Thursday, December 20, 2012

An Artistic Masterpiece or a Forgery?


I am not by any means an expert in art.  Show me a famous painting and I probably will not know the artist.  But I still appreciate good works of art and the time, effort, and patience it takes an artist to fully realize his or her vision.  The Art Forger, B.A. Shapiro's debut novel, not only takes us into the world of art but, obviously, into the world of art forgery.

Claire Roth is an artist who made a bad name for herself when she painted a picture her then-boyfriend took credit for.  She was vilified when she finally came clean and now she paints famous works for a company called Reproductions.com.  But Claire still wants to become the famous artist she once dreamed of being.  Enter Aidan Markel, owner of a well-known gallery, who offers her a Faustian bargain: Claire forges a painting for Markel and he will give Claire her own show in his gallery.  She agrees and soon finds out that there is more to this deal than she ever suspected.  

This is a very good debut novel with some terrific insight into the world of art forgery.  There is more mystery and suspense to it than I would have initially guessed.  Pick it up if you want to learn more about art as well as enjoy a good story!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Recommendations Delivered to Your Inbox!



There are so many places to get book recommendations.  I love visiting the NPR and New York Times book reveiw sites.  Goodreads and LibraryThing offer a social place to discuss books.  But what if, now stay with me, you could get lists of new and popular book titles sent straight to your Inbox?  What a crazy world that would be, right?  Welcome to that crazy world!  The Tiffin-Seneca Public Library offers amazing booklists each month that can be sent straight to your email.

Simply go to this site to browse the available booklists.  Simply click the checkbox next to each list you would like to receive, enter your email and you are set! 

We do link to the current lists on our website, so check them out if you'd like to sample them.  For instance, here is this month's New Adult Fiction and Mystery lists.  There are many others, such as Adult Biography, Junior Books, Teen Books, and Large Print.  There's something for everyone!

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Film Adaptations



We've all heard the arguments.  The book was better!  The movie was better!  Or even, I liked them both!

I just finished an interesting article entitled "Ten Things Hollywood Wants in Source Material and Screenplays" by John Robert Marlow of the Huffington Post.  You can check out the article at this link.  Most of the content is what you would expect.  Movie makers evaluate screenplays, and books, by attempting to figure out how appealing they would be on the big screen.  Does the source material contain relatable characters?  Is it of average length and without unnecesary details?  Would it be visually appealing?  All of this factors in when a filmmaker decides to turn your favorite books into films.

This got me thinking of books I've read recently that I feel would make a good transition to the big screen.  Allow me to add a bit of a disclaimer here.  I rarely, rarely say that the film was better, so I'm thinking these books would simply be good choices for the transition to film.  The first one that immediately came to mind is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  Just imagining how visually appealing this would be is making me giddy.  And guess what?  A film is indeed in the early stages of development.  The Light Between Oceans could make for a fantastic dramatic film.  I'm seeing Hollywood being all over this one and I wouldn't be surprised if it's already in the works.  And, after running a quick search, it looks like I'm two for two!

I'm not really into the crime/sheriff who doesn't play by the rules kind of films, but I'm thinking the Kate Burkholder series by Linda Castillo would make a pretty strong transition to film.  I don't necessarily believe the entire series should be included but the first one, Sworn to Silence, could make for a good flick.

The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan could be a solid psychological thriller.  If you haven't picked this one up, the story is told by Grace, who was with her husband when their ocean liner suffers a mysterious explosion.  Grace is separated from her husband, who secured her on a lifeboat which is unfortunately over capacity.  We naturally get to watch as the survivors of the explosion start fighting for power of the lifeboat.

Which books are you hoping are turned into films?

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Discuss Turn of Mind at the Next Coffee By the Book


If you have not stopped by our Coffee By the Book group at Bailiwicks Coffee Company, give it a try on January 17.  The newest book group from the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library is not what you might expect.  First, there's coffee.  How great is that?  Second, we do not discuss books that you might think of as the typical book group fare.  We read newer debut titles that tend to be on the quirky side.  It's a way for us to introduce you to something different that you might not have picked up otherwise.



The next book we'll be discussing is Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante.  Dr. Jennifer White's best friend has recently been murdered and the police have named White as the prime suspect.  Sounds like a pretty typical mystery/thriller doesn't it?  The twist to this story is that Dr. White suffers from Alzheimer's and this mystery is told from her perspective.  Now a different kind of storytelling.  Being inside Jennifer's mind while it is slowly deteriorating makes for interesting and sometimes emotional reading.  She is caught trying to piece together what happened to her best friend while dealing with an ailment of which she has no control.  The family dynamics between White and her two children also gives the reader something to mull over.

Join us at Bailiwicks on January 17 from 6:00-7:00 to discuss this powerful debut novel.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Alice Munro- Short Story Genius

I mentioned my love for Alice Munro's short stories in a previous post and feel the need to elaborate further with an entire post devoted to her work.  I'm only halfway through her most recent work, Dear Life: Stories, and have, as expected, fallen in love with her writing all over again.

Munro is able to tell seemingly unimportant tales in such a way that we are left with the feeling that every little interaction in our lives is dipped in meaning.  In the story "Haven" we have a young girl staying with her aunt and uncle while her parents are on a mission trip in Ghana.  The differences between her parents and the aunt/uncle are striking, specifically the fact that her Aunt Dawn lives in a household in which she is not able to speak her mind, due to the way Uncle Jasper talks down to her.  But what happens when the aunt decides to do something on her own, without him knowing?   "Leaving Maverly" is a story about a night policeman who accompanies a quiet, shy girl home from her job at the local theater every night.  Her religion does not allow her to listen to the films, let alone see them, and the policeman is left wondering if his telling her about the films leads to her sudden disappearance.

Munro's other short story collections are just as solid as Dear Life.  Try Too Much Happiness (which is anything but), Runaway, Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, and The Love of a Good Woman.

As always, check us out on Goodreads for more book recommendations and reviews.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Astray- Emma Donoghue

I just finished Emma Donoghue's collection of mostly previously published short stories, Astray.  You may remember Donoghue from her enormously popular 2010 title, Room, which gave many readers, including me, the creeps.  That story, which I definitely recommend, was told from the point-of-view of Jack, a five year old boy.  His life was the simple one room he shared with his mother because they were being held captive by a man who had kidnapped her years before.  It was up for numerous awards and received well by critics.

This is not Room, Part 2.  Not even close.  Donoghue was known more for writing short stories well before Room hit the scene.  Astray is a collection of short stories published in literary magazines from 1998 to the present.

The common theme throughout Astray is emigration and how it can lead people into doing things they normally would not do.  We have a mother going to Canada with her daughter and having a quick affair she would never have considered before.  A Hessian soldier finds himself fighting in the American Revolution and forced to do something that goes against his nature.  A Pilgrim finds the same sins in America that he wished to escape from in England and is forced to speak out against his brethren. 

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this book is how it is partly historical fiction.  The stories come from old newspaper articles Donoghue found and which spoke to her in some way.  Many of them did not go into much detail, so the author decided to tell the tales in her own way.  The one I found intriguing is "Onward" which tells of Charles Dickens helping out a brother and his sister (who was trying to take care of her daughter in a less than savory way) by paying their way to Canada. 

Friday, November 23, 2012

National Book Award Winners Announced

The winners of the 2012 National Book Awards were announced earlier this week.  The National Book Foundation has presented these awards for over fifty years and they are quickly gaining ground as one of the premiere awards, especially since there was no Pulitzer Prize for Fiction this year.  As you know from previous posts, I always pay attention to these awards and make it a point to read the nominees at some point.  Without further ado, here are the winners:

Fiction
The Round House by Louise Erdrich

Nonfiction
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo

Young People's Literature
Goblin Secrets by William Alexander

Visit this site for more information on the National Book Foundation and the National Book Awards.

Monday, November 19, 2012

What books are you thankful for?

Is it almost Thanksgiving already?  It's amazing how the time flies.  But this gives me the opportunity to share with you the 2012 books I am thankful for.  Corny?  Yes.  Absolutely.  But it will be fun.  I promise!

The first 2012 titles I'm thankful for is The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Steadman.  It's also the most heartbreaking title I've read this year.  Lighthouse keeper Tom Sherbourne lives with his wife, Isabel, on a remote island off the coast of Australia.  One day a boat washes up on shore containing a dead man and a child.  The Sherbourne's find themselves with a decision to make, one that they later find has a major impact on others.

On the lighter side, I really enjoyed political satire Taft 2012.  This comical title imagines William Howard Taft disappearing into thin air on the last day of his presidency, only to reappear on the White House lawn in 2011.  Taft finds himself not only trying to learn what life is like in our time, but also being more popular than he was during his time.  This leads to an improbable presidential election with Taft up for the presidency for the first time in 100 years.

The Night Circus has to be on the list of books I am thankful for.  This story centers around a bizarre competiting between Celia and Marco, who have been trained by dueling magicians.  It's not heavy on action, but the writing is truly beautiful.

Here are a few more 2012 books I am thankful for:

Hope: A Tragedy by Shalom Auslander

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson

The Vanishing Act by Mette Jakobsen

Home by Toni Morrison

A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Share Your Love of Reading on April 23!

April 23 is an important day for readers.  It marks the day of William Shakespeare's birth and death as well as the death of Miguel de Cervantes.  April 23 is also recognized as the International Day of the Book by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization).  

In the spirit of April 23, World Book Night was organized as a way for readers to share their love of reading with others.  Book givers volunteer to give away 20 copies of a title of their choosing to random strangers.  The Tiffin-Seneca Public Library has been confirmed as a distribution point for World Book Night 2013!  

How do you become a book giver?  You can sign up to be a book giver on April 23 from the World Book Night website.  Choose one of the twenty offered titles (the title list can be accessed here) to hand out to random strangers.  You can choose from classics like Fahrenheit 451 and My Antonia to contemporary works like The Language of Flowers and Salvage the Bones.  The library will receive the boxes of books during the week of April 15 and hold a book givers open house where you can pick up your books.  That's it!  You then have the pleasure of sharing the title you choose with twenty random people.  

Sign up today and mark the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library as your distribution point.  We look forward to helping you spread your love of reading!

Friday, November 9, 2012

Bram Stoker

Some of you may have noticed the Bram Stoker-inspired cartoon on the Google search page yesterday.  This was done in celebration of Stoker's 165th birthday.  I thought it might be fun to take a look at Stoker's life and works.

Forbes did a terrific article entitled "5 Fun Facts About Bram Stoker on His 165th Birthday".  The two that stood out in my mind are the short feud with Oscar Wilde (who would have thought?) and that Stoker wrote romance novels.  I guess you just never know about these classic literary figures!  The Huffington Post even did a cool Vampires in Art slideshow in celebration of Stoker's birthday.

If this has piqued your interest in Stoker, try his classic work, Dracula, as a book, audiobook, or DVD.


Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Get Lost in a Good Series

I just finished reading Jasper Fforde's The Woman Who Died a Lot.  This is the seventh book in the witty Thursday Next series.  If you haven't heard of this series, do yourself a favor and check it out.

The series is based in an alternate version of Great Britain and follows the adventures of Thursday Next, a Special Operative Literary Detective, who's mission is to protect the world's prized literature.  But this isn't your normal detective series, not by a long shot!  The series begins with The Eyre Affair, in which Archeron Hades, the third most wanted man in the world, wants to kidnap the character Jane Eyre and eliminate her from literary history!  It's up to Thursday to try to actually enter the novel and save Jane from this fate. 

Each book is full of many comical moments and clever turns of phrase.  Thursday owns a pet cloned dodo which is all the rage in this alternate reality.  She battles vampires, minotaurs, and even creatures from the books she enters.  Thursday also does battle with the evil Goliath Corporation, which is bent on creating a global monopoly of everything imaginable.  She even becomes part of Jurisfiction, the policing agency within the BookWorld.

It is very unique in how the line between the real world and literature blurs as the series continues.  The fact that literature is valued so highly in this alternate universe is refreshing, too.  Check out The Eyre Affair and I'm sure you'll want to continue through the series!

Saturday, November 3, 2012

The Dangers of Proximal Alphabets

If you've been checking out the Reader's Corner, you've probably noticed that I have a fixation with debut novels.  I am simply amazed by the number of well-written debut novels that come out every month.  It's time once again for a brief review of one such novel.  This time it's The Dangers of Proximal Alphabets by Kathleen Alcott.

We meet Ida and her two best friends, brothers Jackson and James, who meet in early childhood and remain close (at times) into adulthood.  They are brought together through loss as Ida has lost her mother and the brothers have lost their father.  As quickly as they meet, they become inseperable.  In one beautifully written chapter, Ida describes to the reader everything she knows about James.  This is no easy feat for any writer, let alone a first-time novelist. 

Things become more complicated as the threesome grows up.  Jackson is tormented by vivid dreams and sleepwalking episodes.  Sometimes they even become violent.  Ida, who strikes up a romantic relationship with Jackson, and James often feel the brunt of Jackson's episodes, whether directly or indirectly.  Two of them lose touch for years, one decides to have nothing to do with the other, and all three must play mediator at one time or another. 

This powerful debut shows both the strength and fragility of friendship and is a very emotional read.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Dysfunction Junction

It's amazing how I sometimes find strange patterns in my reading habits.  Usually I'm reading debut authors, quirky reads, or I'm on one of my history kicks.  But patterns sometimes develop out of those usual habits.  I've noticed that several of my recent books are about dysfunctional families or relationships. 

I didn't plan it this way.  It started innocently enough when I picked up We Only Know So Much by Elizabeth Crane.  This novel, narrated by "we", follows the Copeland family.  This family seems pretty happy on the outside, but we know better than that.  We have Gordon who prides himself on knowing everything but now thinks he's losing his mind.  His wife, Jean, is more concerned about the death of the man with whom she had an affair, rather than anything the family is doing.  They have a narcissistic daughter, Priscilla, and a socially awkard son, Otis.  Plus, they live with Gordon's father and grandmother.  To say things are not perfect in this family is an understatement.

Somehow I moved on to A Working Theory of Love by Scott Hutchins.  Neill Bassett is a part of a small team attempting to create the first intelligent computer.  But the system needs a huge example of natural language in which to base its own conversations.  Neill's father's extensive journals are fed into the computer and, before you know it, Neill is "talking" to the computer, which uses Neill Senior's language, more than he had spoken to his father in real life.  To the point where he is asking the computer for advice on his love life.

Next up was In Between Days by Andrew Porter.  Here we have Chloe Harding being suspended from college in Boston and coming home to Houston after her and her boyfriend get into some legal trouble.  But coming home may not be the best option with her parents, Elson and Cadence, being recently divorced and her brother, Richard, trying to figure out his own life.  I was especially impressed with this book because the characters were developed well and I could feel what each one was going through.  Highly recommended.

And I'm sure you're humming the old Schoolhouse Rock tune, Conjunction Junction, after reading the title to this post, right?

Monday, October 22, 2012

National Book Award Finalists

The finalists for the National Book Awards for Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People's Literature were recently announced.  I pay more attention to some book awards than others and this is one that I never miss.  These titles that made the final round in fiction and nonfiction are available through the library:

Fiction

This is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz
A Hologram for the King by Dave Eggers
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain
The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers

Nonfiction

Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1945-1956 by Anne Applebaum
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo
The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro
House of Stone by Anthony Shadid

Go to this link for more information on the 2012 awards.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Where can I get more recommendations?

Sometimes you just need more resources to help you find your next good read.  But where should you start?  We're here to help!

There are a ton of terrific online resources that recommend titles based on your likes.  I like to start with some of the award winners.  Two of my favorites are the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Award.  You can always rely upon the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction...except for this year.  Despite there being three nominees this year, no title was chosen for the award.  Maybe next year.  The National Book Critics Circle Award is another excellent choice, with winners being chosen in six categories.

What if you prefer a specific genre?  We've got you covered!  Try some of these great resources.

Mysteries
Stop, You're Killing Me!
Agatha Awards

Romance
Romance Writers of America
The Romance Reader

Sci Fi & Fantasy
Locus Online
Worlds Without End

Westerns
Western Writers of America

Reviews of Books and Fantastic Fiction include a little bit of everything.  Fantastic Fiction is a great resource if you're wanting to quickly find every title by a specific author or the next book in a series.

Happy reading!


Friday, October 12, 2012

Terrific Debut Authors Part 2

My last post discussed how there are tons of great debut fiction titles coming out each month.  Whether this is a relatively new phenomena, or not, is not for me to say, but I've only taken notice of it within the past year or so.  We discussed The Family Fang, which will be the focus of the next Coffee By the Book meeting at Bailiwicks Coffee Company on October 18, and several other titles.

The latest debut that I am just finishing is A Working Theory of Love by Scott Hutchins.  This is a different piece of psychological fiction with divorcee Neill Bassett attempting to balance his unsteady personal life with his job.  His job is with a small company trying to create the first intelligent computer that can process natural language, the goal being that the computer can actually trick someone into thinking they are talking with a live person.  The language is generated from Neill's deceased father's extensive journal.  As Neill has "conversations" with the computer, he begins to think that he is vying for the attention of his father.  There are so many questions one can ask after reading this well-crafted debut novel and I cannot wait for Hutchins next title.

Of course, I leave you once again with a few more terrific debuts:

Taft 2012 by Jason Heller- With election season heating up, try this humorous debut that imagines William Howard Taft disappearing at the end of his term as president, only to reappear on the scene in 2011.

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson- With a title like that, how can you not pick this up?  This Swedish debut, finally available in the United States, is a hilarious tale of Allan Karlsson, who escapes through the window of his nursing home room and finds himself in all kinds of trouble.  Along the way, we get flashbacks to the important events in history that Allan has not only seen, but had major influence upon.

Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson- Wilson has a memoir and graphic novel to her credit but this is her first work of prose fiction.  The plot involves computer hacker Alif, whose program gets him into trouble with all-seeing security presence, The Hand.  While dealing with this, he also finds himself in possession of the, Alf Yeom, known for containing mystical powers.



Saturday, October 6, 2012

Terrific Debut Authors Part 1

I've had several conversations with a colleague about the number of quality debut fiction titles that seem to come out every month.  What's making this an exciting time is that these debut authors are willing to try something new.  Many of them are not pumping out formulaic fiction.  They are getting their names out there by taking chances.  A perfect example of this is Kevin Wilson's debut novel The Family Fang.  Annie and Buster Fang are forced to confront their parents, who have incorporated their children into their chaotic living art pieces for years.  It's the kind of quirky debut novel that gets a new author noticed.

Here are a few more debut novels I've read recently that you may want to check out:

We Only Know So Much by Elizabeth Crane- Takes a deep (and often humorous) look at a dysfunctional family.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern- This is a beautfully written book about two young people trained to be magicians who are forced to compete with each other in a bizarre circus.

Penelope by Rebecca Harrington- Socially inept Penelope O'Shaunessy arrives at Harvard and attempts to fit in to the social hierarchy of the school with hilarious results.

Bed by David Whitehouse- Eccentric Mal Ede becomes disillusioned by the responsibilities of adulthood and decides to go to bed one day without ever getting up again.

I'll discuss more terrific debut novels in another post soon.  Don't forget to join us for a discussion of The Family Fang at the Coffee by the Book group at Bailiwicks Coffee Company on Thursday, October 18 from 6:30-7:30!





Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Author Donna VanLiere to Visit Tiffin-Seneca Public Library

Bestselling author Donna VanLiere is visiting the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library on Wednesday, October 17 at 7:00 pm for a book signing.  This promises to be a great event as it's not every day you get the chance to meet a New York Times Bestseller!

VanLiere's latest title, The Good Dream, has received great reviews from multiple book critics.  The library will be hosting a book discussion of The Good Dream on Sunday, October 14 at 3:00 pm.  Copies are available for check out at the front desk.

If you're looking for more books by this terrific author, check out a list of her titles at this link.

Join us for these two great events and for the opportunity to meet a bestselling author!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Dystopian Novels are All the Rage

What is a dystopian novel, you say?  It usually involves a controlled state, posing as a utopia, in which citizens actually have very little control over their lives.  There is usually one person (or sometimes a group) that tries to fight a controlling entity (government, technology) and break away from the crowd.  The Hunger Games is one of many dystopian novels that are extremely hot right now.  2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America by Albert Brooks is another newer dystopian novel making waves.  Here are just a few titles for you to try:

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

Blindness by Jose Saramago

The Dream of Perpetual Motion by Dexter Clarence Palmer

Seed by Rob Ziegler

Things We Didn't See Coming by Steven Amsterdam

Veracity by Laura Bynum

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Saturday, September 22, 2012

The Light Between Oceans

M.L. Stedman has written one of the most powerful debut novels I've read in years.  The Light Between Oceans, while heartbreaking in the extreme, is a difficult book to put down.  I know I was tired after staying up late to finish it.

The novel centers around Tom Sherbourne, a man who has lived a difficult life and is simply looking for a quieter life.  He becomes the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, a tiny island off the coast of Australia.  During one of his shore leaves he meets Isabel.  They fall in love and she moves to Janus Rock with Tom.  The story becomes complicated once a boat washes up on shore, containing a dead man and a living infant. 

Tom, who keeps detailed records of what happens on Janus Rock and reports every minor detail, wants to report this to the mainland.  Isabel, who has suffered through a stillbirth and two miscarriages, decides that fate has delivered the child to them.  She convinces Tom to keep the child, but a rift in their marriage has been created.  They soon learn that they are not the only people in the young child's life.

I found this to be a difficult read at times, due to the emotional impact, but it's very well worth it.  It would not surprise me if this book ends up on many awards lists at the end of the year.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Dead Men

I recently finished reading Dead Men by Richard Pierce.  This is one of those titles I almost didn't pick up but I'm very happy I did. 

The plot revolves around Birdie and Adam, who meet under bizarre circumstances, and their quest to find what really happened to Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his men during their Antarctic expedition.  The mystery of the failed expedition is why did Scott and his men spend over a week in a tent only eleven miles from the safety of a depot?  Birdie has been obsessed with this mystery for years and is determined, with Adam's help, to find out what happened to Scott and his men.

This title is interesting in that we get some history behind the expedition, both through Adam and Birdie's research and through some flashbacks to Scott's camp. The real focus of the book is the budding relationship between Adam and Birdie.  Pierce's descriptions of the Antarctic landscape are intense and well worth the read. 

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Ohioana Award Winners Announced

The Ohioana Library Association recently announced the 2012 book award winners.  The association is dedicated to promoting Ohio authors, musicians, and artists.  Here are the 2012 award winners:

Fiction- The Paris Wife by Paula McClain

Nonfiction- Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean

Poetry- Weather: Poems by Dave Lucas

Juvenile Literature- Where Do You Stay? by Andrea Cheng

Young Adult Literature- The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

About Ohio- Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard

Go to this link for more information on the Ohioana Library Association and the awards.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Looking for some good short stories?

For the past couple years I've always tried to fit in a book of short stories into my regular rotation of books.  Short stories are wonderful for a change of pace and they can offer something that regular novels can't always offer.  I'm amazed by the amount of emotion some short story authors can pack into their works.  Try one of these authors if you're looking for some great short fiction.

Alice Munro- This is my absolute favorite short story author.  Her stories aren't usually uplifting in any way but they are still very enjoyable.  All of her works are winners, but I would start by recommending "Something I've Been Meaning to Tell You" as a good jumping off point.

Dan Chaon- Chaon wrote two solid novels (Await Your Reply and Your Remind Me of Me) but is best known for his works of short fiction.  I was introduced to him through Among the Missing, a wonderful collection.  The overall theme is that of loneliness.  Many of the characters deal with loss of one kind or another and must deal with it in their own way.  Chaon can pack a big emotional punch in short order.

Lucia Maria Perillo- Perillo is a new author I stumbled upon recently.  I was extremely impressed with her writing style and look for big things in the future.  Her collection is entitled "Happiness is a Chemical in the Brain".  Honestly, how could I not pick up a book with that title?  It's difficult to describe the book, other than to say that the main characters don't react to outside influences in a way the reader is expecting.

Kevin Brockmeier- He's known more for his novels, but I found Brockmeier's "The View From the Seventh Layer" to be an excellent collection of short stories.  Some of the stories have a sci-fi, fantasy type feel for them, which is very different from the stories I normally read.  I also have to mention that this work has a "choose your own adventure" story, too.  How cool is that?

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Check Out Our Goodreads Page!

Did you know we have a Goodreads page at the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library?  We do!  And you have the opportunity to connect with us to see what we've been reading and reviewing. 

What is Goodreads?  Think of Facebook but with books.  In fact, you can connect your Goodreads account to your Facebook page.  You can connect with friends and rate, review, and discuss books.  It's a terrific resource to help you find your next great read.

Connect with our Goodreads account at this link.  We hope to share with you what we've been reading!

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

The Night Circus- Join Us For a New Book Group!



Have you ever read a book that makes you keep going back to re-read passages?  That's the case for me with The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  The book is so beautifully written with intense imagery and emotions that I found myself going back to read sections over again.

Thankfully, a friend recommended this book to me as I never would have picked it up myself.  A mysterious circus arrives unannounced in towns throughout the world.  Performances of a grand scale take place but only at night.  The circus gains a cult following as enthusiasts attempt to find out where it will be next.  The reader, however, gets a look behind the circus at a competition between Celia and Marco, who are both magicians.  Both have trained since a very early age for this competition without knowing who they are competing against or how a winner will be declared.

This is a difficult  book to classify.  I wasn't sure if I'd care for the elements of magic, but the story is more concerned with the various relationships between the major players.  And I can't say enough about the imagery Morgenstern is able to describe through her writing.  This will definitely be included among my top books of 2012.

If you are interested in discussing this book, join us at the Bailiwicks Coffee Company on Thursday, September 20 at 6:30 for our newest book group, Coffee By The Book!  We have some copies of The Night Circus available for checkout at the Information Desk.  When they run out, contact Chris May in the Reference Dept. and he will place a hold on a copy for you.  We look forward to seeing you at Bailiwicks!

Friday, August 17, 2012

Ohioana Book Award Finalists Announced


I don't pay attention to all of the book awards, but I do watch for the Pulitzers, the Man Booker Prize, and the National Book Awards.  I also pay close attention to the Ohioana Book Awards which, as thename suggests, celebrates authors from the state of Ohio.  With so many great authors being from Ohio (Dan Chaon and Toni Morrison are two of my personal favorites) it's no wonder why these awards are popular.  Here are this years finalists for fiction and non-fiction:

Fiction
Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
The Devil All the Time by Ronald Ray Pollock
Doc: A Novel by Mary Doria Russell
Ziggy by Tom Wilson

Non-Fiction
History of a Suicide: My Sister's Unfinished Life by Jill Bialosky
Toward a Better Life: America's New Immigrants in Their Own Words-From Ellis Island to the Present by Peter Morton Coan
Dance Anatomy by Jacqui Greene Haas
The Quest for the Perfect Hive: A History of Innovation in Bee Culture by Gene Kritsky
Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean

Check out the Ohioana website for more info on the awards.

Monday, August 6, 2012

Welcome!


Welcome to the Tiffin-Seneca Public Library's blog for readers!  We wanted to create this page as a space to talk about everything related to reading.  What will you see here?  We love giving brief reviews of the books we've been reading.  You'll be kept up-to-date about new and upcoming titles.  We'll discuss books up for national and local awards.  Basically, come here if you're stuck on what to read and want a few suggestions!

This first post serves simply as an introduction to the blog, but we'd love to know what you've been reading.  I'm currently making my way through Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson.  I'm only 3/4 of the way through, but it is a fantastic read so far!

Use the comments section to tell us what you've been reading!