Shelf Renewal http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal Nobody Puts Backlist in a Corner Thu, 30 Jun 2011 22:40:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Web Crush of the Week: SHELFRENEWAL.COM http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/30/web-crush-of-the-week-shelfrenewal-com/ http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/30/web-crush-of-the-week-shelfrenewal-com/#comments Thu, 30 Jun 2011 22:39:59 +0000 Rebecca Vnuk http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/?p=1427 Our Web Crush of the Week is actually going to be our final Web Crush here at LJ… we’re moving back to our home site, http://www.shelfrenewal.com.  Look for us to start posting there again after the holiday weekend!

So naturally, we’d like to direct you back there!  We like to think of our site as the original Web Crush, and hopefully, you’ll agree!

Please update your RSS feeds (or start a new one!) by subscribing to http://shelfrenewal.com/feed/rss/.

We’d like to thank everyone here at Library Journal for the past 18 months hosting our blog – it’s been a great time.  A big thank you to Wilda Williams, for getting us noticed, and to Francine Fialkoff for taking a chance on us and giving us room to shine!
See you all over at http://www.shelfrenewal.com!

Rebecca and Karen

]]> http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/30/web-crush-of-the-week-shelfrenewal-com/feed/ 0 Dusty Book: Organ Grinders by Bill Fitzhugh http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/28/dusty-book-organ-grinders-by-bill-fitzhugh/ http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/28/dusty-book-organ-grinders-by-bill-fitzhugh/#comments Tue, 28 Jun 2011 11:00:56 +0000 Karen Kleckner Keefe http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/?p=1409 You’d think that opening up the organ trafficking business to baboon hearts would be win-win, wouldn’t you? That’s what Landaq Pharmaceutical rep Jerry Landis thought. But, no. Turns out there are biological AND ethical issues involving harvesting monkey parts for the rich. Bill Fitzhugh’s Organ Grinders is a celebration of political incorrectness. One reviewer aptly called this caper a cross between Carl Hiaasen and Michael Crichton. Fans of Christopher Buckley and Adam Bazell will also chortle with delight.
]]> http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/28/dusty-book-organ-grinders-by-bill-fitzhugh/feed/ 0 Cool Down, Creep Out http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/27/cool-down-creep-out/ http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/27/cool-down-creep-out/#comments Mon, 27 Jun 2011 11:00:49 +0000 Karen Kleckner Keefe http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/?p=1417 More Swedish crime on the best seller lists? I don’t know what goes in a country that it produces ABBA, IKEA, and people who write really good books about sadistic killers. But you know what? I don’t need to see how the sausage is made; the results speak for themselves. The latest Scandinavian thriller to break through in the U.S. is Lars Kepler’s (pseudonym) The Hypnotist. Detective Inspector Joona Linna calls in a watch-swinger to help a catatonic 15-year-old boy relive the night his family was murdered in front of him. Yumpin Yiminy! So bring your King Carl XVI cutout back out of storage and find the umlaut shortcut on your keyboard, you’re going to need to recommend:

Karin Alvtegen
Ake Edwardson
Kerstin Ekman
Kjell Eriksson
Mari Jungstedt
Camilla Läckberg
Asa Larsson
Henning Mankell
Jo Nesbo (Norwegian, but still…)
Hakan Nesser
Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö
Johan Theorin
Helene Tursten

]]> http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/27/cool-down-creep-out/feed/ 0 Web Crush of the Week: Entomology of a Bookworm http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/24/web-crush-of-the-week-entomology-of-a-bookworm/ http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/24/web-crush-of-the-week-entomology-of-a-bookworm/#comments Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:00:09 +0000 Karen Kleckner Keefe http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/?p=1412 Entomology of a Bookworm: The Study of a Self-Proclaimed Bookworm: Devouring the World of the Published Word is just that. (Though I can’t speak for the insect-related veracity of her claims.) After doing marketing and sales for an independent publisher, author Kerry McHugh turned her pen to wittily promoting her own literary sensibilities. Her easy-to-read blog features book reviews (of both new and past books), interesting tidbits for booklovers, publishing industry news, and e-book and e-reader updates. A chatty observer of all things booky, a recent post examined the etiquette of admitting that you’ve been reading someone’s iPad over his shoulder. Discuss.
]]> http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/24/web-crush-of-the-week-entomology-of-a-bookworm/feed/ 0 Dusty Book: Bonfire of the Vanities http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/21/dusty-book-bonfire-of-the-vanities/ http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/21/dusty-book-bonfire-of-the-vanities/#comments Tue, 21 Jun 2011 11:00:19 +0000 Karen Kleckner Keefe http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/?p=1344 When I picked up Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe, I felt like I was reading a documentary. The same weird combination of judgment and envy that exerts a nearly gravitational pull on us when there’s a marathon of “Million Dollar Listing” will keep you turning the pages of this wicked ’80s tome. Wolfe skewers the status-conscious 1980s in the tale of a bond salesman who, literally, finds himself on the wrong side of the tracks. After getting in a car accident on the way home from the airport with his mistress, Sherman McCoy becomes a symbol of white privilege and takes the heat for New York City’s smoldering racial tensions and the divide between the haves and have-nots.
]]> http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/21/dusty-book-bonfire-of-the-vanities/feed/ 0 Dr. Insert Name of Missing Scientist Here, I Presume? http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/20/dr-insert-name-of-missing-scientist-here-i-presume/ http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/20/dr-insert-name-of-missing-scientist-here-i-presume/#comments Mon, 20 Jun 2011 11:00:39 +0000 Karen Kleckner Keefe http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/?p=1396

In terms of buzz, an author can sometimes benefit more from mixed reviews than from unanimous acclaim. Witness Ann Patchett’s new novel, State of Wonder. A researcher at a pharmaceutical company, Marina Singh journeys into the heart of the Amazonian delta to check on a field team that has been silent for two years–a dangerous assignment that forces Marina to confront the ghosts of her past. Patrons who grabbed the bestseller in order to make up their own minds, may be ready for some more scientific fiction with an element of the exotic.

Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje
Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd
Darwin’s Radio by Greg Bear
Fieldwork by Mischa Berlinski
Lucy by Allegra Goodman
Mating by Norman Rush
Mr. Darwin’s Shooter by Roger McDonald
]]> http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/20/dr-insert-name-of-missing-scientist-here-i-presume/feed/ 0 Web Crush of the Week: eReaderIQ.com http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/17/web-crush-of-the-week-ereaderiq-com/ http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/17/web-crush-of-the-week-ereaderiq-com/#comments Fri, 17 Jun 2011 11:38:27 +0000 Rebecca Vnuk http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/?p=1394 In the Jan/Feb issue of Public Libraries, I profiled a number of sites where you and your patrons could find free eBooks.  Here’s another one for you:

Head to http://www.ereaderiq.com/free/ for a regularly updated list of all non-public domain freebies on Amazon.com. Granted, a large portion of them are self-published or odd duck titles, but there are gems to be found – last week the site alerted me to free Claire Cook, for example.  You can even sign up for email alerts whenever new free content is added.

]]> http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/17/web-crush-of-the-week-ereaderiq-com/feed/ 0 Dusty Book: Outlander http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/16/dusty-book-outlander/ http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/16/dusty-book-outlander/#comments Thu, 16 Jun 2011 10:25:32 +0000 Rebecca Vnuk http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/?p=1390 Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander turns 20 this summer, and they’re even coming out with a special anniversary edition next month (librarians, replace those tattered copies!)

A hefty tome, this 600+ page time-travel adventure/romance (inspired in part by Dr. Who) has legions of fans and boasts six follow-up novels and a spin-off series.  Readers who like romance, or fantasy elements, or historical fiction, or women’s fiction, or adventure, or just darn long books will find plenty to love here.

As an interesting side note, did you know that Diana Gabaldon is actually Dr. Diana Gabaldon, possessing  degrees in Zoology, Marine Biology, and a PhD in Quantitative Behavioral Ecology?  True story.  She’s also the founding editor of Science Software Quarterly.  Well what do you know!

]]> http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/16/dusty-book-outlander/feed/ 0 Dusty Book: Blindsighted by Karin Slaughter http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/14/dusty-book-blindsighted-by-karin-slaughter/ http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/14/dusty-book-blindsighted-by-karin-slaughter/#comments Tue, 14 Jun 2011 11:00:44 +0000 Karen Kleckner Keefe http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/?p=1328 The first in the somehow gritty and reassuringly familiar Grant County series, Karin Slaughter’s Blindsighted introduces pediatrician and coroner Dr. Sara Linton and her ex-husband, the chief of police in their small Georgia town. Autopsying a local college professor, Linton finds evidence of a sadistic murderer.
]]> http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/14/dusty-book-blindsighted-by-karin-slaughter/feed/ 0 Sweet, Sweet Jane http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/13/sweet-sweet-jane/ http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2011/06/13/sweet-sweet-jane/#comments Mon, 13 Jun 2011 11:00:13 +0000 Karen Kleckner Keefe http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/?p=1383 Not one, but TWO new books are out congratulating Jane Austen fans for their good taste: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter by William Deresiewicz and Why Jane Austen? by Rachel M. Brownstein. Don’t get me wrong, I’m one of those fans, and I pat myself on the back plenty. But, with SO many books devoted to Austenia, are we really a minority that need championing? From the chick lit homages to the UK’s Lost in Austen to the Colin Firth phenomenon, Jane Austen fans have their pick of ways to feed their fetish. What clever ways has your library found to fuel this regency renaissance?
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