Merrick Library Reader's Advisory Blog

NEW DVDs!

2012-02-13T13:08:00.000-08:00

Out February 11:

"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1" - the latest chapter in the popular vampire series based on the best-selling novels by Stephenie Meyer - stars Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner

Out February 14:

"The Rum Diary" - for what do you use words? - a New York writer transplanted to Puerto Rico must choice either profit or justice - stars Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart and Giovanni Ribisi

""Take Shelter" - whether or not scary dreams mean anything makes all the difference to a man in relation to his family and community - stars Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain and Shea Whigham

Best Sellers Club!

2012-02-10T13:45:00.000-08:00

Join the Library's Best Sellers Club and you will automatically be placed on the reserve list for the latest fiction by your favorite authors. Simply complete the form on our Homepage and you will be reading your favorite authors in no time! Call or visit the Reference Desk for more information.

Author Signing

2012-02-10T11:21:00.000-08:00

Kristin Hannah

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012, 7pm @ Book Revue, Huntington.
Author Kristin Hannah will be here to speak and sign her new novel, Home Front.

In her bestselling novels Kristin Hannah has plumbed the depths of friendship, the loyalty of sisters, and the secrets mothers keep. Now, in her most emotionally powerful story yet, she explores the intimate landscape of a troubled marriage--with this provocative and timely portrait of a husband and wife, in love and at war.

All marriages have a breaking point. All families have wounds. All wars have a cost…

Like many couples, Michael and Jolene have to face the pressures of everyday life—children, careers, bills, chores—even as their twelve year marriage is falling apart. Then an unexpected deployment sends Jolene deep into harm’s way and leaves defense attorney Michael at home, unaccustomed to being a single parent to their two girls. As a mother, it agonizes Jolene to leave her family, but as a soldier she has always understood the true meaning of duty. In her letters home, she paints a rose-colored version of her life on the front lines, shielding her family from the truth. But war will change Jolene in ways that none of them could have foreseen. When tragedy strikes, Michael must face his darkest fear and fight a battle of his own--for everything that matters to his family.

At once a profoundly honest look at modern marriage and a dramatic exploration of the price of war on an ordinary American family, HOME FRONT is a story of love, loss, heroism, honor and ultimately, hope.

Happy Birthday Mr. Dickens

2012-02-10T07:21:00.000-08:00

Tuesday marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens — the great
19th century English novelist who gave us stories of pathos and comedy, and colorful portraits of the people of London, from the poor in the back streets, to the rich in the parks and avenues.

Lots of Dickens' phrases — like "Bah humbug" and "God bless us, every one!" — have slipped into our minds and our memories. And along with the words, the characters, too — from hungry orphan Oliver Twist to Little Dorrit to cruel Mr. Murdstone

Visit this link for the full article: http://www.npr.org/2012/02/07/146473441/dickens-at-200-a-birthday-you-cant-bah-humbug

NBC's Weekend Today Book Critic Talk.

2012-02-09T10:15:00.000-08:00

BILL GOLDSTEIN, Book Reviewer, Editor and Book Critic for NBC’s Weekend Today in New York
Huntington Public Library
338 Main Street, Huntington, NY 11743
Sunday, March 4
2:30 pm

Don’t miss this special opportunity to meet this highly respected individual in the world of books. Bill Goldstein will discuss his favorite books and choices for book clubs, and he will answer your questions. Goldstein’s book reviews, author interviews and coverage of the publishing industry appear in The New York Times, Newsday, People, and other publications. He is founding editor of the books site of nytimes.com and is book critic for NBC’s Weekend Today in New York. A graduate of the University of Chicago, Goldstein started his career in journalism at Publishers Weekly and was assistant book editor at Newsday as well as senior editor at Scribner.

Free. Open to all. To register, call 631-427-5165.

New DVDs

2012-02-08T13:49:00.001-08:00

Just Out:

"Happy Happy" - Sundance Film Festival winner comedy from Norway that proves life is more than to what you have become accustomed

Out February 7:

"Anonymous" - presenting one view on how the Shakespeare authorship controversy began - stars Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave and David Thewlis

"Fireflies in the Garden" - tragedy exposes the underside of a seemingly successful family - all-star cast including Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds and Emily Watson

"Downton Abbey: Season Two" - the 2012 Golden Globe Winner for Best Miniseries as seen on "Masterpiece Classic" (PBS) - stars Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern and Maggie Smith

"The Song of Lunch" - how much has changed (and what hasn't) about former lovers meeting after fifteen years - stars Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson

"The Sunset Limited" - HBO dramatization of Cormac McCarthy's novel depicting two men facing up to life choices - stars Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones

Books on the Big Screen!

2012-02-03T12:21:00.000-08:00

Big Miracle (2012)
3 February 2012 (USA)

In small town Alaska, a news reporter recruits his ex-girlfriend - a Greenpeace volunteer - on a campaign to save a family of gray whales trapped by rapidly forming ice in the Arctic Circle.

Director: Ken Kwapis
Writers: Jack Amiel (screenplay), Michael Begler (screenplay)
Stars:Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski and Kristen Bell

Based on the Novel, "Freeing the Whales", By Tom Rose

Author Signing

2012-02-03T12:13:00.000-08:00

Bonnie Schneider

Saturday, February 4th, 2012, 4pm @ Book Revue
National TV Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider will be here to speak and sign copies of her book, EXTREME WEATHER. Bonnie appears on the various media platforms of CNN and HLN. She is also the former morning meteorologist of News 12 Long Island.

Flash floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, mudslides, thunderstorms, and wildfires - these devastating events are happening around the world at an alarming rate. As a Meteorologist on CNN and HLN, Bonnie Schneider reports on these natural disasters, explaining when they're likely to strike, and telling viewers how to respond when they do. In Extreme Weather, Schneider distills that information into
a guide for readers. She interviews experts from a wide variety of agencies - including FEMA and NOAA - to provide a comprehensive understanding of the science behind weather patterns and the latest thinking on how to act in dangerous conditions. Ranging from topics that cover every season and every climate, Schneider introduces the reader to the best course of action during weather emergencies, including:

*how to handle extreme weather scenarios in your car, outside, on a boat or at home
*what you need to have at home to protect against floods, earthquakes, or severe storms
*how to protect your home from rapidly spreading wildfire
*how to create a family evacuation plan for different emergencies
*making sure your beloved pet is taken care of in time of disaster

Drawing on actual survivor stories, Extreme Weather reminds readers that disaster can strike at any time, changing your life forever.

Happy Birthday!

2012-02-03T07:01:00.000-08:00

A Wrinkle In Time isn't the only book that's turning 50 this year. Ken Kesey's iconic "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" is having a golden anniversary, too.

The Merrick Library owns the Novel and the DVD.

And The Actor Goes To.......

2012-02-02T11:20:00.001-08:00

On January 29 the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were simulcast over the TNT and TBS cable channels live from the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles. The following productions available on DVD from the Merrick Library were honored at the ceremony:

"The Help" - Outstanding Ensemble in a Motion Picture, Best Female Actor in a Leading Role (Viola Davis), Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role (Octavia Spencer)

"Beginners" - Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role (Christopher Plummer)

"Boardwalk Empire: The Complete First Season" - Outstanding Ensemble in a Television Drama Series, Best Male Actor in a Drama Series (Steve Buscemi)

"Mildred Pierce" (HBO) - Best Female Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries (Kate Winslet)

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" - Best Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

CD-ROM Games for Kids @ the Library!

2012-02-02T10:48:00.000-08:00

The Children’s Room has many CD-ROM games that can be borrowed for 7 days.

They are mostly Windows compatible for PCs. We do have some that will work with MACs.

Please come in and see the educational and fun games that are available!

Opera Anyone??

2012-02-01T11:04:00.000-08:00

Merrick Library is proud to announce the arrival of the following operatic performances on DVD all recorded live at New York's Metropolitan Opera:

"Peter Grimes" - Benjamin Britten's saga of a man's search for acceptance after a great tragedy

"Hansel and Gretel" - Engelbert Humperdinck's (not the pop singer) family classic based on the classic fairy tale

"Manon Lescaut" - Giacomo Puccini's tale of fatal beauty encompassing two continents

"La Rondine" - Puccini's depiction of the struggle between love and dependence in mid-nineteenth century France

"Turandot" - Puccini's last opera concerning a seemingly inaccessible princess of China

"The First Emperor" - modern opera composed by Oscar winner Tan Dun (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) with an all-star cast led by Placido Domingo

And the Oscar Goes To........

2012-01-25T08:14:00.000-08:00

On the morning of January 24 in Los Angeles the nominees were announced for the 84th annual Academy Awards. Among those honored were the following movies in Merrick Library's DVD collection:

"Moneyball" - Best Picture, Best Actor (Brad Pitt), Best Supporting Actor (Jonah Hill), Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Adapted Screenplay

"Warrior" - Best Actor (Nick Nolte)

"Beginners" - Best Actor (Christopher Plummer)

"The Help" - Best Picture, Best Actress (Viola Davis) and Best Supporting Actress (Jessica Chastain, Octavia Spencer)

"Bridesmaids" - Best Supporting Actress (Jessica McCarthy) and Best Original Screenplay

"Kung Fu Panda 2 - Best Animated Feature Film

"Rango" - Best Animated Feature Film

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" - Best Art Direction, Best Makeup and Best Visual Effect

"Rio" - Best Original Song (Real in Rio)

"Midnight in Paris" - Best Picture, Best Director (Woody Allen), Best Art Direction and Best Original Screenplay

"The Tree of Life" - Best Picture, Best Cinematography and Best Director (Terrence Malick)

"Jane Eyre" - Best Costume Design

"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" - Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects

"Real Steel" - Best Visual Effects

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" - Best Visual Effects

"The Ides of March" - Best Adapted Screenplay

Author Signing @ Book Revue

2012-01-23T06:23:00.000-08:00

Scott Starkey

Saturday, January 28th, 2012, 4pm

Author Scott Starkey will be here speaking and signing his new novel for kids ages 8-12, How to Beat a Bully Without Really Trying.

When luck gives a new kid a false reputation as a tough guy, can he find the strength to live up to his image?

Rodney Rathbone is a self-admitted coward. Things scare him, and he can’t help it. So naturally he’s terrified when he moves to a new town and the bully is ready to pounce. But just as Rodney is about to flee, a baseball flies in from out of nowhere and knocks out the bully. Now everyone thinks Rodney’s invincible—when really he feels just the opposite. Can he figure out to live up to his new reputation and make
friends along the way?

Told with warmth and heart, this debut novel from a middle-school teacher that will speak to the hidden insecurities—and strengths—of every middle-grade reader.

Are You A Fan of Downton Abbey??

2012-01-20T10:29:00.000-08:00

If you are a fan of Downton Abbey, you might want to try these titles.......

"Birdsong" by Sebastian Faulks

"Howard's End" by E.M. Forster

"The Missing of the Somme" by Geoff Dyer

"The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy" by David Cannadine

New DVD Arrivals!

2012-01-19T17:11:00.001-08:00

Just Out:
"Dolphin Tale" - based on the true story of efforts to save a critically injured dolphin - stars Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd and Harry Connick, Jr.

Out January 24:
"50/50" - how one man perseveres to keep a positive attitude upon hearing he has cancer - stars Joseph-Gordon Levitt, Seth Rogen and Angelica Huston

"Final Destination 5" - can Sam keep his premonition of a fatal bridge collapse from becoming real? - stars Nicholas D'Agosto, Emma Bell and Miles Fisher

"Paranormal Activity 3" - what's in their house is more than something that bumps in the night - stars Lauren Bittner and Molly Ephraim

"Real Steel" - it might take a robot boxer to pay off debt and reunite a near-future family - stars Hugh Jackman and Evangeline Lily

Browse our Golden Collection....

2012-01-18T11:14:00.001-08:00

On January 15 the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards were presented live on NBC from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. The following winners can be found in Merrick Library's DVD collection:

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Octavia Spencer (The Help)
Best Motion Picture Screenplay: Woody Allen (Midnight In Paris)
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Best Actress in a Television Miniseries: Kate Winslet (Mildred Pierce)
Best Television Miniseries: Downton Abbey

A highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement to actor Morgan Freeman. The 74-year old Mr. Freeman received the Award from actress Helen Mirren, his co-star in the recent movie Red (available in the Merrick collection), and actor Sidney Poitier who was given the DeMille Award in 1982.
In addition to Red, Merrick Library has the following movies on DVD featuring the talents of Morgan Freeman:

10 Items Or Less
The Big Bounce
Bopha!
Bruce Almighty
The Bucket List
The Contract
The Dark Knight
Dolphin Tale
Driving Miss Daisy
Edison Force
Evan Almighty
Gone Baby Gone
Invictus
Lucky Number Slevin
March Of The Penguins
Million Dollar Baby
The Shawshank Redemption
An Unfinished Life
Unforgiven
Wanted

New DVDs!!

2012-01-18T11:00:00.000-08:00

"Courageous" - will the faith of four police officers help them to effectively deal with the aftermath of a major tragedy? - stars Alex Kendrick, Ken Bevel and Eleanor Brown

"The Ides of March" - political drama of scandals and major primaries starring and directed by George Clooney with Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Marisa Tomei

New Audiobook Arrivals!

2012-01-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

Within the pages of very rare books some centuries old lie the secrets of the paranormal. Abby Radwell's unusual psychic talent has made her an expert in such volumes-and sometimes taken her into dangerous territory. After a deadly incident in the private library of an obsessive collector, Abby receives a blackmail threat, and rumors swirl that an old alchemical text known as The Key has reappeared on the black market. Convinced that she needs an investigator who can also play bodyguard, she hires Sam Coppersmith, a specialist in paranormal crystals and amber-"hot rocks." Passion flares immediately between them, but neither entirely trusts the other. When it comes to dealing with a killer who has paranormal abilities, and a blackmailer who will stop at nothing to obtain an ancient alchemical code, no one is safe.

Once the center of madness, suicide, mass murder, and whispers of things far worse, the 1800s Gilded Age palace known as the Pendleton, has been re-christened in the 1970s as a luxury apartment building. But now inexplicable shadows caper across walls, security cameras relay impossible images, phantom voices mutter in strange tongues, not-quite-human figures lurk in the basement, and elevators plunge into unknown depths.

Pak Jun Do is the haunted son of a lost mother—a singer “stolen” to Pyongyang—and an influential father who runs Long Tomorrows, a work camp for orphans. There the boy is given his first taste of power, picking which orphans eat first and which will be lent out for manual labor. Recognized for his loyalty and keen instincts, Jun Do comes to the attention of superiors in the state, rises in the ranks, and starts on a road from which there will be no return.

Considering himself “a humble citizen of the greatest nation in the world,” Jun Do becomes a professional kidnapper who must navigate the shifting rules, arbitrary violence, and baffling demands of his Korean overlords in order to stay alive. Driven to the absolute limit of what any human being could endure, he boldly takes on the treacherous role of rival to Kim Jong Il in an attempt to save the woman he loves, Sun Moon, a legendary actress “so pure, she didn't know what starving people looked like.”Part breathless thriller, part story of innocence lost, part story of romantic love, The Orphan Master's Son is also a riveting portrait of a world heretofore hidden from view: a North Korea rife with hunger, corruption, and casual cruelty but also camaraderie, stolen moments of beauty, and love. A towering literary achievement, The Orphan Master's Son ushers Adam Johnson into the small group of today's greatest writers.

It is 1803, six years since Elizabeth and Darcy embarked on their life together at Pemberley, Darcy's magnificent estate. Their peaceful, orderly world seems almost unassailable. Elizabeth has found her footing as the chatelaine of the great house. They have two fine sons, Fitzwilliam and Charles. Elizabeth's sister Jane and her husband, Bingley, live nearby; her father visits often; there is optimistic talk about the prospects of marriage for Darcy's sister Georgiana. And preparations are under way for their much-anticipated annual autumn ball. Then, on the eve of the ball, the patrician idyll is shattered. A coach careens up the drive carrying Lydia, Elizabeth's disgraced sister, who with her husband, the very dubious Wickham, has been banned from Pemberley. She stumbles out of the carriage, hysterical, shrieking that Wickham has been murdered. With shocking suddenness, Pemberley is plunged into a frightening mystery.

Sometimes we can under-estimated the power of a simple word. For best selling author Debbie Macomber, focusing on a single word a year has helped her change her life. When she chose to focus her life on the word 'balance,' she was able to advance her writing and move up in the literary world. Here, she explains how choosing words like 'purpose' or 'believe' can help you figure out what's really important in your life, and how it can help you to achieve your goals.

And The Winner IS......

2012-01-14T08:47:00.001-08:00

On January 11 CBS presented the 2012 People's Choice Awards live from the Los Angeles.

The following is a list of motion picture award winners that can be found in Merrick Library's DVD collection:

Favorite Movie, Favorite Action Movie, Favorite Book Adaptation, Favorite Ensemble Movie Cast: Harry Pottter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II

Favorite Movie Actor, Favorite Animated Voice: Johnny Depp (The Tourist, Rango)

Favorite Movie Actress, Favorite Comedic Movie Actress: Emma Stone (The Help)

Favorite Movie Icon: Morgan Freeman (Invictus, Red)

Favorite Action Movie Star: Hugh Jackman (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)

Favorite Drama Movie: Water For Elephants

Favorite Comedic Movie Actor: Adam Sandler (Just Go With It)

Favorite Movie Star Under 25: Chloe Grace Moretz (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Kick-Ass)

Favorite Movie Superhero: Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern)

The following People's Choice music Award winners can be found in Merrick's compact disc collection:

Favorite Male Artist: Bruno Mars (Doo-Wops and Hooligans)

Favorite Female Artist, Favorite Song of the Year ("E.T."), Favorite Tour Headliner - Katy Perry (Teenage Dream)

Favorite Album of the Year: Born This Way (Lady Gaga)

Favorite Pop Artist: Demi Lovato (Unbroken)

Favorite Hip-Hop Artist: Eninem (Loud, Recovery)

Favorite R&B Artist: Rihanna (Talk That Talk)

Favorite Band: Maroon 5 (Hands All Over)

Favorite Country Artist: Taylor Swift (Speak Now) Nokia

New DVD!

2012-01-11T08:25:00.000-08:00

"What's Your Number" - Ally Darling must find out if one of nineteen ex-boyfriends had turned into her dream man - stars Anna Faris, Chris Evans, Blythe Danner and Ed Begley, Jr.

Firday Films @ the Library!

2012-01-09T08:46:00.000-08:00

Friday Films - This Friday January 13th, the Merrick Library will be showing The Help.

The Help. Starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis, and Octavia Spencer.

Refreshments will be served.
Location: Multipurpose Room A

Author Signing

2012-01-09T08:42:00.001-08:00

Paul Wortman

Thursday, January 12th, 2012, 7pm @ Book Revue

Local author Paul Wortman, PhD, discusses his new book, Think Jung!How I Found Meaning in My Life: A Memoir.

This book contains a series of memoirs illustrating the application ofCarl Jung's concepts to understanding the meaning of major events inthe author's life. The concepts are explained as they are applied tosignificant experiences. In addition, major dreams are presented andanalyzed from a Jungian perspective along with illustrative poems.Readers should be able to use this information in examining andfinding meaning in their own lives.
Paul M. Wortman was born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut. Hegraduated from Yale University and then received a Ph.D. in psychologyfrom Carnegie-Mellon University. He has taught at Duke andNorthwestern Universities, The University of Michigan--Ann Arbor, andStony Brook University (SBU) where he is an Emeritus Professor. Hecurrently teaches courses on Jungian psychology in the Osher LifelongLearning Institute at SBU.

New DVD Arrivals!!

2012-01-08T12:48:00.000-08:00

Out January 10:

"Boardwalk Empire: The Complete First Season" - the multi-award winning HBO series about life and corruption in 1920s Atlantic City - stars Steve Buscemi, Kelly MacDonald and Michael Pitt

"Killer Elite" - a suspense thriller that literally takes you around the world! - stars Jason Stratham, Clive Owen and Robert DeNiro

"Moneyball" - the true story of how a winning baseball team was put together WITHOUT a huge budget - based on the bestseller by Michael Lewis and starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill

Books on the Big Screen!!

2012-01-06T11:17:00.000-08:00

"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" Novel by Jonathan Franzen

A nine-year-old amateur inventor, Francophile, and pacifist searches New York City for the lock that matches a mysterious key left behind by his father, who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Book Signing

2012-01-05T16:57:00.000-08:00

Mark Ribowsky

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012, 7pm @ Book Revue
Author Mark Ribowsky will speak and sign his book, Howard Cosell: The Man, the Myth, and the Transformation of American Sports. A deeply misunderstood sports legend, once the most hated and lovedman in America, gets his due in this absorbing, revelatory biography.

Howard Cosell was one of the most recognizable and controversialfigures in American sports history. His colorful bombast, fearlessreporting, and courageous stance on civil rights soon captured theattention of listeners everywhere. No mere jock turned "pretty-boy"broadcaster, the Brooklyn-born Cosell began as a lawyer beforebecoming a radio commentator. "Telling it like it is," he coverednearly every major sports story for three decades, from the travailsof Muhammad Ali to the tragedy at Munich. Featuring a sprawling castof athletes such as Jackie Robinson, Sonny Liston, Don Meredith, andJoe Namath, Howard Cosell also re-creates the behind the-scenes storyof that American institution, Monday Night Football. With more than forty interviews, Mark Ribowsky presents Cosell's life as part of an American panorama, examining racism, anti-Semitism, and alcoholism,among other sensitive themes. Cosell's endless complexities arebrilliantly explored in this haunting work that reveals as much about the explosive commercialization of sports as it does about amuch-neglected media giant.

New Audiobook Arrivals

2012-01-05T13:27:00.001-08:00

Henry Skrimshander is a rising baseball star at Wetish College whose life goes off course when he throws a wayward ball. Henry starts to doubt himself, even as team captain Mike Schwartz pushes Henry's career. Meanwhile, Henry's gay roommate pursues a risky affair; college president Guert Affenlight falls hopelessly in love; and Guert's daughter, Pella, returns to campus after ending a disastrous marriage.

After a shocking loss, Stone Barrington is at loose ends, unsure if he wants to stay in New York and continue his work as a partner at Woodman & Weld. It comes as a welcome relief when he's summoned to Washington, D.C., by President Will Lee. The president has a special operation that calls for Stone's unique skill set, and it's a mission that will reunite him with his former partner in crime and in bed, Holly Barker.

Launching a private investigation when their mentor dies under suspicious circumstances, medical students Pia Grazdani and George Wilson uncover a sinister operation through which private life insurance policies are being manipulated to allow investors to benefit from the deaths of others.

Coming out of retirement to run for president, Jack Ryan finds himself in the middle of a high-stakes attack from his opponent as his close comrade, John Clark, is the subject of treacherous charges, at the same time Jack Ryan, Jr. and other members of Campus struggle to stop terrorists.

Lacking the money to open a bed and breakfast in her parents' summer house in Michigan, former magazine editor Kate takes a questionable undercover job from a brewery owner who wants to find out who has been sabotaging his company, a situation that is compromised by Kate's distaste for beer and her crush on her employer.

Bertie Fisher and her older sister, Mabel, have no one but each other. Until a misunderstanding puts them at odds. What happens when nothing turns out as you planned? From the Depression through World War II and Vietnam, and smaller events both tragic and joyful, Bertie and Mabel forge unexpected identities and raise daughters - and sisters - of their own, learning that love and betrayal are even more complicated than they seem.

Conversation Starters: 2011's Top 5 Book Club Picks

2012-01-04T07:42:00.000-08:00

Conversation Starters: 2011's Top 5 Book Club Picks

According to NPR Books, people who join book clubs usually do like to read, and they are always looking for that perfect book that will please everyone or, at the very least, get both the very rigorous and the somewhat frivolous on the same page. Here are five fascinating books that will be sure to catalyze serious and lively conversation.

State of Wonder
by Ann Patchett

The Sense Of An Ending
by Julian Barnes

We The Animals
by Justin Torres

Caleb's Crossing
by Geraldine Brooks

The Sojourn
by Andrew Krivak

New DVDs for the New Year!

2011-12-30T10:39:00.000-08:00

Out January 3:

"The Guard" - where international crimefighting meets "The Odd Couple!" - stars Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle ("Iron Man 2")

"The Hangover Part II" - trust this group of friends to complicate a wedding, even in Thailand! - stars Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifanakis and Ed Helms (TV's "The Office")

"I Don't Know How She Does It" - promotion and temptation takes a marriage of professionals to the limit - stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Greg Kinnear and Pierce Brosnan

"Mildred Pierce" - the Emmy-winning HBO miniseries based on the provocative novel by James M. Cain and starring Kate Winslet, Evan Rachel Wood and Guy Pearce

"Puncture" - can a contaminated needle cause a local team of personal injury lawyers the famous mounting odds? - stars Chris Evans, Brett Cullen and Michael Biehn

Reader's Circle

2011-12-28T13:20:00.000-08:00

Are you looking to start or join a book club? Welcome! This is a book club networking site with listings for local groups, author events, and phone chats. Check out the link on our Reader's Advisory Blog!

Book Club In A BAG

2011-12-23T10:57:00.001-08:00

Welcome to the Merrick Library's Book Club in A Bag Program. Each bag contains 10 copies of a title, discussion information, discussion leader tips, and a book sign up sheet to help the leader keep track of the books. The Reference Department has been very busy gathering multiple copies of several titles for your discussion groups. You will be able to check them out as one complete kit. Also included will be everything you need to lead your group; author biographies, discussion questions, critical material and more! All of the work has already been done for you. All you need are some interested readers, some snacks, great conversation, and you are good to go! Please call the Reference Desk for more information. (516) 377-6112 x112 or x113.

New DVD Arrivals!

2011-12-22T10:13:00.001-08:00

"Apollo 18" - ever wonder why we never went back to the moon? Here's one possible explanation - stars Warren Christie and Lloyd Owen

"The First Grader" - based on the true story of a venerable Kenyan who proves it is never too late to get an education - stars Naomie Harris and Sam Feuer

Books on the Big Screen!

2011-12-19T09:53:00.000-08:00

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
20 December 2011 (USA)

Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Craig) is aided in his search for a woman
who has been missing for forty years by Lisbeth Salander (Mara), a
young computer hacker.

Director: David Fincher
Writers: Steven Zaillian (screenplay), Stieg Larsson (novel)
Stars:Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara and Stellan Skarsgård

New DVD Arrivals!

2011-12-19T09:43:00.000-08:00

Out December 20:

"Glee: The Concert Movie" - the phenomenally talented cast of Fox's megahit series in performance - includes Dianna Agron, Cory Monteith and Lea Michele

"Margin Call" - an investment firm faces possible disaster in the face of 2008's financial meltdown - stars Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany and Demi Moore

"Midnight in Paris" - an engaged couple find they have life options - directed by Woody Allen and starring Rachel McAdams and Owen Wilson

"Straw Dogs" - newlyweds seeking peace in a Southern town find anyhing but solace - remake of the 1971 Sam Peckinpah classic and starring James Marsden, Kate Bosworth and James Woods

"The Tempest" - retelling of Shakespeare's final play concerning magic and revenge - stars Helen Mirren, Alfred Molina and Russell Brand

"Warrior" - enter the world of mixed martial arts and how it divides and then unites a family - stars Joel Edgerton, Nick Nolte and Jennifer Morrison

Booklist's Top 10 Health and Wellness Books

2011-12-19T06:42:00.000-08:00

Alzheimer’s in America: The Shriver Report on Women and Alzheimer’s. By Maria Shriver and the Alzheimer’s Association.
Peabody Award–winning journalist Shriver presents a comprehensive, heartbreaking account of what it’s like to be an Alzheimer’s patient or caregiver in the U.S. today.

Beautiful Unbroken: One Nurse’s Life. By Mary Jane Nealon.
A poet and a nurse, Nealon draws on her passion for words and preternatural “way” with patients to create an extraordinarily graceful medical memoir and song to caregiving.

Becoming Dr. Q: My Journey from Migrant Farm Worker to Brain Surgeon. By Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa and Mim Eichler Rivas.
As a teenager in Mexico, Quiñones-Hinojosa was determined to pursue a better life in the U.S., never imagining that he would become a neurosurgeon, professor, and brain-cancer research scientist.

Changing Planet, Changing Health: How the Climate Crisis Threatens Our Health and What We Can Do about It. By Paul R. Epstein and Dan Ferber.
Health and global environment expert Epstein and award-winning science journalist Ferber report on how climate change is already causing an epidemic of epidemics, including malaria and cholera.

Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All. By Paul A. Offit.
Infectious-disease expert Offit intensifies his crusade to encourage parents to trust the scientific data proving the safety and efficacy of vaccines.

Doctor, Your Patient Will See You Now: Gaining the Upper Hand in Your Medical Care. By Steven Z. Kussin.
Physician Kussin’s primer on how to get the best possible medical care is dramatic, realistic, and potentially life-saving.

One Hundred Names for Love: A Stroke, a Marriage, and the Language of Healing. By Diane Ackerman.
With her signature brilliance and empathy, Ackerman (The Zookeeper’s Wife, 2007) tells the affecting story of how her husband, writer Paul West (The Shadow Factory, 2008), reclaimed language and mobility after a severe stroke.

A Planet of Viruses. By Carl Zimmer.
Zimmer’s information-packed, superbly readable look at virological knowledge awakens readers to the fact that not only are viruses everywhere but we couldn’t live without them.

Remedy and Reaction: The Peculiar American Struggle over Health Care Reform. By Paul Starr.
Pulitzer Prize winner Starr explicates the controversial Affordable Care Act and questions whether Americans can “summon the elementary decency toward the sick that characterizes other democracies.

The Wild Life of Our Bodies: Predators, Parasites, and Partners That Shape Who We Are Today. By Rob Dunn.
Biologist Dunn explains that we need the microscopic critters, or tiny “wildlife,” that live in our bodies, and that our fanatic antibacterial efforts make us more, not less, vulnerable to disease.

New DVD Arrival!

2011-12-17T12:26:00.001-08:00

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two" - the young wizard and his friends face the final battle with Lord Voldemort - stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Ralph Fiennes

Notable Books for Adults List, 2011

2011-12-15T11:02:00.001-08:00

Notable Books for Adults List, 2011
Fiction

Nashville Chrome by Rick Bass.

This lovely and unsettling account of pop trio The Browns reels you in as though the concept of rags to riches were brand new.

Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue.

Five-year-old Jack vividly narrates the story of his life confined in a room with his mother in this unsettling exploration of resilience and hope.

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan.

A‘70s punk band becomes the touchstone for a motley crew who spin their interconnected stories over time and distance.

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin.

Two men – one black, one white – must confront the secrets surrounding their childhood friendship following the disappearance of two girls in rural Mississippi.

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen.

This incisive portrait of the fractured Berglund brood captures the zeitgeist of contemporary America.

Next by James Hynes.

Welcome to the worst day of Kevin Quinn’s life as he battles the anxieties of the modern world in steamy Austin, Texas.

The Surrendered by Chang Rae Lee.

The complex entangled lives of three people forever scarred by the Korean War are sympathetically portrayed in gorgeous prose.

Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes.

An ambitious and idealistic American Marine faces the horror, heroism, futility, and pragmatism of war in this visceral portrayal of life in-country.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet: A Novel by David Mitchell.

A young clerk attempts to establish himself in the artificial and intense world of Dejima, the Dutch trading colony in 1800s Japan.

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray.

Filled warmth and humor, this coming-of-age novel set in a Dublin boys schools is a sprawling homage to adolescence, string theory, donuts, and unrequited love.

The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli.

The adrenaline high that danger offers infects photojournalist Helen Adams as she documents the war in Vietnam.

The Lonely Polygamist: A Novel by Brady Udall.

In this big-hearted novel, Golden Richards and his clan navigate their chaotic lives as each clamors to be noticed.

Nextreads

2011-12-12T12:30:00.001-08:00

Are you looking for the next great book to read or ideas for your book club? Sign up for NextReads!You can choose which electronic newsletters you want delivered to your email inbox by genre - choose as many or as few as you are interested in and submit!
Call or visit the reference desk for more information. (516) 377-6112

New DVD Arrivals!!

2011-12-09T11:49:00.001-08:00

"Cowboys and Aliens" - a shackled stranger without memory leads an 1870s Arizona town against a force greater than any outlaw - stars Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde

"The Debt" - the record is set straight about the capture for Israel of a prominent Nazi war criminal thirty years before - stars Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson and Jessica Chastain

Book Signing@ Book Revue

2011-12-09T11:17:00.001-08:00

JOHN RULLO & KIRPAL GORDON

Sunday, December 11th, 3pm @ Book Revue in Huntington
Authors JOHN RULLO & KIRPAL GORDON will speak about and sign their respective novels "Planet Love" & "Round Earth, Open Sky."

PLANET LOVE: As the world seems to be turning apocalyptic, John Rullo experiences an inexplicable encounter with a supernatural entity that overwhelms him and turns his life inside out. Just when he thinks he has seen the full picture, a string of events unfold that leads to both the end of the world as he knew it and his role in Earth’s rebirth. Based upon real life events, Planet Love’s story of hope, intrigue and mystery speaks to our everlasting search for the ground of our being and our unity with all life.

ROUND EARTH, OPEN SKY: A psychological suspense thriller and a Native American sci-fi road novel, Round Earth, Open Sky by Kirpal Gordon is also a humorous inquiry into the nature of human identity. Sky Man, an immortal, tricked by human sorcery, falls out of the sky and into a dead human out in the Sonoran desert. When Moses, a Brooklyn photographer heading home, picks him up, every stop reveals another clue to the dead man’s identity which Sky Man coheres in order to make his ascent to his sky people. Available for $14.95 at the show.

A graduate of Queens College with a degree in communication arts and a minor in creative writing, John Rullo has spent the last forty years composing and performing songs in rock bands in the New York metropolitan area. Retired from his day job, he now writes his unique blend of irreverent memoir and Socratic inquiry with the same inspiration he’d first found in songwriting. The father of three grown children, he lives on Long Island with his wife, Joann.

Born and bred and currently in residence in New York City, Kirpal Gordon has also lived in Mexico, the Texas Hill Country, Arizona’s Valley of the Sun, New Orleans and the mid-Hudson Valley. His stories, essays, reviews, prose poems and interviews regularly appear in print and on the net. For samples of his work or information on his literary services, readings and performances, visit www.KirpalG.com.

Books to Movies

2011-12-08T12:33:00.000-08:00

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)
16 December 2011 (USA)

Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick Dr. Watson join forces to outwit and
bring down their fiercest adversary, Professor Moriarty.

Director: Guy Ritchie
Writers: Michele Mulroney, Kieran Mulroney,
Stars:Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law and Jared Harris

Check out Shelfari!

2011-12-08T12:16:00.000-08:00

Shelfari is a community-powered encyclopedia for book lovers.

Create a virtual bookshelf, discover new books, connect with friends and learn more about your favorite books – all for free.

New DVDs!

2011-12-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

Out December 13:

"Kung Fu Panda 2" - the further animated adventures of Po the Dragon Warrior featuring the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Seth Rogen and Jackie Chan

"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" - when a drug makes a chimpanzee human within there is revolution without - stars James Franco, John Lithgow and Frieda Pinto

100 Notable Books of 2011 - NYTIMES.COM

2011-12-05T08:22:00.000-08:00

The 100 Notable Books of 2011 according to the New York Times is out!

Visit this link for details....http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/books/review/100-notable-books-of-2011.html

New DVD Arrivals!

2011-12-02T11:35:00.001-08:00

Just Out:

"Case Histories" - BBC whodunits recently aired on the PBS series "Masterpiece Mystery" and based on the acclaimed novel by Kate Atkinson - stars Jason Isaacs

Out December 2:

"Friends With Benefits" - no matter what a couple does, love has its complications - stars Mila Kunis ("The Black Swan") and Justin Timberlake ("The Social Network")

"The Smurfs" - the animated family favorites have dropped into the real world - stars Hank Azaria and Neil Patrick Harris and featuries the voices of Jonathan Winters, George Lopez and Katy Perry

Out December 6:

"The Help" - the ultimate insider's book turns a Sixties Southern town on its ear - based on the mega-best selling novel by Kathryn Stockett and starring Emma Stone, Bryce Dallas Howard and Cicely Tyson

"Mammuth" - from France - a man takes a motorcycle trip to insure his retirement, financially and otherwise - stars Gerard Depardieu and Isabelle Adjani

"Mr. Popper's Penguins" - how they turned an apartment upside down and reunited a family - based on the classic children's tale by Richard Atwater and starring Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino and Angela Lansbury

"Point Blank" - from France - how far will a male nurse go to save his kidnapped and expectant wife? - stars Gilles Lellouche and Elena Anaya

Book Signing @ Book Revue!

2011-12-01T15:10:00.000-08:00

PAUL GRIFFIN
Tuesday, December 6th, 7pm @ Book Revue in Huntington.

Author, PAUL GRIFFIN, will speak about and sign his new book, "Stay With Me".

An urban romance that will capture your soul, break your heart, and restore your faith in the human spirit Fifteen-year-olds Cece and Mack didn't expect to fall in love. She's a sensitive A student; he's a high school dropout. But soon they're spending every moment together, bonding over a rescued dog, telling their secrets, making plans for the future. Everything is perfect. Until. "Until." Mack makes a horrible mistake, and in just a few minutes, the future they'd planned becomes impossible. In this stark new reality, both of them must find meaning and hope in the memories of what they had, to survive when the person they love can't stay. From award-winning writer Paul Griffin, "Stay with Me" is both heartbreaking and uplifting, filled with characters (both dog and human) that will forever change the way you look at the world.

Paul began writing his first novel as he finished college, in 1988. That novel and many others went unpublished. Meanwhile, he worked on the truck docks and in construction, as a dog trainer and a driver, teacher, tutor, EMT, butler, bartender, waiter, cook and dishwasher (alongside Vin Diesel). The hardest and best work was the teaching. Paul started working with at-risk, incarcerated and special needs teens in 1989, with a concentration in conflict resolution workshops aimed at stemming the spread of violence, substance abuse and HIV/AIDS among young adults. These days his workshops focus on helping young men and women tell their life stories as they reach out to counselors, judges, admissions officers and potential employers. Twenty years to the day after Paul graduated Dartmouth, Penguin/Dial released his “first” (twenty-fourth) novel Ten Mile River and then The Orange Houses a year later. Dial is publishing a third novel, Stay With Me, in the fall of 2011, a fourth, Burning Blue, a mystery, in 2012 and a fifth, tentatively a sci-fi romance, in 2013. Paul lives in Washington Heights, NYC with three dogs and one wife, documentary moviemaker Risa Morimoto.

Goodreads

2011-11-30T13:27:00.000-08:00

Looking for a good book? Just tell them what titles or genres you’ve enjoyed in the past, and they'll give you surprisingly insightful recommendations.
Click on the Goodreads title for a direct link.

New DVD Arrivals!

2011-11-28T09:24:00.001-08:00

"Crazy, Stupid Love" - newly divorced Cal makes an awkward return to the dating scene - stars Steve Carell, Julianne Moore and Emma Stone ("The Help")

"One Day" - a friendship of opposites develops into romance over twenty years - based on the best-selling novel by David Nichols and starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess

"Our Idiot Brother" - there is always one in the family not in step with the times - stars Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks and Zooey Deschanel (TV's "New Girl")

"30 Minutes or Less" - what can bring two ex-best friends together? - how about a bank robbery? - stars Jesse Eisenberg and Danny McBride

Top Ten Art Books of 2011

2011-11-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

From Booklist Magazine

The Chitlin’ Circuit and the Road to Rock ’n’ Roll . By Preston Lauterbach.
In this terrific popular history, music journalist Lauterbach resurrects a thriving African American subculture that nurtured rock ’n’ roll, vividly portraying the famous (B. B. King, Little Richard) and the unsung.

Heat Wave: The Life and Career of Ethel Waters. By Donald Bogle.
A multitalented performer, Waters made history in Harlem nightclubs, on Broadway, and in Hollywood movies, struggling with sexism and racism and living a tempestuous life, which Bogle expertly chronicles.

Joan Mitchell: Lady Painter. By Patricia Albers.
Albers draws on the nuanced power of Joan Mitchell’s abstract paintings to create the first comprehensive biography of this dazzlingly independent artist, who held her own in the macho New York art world.

John Huston: Courage and Art. By Jeffrey Meyers.
By balancing the flamboyant life with the landmark works of legendary movie director John Huston, veteran biographer Meyers reveals how a flawed man produced nearly flawless and indelible films.

A Natural History of the Piano: The Instrument, the Music, the Musicians—from Mozart to Modern Jazz and Everything in Between. By Stuart Isacoff.
Isacoff offers an encyclopedic history of the beloved instrument and profiles such masters of the keyboard as Beethoven, Gershwin, and Oscar Peterson in this big slice of heaven for piano lovers.

The Paper Garden: An Artist (Begins Her Life’s Work) at 72. By Molly Peacock.
Esteemed poet Peacock chronicles the remarkable, many-chaptered life of English artist Mary Granville Pendarves Delany (1700–88) and marvels over her “flower mosaiks,” entwining aspects of her own life with Delany’s to evocative effect.

Pauline Kael: A Life in the Dark. By Brian Kellow.
Kellow matches extensive research with acute perception in his sensitive and definitive biography of Pauline Kael, America’s foremost, and most controversial, movie critic.

Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend. By Susan Orlean.
The first to delve into the amazing story of Rin Tin Tin, “the archetypal dog hero,” Orlean tells, with insight and vigor, a far-reaching tale of war, creative intrepidness, and the ascent of film and television.

33 Revolutions per Minute: A History of Protest Songs, from Billie Holiday to Green Day. By Dorian Lynskey.
Music critic Lynskey offers a compelling, comprehensive look at 33 protest songs, including “We Shall Overcome,” that span seven decades, five continents, and the labor, civil rights, antiwar, and gay rights movements.

Willie Dixon: Preacher of the Blues. By Mitsutoshi Inaba.
Musicologist Inaba offers a groundbreaking and satisfying biography of songwriter and performer Willie Dixon as a multifaceted blues innovator and essential presence in American music.

Book Club In A Bag!

2011-11-25T13:33:00.000-08:00

New DVDs!

2011-11-23T09:06:00.000-08:00

Just Out:

"Yamla Pagla Deewana" - from India - is the newest member of a con artist family a help or a hindrance?

Out November 22:

"Sarah's Key" - a family secret entwines Holocaust era- and present day Paris - based on the acclaimed novel by Tatiana de Rosnay and starring Kristin Scott Thomas

"Super 8" - a train disaster in 1970s Ohio may not have been an accident - it's all on film! - stars Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning and Kyle Chandler (TV's "Friday Night Lights")

Book Signing Today! @ Book Revue

2011-11-16T10:02:00.000-08:00

REGIS PHILBIN

Wednesday, November 16th, 7pm @ Book Revue in Huntington.

Emmy award-winning host, REGIS PHILBIN, will speak about and sign new
memoir, How I Got This Way.

Regis Philbin has regaled television audiences with his stories for more than 50 years, but he’s saved the most hilarious, surprising, heartfelt and inspiring tales for now. In what is essentially a memoir and a primer for living the good life all rolled into one, this beloved TV icon shares the secrets to success and happiness as he has learned them from his innumerable celebrity encounters, friendships and of course, from his relationship with his loving wife and family Emmy Award-winning television star Regis Philbin has entertained millions of Americans every weekday morning for the past 28 years hosting, in various incarnations, the popular show Live! with Regis and Kelly. Referred to often as the “hardest working man in television,” he has rubbed elbows and egos with countless personalities. His innate curiosity and wit has enabled him to learn great life lessons from the most legendary and formidable of them. Now in a most unique memoir Regis shares all that these experiences have taught him about achieving success and happiness—and about maintaining both for as long as he has! It is the ultimate gift to his fans as he departs the show in November of 2011, closing one very long and rich chapter of his life to begin yet another.

Invaluable advice closes each chapter with the trademark gratitude and humility that has made Regis Philbin such a national treasure. Inspiring anecdotes, laugh-out-loud tales and awkward celebrity moments make this so much more than a memoir—it truly is Regis’s personal guide to living a positive life. Marked by same tongue-in-cheek humor and candor Regis has always displayed, this book will serve and endure as a reminder of why America has related to and loved this one-of-a-kind television legend for so many decades.

New Non-fiction Audiobook arrivals!

2011-11-14T11:11:00.000-08:00

Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing. Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.

William Shatner has had a million lives, it seems, since he played James Tiberius Kirk on Star Trek. In fact, he's become an icon adored as much for being William Shatner as for his many starring roles. Shatner Rules gives his many fans a glimpse inside the genius of this unpredictable star. With insight, wisdom, and, of course, a heavy dose of humor, Mr. Shatner reveals the truth behind his persona and his own career longevity

You can live better on less. Much less! In a time of rising prices and economic stress, everyone wants to spend less. But who among us wants to slash our quality of life? Popular blogger and money-saving expert Kelly Hancock has wonderful news for you. In Saving Savvy, you’ll discover practical strategies to stretch your dollars—without spending more time than you can afford. As you explore, you’ll learn: -To avoid paying full-price for the things you purchase most frequently. -Tips for clarifying your financial goals and key steps for reaching them. -Secrets of expert grocery shoppers that can save you up to 75 percent or more each month, leaving more in your pocket for other priorities. (And no, it’s not just about coupons!) -Ways to organize yourself and plan ahead to save you time and money. -How to give more—and more often—to the causes, people and ministries you care about. As Kelly takes you step by simple step through the process, you’ll find scores of savvy saving and living generously tips. And through her popular blog, she has harvested the collective wisdom of thousands of people just like you. No matter what your circumstance, no matter how much—or little—time you have, you can learn how to get control of your spending, and start saving money today.

Candice Millard chronicles the life of President James A. Garfield, from his upbringing to his untimely death. Garfield's short time in office was devoted to cleaning up the corruption that was rife in a country still reeling from the Civil War. However, everything changed when Garfield was shot in the back by a disgruntled office worker. While the president's health slowly declined, a power struggle erupted over control of the administration, and the country's fate hung in the balance.

The gripping true story of a brutal serial killer who unleashed his own reign of terror in Nazi-occupied Paris. Dr. Marcel Petiot was eventually charged with 27 murders, although authorities suspected the total was considerably higher. The trial became a circus, and Petiot enjoyed the spotlight. A harrowing exploration of murder, betrayal, and evil of staggering proportions.

Two bestselling authors first met in a televised Caltech debate on “the future of God,” one an articulate advocate for spirituality, the other a prominent physicist. This remarkable book is the product of that serendipitous encounter and the contentious—but respectful—clash of worldviews that grew along with their friendship.
In War of the Worldviews these two great thinkers battle over the cosmos, evolution and life, the human brain, and God, probing the fundamental questions that define the human experience.

Rooted in the values, lessons, and verities of generations past and of his South Dakota upbringing, Brokaw weaves together stories of Americans who are making a difference and personal stories from his own family history, to engage us in a conversation about our country and to offer ideas for how we can revitalize the promise of the American Dream.

New DVD Arrivals!

2011-11-14T06:25:00.001-08:00

"Beginners" - how open one is to love may depend on a parent's example - stars Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer

"Larry Crowne" - an unemployed man finds community and romance at a local college - stars Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts

"Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides" - what scares Jack Sparrow more: a woman from his past or Blackbeard The Pirate? - stars Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz and Geoffrey Rush

"The Tree" - is it unresolved grief or the presence of a dead husband outside a widow's house? - stars Charlotte Gainsbourg ("Golden Door," "The City of Your Final Destination")

Celebrating Good Food and Good Wine!

2011-11-10T10:16:00.000-08:00

Here are some great new titles to celebrate this theme!

"Comfort Food Fix" By Ellie Krieger

"Meals in Minutes" By Jamie Oliver

"The Art of Eating" By Edward Behr

"A Vinyard in My Glass" By Gerald Asher

New DVD!!

2011-11-07T13:18:00.000-08:00

Out November 8:

"The Change-Up" - comedy about two buddies who find themelves in each other's skin - which one has it made? - stars Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman, Leslie Mann and Alan Arkin

John Sandford

2011-11-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

A movie adaptation of John Sandford's novel Certain Prey starring Mark Harmon will be aired on USA Network Sunday, November 6 at 9 p.m. Star of the long-running CBS series "NCIS", Mr. Harmon will be portraying Sandford's venerable Minneapolis police detective Lucas Davenport. The actor in a November 3 "Today Show" interview hinted that "Certain Prey" might be the start of a TV movie series.

Merrick Library has many of John Sandford's Lucas Davenport adventures in print and on recording including the recent Buried Prey.

Chelsea Handler

2011-11-04T12:22:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, November 1, the Biography Channel premiered an hour on Chelsea Handler. Among details about the comedienne/TV talk show host was the fact that her new audience for the late-night E! network series was due largely to the success of her best-selling books!

Merrick Library has all four of her works:

My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands
Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea
Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang
Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me

Nextreads

2011-11-03T07:59:00.000-07:00

Are you looking for a few good books to read? Sign up for our e-newsletters and get great book suggestions by email. We'll deliver reading lists right to your inbox along with new gems, bestsellers, and related titles. You'll also be able to check immediately whether the items are available at your local Library or whether they've been checked out.

Click on this link to be connected to our Nextreads page or
Call the Reference Desk for more information or help getting started.

Book Club In A Bag!

2011-11-03T07:54:00.000-07:00

Book Signing @ Book Revue.

2011-11-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

>TONY IOMMI

Wednesday, November 2nd, 7pm @ Book Revue; Huntington.

Lead guitarist of Black Sabbath, TONY IOMMI, will sign his new memoir Iron Man.

Tony Iommi—the only original member of Black Sabbath who stayed with the group from its inception—would become to be known as the father of heavy metal. In his memoir, Iron Man: My Journey Through Heaven and Hell with Black Sabbath, he tells how, when he was a teenager, the ends of the two middle fingers on his right hand were sliced off by a piece of machinery. Doctors were able to take skin from one of his arms and graft it to his fingertips, but Iommi would never play the guitar normally again. He had to learn how to compensate for his disability by making the music sound “fuller.” Today, he’s credited for inspiring and producing the deeper, more powerful musical tones for which Black Sabbath became famous.

In 2000—thirty years after it was first released—Black Sabbath won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance for their song “Iron Man.” They even performed at Buckingham Palace for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002. But their success wasn’t immediate or without hardship. From drug and alcohol abuse, to marital discord, to being called “Satanists,” to constant management problems and exits by band members—most notably Ozzy Osbourne—the musicians of Black Sabbath didn’t have an easy time of it. In Iron Man, Iommi gives us a glimpse of what he experienced as a member of this legendary group, taking us through some of the band’s most bizarre moments onstage and backstage, and bringing us from the recording studios to the (trashed) hotel rooms. Throughout, we see the camaraderie within the band, as well as the struggles each member went through on their way to the top of the charts.

Tony Iommi is a cofounding member and lead guitarist of Black Sabbath and is among the most influential guitarists of all time. Born in 1948, he lives in Birmingham, England.

New DVDs in November!

2011-11-02T10:35:00.001-07:00

"Cars 2" - a tow truck an international spy? Disney will have you believing it! - features the voices of Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer and Larry the Cable Guy

"Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" - drama of separated friends in China based on the acclaimed novel by Lisa See - stars Bingbing Li and Vivian Wu

"Trespass" - a tale of abduction and corruption directed by supense master Joel Schumacher ("The Number 23," "Veronica Guerin") and starring Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman

"Water for Elephants" - can a love brought about by a special circus animal survive? - based on the popular novel by Sara Gruen and starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson (Teen Choice Award winner)

Booklist's Top Ten First Novels

2011-10-31T11:53:00.000-07:00

The Arriviste. By James Wallenstein.
Energetic and naive Bud Younger moves in next door to silver-haired venture capitalist Neil Fox and wheedles his way into a treacherous deal in Wallenstein’s riptide debut about emotional bankruptcy and betrayal.

The Art of Fielding. By Chad Harbach.
Henry Skrimshander, a shortstop of phenomenal ability, is at the center of first-novelist Harbach’s psychologically astute baseball saga set at a small liberal-arts school in Wisconsin.

The Borrower. By Rebecca Makkai.
In Makkai’s picaresque first novel, Lucy, a 26-year-old children’s librarian, “borrows” her favorite patron, bright, book-loving 10-year-old Ian, after his fundamentalist parents enroll him in a program meant to “cure” his nascent homosexuality.

The Family Fang. By Kevin Wilson.
First-time novelist Wilson mixes dire humor and melancholy in this satirical portrait of the uniquely dysfunctional Fangs––husband-and-wife performance artists Caleb and Camille and their children, Annie and Buster—and offers a scathing critique of how the baby-boom generation maltreated Gen X.

The Language of Flowers. By Vanessa Diffenbaugh.
In Diffenbaugh’s enchanting and ennobling debut, Victoria, an abused ward of the California foster-care system, finds her way to a fulfilling life after working with a florist and learning about the hidden meaning of flowers.

The Submission. By Amy Waldman.
Waldman’s magnetizing first novel brilliantly dramatizes the painful legacy of 9/11 as a disparate group—including two very different 9/11 widows; the brother of a lost firefighter; a journalist; and an architect, the son of Muslim immigrants—confronts the life-and-death moral quandaries associated with choosing the design for a ground zero memorial.

Swamplandia! By Karen Russell.
In Russell’s mythic, lavishly imagined first novel, a shabby tourist attraction deep in the haunted Everglades morphs into a spectacularly strange realm of archetypal mystery and danger as young Ava searches for her missing sister.

The Taker. By Alma Katsu.
Katsu’s mesmerizing, original debut arcs between a Puritan community and a present-day young woman found in the Maine woods who claims that she has killed a man and that she’s immortal.

When God Was a Rabbit. By Sarah Winman.
English actress Winman has written a wonderfully wise and darkly humorous tale of young Elly and her older brother, Joe; and of love and friendship, family uncircumscribed by biological bonds, and loss worse than death.

The World Beneath. By Cate Kennedy.
In her gripping debut novel, Kennedy scathingly portrays Rich and Sandy, a long-divorced couple who have accomplished little, and turns the wilderness into another vividly rendered character when Rich takes their sullen teenage daughter hiking in Tasmania.

2011-10-28T07:23:00.000-07:00

Must Read Books for the Fallfrom the Daily Beast

"AFTER LAZY DAYS of reading fat thrillers on the beach, it’s time to get serious with the annual fall reading bonanza when publishers release all their marquee names, big stars, and prize contenders."

Attention Lee Child Fans!

2011-10-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

For pure fun, the Reacher novels are easily the best thriller series going, and Lee Child has created a formula and a style that, over 16 books, has made him one of the most popular authors in America.

"The Affair" is the latest novel to hit the shelves!

Let Us Pick Your Next Read!

2011-10-24T12:58:00.000-07:00

Merrick Library's Reference Department would like to make choosing your next read easier. Fill out this short questionnaire and our staff will provide you with up to 5titles according to your preferences. You will be notified when your selections are available at the Reference Desk.

New To Our DVD Collection!

2011-10-22T11:33:00.001-07:00

Just Out:

"The Kennedys" - you've seen the headlines and heard about the controversy - now see the miniseries! - stars Greg Kinnear, Katie Holmes, Barry Pepper (Emmy winner) and Tom Wilkinson

Out October 25:

"Captain America: The First Avenger" - before all pretenders he was the ultimate fighter! - based on the time-honored Marvel Comics series - stars Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones and Stanley Tucci

"The Winnie the Pooh Movie" - further adventures of the beloved characters created by A.A. Milne - features the voices of Craig Ferguson and Tom Kenny ("Spongebob Squarepants") plus narration by John Cleese

Book Signing @ Book Revue!

2011-10-22T07:39:00.000-07:00

JUDY COLLINS

Tuesday, October 25th, 7pm

Grammy Award Winner & Bestselling author, JUDY COLLINS, will speak about and sign her new book When You Wish Upon a Star.

When You Wish Upon a Star, based on the classic 1940 Oscar winning song, is beloved by listeners from 2 to 92 for its sweet hopefulness, poignant melody, and simple yet profound lyrics. Promising that "anything your heart desires will come to you," it appeals to the believer and child in all of us; the words weave a vision of a world rich in love and happiness—a world open to everyone, "no matter who you are." And no singer can capture the haunting beauty of this classic like Judy Collins, with her clear, pure, and emotionally resonant voice. The CD that is embedded in the cover includes the title track, plus two original songs written especially for this book by Judy Collins. When You Wish Upon a Star was ranked #7 by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest movie songs of all time on their “AFI 100 Years…100 Songs” list, andwe know that fans of the song will absolutely admire and adore Collins’ magnificent version.

For more than five decades, Judy Collins has thrilled audiences worldwide with her superlative soprano and her unique blend of interpretative folksongs and contemporary themes. Enjoying a career full of accolades, including a Grammy® and an Academy Award® nomination, she continues to perform globally, and almost constantly, at age 71, while making time for social activism. She is also the author of several books, both fiction and nonfiction, and recently collaborated on the New York Times Best-Seller Over the Rainbow, illustrated by Eric Puybaret, acclaimed painter and best-selling illustrator, whose magical art brings out the dreams in all of us. Now, Judy Collins and Eric Puybaret are collaborating once again to bring another classic song to life, with equally enchanting results.

New Non-fiction Audiobook Arrivals!

2011-10-20T12:36:00.000-07:00

Between 2002 and 2008, the world embraced a wave of cheap credit that allowed people to enjoy spoils they usually wouldn't be able to afford. However, when the bubble burst in late 2008, everything came crashing down, including most of Europe. Here, Michael Lewis investigates the causes of the 2008 financial meltdown and projects what awaits the countries that were, and still are, most affected.

True leadership isn't a matter of having a certain job or title. In fact, being chosen for a position is only the first of the five levels every effective leader achieves. To become more than "the boss" people follow only because they are required to, you have to master the ability to invest in people and inspire them. To grow further in your role, you must achieve results and build a team that produces. You need to help people to develop their skills to become leaders in their own right. And if you have the skill and dedication, you can reach the pinnacle of leadership-where experience will allow you to extend your influence beyond your immediate reach and time for the benefit of others. The 5 Levels of Leadership are: Position - Permission - Production - People Development - Pinnacle. Through humor, in-depth insight, and examples, internationally recognized leadership expert John C. Maxwell describes each of these stages of leadership. He shows you how to master each level and rise up to the next to become a more influential, respected, and successful leader.

Moore is his own meta-Forrest Gump, as one moment he's an 11-year old boy stuck on a Senate elevator with Bobby Kennedy and the next moment he's inside the Bitburg cemetery with a dazed and confused Ronald Reagan. Changing planes in Vienna, he escapes death at the hands of the terrorist Abu Nidal. All of this is the stuff that makes for great fiction, but every one of these stories is true and from the life of one Michael Moore.

Dale Carnegie’s principles have endured for nearly a century. Since its original publication in 1936, his timeless classic How to Win Friends and Influence People has gone on to sell 15 million copies. Now, introducing new listeners to Carnegie’s words of wisdom, comes How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age, a new guide for a new era.
Dale Carnegie could never have predicted the trajectory that new media would take, and the ways that the simple television screen would be adapted into computers and handheld communication devices. He didn’t know the term “social media” and Facebook was something not even dreamed of in Buck Rogers cartoons. And yet his lessons remain relevant for everyone who communicates online today. In fact, with problems such as cyber bullying and email etiquette, we need Carnegie’s help more than ever. Dale Carnegie and Associates, Inc. has re-imagined Carnegie’s lasting lessons for this difficult digital age, reframing Carnegie’s insights about communication, self-expression, and leadership. This book is a must-have guide for anyone who wants to find success on Facebook, Linked-In, Twitter, and any social media format today and in the future.

In the summer of 1944, Denis Avey was being held in a British POW labour camp, E715, near Auschwitz III. He had heard of the brutality meted out to the prisoners there and he was determined to witness what he could.He hatched a plan to swap places with a Jewish inmate and smuggled himself into his sector of the camp. He spent the night there on two occasions and experienced at first-hand the cruelty of a place where slave workers, had been sentenced to death through labor. Astonishingly, he survived to witness the aftermath of the Death March where thousands of prisoners were murdered by the Nazis as the Soviet Army advanced. After his own long trek right across central Europe he was repatriated to Britain. For decades he couldn't bring himself to revisit the past that haunted his dreams, but now Denis Avey feels able to tell the full story—a tale as gripping as it is moving—which offers us a unique insight into the mind of an ordinary man whose moral and physical courage are almost beyond belief.

A bestselling, groundbreaking author investigates successful long term marriages, interviewing wives and their uncensored strategies for staying married. In raw, candid, titillating stories, Krasnow's cast of wise women give voice to the truth about marriage and the importance of maintaining a strong sense of self apart from the relationship. Some spend summers separately from their partners. Some make time for wine with the girls. One septuagenarian has a recurring date with an old flame from high school. In every case, the marriage operates on many tracks, giving both spouses license to pursue the question "Who am I apart from my marriage?" Krasnow's goal is to give women permission to create their own marriages at any age. Marital bliss is possible, she says, if each partner is blissful apart from the other.

The stand-up comedian, television host, best-selling author and actress candidly discusses her personal life, her professional career and describes what it was like to become a judge on American Idol.

Book Signing @ Book Revue.

2011-10-17T14:56:00.001-07:00

JOHN CARTER CASH

Tuesday, October 18th, 7pm

JOHN CARTER CASH, the only son of legendary singer, JOHNNY CASH, will speak about and sign his new book House of Cash: The Life, Legacy and Archives of The Man in Black.

DIGGING DEEPLY INTO THE JOHNNY CASH ARCHIVES, HIS ONLY SON PRESENTS A LOVING AND RICH PORTRAIT OF THE COUNTRY LEGEND.
This lavishly illustrated book features many color and black and white photos, as well as numerous removable keepsake facsimile documents. A successful, multi-Grammy-winning record producer in his own right, John Carter Cash has reached into the extensive Carter family archives to produce a memoir his father. Known to his many fans as The Man in Black, Johnny Cash died in 2003. Cash was known primarily as a country performer, but he was successful in many music genres including rockabilly and rock and roll, blues, folk and gospel which led him to be inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After the deaths of his parents, JOHNNY CASH and JUNE CASH, the task of going through their huge storage vault packed to the brim with memories fell to John Cater Cash and his wife. Now the curator of the Carter family legacy, John Carter Cash, unearthed a large number of unpublished photographs, poetry and songs, master tapes dating back to the mid-50s sketches, film reels, audio tape mixes, “strange hats, guitar cases, harmonicas,” and so much more. HOUSE OF CASH is a memoir, biography and deeply personal remembrance of the man beneath the black. From his roots it records Cash’s early hardscrabble life in Arkansas, where his family eventually received a parcel of land to farm cotton through Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program. For fans of Johnny Cash, HOUSE OF CASH provides an affectionate and affecting look into the Johnny Cash legend.

John Carter Cash has been surrounded by music his whole life, writing songs and staying active in the creative process. He is a successful music producer of five Grammy Award-winning albums, including his mother June Carter Cash’s Press On, and as worked with Rick Rubin as associate producer on his father’s American III: Solitary Man and American IV: The Man Comes Around, the latter receiving three CMA awards. John Carter Cash owns and operates the Cash Cabin Studio and Cash Productions, LLC near Nashville, Tennessee. His production company is Cash Productions, LLC. He lives ith his wife, Laura, and their three children in Hendersonville, TN.

Booklist's Top Ten Horror Fiction

2011-10-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

We're all afraid of something...

American Vampire by Jennifer Armintrout
On his way to a vampire party in New York, Graf McDonald takes a wrong turn and ends up in Penance, Ohio, which one can enter but not leave; urban fantasy author Armintrout, best known for her Black Ties series, offers a traditional horror story that will be welcomed by fans of the genre.

Dust. By Joan Frances Turner.
The author has taken the familiar zombie clichés and given them a good shake, creating a new zombie mythology that is smart, scary, and viscerally real.

Full Dark, No Stars. By Stephen King.
King begins his afterword by stating, “The stories in this book are harsh.” The man ain’t whistlin’ Dixie. Rarely has he gone this dark, but to say there are no stars here is crazy.

Ghost Story. By Jim Butcher.
Harry Dresden’s back for another adventure battling forces far greater than himself—business as usual for Chicago’s favorite wizard; except this time he has a bit of a handicap: he’s dead, and he’s been sent back to solve the mystery of his murder.

The Glass Demon. By Helen Grant.
With its fascinating information on medieval folklore, unique setting, and increasingly claustrophobic sense of terror, this is an exhilarating page-turner that offers a cerebral blend of horror and mystery.

I Don’t Want to Kill You. By Dan Wells.
Horror and fantasy fans of all ages, especially those who get a kick out of Jeff Lindsay’s Dexter novels, should embrace this third and, perhaps, final novel about John Wayne Cleaver.

Jane and the Damned. By Janet Mullany.
Mullany rewrites history in more ways than one in this novel, which sets up Jane Austen as a vampire. A fast-paced adventure for those who don’t mind the vampire craze impinging upon historical events and beloved authors.

Stories from the Plague Years. By Michael Marano.
With an expansive vocabulary, a tenacious commitment to poetic prose, and a willingness to follow whatever discursive paths his whim takes, Marano is an acquired taste—but without doubt possessed of a unique talent.

The White Devil. By Justin Evans.
Readers of this thoroughly upsetting horror-mystery hybrid will find their nightmares imprinted with several unshakable images; smart, scary, sexy, and gorgeously written to boot.

The Zombie Autopsies: Secret Notebooks from the Apocalypse. By Steven C. Schlozman.
While medical professionals may get a few laughs from Schlozman’s meticulous faux scientific research, the target audience—horror fans and zombie enthusiasts—will be pleased.

Our DVD Collection is Growing!

2011-10-13T15:12:00.000-07:00

Just Out:

"Tree of Life" - a Midwestern family faces adversity and doubt in 1950s America - directed by Terrence Malick ("Amazing Grace", "The New World") - stars Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain - in Bluray and High Definition DVD

Out October 18:

"Aftershock" - from China - decisions made after a 1970s earthquake alter the lives of everyone - stars Xu Fan and Li Chen

"Bad Teacher" - scheming to marry into wealth leads to an education no one ever expected - stars Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake

"A Better Life" - moving to a new land leaves imprints beyond what one can see - Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film

"Monte Carlo" - mistaken identity has never been this glamorous - stars Selena Gomez and Leighton Meester

"Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stronger Tides" - what's more dangerous for Jack Sparrow: a woman from his past or Blackbeard the Pirate? - stars Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz and Geoffrey Rush - in Bluray and High Definition DVD

An Evening With Philippa Gregory

2011-10-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

The #1 New York Times bestselling author, Philippa Greggory will be at the Landmark Theater on Main Street in Port Washington on Monday, October 17th @ 7:30 pm. With over 8 million copies of her books in print, Gregory has brought the Tudor court to vibrant life for readers around the world. Now, in The Cousins' War series, she brings to life the Plantagenets, the noble family that preceded the Tudors - chronicling the turbulent years of strife most commonly known as the War of the Roses. She will discuss The Women of the Cousin's War (September 2011). Co-authored with two eminent historians, David Baldwin and Michael Jones, this work of non-fiction offers fascinating biographical essays about the inspirations behind Philippa Gregory's fiction and a sweeping picture of one of the most intriguing periods in English history. Gregory will also read from and discuss The Lady of the River (coming out October 2012). Books will be available for purchase and signing. The event is co-sponsored with the Friends of the Port Washington Public Library.

Just Added to our DVD Collection!

2011-10-10T07:21:00.001-07:00

Just Out:

"Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai" - from India - go back to the Seventies for a power struggle done Bollywood style!

Out October 11:

"Horrible Bosses" - comedy about when quitting is not an option - Jennifer Aniston as you've never seen her before - also starring Jason Bateman and Jason Sudekis ("Saturday Night Live")

"The Princess of Montpensier" - from France - a beautiful 16th century aristocrat finds the web of her life includes corruption and forbidden desire - stars Melanie Thierry and Lambert Wilson

"Zookeeper" - animals aid their caretaker in getting his girl back but soon find he has a much better alternative - stars Kevin James, Leslie Bibb and Rosario Dawson

Downloadable Book for your Kindle are Here!!

2011-10-09T10:35:00.000-07:00

You asked, and now we’ve answered: Here’s a how-to video so you can learn how to browse, checkout and get eBooks for Kindle.

Book Signing @ Book Revue.

2011-10-06T14:59:00.000-07:00

BONNIE TRACHTENBERG

Thursday, October 13th, 7pm @ Book Revue Huntington.
Local Author, BONNIE TRACHTENBERG, will speak about and sign her new book Wedlocked.

Thirty-six-year old Rebecca Ross has finally tied the knot…and it may be the biggest mistake of her life. On what should be the happiest day of her life, Rebecca Ross is panic stricken. Rebecca has just wed Craig Jacobs, but she realizes she put more thought into choosing her florist than she did in choosing the man she’s just pledged to love for the rest of her life. Before Craig, Rebecca, a talented Long Island girl, dreamed of following in her grandmother’s footsteps with an acting career. Unfortunately, she was cut down to size by years of disappointment, and by her first love—a Hollywood director. She returned to Long Island a lost and broken woman, and ended up in the last place she ever wanted: her old bedroom at her parents’ house. But Rebecca’s mother, an overzealous convert to Judaism, has a long held dream too: marry off her three daughters to Jewish men. So no one is more thrilled than her when Rebecca meets and marries bon vivant Craig Jacobs, the man who
has won over the whole family. Too bad they’re all about to discover that underneath his charismatic shell, this Prince Charming is anything but! This unputdownable romantic comedy will amuse and enthrall you from angst-ridden start to glorious finish.

Bonnie Trachtenberg was senior writer and copy chief at Book-of-the-Month Club and has written seven children’s book adaptations. She has also written for three newspapers and penned countless magazine articles. Trachtenberg lives on Long Island with her husband, stepchildren, four cats and a dog.

New DVD Arrivals!

2011-10-05T13:36:00.000-07:00

Out October 4:

"Fast Five" - one last heist in Rio stands between three fugitives and freedom - stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

"Scream 4" - Sidney comes back to Woodsboro and so does Ghost Face - stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and Emma Roberts

New Audiobook Arrivals!

2011-10-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

Like the main character in his much-beloved The Alchemist, Paulo is facing a grave crisis of faith. As he seeks a path of spiritual renewal and growth, he decides to begin again: to travel, to experiment, to reconnect with people and the landscapes around him.
Setting off to Africa, and then to Europe and Asia via the Trans-Siberian Railway, he initiates a journey to revitalize his energy and passion. Even so, he never expects to meet Hilal. A gifted young violinist, she is the woman Paulo loved five hundred years before—and the woman he betrayed in an act of cowardice so far-reaching that it prevents him from finding real happiness in this life. Together they will initiate a mystical voyage through time and space, traveling a path that teaches love, forgiveness, and the courage to overcome life’s inevitable challenges. Beautiful and inspiring, Aleph invites us to consider the meaning of our own personal journeys: Are we where we want to be, doing what we want to do?

Everything starts somewhere. . . .
For elite military cop Jack Reacher, that somewhere was Carter Crossing, Mississippi, way back in 1997. A lonely railroad track. A crime scene. A coverup.

A young woman is dead, and solid evidence points to a soldier at a nearby military base. But that soldier has powerful friends in Washington.
Reacher is ordered undercover—to find out everything he can, to control the local police, and then to vanish. Reacher is a good soldier. But when he gets to Carter Crossing, he finds layers no one saw coming, and the investigation spins out of control.
Local sheriff Elizabeth Deveraux has a thirst for justice—and an appetite for secrets. Uncertain they can trust one another, Reacher and Deveraux reluctantly join forces. Reacher works to uncover the truth, while others try to bury it forever. The conspiracy threatens to shatter his faith in his mission, and turn him into a man to be feared.

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

Thirty-two-year-old Angie Powell has always spoken her mind, but in the presence of Dare Callahan she nurses a simmering rage. After all, why give Dare the satisfaction of knowing he can push her buttons and push her to the edge?

Three years ago, Dare returned home to rural western Montana and opened a hunting business to rival Angie’s. Complicating matters is the fact that Dare has asked Angie out (not once but twice) and has given her a gift of butterflies in the process. Angie has no patience for butterflies. They only lead to foolish decisions. And now the infuriatingly handsome Iraq war vet has siphoned away Angie’s livelihood, forcing her to close up shop.

Before Angie is to leave town, she organizes one last trip into the wilderness with a client and his guest, who wants to bag a black bear. But the adrenaline-fueled adventure turns deadly when Angie witnesses a cold-blooded murder and finds herself on the wrong side of a loaded gun. Before the killer can tie up this attractive loose end, a bear comes crashing through the woods—changing the dark game completely.

Luckily, Dare is camping nearby and hears the shots. Forced together for their very survival, Angie and Dare must confront hard feelings, a blinding storm, and a growing attraction—while being stalked by a desperate killer and a ferocious five-hundred-pound beast. And neither will stop until they reach their prey.

After three years of research, bestselling journalist Joe McGinniss presents his already controversial and much anticipated investigative chronicle of Sarah Palin as an individual, politician, and cultural phenomenon.

In his critically acclaimed book about Alaska, Going to Extremes, the fledgling state itself was Joe McGinniss’s subject. Although he didn’t hesitate to reveal the many flaws and contradictions behind its “last frontier” image, McGinniss fell in love with the land and its people. More than three decades later, he returned to Alaska in search of its most famous resident, Sarah Palin.

On Election Day 2008, McGinniss began his on-the-ground reporting that culminated, famously, in his moving next door to Sarah Palin in spring 2010. THE ROGUE is the eagerly awaited result of his research and writing: a startling study of the illusion and reality of Sarah Palin—and a probing look at the Alaska and the America that produced her. Sometimes funny, sometimes frightening, always provocative and illuminating, THE ROGUE answers the questions “Who is she, really?,” “How did she happen?,” and “Will she ever go away?”

In all of his books, McGinniss has scrutinized the mysterious space between image and reality—how that space is created, negotiated, and/or manipulated. Now, with The Rogue, McGinniss combines his deep appreciation of the place Sarah Palin comes from with his uncanny ability to penetrate the façades of people in public life. The result is an extraordinary double narrative that alternately traces Palin’s curious rise to political prominence and worldwide celebrity status and recounts the author’s day-to-day experiences as he uncovers the messy reality beneath the glossy Palin myth.

Sicily Coyne was just thirteen when her father was killed in a school fire that left her face disfigured. Twelve years later, a young surgeon, Eliza Cappadora, offers hope in the form of a revolutionary new surgery that may give Sicily back the grace and function she lost. Raised by a dynamic, tenacious aunt who taught her to lead a normal life, and engaged to a wonderful man who knew her long before the accident, Sicily rejects the offer: She knows who she is, and so do the people who love her. But when a secret surfaces that shatters Sicily's carefully constructed world, she calls off the wedding and agrees to the radical procedure in order to begin a new life.

New to the Best Sellers List this Week....

2011-10-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

"Lethal" by: Sandra Brown
"Son of Stone" by: Stuart Woods
"Heat Rises" by: Richard Castle

New On Our Shelves!

2011-09-29T10:09:00.000-07:00

Just Out:

"The Strange Case of Angelica" - from Portugal - a beautiful dead bride is alive in the lens of a smitten photographer - stars Pilar Lopez de Ayala and Ricardo Tropa

Out September 30:

"Transformers: The Dark of the Moon" - what will the Autobots find in a mysterious spacecraft stranded on the Moon? - stars Shia Labeouf, Patrick Dempsey and Josh Duhamel

New DVDs

2011-09-25T11:32:00.001-07:00

"Meek's Cutoff" - drama of faith and survival in the wilderness of early America - stars Michelle Williams, Will Patton and Bruce Greenwood

"Raajneeti" - from India - drama of politics, corruption and cousins - stars Ranbir Karpoor and Arjun Rampal

"Bridesmaids" - to what lengths would you go for a best friend who is getting married? - stars Kristin Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Melissa McCarthy (TV's "Mike and Molly")

Intelligent Picks from Intelligent Life Magazine.

2011-09-21T12:33:00.001-07:00

Maggie Fergusson's pick of the season, including a story of survival, a biography of Orpheus and a masterpiece from Michael Ondaatje ...
Visit the link below for the full article.

From INTELLIGENT LIFE magazine, September/October 2011

"A Train in Winter" by Caroline Moorehead

"State of Wonder" by Ann Patchett
"The Cat’s Table" by Michael Ondaatje
"Orpheus" by Ann Wroe
"Undercover Muslim" by Theo Padnos

And the winner is.......

2011-09-19T12:24:00.000-07:00

On September 18 the Emmy Awards were presented live from Los Angeles. Here are some highlights of interest:

For the fourth consecutive year, "Mad Men" was given the Emmy for Best Drama Series. Seasons 1 through 4 of "Mad Men" are available in the Merrick Library DVD collection.

Melissa McCarthy won the Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for the show "Mike and Molly." McCarthy has also been praised for her standout performance in the movie "Bridesmaids," due to come out this week on DVD at Merrick Library

A major winner was the PBS "Masterpiece" miniseries "Downton Abbey." This depiction of the privileged and their servants in pre-World War I England won Emmys for Best Miniseries, Best Director, Best Writing and Best Supporting Actress. "Downton Abbey" is part of the Merrick Library's DVD collection.

Tonight @ Book Revue

2011-09-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

CAROLINE BOCK

Friday, September 16th, 7pm @ Book Revue,Huntington.
Critically-acclaimed author, CAROLINE BOCK, will speak about and sign her new book LIE.

Based on true events, LIE, is a powerful new story about love, loss, and betrayal. seventeen-year-old Skylar Thompson is being questioned by the police. Her boyfriend, Jimmy, stands accused of brutally assaulting two young El Salvadoran immigrants from a neighboring town, and she’s the prime witness. Skylar is keeping quiet about what she’s seen, but how long can she keep it up?

Meanwhile, Jimmy's accomplice Sean, is facing his own moral quandary. He's out on bail and has been offered a plea in exchange for testifying against Jimmy. Sean must decide whether or not to turn on his friend, in order to save himself. But most importantly, both Sean and Skylar must figure out why they followed someone like Jimmy in the first place.

Caroline Bock is the co-author with her sister of the critically-acclaimed memoir, Confessions of a Carb Queen , which was optioned by Sony Television. A contributor to an upcoming nonfiction work, Bock is a graduate with honors from Syracuse University, where she studied creative writing with Raymond Carver among other notable writers, and is currently an MFA candidate in fiction at City College in Manhattan.

New DVDs

2011-09-16T08:51:00.001-07:00

"Hesher" - an uninvited garage guest becomes part of the family - stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Natalie Portman and Rainn Wilson (TV's "The Office)

"Incendies" - multi-award winner from Canada about twins who lose one family but find they have another one

"Leading Ladies" - meet the Camparis, first family of ballroom dancing - stars Shannon Lea Smith and Laurel Veil

"Thor" - a banished god becomes a hero on Earth - based on the long-running Marvel Comics series - stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins

Plays to Films!

2011-09-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

"Farragut North" - Acting Edition by Beau Willimon

Movie Titled "The Ides of March"
7 October 2011 (USA)

An idealistic staffer for a newbie presidential candidate gets a crash
course on dirty politics during his stint on the campaign trail. Based
on the play by Beau Willimon.

Director: George Clooney
Writers: George Clooney (screenplay), Grant Heslov (screenplay),
Stars:Paul Giamatti, George Clooney and Philip Seymour Hoffman

Top Ten Romance Titles of 2011

2011-09-14T16:35:00.000-07:00

Romance is in the air. Try some of these Booklist recommended titles:

Animal Magnetism. By Jill Shalvis.
Shalvis orchestrates a budding relationship between a commitment-shy former Special Forces pilot and a gutsy animal rescuer in the superlative launch of a new series set in Idaho’s Bitterroot Mountains.

Call Me Irresistible. By Susan Elizabeth Phillips. 2011.
Everyone blames Meg for her best friend’s decision to leave Ted at the altar in RITA Award–winning Phillips’ irresistibly lively romantic comedy.

Cloudy with a Chance of Marriage. By Kieran Kramer.
How can Jilly run a respectable bookshop if her neighbor, a Royal Navy captain, keeps throwing wild parties? Kramer’s devilishly clever plot makes for a laugh-out-loud, sweet Regency romance.

The Counterfeit Bride. By Nancy J. Parra. 2011.
In Parra’s latest masterful romance, Lillian pretends to have an absent soldier husband when she opens a store in late-nineteenth-century Colorado, only to have her bluff called by a man investigating a counterfeit ring.

How to Marry a Duke. By Vicky Dreiling.
An enchanting Regency romance debut involving a rake and a matchmaker, a tricky dilemma, and witty repartee.

The Lady of the Storm. By Kathryne Kennedy.
Blacksmith Giles is charged with protecting Cecily, who is half elf, in this superb story of suspense, magic, and passion, the second in Kennedy’s thrilling and distinctive Elven Lords series.

Lord Langley Is Back in Town. By Elizabeth Boyle.
Lord Langley has a plan to outmaneuver his enemies, if only Minerva doesn’t decide to kill him herself in RITA Award–winning Boyle’s luscious conclusion to her dazzling Widows of Standon trilogy.

The Naked King. By Sally MacKenzie. 2011.
Young Lady Anne Marston, secretly ruined, believes she isn’t worthy of marriage, but the man called King of Hearts couldn’t care less about scandal in this wonderful addition to MacKenzie’s delectable Naked series.

Only Mine. By Susan Mallery.
Alaska pilot Finn is furious when his twin brothers drop out of college to appear on a reality-television show, True Love or Fool’s Gold, in Mallery’s witty, emotion-packed romance.

The Return of Black Douglas. By Elaine Coffman.
Twins Isobella and Elizabeth visit the grave of Sir James, a relative known as the Black Douglas, and find themselves transported to sixteenth-century Scotland in Coffman’s delightful time-travel romance.

An Unlikely Suitor. By Nancy Moser. 2011.
Italian immigrant and dressmaker Lucy Scarpelli finds herself in an unlikely friendship with a socialite, which leads to forbidden love and danger in Christy Award–winning Moser’s historical tale of resilient, uncompromising women.

Upcoming Book Signing @ Book Revue!

2011-09-12T12:37:00.000-07:00

ALYSON RICHMAN

Thursday, September 15th, 7pm @ Book Revue in Huntington.
Author, ALYSON RICHMAN, will speak about and sign her new book
"The Lost Wife."

Josef Kohn is a successful New York obstetrician who still dreams of his first wife, Lenka, an art student he left behind in Czechoslovakia while fleeing the Nazis. Lenka, who he believes died during the war, continues to haunt his dreams, while his second wife, Amalia, remains more of a ghost to him than is Lenka. As we follow Lenka's journey to the ghetto of Terezin, where she is forced to draft technical drawings for the Germans and is a witness to the secret paintings of an underground group of artists involved in their own form of resistance against their captors, we see not only the endurance of the human spirit, but also of the artist, whose desire to create and document, cannot be extinguished. From the glamourous ease of pre-War Prague, to the ensuing horror of Nazi Europe, we witness both the dawning of Lenka's and Josef's love affair to its tragic unravelling.

Alyson Richman is the author of: The Mask Carver's Son, Swedish Tango, and The Last Van Gogh. As of next year, her novels will be published in more than ten languages. Her books have received both national and international critical acclaim, having been reviewed favorably in The New York Times Book Review, The Dallas Morning News, The San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle Book Review, The Los Angeles Times, and many other national print outlets. The Last Van Gogh was nominated as a Book Sense Notable Pick in 2006. She has appeared on both national television and radio syndicates promoting her work. A graduate of Wellesley College and a former Thomas J. Watson Fellow, she currently lives with her husband and children in Long Island, New York.

September is Pleasure Your Mate Month!

2011-09-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

September is Pleasure Your Mate Month!
A month to promote love and show appreciation to your mate. Establish a lifelong habit of sharing pleasure.

Check out some of the books below from our collection to help you get started!

Wonderful Marriage: A Guide to Building a Great Relationship That Will Last a Lifetime by Lilo and Gerard Leeds

The 6 Secrets of a Lasting Relationship: How to Love Again -- and Stay There by Mark Goulston

For Better: The Science of a Good Marriage by Tara Parker-Pope

48 Hours to a Stronger Marriage: Reconnect with Your Spouse and Re-energize Your Marriage by Bob Bowersox

The Mr. and Mrs. Happy Handbook by Steve Doocy

Top 10 Business Books

2011-09-09T13:19:00.000-07:00

Take a look at these outstanding business titles published over the last year and reviewed by Booklist Magazine:

Age of Greed: The Triumph of Finance and the Decline of America, 1970 to the Present. By Jeff Madrick.
Madrick fascinatingly traces America’s wave of greed from the 1970s through the succeeding two decades and its contribution to the 2008 financial crisis.

Bury My Heart at Conference Room B: The Unbeatable Impact of Truly Committed Managers. By Stan Slap.
What is novel in consultant Slap’s first book is his passion for the subject of values in the workplace and his easy-to-use framework for identifying and promoting values throughout the business world.

Getting More: How to Negotiate to Achieve Your Goals in the Real World. By Stuart Diamond.
This lawyer, journalist, and professor further hones the art of goal-getting in today’s world, no matter what the specific personal or business objective.

Make Your Own Rules: A Renegade Guide to Unconventional Success. By Wayne Rogers and Josh Young.
Rogers, entrepreneur extraordinaire, recounts the lessons he learned that ensured his success in numerous businesses over 40 years, with the central theme that he had no prior experience in any of those fields.

The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires. By Tim Wu.
This is an essential look at the directions in which personal computing may be headed depending on which policies and worldviews will ultimately dominate the Internet.

The Next American Economy: Blueprint for a Real Recovery. By William J. Holstein.
The author looks to the future to envision what needs to be done to bring prosperity back to America in light of factors such as offshoring and outsourcing.

The Orange Revolution: How One Great Team Can Transform an Entire Organization. By Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton.
Why doesn’t every corporate leader actively listen to employees and veteran consultants like Gostick and Elton? Adopting their how-to’s for realizing dreams would undoubtedly provide the solution to staid, stagnant, and unrewarding work in America.

Poisoned Legacy: The Human Cost of BP’s Rise to Power. By Mike Magner. St.
Magner expands previous examinations of BP to three locations of major human and environmental disaster: the now-dead oil boomtown of Nedodesha, Kansas; the Texas City Refinery explosion; and the Gulf oil disaster.

The Velocity Manifesto: Harnessing Technology, Vision, and Culture to Future-Proof Your Organization. By Scott Klososky.
This technology innovation expert explains his velocity manifesto, which means that a business leader cannot ignore the impact of technology on the organization’s current and future operations.

Wikibrands: Reinventing Your Company in a Customer-Driven Marketplace. By Sean Moffitt and Mike Dover.
With a wealth of important information, executives Moffitt and Dover set out to show businesses how to use the power of customer collaboration to drive their brands forward and enhance business value with customers.

New DVDs.

2011-09-09T10:58:00.001-07:00

"Everything Must Go" - a man who has lost everything has the ultimate yard sale - based on a short story by Raymond Carver - stars Will Ferrell and Rebecca Hall

"Hanna" - a second generation CIA assassin meets more than she imagined during a mission - stars Saoirse Ronan and Cate Blachett

"Win Win" - a high school runaway becomes a star wrestler - stars Paul Giamatti, Amy Ryan and Burt Young

"X-Men: First Class" - once upon a time Professor X and Magneto were on the same side - stars James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence and Kevin Bacon

"Your Highness" - two slackers tossed into the medieval mix of knights, dragons and wizards - stars Danny McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman and Zooey Deschanel

Let Us Pick Your Next Read!

2011-09-08T15:18:00.000-07:00

Local Author Signing @ Book Revue

2011-09-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

SCOTT SAMMIS

Tuesday, September 13th, 7pm
Local Author, SCOTT SAMMIS, will speak about and sign his new book
"Good-bye, Mary Lou."

A last smile. Husband recalls harrowing rock slide that killed L.I. woman on next day's climb", was the January 10, 2006 front page headline that ran across multiple newspapers. Scott Sammis, his wife Mary Lou, and their three children, anxiously anticipated their next day's Kilimanjaro climb. Good-bye Mary Lou is a tribute to Scott's wife, a vivacious woman who was struck and killed in a deadly boulder
bombardment.

Scott Sammis is a lifelong resident of Huntington, New York. His roots extend twelve generations to John Sammis who arrived by ship from England in 1654. Scott has headed various non-profit charities and is now chairman of the Long Island YMCA Board. With his father, he has grown his family business for 25 years and sold it in 2007.

New DVD.

2011-08-26T07:11:00.000-07:00

"The Beaver" - a former toy company executive digs himself out of depression in a bizarre manner - directed by and co-starring Jodie Foster - stars Mel Gibson and Jennifer Lawrence

Bridget Jones Fans? Good news!

2011-08-23T08:07:00.000-07:00

Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that there is a third book and movie in the works for the Bridget Jones series. Helen Fielding's popular books were brought to life on the Big Screen by Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant, and Colin Firth. Read (or re-read) the first 2 books and watch or (re-watch)the movies to prepare for this long-awaited treat! All are available in Merrick Library's collection!

Read-A-Likes

2011-08-22T08:07:00.000-07:00

If you enjoyed Room by Emma Donoghue, try these titles for a similar reading experience:

In Malice, Quite Close by Brandi Lynn Ryder
A haunting and sophisticated debut in which priceless art and unspeakable desires converge. French ex-pat Tristan Mourault is the wealthy, urbane heir to a world- renowned collection of art-and an insatiable voyeur enamored with Karen Miller, a fifteen-year-old girl from a working-class family in San Francisco. Deciding he must "rescue" Karen from her unhappy circumstances, Tristan kidnaps her and stages her death to mask his true crime. Years later, Karen is now "Gisele" and the pair lead an opulent life in idyllic and rarefied Devon, Washington. But when Nicola, Gisele's young daughter, stumbles upon a secret cache of paintings-all nudes of Gisele-Tristan's carefully constructed world begins to crumble. As Nicola grapples with the tragedy that follows, she crosses paths with Amanda Miller, who comes to Devon to investigate the portraits' uncanny resemblance to her long-lost sister. Set against a byzantine backdrop of greed, artifice, and dangerous manipulations, In Malice, Quite Close is an intoxicating debut that keeps its darkest secrets until the very last page.

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens
On the day she was abducted, Annie O'Sullivan, a thirty-two year old realtor, had three goals--sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever- patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she's about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all. Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent as the captive of psychopath in a remote mountain cabin, which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist, is a second narrative recounting events following her escape--her struggle to piece her shattered life back together and the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor.

The truth doesn't always set you free.

Still Missing is that rare debut find--a shocking, visceral, brutal and beautifully crafted debut novel.

Adult Books for Teens

2011-08-20T08:43:00.000-07:00

Looking for a great read to share? Check out any of the following books -all were written for an adult audience but are also recommended for teens to enjoy!

Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard by Liz Murray
The author offers an account of her journey from a fifteen-year-old living on the streets and eating garbage to her acceptance into Harvard, a feat that prompted a Lifetime movie and a successful motivational-speaking career.

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
When 11-year-old Kimberly Chang and her mother emigrate from Hong Kong to Brooklyn squalor, she quickly begins a secret double life: exceptional schoolgirl during the day, Chinatown sweatshop worker in the evenings. Disguising the more difficult truths of her life, like her secret love for a factory boy who shares none of her talent or ambition, Kimberly learns to constantly translate not just her language but herself back and forth between the worlds she straddles.

The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni
Homeschooled teenager Sebastian Prendergast is forced by his grandmother's stroke to venture out of his geodesic dome habitat and befriends a chain-smoking teen who introduces him to pop culture through the punk band they form together.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
Being able to taste people's emotions in food may at first be horrifying. But young, unassuming Rose Edelstein grows up learning to harness her gift as she becomes aware that there are secrets even her taste buds cannot discern.

The Radleys by Matt Haig
Struggling with overwork and parenting angst, English village doctor Peter Radley endeavors to hide his family's vampire nature until their daughter's oddly satisfying act of violence reveals the truth, an event that is complicated by the arrival of a practicing vampire family member.

Room by Emma Donoghue
Jack and his mother, who was kidnapped seven years earlier when she was a 19-year-old college student, celebrate his fifth birthday. They live in a tiny, 11-foot-square soundproofed cell in a converted shed in the kidnapper's yard. The sociopath, whom Jack has dubbed Old Nick, visits at night, grudgingly doling out food and supplies. But Ma, as Jack calls her, proves to be resilient and resourceful--and attempts a nail-biting escape.

The Vanishing of Katharina Linden
Reviled in her German village home where her only friends are a fellow outcast and an elderly storyteller, eleven-year-old Pia investigates the disappearances of three local girls whom she believes are tied to unsolved missing persons cases from decades earlier.

Let Us Pick Your Next Read

2011-08-19T08:02:00.000-07:00

Merrick Library's Reference Department would like to make choosing your next read easier. Fill out this short questionnaire and our staff will provide you with up to 5titles according to your preferences. You will be notified when your selections are available at the Reference Desk.

Now in Theaters "The Help"

2011-08-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

Based on one of the most talked about books in years and a #1 New York Times best-selling phenomenon, “The Help” stars Emma Stone as Skeeter, Academy Award®–nominated Viola Davis as Aibileen and Octavia Spencer as Minny—three very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 1960s, who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk.

Overbooked.com All Stars!

2011-08-18T10:15:00.000-07:00

Starred Review Lists

Lists of books receiving at least one starred review (indicating a noteworthy book) from one of these major review sources: Booklist, Kirkus, Library Journal, or Publishers Weekly are listed here.

All Star genres include

Crime Fiction
Fiction
Historical
Nonfiction
Romance
Speculative
YA and Teen