PCLS Readers' Advisory Blog

Back to School for Grown-Ups - Novels with an Academic Setting

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:49:00 +0000

In other parts of the country, the days and nights are cooler, the air smells of fall. Students on campus are breaking out their long-sleeved shirts and sweaters. Soon, the leaves will be turning and the days will be getting shorter. While we're not there quite yet weather-wise here in Florida, we can still get a little of that fall feeling by revisiting school days in book form. Here are some novels with an academic theme to help you recreate that feeling.

Murder 101 Mysteries series by Maggie Barbieri
An Invisible Sign of My Own by Aimee Bender
Evening Class by Maeve Binchy
The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason
The Kingdom of Childhood by Rebecca Coleman
The Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy
The Chatham School Affair by Thomas H. Cook
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf
The Headmaster's Wife by Jane Haddam
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz
Schooled by Anisha Lakhani
Obedience by Will Lavender
My Latest Grievance by Elinor Lipman
To the Power of Three by Laura Lippman
The Notre Dame Mysteries series by Ralph M. McInerny
The Technologists by Matthew Pearl
Joe College by Tom Perrotta
The Crazy School by Cornelia Read
Straight Man by Richard Russo
Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan
I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe
Old School by Tobias Wolff

NPR's 100 Best-Ever Teen Fiction

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 21:21:00 +0000

NPR recently conducted a Best-Ever Teen Fiction poll and the results are in! They received over 75,000 votes, and the results list has a little bit of everything, from classics to current, series to stand-alone. We've listed the top 10 below. For the complete list, and to see if your favorite teen read made the cut, click here.

1. The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
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2. The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins
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3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
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4. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
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5. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
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6. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
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7. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
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8. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
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9. Looking for Alaska by John Green
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10. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
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Ray Bradbury 1920-2012

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 16:50:00 +0000

Your faithful blogger was saddened to hear of Ray Bradbury's death this morning. Mr. Bradbury's works took up a lot of my days during junior high school.

From RayBradbury.com

Ray Bradbury, recipient of the 2000 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the 2004 National Medal of Arts, and the 2007 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation, died on June 5, 2012, at the age of 91 after a long illness. He lived in Los Angeles.

In a career spanning more than seventy years, Ray Bradbury has inspired generations of readers to dream, think, and create. A prolific author of hundreds of short stories and close to fifty books, as well as numerous poems, essays, operas, plays, teleplays, and screenplays, Bradbury was one of the most celebrated writers of our time. His groundbreaking works include Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, Dandelion Wine, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. He wrote the screen play for John Huston's classic film adaptation of Moby Dick, and was nominated for an Academy Award. He adapted sixty-five of his stories for television's The Ray Bradbury Theater, and won an Emmy for his teleplay of The Halloween Tree. In 2005, Bradbury published a book of essays titled Bradbury Speaks, in which he wrote: In my later years I have looked in the mirror each day and found a happy person staring back. Occasionally I wonder why I can be so happy. The answer is that every day of my life I've worked only for myself and for the joy that comes from writing and creating. The image in my mirror is not optimistic, but the result of optimal behavior.

He is survived by his four daughters, Susan Nixon, Ramona Ostergren, Bettina Karapetian, and Alexandra Bradbury, and eight grandchildren. His wife, Marguerite, predeceased him in 2003, after fifty-seven years of marriage.

Throughout his life, Bradbury liked to recount the story of meeting a carnival magician, Mr. Electrico, in 1932. At the end of his performance Electrico reached out to the twelve-year-old Bradbury, touched the boy with his sword, and commanded, Live forever! Bradbury later said, I decided that was the greatest idea I had ever heard. I started writing every day. I never stopped.

Horror Novels to Chill Your Soul - or Make You Feel Queasy

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 24 May 2012 19:58:00 +0000

Sometimes, you just want to read a good scary book. You know, one that keeps you up at night. Or one that you have to keep in the freezer because it's just too scary to leave out. Your faithful blogger's favorite scary novel is, hands down, The Shining by Stephen King (Check Our Catalog). Revisit one of your favorite classics or try one of these newer award-winning horror offerings.

The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares by Joyce Carol Oates
2011 Bram Stoker Award Winner for Fiction Collection
An incomparable master storyteller in all forms, in The Corn Maiden and Other Nightmares Joyce Carol Oates spins six imaginative tales of suspense. “The Corn Maiden” is the gut-wrenching story of Marissa, a beautiful and sweet eleven-year-old girl with hair the color of corn silk. Taken by an older girl from her school who has told two friends in her thrall of the Indian legend of the Corn Maiden, in which a girl is sacrificed to ensure a good crop, Marissa is kept in a secluded basement and convinced that the world has ended. Marissa’s seemingly inevitable fate becomes ever more terrifying as the older girl relishes her power, giving the tale unbearable tension with a shocking conclusion. In “Helping Hands,” published here for the first time, a lonely woman meets a man in the unlikely clutter of a dingy charity shop and extends friendship. She has no idea what kinds of doors she may be opening. The powerful stories in this extraordinary collection further enhance Joyce Carol Oates’s standing as one of the world’s greatest writers of suspense. Check Our Catalog

I am Legend by Richard Matheson
2011 Bram Stoker Award Winner for Vampire Novel of the Century

Robert Neville may well be the last living man on Earth . . . but he is not alone.
An incurable plague has mutated every other man, woman, and child into bloodthirsty, nocturnal creatures who are determined to destroy him.

By day, he is a hunter, stalking the infected monstrosities through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn.... Check Our Catalog

A Dark Matter by Peter Straub
2010 Bram Stoker Award Winner for Novel
On a Midwestern campus in the 1960s, a charismatic guru and his young acolytes perform a secret ritual in a local meadow. What happens is a mystery—all that remains is a gruesomely dismembered body and the shattered souls of all who were present. Forty years later, one man seeks to learn about that horrifying night, and to do so he’ll have to force those involved to examine the unspeakable events that have haunted them ever since. Unfolding through their individual stories, A Dark Matter is an electric, chilling, and unpredictable novel that proves Peter Straub to be the master of modern horror. Check Our Catalog

Festival of Fear by Graham Masterton
Award-winning horror writer and master of the macabre, Graham Masterton presents a blood-curdling array of treats: twelve stories of terror celebrating the bizarre and grotesque, guaranteed to quicken the pulse. Marvel at the mirror dug up in secret and better off buried . . . Thrill at a pair of lovers, whose promises to each other lead them down a disturbing path. Observe the haunted house . . . Come closer, dear reader – the hour of the festival is upon us . . . Check Our Catalog

John Dies at the End by David Wong
In this reissue of an Internet phenomenon originally slapped between two covers in 2007 by indie Permutus Press, Wong—Cracked.com editor Jason Pargin's alter ego—adroitly spoofs the horror genre while simultaneously offering up a genuinely horrifying story. The terror is rooted in a substance known as soy sauce, a paranormal psychoactive that opens video store clerk Wong's—and his penis-obsessed friend John's—minds to higher levels of consciousness. Or is it just hell seeping into the unnamed Midwestern town where Wong and the others live? Meat monsters, wig-wearing scorpion aberrations and wingless white flies that burrow into human skin threaten to kill Wong and his crew before infesting the rest of the world. A multidimensional plot unfolds as the unlikely heroes drink lots of beer and battle the paradoxes of time and space, as well as the clichés of first-person-shooter video games and fantasy gore films. Sure to please the Fangoria set while appealing to a wider audience, the book's smart take on fear manages to tap into readers' existential dread on one page, then have them laughing the next. [Publishers Weekly review] Check Our Catalog

Anything by these Lifetime Achievement Award winners - these people know horror!
Joe R. Lansdale
F. Paul Wilson
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Thomas Harris
Peter Straub
Michael Moorcock
Anne Rice
Stephen King
Ramsey Campbell
William Peter Blatty
Robert Bloch
Ray Bradbury
Brian Lumley

And a few more...
Clive Barker
H.P. Lovecraft
Shirley Jackson
Richard Laymon
Robert McCammon
Dan Simmons

I Want to Read... at the Beach!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:34:00 +0000

The water temperature is perfect... not too hot, and not too cold. The sun is warm and the humidity hasn't gotten to unbearable levels. Let's go to the beach! Here's a list of our staff's favorite breezy beach reads to keep your mind occupied while you enjoy the sand and surf.

Alicia's Pick: One for the Money by Janet Evanovich. Stephanie Plum’s all grown up and out on her own, living five miles from Mom and Dad’s, doing her best to sever the world’s longest umbilical cord. Her mother is a meddler, and her grandmother is a few cans short of a case. Out of work and out of money, with her Miata repossessed and her refrigerator empty, Stephanie blackmails her bail bondsman cousin, Vinnie, into giving her a try as an apprehension agent. Stephanie knows zilch about the job requirements, but she figures her new pal, fearless bounty hunter Ranger, can teach her what it takes to catch a crook. Check Our Catalog

Angela's Pick: Daughters of the Stone by Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa. It is the mid-1800s. Fela, taken from Africa, is working at her second sugar plantation in colonial Puerto Rico. But Fela has a secret. Before she and her husband were separated and sold into slavery, they performed a tribal ceremony in which they poured the essence of their unborn child into a very special stone. Fela keeps the stone with her, waiting for the chance to finish what she started. When the plantation owner approaches her, Fela sees a better opportunity for her child, and allows the man to act out his desire. Such is the beginning of a line of daughters connected by their intense love for one another, and the stories of a lost land. Mati, a powerful healer and noted craftswoman, is grounded in a life that is disappearing in a quickly changing world. Concha, unsure of her place, doesn't realize the price she will pay for rejecting her past. Elena, modern and educated, tries to navigate between two cultures, moving to the United States, where she will struggle to keep her family together. Carisa turns to the past for wisdom and strength when her life in New York falls apart. The stone becomes meaningful to each of the women, pulling them through times of crisis and ultimately connecting them to one another. Check Our Catalog

Angelo's Pick: Promise Me by Harlan Coben. Myron Bolitar, former basketball star (Boston Celtics) turned sports and entertainment agent and occasional knight in shining armor, is back in fighting form in his action-packed eighth thriller. For the past six years Myron has been leading a quiet life, much of it at his parents' old house in Livingston, N.J. A new girlfriend, Ali Wilder, a 9/11 widow, is helping to bring him out of his shell. Concerned that Ali's teenage daughter, Erin, and Erin's friend, Aimee Biel, might fall in with the wrong crowd, Myron gives them his contact information in case either of them feels she needs help. Aimee later calls him in the middle of the night for a lift to a friend's house, on condition that her request remain a secret. When Aimee turns up missing in circumstances mirroring those surrounding another vanished girl, Bolitar himself becomes a suspect in her disappearance and must use his wits and martial arts skills to uncover the truth. Check Our Catalog

Aukse's Pick: Let's Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson. A mostly funny, irreverent memoir on the foibles of growing up weird. In blogger Lawson's debut book, "The Bloggess" (thebloggess.com) relies entirely on her life stories to drive an unconventional narrative. While marketed as nonfiction, it's a genre distinction the author employs loosely (a point made clear in the book's subtitle). On the opening page she defends the subtitle, explaining, "The reason this memoir is only mostly true instead of totally true is that I relish not getting sued." Yet Lawson also relishes exaggerative storytelling, spinning yarns of her childhood and early adulthood that seem so unbelievable they could hardly be made up. Check Our Catalog

Jessica's Pick: Faking It by Jennifer Crusie. A raunchy, romantic comedy about art forgery, thievery, and all manner of con-artistry that's as hard to resist as one of Davy Dempsey's cons. Davy comes from a long line of scam artists. He arrives in Columbus, Ohio, to steal back his own money from ex-girl friend Clea, a charmer whose wealthy husbands tend to die under suspicious circumstances. Davy's plan is to go straight once he has the money, but old habits die hard. Check Our Catalog

Lill's Pick: My Nest Isn't Empty, It Just Has More Closet Space by Lisa Scottoline. New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline struck a chord with readers, book clubs, and critics with her smash-hit essay collection, Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog. This time, Lisa teams up with Daughter Francesca to give their mother-daughter perspective on everything from blind dates to empty calories, as well as life with the feistiest octogenarian on the planet, Mother Mary, who won’t part with her thirty-year-old bra. Three generations of women, triple the laughs—-and the love. Check Our Catalog

Lyn's Pick: Virals by Kathy Reichs. Tory Brennan, niece of acclaimed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan (of the Bones novels and hit TV show), is the leader of a ragtag band of teenage "sci-philes" who live on a secluded island off the coast of South Carolina. When the group rescues a dog caged for medical testing on a nearby island, they are exposed to an experimental strain of canine parvovirus that changes their lives forever. As the friends discover their heightened senses and animal-quick reflexes, they must combine their scientific curiosity with their newfound physical gifts to solve a cold-case murder that has suddenly become very hot--if they can stay alive long enough to catch the killer's scent.
Fortunately, they are now more than friends--they're a pack. They are Virals. Check Our Catalog

Mary's Pick: The Lion's Paw by Robb White. Sister and brother, Penny and Nick, live in an orphanage on Florida's east coast. The siblings, afraid they will be adopted and separated, run away. They meet an older boy, Ben, whose mother died in childbirth and whose father is missing in action in the South Pacific. Ben lives with Uncle Pete, who wants to sell dad's beloved sailboat. No way, Uncle Pete! After dark Ben sails the boat away and takes along Penny and Nick. The orphanage wants Nick and Penny back. Uncle Pete wants to find his nephew and the sailboat and offers a reward for their return. All manner of strangers, dangerous and mean like the bad preacher in Night of the Hunter, go hunting for the feral children. They endure storms and mosquitoes, snakes and alligators. It's The African Queen set in Florida — for kids. Check Our Catalog

Michelle's Pick: Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot. Heather Wells used to be a teen pop sensation...until her label dropped her for gaining a few extra pounds. Now Heather's walked out on her famous ex, moved in with his brother (but will things stay platonic with Cooper forever?), and found a job in a freshman dorm at New York College...who knew it was nicknamed Death Dorm? Check Our Catalog

Nicole's Pick: Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler. In this hilarious, deliciously skewed collection, Chelsea mines her past for stories about her family, relationships, and career that are at once singular and ridiculous. Whether she's convincing her third-grade class that she has been tapped to play Goldie Hawn's daughter in the sequel to Private Benjamin, deciding to be more egalitarian by dating a redhead, or looking out for a foulmouthed, rum-swilling little person who looks just like her...only smaller, Chelsea has a knack for getting herself into the most outrageous situations. Check Our Catalog

Rita's Pick: The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart. Set in the popular tourist attraction in present-day London, The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise is an exquisite story of love, loss, and a one-hundred-eighty-one-year-old pet. Balthazar Jones has lived and worked in the Tower of London for the past eight years. Being a Beefeater is no easy job, and when Balthazar is tasked with setting up an elaborate menagerie of the many exotic animals gifted to the Queen, life at the Tower gets all the more interesting. Penguins escape, giraffes go missing, and the Komodo dragon sends innocent tourists running for their lives. Still, that chaos is nothing compared to what happens when his wife, Hebe, makes a surprise announcement. What’s a Beefeater to do? Check Our Catalog

Terri's Pick: The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd. What inspires the yearning for a soul mate? Few writers have explored, as Kidd does, the lush, unknown region of the feminine soul where the thin line between the spiritual and the erotic exists. The Mermaid Chair is a vividly imagined novel about the passions of the spirit and the ecstasies of the body; one that illuminates a woman’s self-awakening with the brilliance and power that only a writer of Kidd’s ability could conjure. Check Our Catalog

I Want to Read... Psychological Thrillers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 20:20:00 +0000

Do you enjoy a good mystery or suspense story where the emphasis is on the personalities of the characters? Do you like a main character who relies on their own mental resources to outwit an enemy or overcome their own personal demons? Try these authors for your psychological thriller fix!

Michael Connelly - A former police beat reporter in Florida and Los Angeles, Connelly brings his knowledge of police procedure to his crime novels, most notably the Harry Bosch series. Check Our Catalog
Tana French - Born in the United States and living in Dublin, Ireland, Tana French has been described as "part Raymond Chandler, part Roddy Doyle." Check Our Catalog
Jonathan Kellerman - Kellerman has a Ph.D. in psychology and practiced pediatric psychology for many years before becoming a bestselling novelist. His background gives his main character, Alex Delaware, more depth. Check Our Catalog
Dennis Lehane - Lehane's nine novels include a series featuring the detective team of Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. His works are set in the Boston area, both historical and contemporary. Check Our Catalog
James Patterson - Patterson is one of the most prolific writers today, writing both romance and mystery, as well as children's and young adult novels. His Alex Cross and Women's Detective Club books include elements of psychological suspense. Check Our Catalog
Ruth Rendell - In addition to police procedurals starring her most iconic creation, Chief Inspector Wexford, Rendell writes psychological crime novels exploring such themes as romantic obsession, misperceived communication, the impact of chance and coincidence, and the humanity of the criminals involved. Check Our Catalog
John Sandford - Another former journalist, John Sandford is known for his character Lucas Davenport, a Minneapolis detective who gets into the heads of the murder suspects he investigates. Check Our Catalog
S.J. Watson - An audiologist who treats deaf children, this English author made quite an impact with his 2011 debut novel, Before I Go to Sleep. Check Our Catalog
Stephen White - The author of the New York Times bestselling Alan Gregory novels, he draws upon over fifteen years of clinical practice as a psychologist to create intriguing plots and complex, believable characters. Check Our Catalog

Hungry for More Books Like The Hunger Games?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 15:52:00 +0000

Oh, Hunger Games. How you reeled us in with your drama, violence, love triangle, and dystopic setting. But now that we've read the books and seen the first movie, we feel empty and alone. Where is another book that can feed our need for more dystopian drama?

Never fear, Constant Reader, here is a list of books that will help feed your need for teen dystopias.

The Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld
Uglies is set in a world in which everyone has an operation when they turn sixteen, making them supermodel beautiful. Big eyes, full lips, no one fat or skinny. You might think this is a good thing, but it’s not. Especially if you’re one of the Smokies, a bunch of radical teens who’ve decided they want to keep their own faces.

Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines

Lyn is a neo-gladiator’s daughter, through and through. Her mother has made a career out of marrying into the high-profile world of televised blood sport, and the rules of the Gladiator Sports Association are second nature to their family.

For fans of The Hunger Games and Fight Club, Lise Haines’ debut novel is a mesmerizing look at a world addicted to violence—a modern world that’s disturbingly easy to imagine.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

If you haven't had to read The Giver by Lois Lowry for school, do yourself a favor and read it now.

"It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened."

Thus opens this haunting novel in which a boy inhabits a seemingly ideal world: a world without conflict, poverty, unemployment, divorce, injustice, or inequality. It is a time in which family values are paramount, teenage rebellion is unheard of, and even good manners are a way of life.

Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother retreat to the unexpected safe haven of their sunroom, where they subsist on stockpiled food and limited water in the warmth of a wood-burning stove.
Told in journal entries, this is the heart-pounding story of Miranda’s struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all--hope--in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

Feed by M.T. Anderson

In a future world where internet connections feed directly into the consumer’s brain, thought is supplemented by advertising banners, and language has gone into a steep decline, a little love story unfolds. Titus, an average kid on a weekend trip to the moon, meets Violet, a brainy girl who has decided to try to fight the feed. Assaulted by a hacker who interrupts their connection, they struggle to understand what has happened to them – and to everyone around them.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Marcus, a.k.a “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems.

But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days.

When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself.

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

In a society where unwanted teens are salvaged for their body parts, three runaways fight the system that would "unwind" them. Connor's parents want to be rid of him because he's a troublemaker. Risa has no parents and is being unwound to cut orphanage costs. Lev's unwinding has been planned since his birth, as part of his family's strict religion. Brought together by chance, and kept together by desperation, these three unlikely companions make a harrowing cross-country journey, knowing their lives hang in the balance. If they can survive until their eighteenth birthday, they can't be harmed -- but when every piece of them, from their hands to their hearts, are wanted by a world gone mad, eighteen seems far, far away.

The Chemical Garden Trilogy by Lauren DeStefano

Wither, the first of a planned trilogy by Lauren DeStefano, is about 16-year-old Rhine, who has only 4 years left to live due to a botched effort to create a perfect race, which has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children.

The Bar Code Tattoo by Suzanne Weyn

Individuality vs. conformity. Identity vs. access. Freedom vs. control.

The bar code tattoo. Everybody's getting it. It will make your life easier, they say. It will hook you in. It will become your identity.

But what if you say no? What if you don't want to become a code? For Kayla, this one choice changes everything. She becomes an outcast in her high school. Dangerous things happen to her family. There's no option but to run . . . for her life.

Green Angel by Alice Hoffman

Left on her own when her family is lost in a terrible disaster, fifteen-year-old Green is haunted by her present and her past. Struggling to survive in a place where nothing seems to grow and ashes are everywhere, Green retreats into the ruined realm of her garden. When she destroys her feelings, she also destroys herself, erasing the girl she’d once been as she inks ravens and bats onto her skin. It is only through a series of mysterious encounters with a white dog and a mute boy that Green relearns the lessons of love and begins to heal as she tells her story.

Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve

Fever Crumb is a girl who has been adopted and raised by Dr. Crumb, a member of the order of Engineers, where she serves as apprentice. Soon though, she must say goodbye to Dr. Crumb to assist archeologist Kit Solent on a top-secret project.
As her work begins, Fever is plagued by memories that are not her own and Kit seems to have a particular interest in finding out what they are. Fever has also been singled out by city dwellers, who declare that she is part Scriven. The Scriven, not human, ruled the city some years ago but were hunted down and killed in a victorious uprising by the people. If there are any remaining Scriven, they are to be eliminated. All Fever knows is what she’s been told: that she is an orphan.

The Ellie Chronicles trilogy by John Marsden

For Ellie Linton, being back on the farm with her parents is what makes the terrible things that happened during the war -- the things she, Homer, Lee, Fi, and the others had to do -- all worthwhile. It's where she belongs.

But the war won't let her go. A devastating tragedy has shattered any hope she ever had to reclaim her life, or herself. It's a new kind of fight. And the enemy isn't always from the other side of the border.

Have any more recommendations for dystopian teen fiction? Let us know in the comments!

June Releases

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 01 May 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Place your holds now on these upcoming releases:

Fiction:
City of the Snakes by Darren Shan
The Kingdom by Clive Cussler
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Hit List by Laurell K. Hamilton
Full Black by Brad Thor
Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews
Best Staged Plans by Claire Cook
One Summer by David Baldacci
Carte Blanche by Jeffery Deaver
Folly Beach by Dorothea Benton Frank
Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares
Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz
Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich
Fallen by Karin Slaughter
Star Wars: Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn
Learning by Karen Kingsbury
Merciless by Diana Palmer

Nonfiction:
The New Ann Coulter by Ann Coulter
Poisoned Legacy: The Human Cost of BP's Rise to Power by Mike Magner
The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring by Sugar Ray Leonard
The Man in the Rockefeller Suit: The Astonishing Rise and Fall of a Serial Imposter by Mark Seal

Orange Prize

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:19:00 +0000

The Orange Prize shortlist has been announced. The Orange Prize, celebrating it's 16th year, honors the best fiction written by a woman.


Room by Emma Donoghue


The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna


Great House by Nicole Krauss


The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht


Annabel by Kathleen Winter


Grace Williams Says It Out Loud by Emma Henderson

The winner will be announced June 8, 2011.

Pulitzer Prizes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 15:55:00 +0000

The Pulitzer Prizes were announced earlier this week.

Fiction:


A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

History:


The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery by Eric Foner

Biography:


Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow

What We're Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:10:00 +0000

NPR considers this week's new books in What We're Reading.

Ticket to Paradise

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 21:02:00 +0000

In honor of National Library Week (April 10-16, 2011):

The Library Card As a Pop-Culture Fiend's Ticket to Geek Paradise.

Book Roundup

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 12:00:00 +0000

From USA Today, Nonfiction Books with a Scientific Bent.

Indie Next

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Check out the latest recommendations from independent booksellers in the April Indie Next list.

What We're Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 18:00:00 +0000

NPR highlights new books in this week's What We're Reading.

May Releases

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 15:25:00 +0000

Place your holds now on these upcoming releases:

Fiction:
Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks
Sixkill by Robert B. Parker
The Devil's Light by Richard North Patterson
Buried Prey by John Sandford
Those in Peril by Wilbur Smith
A Time for Patriots by Dale Brown
Thunder of Heaven by Tim LaHaye
The Final Storm by Jeff Shaara
The Jefferson Key by Steve Berry
Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Conviction by Aaron Allston
Trader of Secrets by Steve Martini
Dreams of Joy by Lisa See

Nonfiction:
If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won't) by Betty White
From This Moment On by Shania Twain
Familyhood by Paul Reiser
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson

What We're Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 21:37:00 +0000

NPR highlights new books in this week's What We're Reading.

Best of the Month

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 16:28:00 +0000

Amazon's editors make their selections for the best books of March.

National Book Critics Circle Awards

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 19:01:00 +0000

The winners of the 2011 National Book Critics Circle Awards were announced last week.

Fiction:


A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

Biography:


How to Live: Or, A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer by Sarah Bakewell

General Nonfiction:


*The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration* by Isabel Wilkerson

Autobiography:

Half a Life by Darin Strauss

What We're Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 13:00:00 +0000

NPR spotlights new books in What We're Reading.

Indie Next

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 17:08:00 +0000

Check out the recommendations from independent booksellers in the March Indie Next List.

Book TV

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 17:41:00 +0000

Here are some of the highlights from this weekend's Book TV schedule:


Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos


Eye of the Hurricane: My Path from Darkness to Freedom by Rubin "Hurricane" Carter


*The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear* by Seth Mnookin


Reading Jackie: Her Autobiography in Books by William Kuhn

Lethal Warriors: When the New Band of Brothers Came Home, Uncovering the Tragic Reality of PTSD by David Phillips

April Releases

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Place your holds now on these upcoming releases:

Fiction:
I'll Walk Alone by Mary Higgins Clark
Miles to Go by Richard Paul Evans
Secret Life of Damian Spinelli by Dianne Miller
Crunch Time by Diane Mott Davidson
Ghost Story by Jim Butcher
No Rest for the Wicked by David Baldacci, et. al.
Elizabeth I by Margaret George
The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer

44 Charles Street by Danielle Steel
The Sixth Man by David Baldacci
Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts
Save Me by Lisa Scottoline
Mobbed by Carol Higgins Clark
The Silver Boat by Luanne Rice
Eve by Iris Johansen
Treason at Lisson Grove by Anne Perry
Born of Shadows by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Bel-Air Dead by Stuart Woods
My New American Life by Francine Prose

Nonfiction:
Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution by Francis Fukuyama
Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow
The Brilliant Disaster: JFK, Castro, and America's Doomed Invasion of Cuba's Bay of Pigs by Jim Rasenberger
Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being by Martin Seligman
A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea: The Race to Kill the BP Oil Gusher by Joel Achenbach
First Contact: Scientific Breakthroughs in the Hunt for Life Beyond Earth by Marc Kaufman

Los Angeles Times Book Prize

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 00:50:00 +0000

The nominations for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize have been announced. The prize honors books in the following categories: Current Interest, Fiction, First Fiction, Graphic Novel, History, Mystery/Thriller, Poetry, Science & Technology, and Young Adult Literature. The winners will be announced April 29, 2011.

Fiction Finalists:

Nashville Chrome by Rick Bass
Something is Out There: Stories by Richard Bausch
A Visit From the Good Squad by Jennifer Egan
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
Day for Night by Frederick Reiken

Books Into Films

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 18:58:00 +0000

From NPR, Your 2011 Books-Into-Films Lineup.