Gone by Michael Grant

I was delighted to add Gone to the YA collection at the Pembroke Public Library. Gone is a science fiction story about what happens to a town when all the people over the age of 15 disappear. Think you had a bad day? If I could recommend a book that's like Stephen King for teens, this one would be it. What would you do if you were 15 and suddenly had no adults to tell you what to do? Let your imagination run wild on this one! To top it all off, the kids are experiencing strange and unexplained powers that they are having a hard time controlling (think Smallville). This book is very current to teens with mentions of Harry Potter, Wii, and Weezer. I enjoyed most of the characters, with the exception of Quinn who kept saying "brah" instead of brother, perhaps that is a west coast thing? If you like this book, it's sequel "Hunger" just came out recently. Check out this book today and be glad there are no nuclear power plants in Pembroke!

Everything is Illuminated

Everything is Illuminated
By Jonathan Safran Foer

Everything is Illuminated is Foer’s 2002 debut novel, telling the story of a village destroyed by the Nazis in World War II, and the present day search of a young man (also named Jonathan Safran Foer) to trace his family to that same village.

The most intriguing part of Illuminated is Alex, a young Ukrainian man who serves as a guide and translator for Jonathan. Alex’s English is fair at best, and absolutely hilarious. His dialogue reads as though a computer randomly substituted synonyms for 40% of the verbs --- with results such as “But first I am burdened to recite my good appearance” when he introduces himself to the reader. Instead of using the word “hard” or “difficult” he uses “rigid.” Anyone who has attempted to learn a foreign language and been mystified by the meaning of words and stumbled over idioms will appreciate Alex’s unabashed English storytelling, and dubious translation services.

A sad, intricate, bizarre story, but in the end, everything is illuminated.

The Widow's Season

I just finished "The Widow's Season" by Laura Brodie. The story begins with the disappearance of the Sarah McConnell's husband during a solo kayak trip. Soon, the widow begins seeing her husband in the grocery store, lurking at the outskirts of their home. As she begins to question what is real and what is imagined, the Sarah is forced to deal with her loss and feelings of regret about the breakdown of her marriage. The story is written so well that the reader doesn't truly know until the very end the fate of Sarah's husband. Ms. Brodie writes in such a way that I became truly lost in the story, and almost didn't want to know the truth. I can't say more without giving away the ending, but it was definitely and emotional read. I highly recommend it.

The Angel's Game

I just finished this new book by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, "The Angel's Game". If you like literary books of mystery with a little gothic touch, read this book! He also wrote "The Shadow of the Wind", a wildly popular book. "The Angel's Game" has a similar setting, Barcelona in the early 1900's. And while there are some character connections, it is not necessary to have read the first to read the new one. In fact, I now will go and read "The Shadow of the Wind" which I somehow never got around to before. Well, right after I read the third book in the Finlay fantasy series, Demon Redcoat. (I found this cool interview with the author on the Borders website )

Now you can put more audiobooks on your iPod

OverDrive Media Console v3.2 for Windows is available! - Upgrade today!

Transfer many WMA Audiobooks to Apple devices such as the iPod, iPhone, and iPod touch!
Send MP3 Audiobooks to your iTunes Library with Transfer Wizard.


Upgrade your software from http://sails.lib.overdrive.com

The SAILS Overdrive site has been updated with an active iPod icon if the .WMA formatted title will play on it. It is grayed out if it won't play on Apple devices. The site will have the help files updated soon.

New collection!

We’ve created a new display in the front of the main room to highlight our graphic novel collection. Over the past year, we’ve added hundreds of new titles to the teen and children’s graphic novel collections. Now, we have a new adult graphic novel collection, located on the left round display case near the front door. Check out my upcoming article next month in our quarterly newsletter to find out more about graphic novels.

Quick poll: Comment to this post and tell us what your favorite graphic novel is!

Can't Wait to Start It....

I was thrilled this afternoon when I checked my account and found that "The Second Journey: The Road Back To Yourself" by Joan Anderson was waiting for me. I've been a fan of Ms. Anderson's since reading "A Year By the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman." While I cannot remember exactly what it was that initially drew me to Joan Anderson's writing, I do know that I am captivated by her insight and honesty. Maybe it was the admiration that I had for a woman who was brave enough to make dramatic changes to her life in order to uncover a soul that's been forgotten. Any woman (or man, for that matter) who has questioned the direction of her life's path is bound to pull something worthwhile from Joan's writings ("A Year By the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman," "An Unfinished Marriage," "A Walk on the Beach: Tales of Wisdom from an Unconventional Woman," "A Weekend to Change Your Life: Find Your Authentic Self After A Lifetime of Being All Things to All People"). I'm looking forward to finding out where "The Second Journey" brings me. I'll let you know....