Cakes and Cupcakes and Cookies, Oh My!

For the Inner Baker In You...

Here's a few great books about using your culinary skills to delight your family and friends. You don't need to be having a party to experiment with the recipes found between the covers of these baking book titles. All you need is a willingness to be creative!

Hello Cupcake! : Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero

Children's Party Cakes and Cookies, edited by Martha Day

Party Cakes: 45 Fabulous Cakes for All Occasions, with Easy Ideas for Children's Cakes by Carol Deacon

Accessible Science

Latest and Greatest
Not all great science books are written for scholars. Here are two interesting titles written with science book readers of all levels in mind.

What separates human brains and minds from those of other animal species? Michael S. Gazzaniga's Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique offers insight into the neuroscience and psychology of each.

Einstein's Telescope: The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe, by Evalyn Gates, sheds new light on the subject of cosmology. Dark energy, dark matter, and black holes in the universe are explained in an interesting and accessible way.

All Aboard the Nostalgia Train!

The Lionel Train Legend
In 1901, Joshua Lionel Cowen combined a wooden cheese box and a small motor fan and the rest, as they say, is history. Two new books about Joshua's namesake Lionel Trains are ready for checkout:

Robert J. Osterhoff's Inside The Lionel Trains Fun Factory is more a history of the Lionel Corporation itself. Robert Schleicher's The Lionel Legend concentrates on Lionel Trains, one of the most popular and recognizable toys of all time. Both books use outstanding photos to support informative text. Both books are entertaining and we’ve been told, hotly debated by collectors who dispute the details. You'll have to let us know where you side...

More Toy Nostalgia:
The Wonder of American Toys, 1920-1950 by Charles Dee Sharp
The Playmakers: Amazing Origins of Timeless Toys by Tim Walsh.

Tired of Winter?

Spring in a Jar
Spring seems so far away. The good news is a little part of the next season can be yours -- sooner -- if you build a terrarium. Tovah Martin's new book The New Terrarium: Creating Beautiful Displays for Plants and Nature contains great ideas and instructions on how to make your own mini glass garden. Lovely photos of finished products are sure to please beginner and veteran indoor gardeners alike.

Also try Rosemary McCreary's Tabletop Gardens: Create 40 Intimate Gardens for the Home, No Matter What the Season. The title provides many charming ideas to get an indoor plant decorator started. Attractive color photos and easy-to-follow directions are sure to inspire.

Additional Titles Written or Edited by Tovah Martin
Garden Whimsy, Old-Fashioned Flowers (Brooklyn Botanic Garden Series), and Tasha Tudor's Garden.

Agincourt

Historical Fiction Looms Large

In his latest novel, Agincourt, Bernard Cornwell takes us back to the Hundred Years War era and the Battle of Agincourt. The Battle took place on Friday, October 25, 1415 in France, between rivals France and England. Outmanned English forces soundly defeated French forces; English use of the powerful longbow also transformed medieval warfare.

Bernard Cornwell is consistently regarded as one of the greatest historical fiction writers. Agincourt proves as much; the novel has all the elements of must-read historical fiction -- fast moving plot, unforgettable characters, and accurate period details.

Click here for a selection of other historical fiction novels by Bernard Cornwell.

February Fiction

New Titles From Fiction Favorites
Yesterday's temperatures approached 60 degrees. Alas, February weather is famous for the quick switcheroo; today was cloudy, windy and cold.

What to do? We suggest enjoying mid-winter titles by favorite authors while we all wait for an authentic spring:

Heart & Soul by Maeve Binchy
Lethal Legacy by Linda Fairstein
Irish Tweed by Andrew M. Greeley
Jesus Chronicles, Luke's Story by Tim LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins
Escape from Hell by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
Second Opinion by Michael Palmer
Night & Day by Robert B. Parker
Promises in Death by J. D. Robb
Lamentation by Ken Scholes
Whisper to the Blood by Dana Stabenow
One Day at a Time by Danielle Steel
Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear

Fired Up! Ready to Read! CT Nutmeg Books!

Which Book Will Knock Your Socks Off?

The Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award nominees for 2010 were announced earlier this month. Connecticut kids are now faced with two opportunities. The first opportunity is about making 'me' time to read 10 nominated books between now and January 2010. The second opportunity is much more powerful. Next January, kids will be asked which of 10 nominated books knocked their socks off, hands down, no buts about it...

The nominees for grades 7-8 are:

Accidental Love by Gary Soto

Code Orange by Caroline Cooney

Crackback by John Coy

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

Epic by Conor Kostick

Eyes of the Emperor by Graham Salisbury

Jeremy Fink and The Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Pieces of Georgia by Jen Bryant

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy

Panama Canal Stories 1904-1914

Canal Builders
The Panama Canal is widely regarded as an engineering triumph and a marker in the history of modern global trade. Julie Greene's The Canal Builders tells the story of what it took to build the Panama Canal from the workers' point of view. Well-written and expertly researched, this book is historical writing at its best. Primary sources shed new light on the politics, engineering, and personalities of the day.

Further Reading:
David McCullough's The Path Between the Seas, 1870-1914
Carl R. Oliver's Panama's Canal
Aida D. Donald's Lion in the White House: Life of Theodore Roosevelt

Also check out the official site of the Panama Canal Authority for FAQs and further perspective.

Step Aside Music and Movie Awards... We've Got Nutmeg Books!

Nomination Votes Counted... Envelopes Unsealed

The Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award nominees for 2010 were announced last week. There is a reason to be interested. The Nutmeg Book Awards invite all kids in grades 4-8 to determine which books are best. The nominees for grades 4-6 are:

Archer's Quest by Linda Sue Park

Attack of the Turtle by Drew Carlson

A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray by Ann M. Martin

Double Identity by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Drita My Homegirl by Jenny Lombard

The Ghost's Grave by Peg Kehret

Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan

Rules by Cynthia Lord

Stumptown Kid by Carol Gorman and Ron Findley

The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin

A Twinkie a Day...

Decisions, Decisions...
Good nutrition is on all of our minds these days. Here's a few of the latest or greatest books (as in long-list or former bestsellers) for your dining and dancing pleasure:

An Apple a Day: The Myths, Misconceptions, and Truths About the Food We Eat covers many food favorites: chocolate, fruits, vegetables, milk and coffee, to name a few. Author Joe Schwarcz is a PhD chemist and self-admitted food lover.

Twinkie, Deconstructed is Steve Ettlinger's study of one popular treat... the Twinkie TM. By taking the ingredients label apart and examining each, the author makes his case for avoiding processed foods.

Cookbook author Mark Bittman carries the torch for sustainable living in his title Food Matters: a Guide to Conscious Eating. The book includes 77 recipes that create an awareness of how to choose the food we eat based on where it comes from.

Also try any of the Eat This, Not That! titles by David Zinczenko.

Books We Like

"Ask Amy" Tells All

Amy Dickinson, NPR contributor and syndicated advice columnist (she replaced the late Ann Landers) delivers a spirited memoir about the people who most influenced her life and career. Most influential? Her family, The Mighty Queens of Freeville.

Addition is Toni Jordan's debut novel about Grace Lisa Vandenburg. It seems Grace has an obsessive-compulsive need to count... and an affinity for toothbrushes. Sharply written, poignant, and flat out funny, Jordan's novel asks us to contemplate age-old questions about balancing love and acceptance.

In Erica Bauermeister's The School of Essential Ingredients, chef Lillian teaches a cooking class in which students learn to serve up more than a well-prepared meal. Anyone who enjoys cooking with or for another will delight in this novel about the unbreakable bonds between good food and good friendships.

Ray Bradbury

'Poet of the Pulps'
Ray Bradbury is an American icon. At the very least, millions have enjoyed reading The Martian Chronicles (1950), Fahrenheit 451 (1953), or Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962).

Add to your must-read list two recently released short story books by Bradbury: Summer Morning, Summer Night and We'll Always Have Paris. Both books include thoughtful tales that won’t make you lose sleep but which will make you think... and creep you out all at the same time.

Bradbury won the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters Award in year 2000. True fans are also sure to enjoy Sam Weller's Bradbury biography, The Bradbury Chronicles.

Market Gurus

Bad News-Good News Bears?
Harry S. Dent and Mohamed L. El-Erian each provide their take on how to profit in and from our rapidly changing financial world. Both books offer explanations on why we are where are and describe investment strategies that can be employed in an economic downturn.

Unlike the many popular financial advice titles of the last few years, neither of these books is a happy-go-lucky read. More days of shifting investor advice ahead...

By Dent:
The Great Depression Ahead: How to Prosper in the Crash Following the Greatest Boom in History

By El-Erian:
When Markets Collide: Investment Strategies for the Age of Global Economic Change

The CCC... Revisted

Civilian Conservation Corps Stories
Colchester resident/author, Marty Podskoch (pictured left with his granddaughter) has been making his way around our state for several years, collecting and sharing stories told by participants in Connecticut’s Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) Camps. Marty's presentations have helped renew interest in local history; they have also provided a forum for CCC workers to tell and share their stories.

Podskoch briefly appeared on WTNH News TV spot (below), concerning the restarting of a contemporary CCC in our state. Governor Rell will hold a press conference on Tuesday February 10th at 1:30 pm at the CCC Museum in Stafford Springs. All CCC alumni are invited to attend, politics aside...

Google: Noun and Verb

Google, Googled, Googling
Not so many years ago, the word ‘Google’ was no where to be found in our dictionaries or in our every day vocabularies. Now the word, in all of its forms, is representative of our online culture.

Here are three interesting books that describe the effects of both noun and the verb; the subtitles summarize the stories.

Planet Google: One Company's Audacious Plan to Organize Everything We Know - Randall Stross

The Google Story: Inside the Hottest Business Media & Technology Success of Our Time - David A. Vise & Mark Malseed

The Search: How Google & Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business & Transformed Our Culture - John Battelle

By the way, you are reading this post courtesy of Google; Blogger is Google's free blog publishing tool. We use Blogger to keep in touch with you...

Bon Appetite: Vegan Style!

Pick and Choose
Veganism, a diet and lifestyle, has introduced local demand for vegan cookbooks. Try our latest additions, Vegan Lunchbox and The Joy of Vegan Baking; the latter won a 2007 Veggie Award.

Click here for a list of other recent vegan cookbooks. Ample instructions and photographs spice up all of the selections.

Job Searching?

On the Lookout...
Check out the top 10 job search sites on the web, according to Wendy Boswell of Ask.com. Boswell does distinguish between sites, as in the size of the fish net you plan to use to capture promising opportunities. Look for words like 'networking' or 'network' for best effect.

Also check out latest additions to our 'on the lookout' book collection: AARP Crash Course In Finding the Work You Love, Career Renegade, Test Drive Your Dream Job, and 150 Best Recession-Proof Jobs.

Dogs Are from Mars, Coyotes Are from Venus

Relationship Advice...

Temple Grandin's Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals is a well-researched work which identifies and explains animal emotions. Chapters cover dogs, cats, horses, farm animals, and zoo animals. Chock full of insights, how-to tips and compelling stories, Grandin tackles and debates a range of common beliefs about what makes animals happy.

The Daily Coyote is Shreve Stockton's account of her life as "mom" to Charlie, an orphaned coyote pup. Stockton, a former city dweller, raised Charlie and her pet tom cat in rural Wyoming and tells a balanced, often touching tale of survival, adjustment and peaceful coexistence. You can catch the author's subscription blog on the Internet.

Also recommended:

The Man Who Listens to Horses by Monty Roberts

The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats by Jeffrey Moussaieff

Stories Rabbits Tell by Susan E. Davis & Margo DeMello

Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien

Mountains of Assisi

Mysteries of Planet Earth
In The Mountains of Saint Francis, Walter Alvarez (geology, U. of California-Berkeley) travels the mountains of central Italy and provides us with clues on our planet's very distant past. Alvarez explains the formation of Italy's terrain -- volcanoes that formed the seven hills of Rome; land masses that developed and emerged from under sea, and continental collisions that formed the Alps.

Also by Alvarez, T. Rex and the Crater of Doom, a theoretical work about what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Both books are accessible and page-turner reads for anyone who wants to join us on Team Geology 101. If you're well beyond 101, please do offer constructive comment.

The Fab Four: Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!

January 30, 1969
Two days ago, we mourned the 40th-anniversary of the Beatles final public concert appearance which took place on the rooftop of 3 Saville Row, the London home of Apple Records.

February 9, 1964
Next Monday we'll celebrate the 45th-anniversary of the Beatles first performance in America, on then Sunday night favorite 'The Ed Sullivan Show'.

For Beatles fans looking to mark these anniversaries, we recommend these, among many other titles:
Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, & America -- The Beatles: The Biography -- The Beatles Anthology -- Beatles Anthology (set of 5 documentary DVDs) and of course... anything on music CD.

Now Showing In Our Library Display Case
The next time you visit the library -- please, please yourself and enjoy local resident Bill Naughton's Beatles memorabilia collection, now on display. If there is anything worth knowing about the Beatles (it's all worth knowing) Bill knows it and shows it. Thank you, Bill!

Poet of the Month

February's Featured Poet
Elizabeth Alexander (1962-), chosen to write and read a poem for President Obama’s Inauguration last month, earned her B.A. at Yale, M.A. at Boston U., and Ph.D. at U-Penn. Her books of poems include American Sublime (a Pulitzer Prize finalist), Antebellum Dream Book, Body of Life, and Venus Hottentot. Her honors and awards are numerous. She has taught at Haverford College, U-Chicago, U-Penn, and Smith College. She is currently Yale Professor of African American Studies and English Literature. The following poem is from American Sublime.

Ars Poetica #100: I Believe
Poetry, I tell my students,
is idiosyncratic. Poetry

is where we are ourselves,
(though Sterling Brown said

“Every ‘I’ is a dramatic ‘I’”)
digging in the clam flats

for the shell that snaps,
emptying the proverbial pocketbook.

Poetry is what you find
in the dirt in the corner,

overhear on the bus, God
in the details, the only way

to get from here to there.
Poetry (and now my voice is rising)

is not all love, love, love,
and I’m sorry the dog died.

Poetry (here I hear myself loudest)
is the human voice,

and are we not of interest to each other?

Further Reading: Venus Hottentot, and Body of Life, available at the library.

Content developed by local resident and poet Leland Jamieson

9/11

Moment by Moment
In Touching History: the Untold Story of the Drama That Unfolded in the Skies Over America on 9/11, Lynn Spencer offers a moment-by-moment narrative of what happened in the skies over our country on 9/11.

To write the book, Spencer spent three years interviewing commercial pilots, air crew, civilian and military air traffic controllers and military personnel, to recount the story in breathtaking detail. Spencer also quotes directly from Cockpit Voice Recorder transcripts; these capture the courage of real people confronting an unprecedented threat and the worst catastrophe in American aviation history.

Spencer's book is all but impossible to put down.

The Very Cool Neil Gaiman

Now a Newbery Award Winner
Last Monday, Neil Gaiman won the John Newbery Medal for his distinguished contribution to children's literature. Gaiman's award-winning title, The Graveyard Book, illustrated by Dave McKean, tells the story of a child named Nobody Owens ('Bod' for short) who is raised in a cemetary by ghosts, werewolves, and other creepy graveyard dwellers.

If the Newbery's not a big enough addition to Gaiman's impressive resume, the movie version of his acclaimed book, Coraline, opens this coming Friday, February 6. Watch the trailer.

Banishing the Winter Blahs...

Interior Decorating for Kids and Families

With money being so tight, interest in do-it-yourself projects is on the rise. If your kids are asking to remake their rooms, here’s a quick selection of books with useful makeover ideas, many of them low cost. Cool theme suggestions and intriguing patterns mix with tips on how to get started; help your children get organized, and make the most of what you already own.

It's Your Room by Janice Weaver & Frieda Wishinsky

Decorating Kids' Rooms by Anna Kasabian & Eugenia Santiesteban

New Smart Approach to Kids' Rooms by Megan Connelly

Change Your Room by Jane Bull

John Updike (1932-2009)

Adieu
John Updike died on Tuesday, leaving behind some of American literature's greatest fiction, essays, poetry, and literary criticism. In all of his works, most often picked and rarely panned, we heard the sturdy beat of our American pulse. Reading Updike was like being spied on; he seemed to know us, through and through.

Read or re-read anything Updike as a tribute. Better yet, let’s be confident that twenty, sixty, one-hundred years from now, all too many will still be searching for a way to bid their adieus to John Updike.

I Get No Kick From Champagne...

But the Widow Clicquot Sure Did!
Tilar J. Mazzeo's The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It is more than just a biography of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin (1777-1866); it is a tribute to one of Europe's first successful women entrepreneurs. As a young widow forced to earn a living in the Napoleonic era, Ponsardin decided to continue in her husband's business. Despite many obstacles and financial setbacks, her product, Veuve, became a best-selling wine and first 'modern' version of what we now know as champagne.

Details on the wine industry and Ponsardin's climb to success are sure to please wine lovers and armchair historians. The book may also appeal to readers who appreciate an "intoxicating" business read, albeit with some occasionally "dry" prose.

Also for Wine Afficianados: The Billionaire's Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace; History in a Glass: 60 Years of Wine Writing from Gourmet, and Wine, Food & Friends by Karen MacNeil.

We've Got Game

Super Bowl Reads
Super Bowl Sunday is but a few days away. Based on the branded caps and jackets we most often see at the library – Giants, Jets, Patriots – some of you may be feeling left out. We certainly do; we’re fans of the Heimlich maneuver loving Giants.

One way to shed your sorrow -- and get in the mood for Sunday's game -- is to read two great football books:

The Glory Game tells the story of 1958’s major face-off between the New York Giants led by Frank Gifford and the Baltimore Colts, led by Johnny Unitas. Both Gifford and Unitas are Pro Football Hall of Famers. Gifford, with Peter Richmond, penned this book as a tribute to his late friend and renowned writer, David Halberstam.

In A Few Seconds of Panic, Stefan Fatsis, a sports beat reporter for NPR and the Wall Street Journal, decides to try out as a kicker for the Denver Broncos. Fatsis follows in the footsteps of George Plimpton's classic, Paper Tiger; Plimpton joined the Detroit Lion's training camp in 1963. Both books are "What were you thinking?" fun.

Shaping Your Own Destiny

Self-Published Hits
Aspiring writers may find solace within the covers of the latest issue of Time Magazine (Feburary 2). In an article by arts & media writer, Lev Grossman, we learn about changes in the publishing industry. It seems self-publishing, not to mention digital publishing, are causing more than few cases of hives in New York-based publishing circles.

Adieu print traditions? Not yet. Just a range of new and different ways to find and read more books...

Four self-published novels with "hit it big" credentials were mentioned in Grossman's article:
The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
Contagious by Scott Sigler
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Daemon by Daniel Suarez

Preaching to a Very Big Choir

On the Love of Books
Larry McMurtry, Pulitzer Prize winner for Lonesome Dove, recently delivered his semi-autobiographical title, Books: a Memoir. Between the covers, the author reveals his life-long love affair with books and reading.

If you are asking yourself "What's different about this book?" -- as opposed to legions of others proclaiming a similar reverence -- we're here to say McMurtry's book is written with a holistic perspective. McMurtry not only writes books, he's navigated the publishing industry for over 50 years and also owns book stores that deal with collectible and hard-to-find titles. His experience makes for interesting opinions on book plates, audio books, popular book culture, and everything in between...

Click here for short list of other titles written by book-lover extraordinaire, Larry McMurtry.

World Travel

In the Footsteps of Marco Polo
In a quest to rediscover the route taken by Marco Polo, his father Niccolo and his Uncle Maffeo, on their famous journey to Medieval China, Denis Belliveau and Francis O'Donnell traveled by land for over two years. Air travel was not a consideration; mountains, seas, and deserts were all obstacles that had to be conquered in an effort to retrace Marco Polo's footsteps.

At first glance, lavish color photos give the book a coffee table look. Detailed descriptions of the people and places, however, present a more vivid chronicle of how customs and domestic life have changed in the regions first described by the adventurous Polo. Historic background information adds distinction to the stories of Kublai Khan, Ancient Cathy, and the Silk Road.

Denis Belliveau & Francis O'Donnell's In The Footsteps of Marco Polo is the companion book to the PBS film of the same title.

Further Reading: Travels of Marco Polo: the Venetian has been a best seller since it was first written by the intrepid adventurer himself in the 13th century. The book had a enormous impact on East-West relations and continues to inspire and inform would-be travelers and students of world history and politics.

Content developed by library staff member Bev Simmons

Love, Lawyers, Spies...

Tuesday's Fiction Picks

Get ready for the latest in fiction by John Grisham, Kristin Hannah, Jack Higgins, the almost too prolific James Patterson (here with Michael Ledwidge), and Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

Everything's covered in this crop of new books: compromised lawyers, struggling families, spy-tie players, serial killers, and Hollywood romancers. Enjoy!

Reagan Redux

The Debate Continues...
In two new books, Sean Wilentz (Princeton historian) and Will Bunch (Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist) serve up competing viewpoints on our 4oth President, Ronald Reagan.

In The Age of Reagan: a History, Wilentz argues, "his [Reagan's] achievement looks much more substantial than anything the Reagan mythmakers have said in his honor."

In Tear Down This Myth, Bunch argues that Reagan's main talent was his ability to compromise; the rest of the myth came from a news media used "for purposes that were essentially partisan in nature..."

Plenty of meat on both of these bones; read both books and decide for yourself which con is pro or which pro is con.

Spiritual Weight Lifting

Contemporary Seeker, Kathleen Norris
Kathleen Norris is an award-winning poet and editor at large at the Christian Century. In a trio of books, Cloister Walk (1996), Amazing Grace (1998) and her latest, Acedia & Me (2008), Norris shares her spiritual struggles and describes the winding paths she took toward embracing and living her faith.

All of these books are part meditation on the role of faith in modern life and part memoir; all are beautifully written in the voice of a poet. Relevant to people of all faiths…

History Lessons

Rivals... From Different Teams
Books about history and politics, world and American, are popular locally. If you are a reader who regularly contributes to demand, we recommend two of our 2008 favorites.

Arthur Herman's Gandhi & Churchill: the Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age offers a balanced look at the views, leadership styles, and clash between Mohandas Gandhi and Winston Churchill, two of the 20th century's legendary leaders. Herman’s book defines their struggle over the future of India as long, often bitter, and a fierce contest of wills based on differences... and commonalities.

In Lincoln and Douglas: the Debates that Defined America Allen C. Guelzo pulls apart and reconstructs the 1858 senatorial debates between Abraham Lincoln and his opponent, Stephen A. Douglas. The book describes political campaigning which in Guelzo's words "hasn't changed all that much since 1858" and "democracy at its best." Any fan of Civil War era history, political cross-talk, or debating in well-crafted language will appreciate this book.

Rachel Carson

"The Gentle Subversive"
Rachel Carson provided an early entry on the list of ecology-related books. Her 1962 book, Silent Spring, sounded an alarm about widespread use of pesticides and their negative impact on our environment. Carson's book is widely credited as providing the launch pad for the environmental movement and the first Earth Day in 1970.

A variety of other books by and about Rachel Carson are available for checkout; click here for a quick selection. Also try A Spring Without Bees or Where the Wild Things Were, two among many latest books with similar themes.

Content developed by library staff member Bev Simmons

Books Are...

Influential, Inspiring, Powerful...
Today's New York Times featured an article about the role books have played in shaping the life and views of our soon to be 44th President, Barack Obama. Here's a short list of books mentioned in the article:

Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

We’ve also included an AP photo that shows a father and his daughter; the daughter with a book in hand. Here in East Hampton, we’ve lost count of the photos we have snapped over the years; photos that show the same regard for books and reading as a family enterprise. Regardless of your political views, keep on passing that torch and know we’re here to support your efforts.

Martin Luther King Day

Much More Than a Day Off
The library will be closed on Monday, January 19th, in observance of a National Holiday that marks Reverend King's January 15th birthday. King’s life works were a ‘tipping point’ in U.S. history and his accomplishments continue to inspire.

To read more about Dr. King, we recommend a trilogy of books written by Taylor Branch. The series chronicles King's life by period, from 1954 to 1968. A range of other great books about King's place in our country's larger history will appeal to both adults, teens, and children. For a quick list, click here.

Also check out the MLK Day of Service Project, which asks each of us to spend some time this Monday making it a day on instead of day off....

Dining Out With Better Books

Mmmm...
If you are looking for 'nutritional' fiction reads, you won't find an empty calorie in any of the following:

Louise Erdrich's 13th novel, The Plague of Doves, revolves around an unsolved murder of a farm family in Pluto, North Dakota, a white town bordering an Ojibwa reservation. Years later, history and human relationships are still complex...

Pulitzer Prize* winner Jhumpa Lahiri (Interpreter of Maladies*, The Namesake) offers her latest, Unaccustomed Earth. This collection of eight stories speaks to cultural identity (the author is a Bengali-American), cultural influences, and bridging the gap between parents and children with very different ideas and cultural attachments.

Annie Proulx (Pulitzer for The Shipping News and major fame for Brokeback Mountain) returns with the third volume in her 'Wyoming stories' series, Fine Just the Way It Is. All about life in the American West, Proulx's stories are historical and contemporary fiction at the same time.