Time Magazine's Best Books 2009

Reference Librarian, Ellen would like to pass on this alternative list of titles to our readers.


The staff at Time Magazine has come up with its annual list of "best" books, some of which are unusual titles. So, if you've read all the bestsellers, you may want to investigate some of their picks!

Fiction
Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
The Financial Lives of the Poets - Jess Walter
Swimming - Nicola Keegan
Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned - Wells Tower
Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi - Geoff Dyer
In Other rooms, Other Wonders - Daniyal Mueenuddin
Beat the Reaper - Josh Bazell
The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi
The Kindly Ones - Jonathan Littell

Non-Fiction
The Age of Wonder - Richard Holmes
D-day - Antony Beevor
Lit - Mary Karr
Changing My Mind - Zadie Smith
Lords of Finance - Liaquat Ahamed
Logicomix - Apostolos Doxiandis et al
Manhood for Amateurs - Michael Chabon
Strength in What Remains - Tracy Kidder
Cooking Dirty - Jason Sheehan
Cheever: a Life - Blake Bailey

J.D. Salinger Dies at 91

Author J.D. Salinger died of natural causes on January 27, 2010 at his home in Cornish, New Hampshire.
He was an American author, best known for his 1951 novel The Catcher in the Rye.

Louis Auchincloss

Louis Auchincloss died January 26 at the age of 92. A novelist, short story writer, critic and historian, Auchincloss chronicled the old-money elite of Manhattan and the eastern United States. He was thus a successor to Henry James, Edith Wharton and John P. Marquand in his subject matter. Auchincloss stories were regularly printed for decades in such magazines as The Atlantic and The New Yorker. Merrick Library has the following fiction by Louis Auchincloss:

The Aniversary and Other Stories
The Atonement and Other Stories
The Collected Stories of Louis Auchincloss
Diary of a Yuppie
East Side Story
The Education of Oscar Fairfax
False Gods
The Friend of Women and Other Stories
The Headmaster's Dilemma
Her Infinite Variety
Manhattan Monologues
Skinny Island: More Tales of Manhattan
Tales of Yesteryear
The Young Apollo and Other Stories
Last of the Old Guard (final work)

And the following nonfiction:

Motiveless Malignity (criticism)
The Vanderbilt Era: Profiles of a Gilded Age (history)
Theodore Roosevelt (biography)
Woodrow Wilson (biography)
Writers and Personality (literary biography)

New Audiobook Arrivals!

Assuming the power recently lost by the disgraced Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Cromwell counsels a mercurial Henry VIII on the latter's efforts to marry Anne Boleyn against the wishes of Rome, a successful endeavor that comes with a dangerous price.





Upon waking up in a hospital bed in Baltimore with a major headache, recently retired teacher Liam Pennywell can't seem to remember how he got there. However, as he investigates the lapse in time, the outwardly miserable Liam is forced to come to terms with his life.




When P.I. Stone Barrington crosses paths with a fetching Broadway actress--and sometime lip model--Stone gets a little more deeply involved with business than he'd expected. When his new lady love turns out to be a lady with a shady past, Stone and downtown cop Dino Bacchetti realize that her beauty may have an unusually high price.






Regardless of the current economic situation, author Robin Ryan believes that landing a dream job depends on the ability to stand out to potential employers. Here, Ryan, a motivational counselor, offers a variety of techniques that will allow listeners to get an insider's edge on the job market.

Books to Movies

This coming February, Nicholas Sparks, Author of "The Notebook", will once again have one of his novels hitting the big screen.

Dear John, is the story of a soldier home on leave who falls head over heels for a conservative college girl. Instead of returning home to her, he reenlists after the attacks on September 11th, 2001. Time and distance begin to take a toll on the young
lovers.

Release Date: February 5th

James Patterson

The New York Times Magazine has an article featuring Mr. Patterson.
January 24, 2010


James Patterson Inc.
By JONATHAN MAHLER
"How a genre writer has transformed book publishing."

Oprah's Pics

Librarian Larissa, would like to share O Magazine's 10 recommend new books hitting the bookstores this February!


10 Books to Watch For in February 2010:

Some of the titles are:
"The Postmistress" by Sarah Blake,
"Valentine" by Adriana Trigiani and
"Wench" by Dolen Perkins-Valdez.

Check our New Fiction section or place your requests at the Reference Desk.

New York Times Literary Treat of the Week!

Librarian Bob has reviewed this new novel which is highlighted in the NYT Book Review.



McCall Smith, Alexander. La's Orchestra Saves The World. Pantheon.

For the first time McCall Smith ventures into historical fiction to present another of his admirable female main characters. Meet La,
short for Lavender, an exception for her sex in pre-World War II Britain in that she was educated at Cambridge. La is forced into marriage even though her university tutor considers it a "criminal waste." The view proves prophetic when the husband runs off to France with his mistress. Left alone in the country, La first raises eggs and vegetables for the war effort. The egg role is soon taken over by Feliks, a Polish refugee that later is suspected of being a Nazi spy and for whom La develops feelings. Meanwhile, she organizes an amateur village orchestra whose time together stretches from the Battle of Britain to V-E Day. This is a timely addition to the McCall Smith gallery what with the recent inclusion of HBO's "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" on DVD at Merrick Library.

New York Times Literary Treat of the Week....

Reference Librarian Bob has highlighted, "Game Change", from this weeks NYT Book Review.

Heilemann, John and Halperin, Mark. Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime. Harper/HarperCollins.

What hurt more the presidential chances of Hilary Clinton: her 2002 vote for the Iraq war or her husband’s alleged infidelities? Who according to campaign insiders actually imploded the candidacy of John Edwards: himself or wife Elizabeth? Have conservative commentators actually not been exaggerating the political and government clout of Harry Reid? Heilemann and Halperin, who cover Washington for New York and Time Magazines respectively, give readers a pass to all the backstage intrique of the 2008 election. They do not limit themselves to Democrats, what with supporters of John McCain “living in terror” over supposed rumors about the personal life of their candidate and his wife Cindy.

Update Book Revue

Morning show host JOE SCARBOROUGH will now join fellow host MIKA BRZEZINSKI when Mika's here at Book Revue to talk about her new book, All Things at Once, on Saturday, January 30th, 7pm.

Charlaine Harris

Our reference librarian Marisa has some Author Read-A-Like suggestions.

If you like Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse Series, you might also enjoy....

"Uncommon Grounds"
by Sandra Balzo

"Undead and Unwed"
by Mary Janice Davidson

"Kiss"
by Ted Decker

"Storm of Visions"
by Christima Dodd

"Predatory Game"
Christine Feehan

We have Bookmarks at the Reference Desk for your reading convenience.

Sad News

Sadly, Robert B. Parker, author of the Spencer and Jesse Stone mystery series, died yesterday.

Oprah's Pics

Our Teen Librarian Larissa would like you
all to know about a past Oprah Pic...


"The Strength of Haitian Women Captured"

Revisit Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat's moving depiction of the people of Haiti in "Breath, Eyes, Memory" (call # Classic YA PBK DAN) . This 1998 Oprah's Book Club selection is relevant now more than ever.

Long Islands Best Book Store

The Book Revue has been named the best book store on Long Island for 2009. It is located at 313 New York Avenue, Huntington NY 11743.

Coming to the Book Revue

Saturday,
January 30th
7pm

MIKA BRZEZINSKI
& JOE SCARBOROUGH

The World’s 6 Coolest-Looking Bookstores

If you are lucky enough to take a vacation to one of these six destinations, you might want to take a side trip to these amazing bookstores. They are really attractions in an of themselves! The list inclues stores in Maastricht, Beijing, Porto, Buenos Aires, Paris and Mexico City.
Whether you are browsing or buying, each site is truly a treat.

Do I Have to Read James Patterson?

James Patterson is one of the best selling authors of our time. His gripping, fast paced and entertaining stories have been delighting literary audiences for years. Before you are finished reading one book, the next one has already been published! Although millions of people know and love his stories, one might wonder if Mr. Patterson's ego is getting a little too big for his public. An article on The Daily Beast suggests just that....

Overlooked Books of the Decade

According to the Daily Beast there are a number of books that have been overlooked for the past ten years.

"By the Lake"
By John McGahern

"World War One: A Short History"
By Norman Stone

"Sepharad"
By Antonio Muñoz Molina

'Tokyo Year Zero"
By David Peace

"Austerity Britain, 1945-1951 and Family Britain, 1951-1957"
By David Kynaston

"Piano Notes: The World of the Pianist"
By Charles Rosen

"Never Apologise: The Collected Writings"
By Lindsay Anderson (edited by Paul Ryan)

"The New Frontier"
By Darwyn Cooke

"Woman's World: A Novel"
By Graham Rawle

"Experience: A Memoir"
By Martin Amis

"The Murder Farm"
By Andrea Maria Schenkel


"Pandora in the Congo"
By Albert Sánchez Piñol

Do you like Faye Kellerman? You might like to try these authors....

Faye Kellerman Author Read-A-Likes

Tony Hillerman
Julia Spencer-Fleming
Sara Paretsky
Harry Lemelman
J.A. Jance
Patricia Cornwell
Tess Geritsen
Jonathan Kellerman
Sue Grafton
John Sandford

New Book Club In A Bag Title.

"American Pastoral" By Philip Roth

In his latest novel, Roth shows his age. Not that his writing is any less vigorous and supple. But in this autumnal tome, he is definitely in a reflective mood, looking backward. As the book opens, Roth's alter ego, Nathan Zuckerman, recalls an innocent time when golden boy Seymour "the Swede" Levov was the pride of his Jewish neighborhood. Then, in precise, painful, perfectly rendered detail, he shows how the Swede's life did not turn out as gloriously as expected how it was, in fact, devastated by a child's violent act. When Merry Levov blew up her quaint little town's post office to protest the Viet Nam war, she didn't just kill passing physician Fred Conlon, she shattered the ties that bound her to her worshipful father. Merry disappears, then eventually reappears as a stick-thin Jain living in sacred povery in Newark, having killed three more people for the cause. Roth doesn't tell the whole story blow by blow but gives us the essentials in luminous, overlapping bits. In the end, the book positively resonates with the anguish of a father who has utterly lost his daughter. Highly recommended!

New York Times Book Review Literary Treat of the Week...

Gilbert, Elizabeth. Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace With Marriage. Viking.

"Eat, Pray, Love" was highly promoted by Oprah Winfrey. Soon it wll be a movie starring Julia Roberts. Yet in the preface to "Committed" Gilbert asserts she had no idea "Eat, Pray, Love" would become a worldwide success. One can believe that given the candor Gilbert uses in discussing everything from travel to the history of marriage. That latter subject is relevant given her Brazilian boyfriend's need to be wed in order to keep a joint residence in Philadelphia. There is an effective balance of personal observation and research in telling Gilbert's continuing story. Highlights are her solo trip to Cambodia and how Gilbert's parents have managed to stay married for over forty years.

New January Audio Book Releases

Please visit our Audio Book section and browse our New items.

The following titles have just been added to our collection.

"Mennonite in a Little Black Dress" by Rhoda Janzen
"Committed" by Elizabeth Gilbert
"Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul" by Deepak Chopra
"Remarkable Creatures" by Tracy Chevalier

Dan Brown

If you like to read Dan Brown novels you might like to try these authors....

John Case
Daniel Silva
Michael Crichton
Barbara Wood
Katherine Neville
Clive Cussler