12/2013 Edition)

It's Monday again, librarian friends, and we're kicking it off with one of our classic collections of digital bits and bobs.

- First things first, keep your eyes locked to LibraryReads.org tomorrow mid-morning to see the very first LibraryReads monthly recommendation list! LibraryReads is a new program, launching tomorrow, which harnesses the value of 'library staff picks' into a single nation-wide discovery tool, a monthly list of ten newly released must-reads. So exciting!

- Publishers Weekly included SALINGER on a list of page-to-screen adaptations to be aware of that are coming this fall. The film SALINGER based on SALINGER: A Biography by Paul Alexander will premiere in September. If you're subscribed to Publishers Weekly you can read the full article here

- Chelsea Cain's latest white-knuckle thriller, LET ME GO, releases tomorrow! Cheryl Strayed recommended it. Criminal Element featured it. And the Huffington Post ran a great new title alert:

"As LET ME GO opens, it's both Halloween Weekend and Archie's birthday. Obviously the combination of these auspicious occasions primes us for Gretchen's return to Archie's life, which has at this point reached some modicum of normalcy, though not for long. [...] LET ME GO also reveals a side of Gretchen that we very rarely see and I won't spoil the surprise for you; you'll have to read the book to see what I'm talking about."

 

 

- Flavorwire posted "50 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Novels That Everyone Should Read." 

- Finally, if you're into Southern-style sass served ice cold, check out these cheeky e-cards based on Wilton Barnhardt's LOOKAWAY, LOOKAWAY:

book e-card

More! Sassy! E-cards!

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Sneak Peek: The September Indie Next List

Sneak Peek: The September Indie Next List

indie next logoI know, I know—it's only July, but we just got word that a few of our super fine fall titles are going to be featured on the September Indie Next List and we had to share the good news! 

The following books have been selected as "Great Reads from Booksellers You Trust."

LOOKAWAY, LOOKAWAY by Wilton Barnhardt

HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN by Louise Penny

BITTER RIVER by Julia Keller

THE AFFAIRS OF OTHERS by Amy Grace Loyd 

THE BONE SEASON by Samantha Shannon

You'll also see A HUNDRED FLOWERS by Gail Tsukiyama in the "NOW IN PAPERBACK: Indie Next List Selections Come to Paperback" section.

[...]

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Tuesday Fun Day! (4/16/2013 Edition)

Tuesday Fun Day! (4/16/2013 Edition)

Hello librarians,

I'm back in New York and wishing you all a wonderful National Library Week! I'm wearing my very best yellow, plaid skirt and evergreen sweater combo in tribute to you.

In book news:

- The Man Booker Prize winning novel, BRING UP THE BODIES by Hilary Mantel, is one of six novels on the 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist!

- CURSE OF THE JADE LILY by David Housewright is the winner of the 25th annual Minnesota Book Award for Genre Fiction! The honor is awarded by the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, the Saint Paul Public Library, and the City of Saint Paul. See the full list of award winners on Shelf Awareness

- And speaking of good books, Kirkus Reviews gave an exalting review of Wilton Barnhardt's latest novel, LOOKAWAY, LOOKAWAY

"Barnhardt’s fourth novel is a revelation: witty, savage and bighearted all at once, it is the Southern novel for the 21st century. [...] Barnhardt masterfully reimagines the Southern gothic: There is every kind of sordid deed committed, but there is also an abundance of humanity and grace." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Get whitelisted and download a review copy from Edelweiss now!

Finally we wish all the best for the victims, families, and friends of those affected by the bombings in Boston. We were relieved to hear that the Boston Public Library next to the finish line was closed on Monday in observance of Patriot’s Day. Stay safe, Boston friends.

 

 

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