Wednesday, February 12, 2014


                     Love in the Stacks

Jimmy Buffett: "Love in the library, quiet and cool
                          Love in the library, there are no rules
                         Surrounded by stories surreal and sublime
                         I fell in love in the library once upon a time." (1994)


The sign was enticing and immediately caught my eye: spice up your literary love life.  Adding to the mystery was a cart piled with beautifully gift wrapped books, adorned with hearts that teased family dysfunction on the high seas or meet someone who loves to eat or simply, love poems. 

My library is running its own literary dating game.

Library patrons are boldly invited to go on a blind date with a wrapped and unknown book. Much like a blind date in college, the descriptions are few and light on details. A cookbook? It could be about eating fewer carbs or it could be a culinary stroll through Rome. Fiction? It might be Danielle Steel or Virginia Woolf. Want a date with a thriller? Stephen King or Harlan Coben will make your heart beat a little faster.

Consider setting up your own literary not-quite-as-blind date. Wander into an unexplored section of your library or bookstore. Discover a different genre or author.Science fiction, westerns, romance (it's Valentine's Day, after all), could be that handsome/beautiful stranger that makes your literary life sizzle. Read serious fiction or travel essays or an actor's memoir. Just take a chance, pull a book off the shelf and read something not usually found on your book list. 

What's the worst that could happen? 

I took my own advice and checked out a novel that drew me in by promising a "rip-roaring period adventure." My blind date is Clive Cussler's "The Striker." I've never read any of Cussler's work. His character, Isaac Bell, is an inexperienced detective in Pittsburgh, who is going up against "two ruthless opponents" in the coal mining industry, according to Cussler. The tale will transport me back to the early 1900s with slang such as "swells," "classy joint," and "bigwig politicians." It's too early to predict whether or not there'll be a second date. 


Friday, February 14 is Library Lover's Day. Curl up with your literary blind date and decadent chocolate. Happy Reading!

    












Sunday, February 2, 2014

 For the child in all of us...

Emilie Buchwald: "Children are made readers on the laps of their parents."

This is a very special week. February 2-8 is Children's Authors and Illustrators Week. Read a book to your favorite child or, no matter what your age, don't miss the opportunity to read outstanding children's literature. 

Award winning books:

Randolph Caldecott Award is given by the American Library Association for "most distinguished American picture books for children." The 2014 winner is "Locomotive" by Brian Floca. Also honored: "Flora and the Flamingo" by Molly Idle; "Journey" by Aaron Becker; and "Mr. Wuffles" by Kevin Henkes.

John Newbury Medal is awarded by the ALA for "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." The 2014 winner is Kate DiCamillo's "Flora and Ulysses." Also honored: "Doll Bones" by Holly Black; "One Came Home" by Amy Timberlake; "Paperboy" by Vince Vawter and "Year of Billy Miller" by Kevin Henkes.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Award is for outstanding authors or illustrators. Katherine Paterson, author of "Bridge to Terabithia" was the 2013 recipient. She also wrote "Jacob Have I Loved" and "The Great Gilly Hopkins."

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award is for authors and illustrators of American children's books. For 2014, the winner is Greg Pizzoli's "Watermelon Seed." Also honored: "A Big Guy Took My Ball!" by Mo Willems; "Ball" by Mary Sullivan; "Penny and Her Mother" by Kevin Henkes.

Coretta Scott King Book Award is for "outstanding books by African-American authors/illustrators that reflect the African-American experience" according to the ALA. The winning book for 2014 is "P.S. Be Eleven" by Rita Williams-Garcia. Also honored: "Darius and Twig" by Walter Dean Myers; "March: Book One" by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin; and "Words With Wings" by Nikki Grimes.

Other children's authors to read:

                                               Picture Books

Lois Ehlert - Snowballs & Feathers for Lunch
Eric Carle - Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Michael Rosen - We're Going on a Bear Hunt
Audrey Wood - The Napping House & Silly Sally
Bill Martin Jr. - Chicka Chicka Boom Boom 
Sandra Boynton - Moo Baa La La La
Robert McCloskey - Blueberries for Sal
Gillian Shields - When the World was Waiting For You
Ezra Jack Keats - The Snowy Day

And a new favorite of mine - William Joyce's Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

                                                    Fiction

Lois Lowry - Number the Stars & The Giver
Cynthia Rylant - Missing May
Beverly Cleary - Ramona series & Henry Huggins series
Gary Paulsen - Hatchet
Louise Fitzhugh - Harriet the Spy
Mary Pope Osborne - Magic Treehouse series
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Judy Blume - Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
Karen Cushman - Catherine, Called Birdy
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting