The JTPL Blog

RUSA, the Reference and User Services Associatioin of the American Library Association, has chosen books in eight genres in their 2010 Reading List. This list “helps ALA begin to recognize more than literary fiction as worthy of recognition.”

This list is a great starting point for book groups!

Category: Adrenaline (Action, Thrillers and Adventure)

       Winner: Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child (Runners-up: Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell; the neighbor by Lisa Gardner; Shatter by Michael Robotham; and The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer.)

Category: Fantasy

       Winner: Lamentation by Ken Scholes (Runners-up: Red Wolf Conspiracy by Keith Redick; Turn Coat by Jim Butcher; Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson; The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett.)

Category: Historical Fiction

       Winner: Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell (Runners-up: Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran; Etta by Gerald Kolpan; Grace Hammer by Sara Stockbridge; The Owl Killers by Karen Maitland.)

Category: Horror

       Winner: Last Days by Brian Evenson (Runners-up: The House of Lost Souls by F. G. Cottam; The Little Stranger by Sara Waters; The Seance by John Harwood; The Unseen by Alexandra Sokoloff.)

Category: Mystery

       Winner: A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn (Runners-up: The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny; The Dark Horse by Craig Johnson; Dog on It by Spencer Quinn; The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley.)

Category: Romance

       Winner: What Happens in London by Julia Quinn (Runners-up: Chemistry for Beginners by Anthony Strong; Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare; The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig; Vision in White by Nora Roberts.)

Category: Science Fiction

       Winner: The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (Runners-up: The Empress of Mars by Kage Baker; Flood by Stephen Baxter; The Quiet War by Paul J. McAuley; Steal Across the Skies by Nancy Kress.)

Category: Women’s Fiction

       Winner: Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani (Runners-up: After You by Julie Buxbaum; The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club by Gil McNail; Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas; Shelter Me by Juliet Fay.)

Everybody’s doing it, so I might as well too. Here is my list of the best books I read in 2009,  in no particular order:

I read mostly fiction. Mudbound by Hillary Jordan (a first book, and I can’t wait for her to write another.)  is historical fiction at it’s best. Similar in theme (the race issue) is another favorite, The Help by Kathryn Stockett. David Small’s Stitches ( autobiographical graphic novel) was absolutely relavatory. Who knew I’d enjoy a graphic novel so much??

Moving on, we have Little Bee by Chris Cleve. I was attracted to the cover of this book, picked it up and never put it down. The voice of the refugee narrator is both comical and tragic. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stout sneaks up on you, gets inside your head, and stays there. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa  (translated from the Japanese,) is about a math genius who, after an accident, has a memory that lasts only 80 minutes. This one was totally original. 

Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen has the best ending! Loved everything about this one, plot, characters, setting, theme and tone. Don’t miss it. An oldie by goodie just discovered was The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham. Read it and watch the DVD with Edward Norton. Old School by Tobias Wolff is wonderful for those who love literature.  Cost by Roxana Robinson examines the cost (mental, financial, emotional, etc.) to a family whose son is a heroin addict. William Boyd’s Restless is a historical mystery of hidden identity.

I do read some nonfiction (more than I think I do, looking back on it.) I enjoyed Barbara Ehrenreich’s eye-opening Bright-Sided: How the relentless promotion of positive thinking has undermined America, and Elizabeth Edwards’s Resilience: Reflections on the burdens and gifts of facing life’s adversities. I had a preconcieved notion of her that was proved wroong by this book.

Right now,  I’m reading Andre Agassi’s Open: An Autobiography. It’s honest, funny, and insightful. I can’t wait to get home to finish it! (A tip: it was “ghostwritten” by J. R. Moehringer, who wrote The Tender Bar, one of my favorite memoirs of all time.)

Today we celebrated staff member Heather Nilson’s completion of her master’s degree studies at Rutgers U. She is now an official “Master of Library and Information Science.”  We are proud of Heather and all her hard work, and wish her well with her new responsibilites here at the library.

We all enjoyed a delicious chocolate and strawberry cake, so I suppose the post-holiday diet will have to be put off for yet another day

I am so excited about the all new miniseries Emma coming up on PBS! I know I’ll need to talk to someone about it, so a book and film discussion will be held here at the library. And since it’s Austen, we’re having afternoon tea as well.

Put it on your calendar now! Read the book, watch the broadcast (Sunday, January 24, January 31 and February 7, 9 p.m.) and come to the library to talk about it and enjoy some tea. The new adaptation will star Romola Garai in the title role as Emma, the tireless matchmaker, and Johnny Lee Miller at Mr. Knightly. I’m sure it will be wonderful, as most Masterpiece Classic productions are.

From Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, we learn that “charming and willful Emma Woodhouse has no responsibilities other than the care of her indulgent father. To amuse herself, she plays with other people’s affairs, planning their lives the way she sees fit ” and that “the book is much concerned with the themes of self-delusion and notions of class and decorum fundamental to English society.”

This is a nice way of saying that the snobby, impetuous and often clueless  Emma causes lots of problems, meddles and interferes with everyone’s business, and is a  notorious matchmaker.  

There is lots to talk about in Austen: class and social rank, family, relationships, status, an intricate plot, great character development, and the bucolic setting for starters.

Please register at www.jeffersonlibrary.net.