Sequels?

Finally!

Nelson DeMille follows up The Gold Coast (1990) with The Gate House, due for release later this month. Welcome back Wall Street attorney, John Sutter, whose life is up-ended by Mafia dons.

John Updike follows up The Witches of Eastwick (1984) with The Widows of Eastwick, also due for release later this month. Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie return home...

Paul Theroux took a train trip across Asia more than 30 years ago and his trip-ticket book, The Great Railway Bizaar (1975), became a modern travel classic. Theroux tours again in the Ghost Train to the Eastern Star.

History, Memoir, Current Events

Latest and Greatest

Annette Gordon-Reed delves deep into early America's mixed-race bloodlines and the complex relationships between Thomas Jefferson, his slave Sally Hemings, and the extended Hemings family. Take it slow; the book is worth your time.

Elizabeth McCracken tells us an intimate story about the loss of her first child just days before birth. The author's heart-wrenching grief is all the more magnified by straightforward prose.

This week we'll also add Linda Robinson's book to our new non-fiction collection, owing to patron requests. The book offers a probative account of strategy and tactics in post-surge Iraq.

Definitely Not Kansas...

Oz According to Gregory Maguire
In Maguire's first Oz novel, Wicked, we learned about Elphaba, the much misunderstood Wicked Witch of the West. Son of a Witch told the story of Liir, Elphaba's son or not; we'll not say witch or which...

The third novel in the Wicked Years series, A Lion Among Men, is due for release this coming Tuesday. We expect to enjoy learning about the Cowardly Lion before and after his adventures with Dorothy.

Sounds like another fun read from the inventive Gregory Maguire, who shows great respect for L. Frank Baum's Oz classics and pays it forward...

For the Smart Connecticut Shopper

iConn.org: Connecticut's re search engine

Did you know full text reviews from Consumer Reports are available online? Better yet, did you know all you need to access product reviews from this trusted source is an East Hampton Public Library card?

How to Access Consumer Reports

(1) Login to iConn using your library barcode number; slide down to the Magazines and Journals heading (left). (2) Click on InfoTrac Student Edition; second click on the Publication Search tab. (3) Type Consumer Reports in the Publication Search box; click on the link to Consumer Reports magazine.

Use the 'search within this publication box' to find reviews on a particular product. For best results, we recommend keeping your search terms simple; e.g., washing machines, used cars, gas heaters. Give us a call if you get stuck; that's why we're here.

More Good News

Eric Hansen, iCONN's Electronic Resources Coordinator, recently announced that we no longer have to wait 90 days to read current Consumer Reports reviews online. That is, print and online content will be available at the same time. So pick your format; choose the information retrieval style that suits you best -- and either way, use Consumer Reports for free @ your library.

Link to iConn.

Pretty People, Stories to Tell

Careers Revisited
Tony Curtis, Bob Wagner, and Diahann Carroll all have stories to tell about what it takes to manage celebrity while at the same time managing the highs and lows of personal life.

What's the verdict? Tony's is the most dishy. Bob's book is in the end, about his love for Natalie Wood. Diahann's book has much to say about racial politics in Hollywood. All three of these books drop famous names galore and are fun, sometimes thoughtful reads.

The overlapping theme, you ask? It's simple: stars are people, too!

Titanic's Last Secret?

Jack and Rose Would Like to Know...
Author Brad Matsen's October release, Titanic's Last Secret, revisits why the Titanic sank into the North Atlantic almost 100 years ago. Newsweek Magazine recently featured an article about Matsen's book; his discoveries and contentions about the what ifs of Titanic's construction.

If you are a Titanic buff and would like to read Last Secrets, place your reserves here. In addition, the library holds a variety of books, both fiction and non-fiction, as well as educational video titles about the Titanic's history. We also have the highest-grossing big-screen film of all time in DVD format. It's all about Rose, Jack, and once-in-a-lifetime love on sinking ship...

For 'Da Vinci Code' Lovers

'The Game' Continues...
We've waited 20 long years for Katherine Neville to publish a sequel to The Eight (1998) and our wait is finally over. Now we have The Fire, recently released in trade hardcover.

If you loved the history, adventure, and suspense of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, we highly recommend both of Neville's books. A mystical chess game figures into the plot of each book; the action spans historical periods and generations of the same family.

For historical 'puzzle' and suspense book lovers near and far, Neville's The Eight and The Fire will not disappoint. We're not at all sorry we waited so long for this sequel and hope the author continues 'the game' in future installments.

The Latest 'Primary' Color?

Green
The East Hampton Public Library is one of 18 public libraries in Middlesex County. Over the course of the next year, our 18-strong will be working together on a ‘green’ issue public awareness campaign.

On the ‘green’ town news front, click here to learn about our town’s clean energy champions. For a quick look at green issue books available at the library, click here. Also keep an eye out for an ongoing selection of green programs @ your library. As many you may already know, we're steady about offering informative programs that satisfy you green interests.

County-wide collaboration is supported by the Middlesex County Community Foundation and overall support from the Connecticut Library Consortium.

Pet Stories

Dateline: Iowa

This heartwarming book tells the story of DeweyReadmoreBooks, a kitten who arrived at the Spencer Public Library; became a cat, and called the library home for 19 years. Vicki Myron's book is a great pick for those who believe animals can change people. It's also a winner for library lovers.

Dateline: California

In another charming book, biologist Stacey O'Brien meets a four-day-old baby barn owl, later named Wesley. Given her 19 year-long relationship with Wesley, O'Brien has much to say about the habits and instincts of a barn owl: intelligent, intuitive, loyal, and loving. Say hello to Wesley and enjoy this book.

Tip, Blink, Success!

The World According to Malcolm Gladwell
The Tipping Point (2000) examined how few people it takes to spread a small idea, message or behavior throughout our society.

Blink (2005) examined how people make 'blink of an eye' decisions using first impressions and instinct; who's successful at "blinking" and why.

Coming this November (2008) is Gladwell's Outliers, an examination of what makes people successful. Place your reserves and get ready to tip and blink again...

Changing Times for Teens

Changing Insights for Parents
Growing up has never been easy and is also not what it used to be. Today's teens face a staggering number of choices, many of them physically and emotionally risky.

Stephen Wallace, former head of SADD (renamed Students Against Destructive Decisions), offers all of us straight talk in his recent book Reality Gap: Alcohol, Drugs, and Sex: What Parents Don't Know and Teens Aren't Telling. The book's core premise is -- when it comes to parent-teen communication -- parents don't necessarily ask the right questions and teens don't necessarily offer revealing answers. The communication gap leads to what Wallace describes as a reality gap.

This is a great book for parent review or for any adult interested in forwarding useful, myth-free, inter-generational dialogue.

For Suspense Lovers Only

Zip-Through Reads
Canadian author Linwood Barclay's novels offer plenty to like if edge-of-your-seat reads give you pleasure. Bad Move (2004), No Time for Goodbye (2007) and Barclay's latest, Too Close to Home (2008) are good choices for quick-read thrill seekers.

We especially liked No Time for Goodbye, whose main character is a Connecticut teenager. So sorry for bias but we loved the 'local', though fictional touch.

Martial Arts and Mind Games

The 'Five Ancestors' Series

350 years ago, five young warrior monks were raised as brothers in 17th century China. They survive the destruction of their temple; endure the loss of their Grand Master... but are separated in mayhem. Each was well-trained in a different style of "animal" kung fu. These are their stories...

This 'quest' series (first three in the series shown above) promises to be winner with young adults who love adventure books with vivid action. Recommended for ages 11 and up.

View an interview with author Jeff Stone on YouTube or visit the Five Ancestors site sponsored by the series publisher, Random House.

The Translator

Light Book on a Heavy Subject

In The Translator, Daoud Hari offers a first-person account of the ongoing genocide against non-Arabs in the Darfur region of Sudan.

After escaping his own village and fleeing to neighboring Chad, native Darfuri, Hari, worked as a translator for aid agencies, U.S. and BBC reporters, and United Nations officials. In 204 pages (light book) Hari conveys the story of a society torn apart by racism, corrupt politicians, greed and unfathomable hatred in simple and unadorned prose.

We highly recommend The Translator, a book about horror, compassion, frustration, anger... and hope.

Poet of the Month

September's Featured Poet
Lorna Dee Cervantes (1954-) was born in San Francisco, California, the year the word ‘Chicano’ first gained currency to designate Americans of Mexican descent. Educated at San José City College and San José State University, she published in 1981 Emplumada, her first collection of poems, which won the 1982 American Book Award. In them she has given voice to the Chicana (American women of Mexican heritage). ‘Emplumada’ in Spanish means feathered, in plumage (after molting). It also means ‘pen’. Here is the book’s well-chosen title poem:

Emplumada

When summer ended
the leaves of snapdragons withered
taking their shrill‑colored mouths with them.
They were still, so quiet. They were
violet where umber now is. She hated
and she hated to see
them go. Flowers

born when the weather was good — this
she thinks of, watching the branch of peaches
daring their ways above the fence, and further,
two hummingbirds, hovering, stuck to each other,
arcing their bodies in grim determination
to find what is good, what is
given them to find. These are warriors

distancing themselves from history.
They find peace
in the way they contain the wind
and are gone.

Further Reading: Emplumada, poems by Lorna Dee Cervantes, 1981; From the Cables of Genocide: Poems on Love and Hunger, 1991 by Lorna Dee Cervantes. Also visit the poet's blog.

Coming in October: Kay Ryan, new U.S. Poet Laureate, 2008-2009

Content developed by local resident and poet Leland Jamieson

Home

Well Worth the Wait
Marilynne Robinson's novel, Gilead, won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The novel tells the story of Rev. John Ames, who begins a letter to his young son as an account of his life and the lives of his father and grandfather...

Robinson returns this month with a companion piece to Gilead, simply yet powerfully titled -- Home. Rev. Robert Boughton, a close friend of the Gilead's John Ames, is a lead character.

Home is likely to be a bestseller and award winner, just as Gilead was several years ago. Both of Robinson's extraordinary novels are available for checkout or reserve in both print and audio CD format.

We also recommend Robinson's 1981 debut and equally stunning novel, Housekeeping.

Hot Non-Fiction Picks

Lectures of a Different Kind
The Last Lecture, The Secret, Stori Telling and Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea, gracefully stepped down a few rungs on the national bestseller ladder this week. Who stepped up?

Thomas Friedman's Hot, Flat and Crowded landed at the top of many national bestseller lists, with a call to improve America's green energy technology.

Bob Woodward offers The War Within, the fourth book in which this long-time Washington reporter analyzes the Bush Administration.

Conservative historian and former military officer Andrew J. Bacevich chimes in with The Limits of Power, a search through history and for common ground among people who disagree.

Oprah Loves Edgar

The Latest in Annointed Fiction
Oprah Winfrey today gave The Story of Edgar Sawtelle the nod as her latest Book Club pick. We're feeling mighty fine for being ahead of the curve on this must read novel.

Meet author David Wroblewski on Oprah's web site and print Oprah's "exclusive book mark" to use while your read.

Electronics Recycling

Recycling Your Oldies, Once Goodies

The Town of Glastonbury will be hosting an Electronics Recycling Collection Event on Saturday, September 20th from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at our Highway Garage, 2340 New London Turnpike.

This program will be run by the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority (CRRA). Residents from any CRRA Town are eligible to attend; East Hampton is a CRRA town. Only electronics from residents will be accepted. There are no fees. Acceptable are: Computers, Monitors, Printers, Fax Machines, Copiers, TVs, Radios, Cell Phones.

Weekend "Staycations"

If Fall Goes Well
There is still time to enjoy the many attractions our state has to offer before fall becomes winter. If you're up for a weekend day trip, let any of these very handy and informative books be your guide:

Best fishing trips in Connecticut from ponds to pounding surf / text and photographs by Bob Sampson

Great day trips in the Connecticut Valley of the dinosaurs by Brendan Hanrahan

Great day trips to Connecticut's critical habitats / text and photographs by Robert Craig ; paintings by Barbara Lussier

Our travel section also includes a variety of up-to-date guides about day tripping in Connecticut and other New England states.