Have you been attending the Wednesday Afternoon Book Discussions?

Author Liz Moore will be Skyping in with us this Wednesday, January 4th at 2:30pm. Don't miss it!
Light refreshments always served. 

Let's not forget Richard Adams...RIP

We were so sorry to read this news, but do yourself a favor and read his two powerful tales:

Watership Down: a tale of exile and survival, of heroism and leadership...the epic novel of a group of adventurers who desert their doomed city, and venture forth against all odds on a quest for a new home, a sturdier future, 

The Plague Dogs: a remarkable journey into the hearts and minds of two canine heroes, Snitter and Rowf, fugitives from the horrors of an animal research center who escape into the isolation--and terror--of the wilderness.

Here's more about Adams from the NYT.

Debbie Reynolds. RIP.

We have a collection of material featuring 

both these wonderful ladies.

Come in and check out what we have. 

Carrie Fisher.

We have no words.

Except hers:

Wrap things up with these suspenseful reads for a scary little Christmas...

Book Clubbish recommends these....

and your favorite librarians also recommend: 

Moving Day by Jonathan Stone
Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry
The English Boys by Julia Thomas
Nest by Terry Goodkind
The Dry by Jane Harper

Place your reserve today! 

We wrap it all up with these 2016 Staff Picks from....

Librarian Carol Ann

(I am Groot!)

So y'all know I read alot.  Alot, but I came up with 15 titles I just loved this year.
Enjoy!

The English Boys, by Julia Thomas
Under the Harrow, by Flynn Berry
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk, by Lillian Rooney (2017)
Another Brooklyn, by Jacqueline Woodson
We Show What We Have Learned, by Clare Beams
Mischling, by Affinity Konar
The Underground Railroad ,by Colson Whitehead
Here Comes the Sun, by Nicole Dennis-Benn
Two Days Gone, by Randall Silver (January 2017)
Lucky Boy, by Shanthi Sekaran (January 2017)
News of the World, by Paulette Jiles
The Nest, by Cynthina D'Aprix Sweeney
Paradise City by Elizabeth Day
Dogs of Littlefield, by Suzanne Berne
The Ballroom, by Anna Hope

We continue with these from...

Librarian Kristine!

Moving Day, by Jonathan Stone
Rare Objects, by Kathleen Tessaro
A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman
The Dollhouse, by Fiona Davis
The Mapmaker's Children, by Sarah McCoy

The truth is out there...

and it starts right here with Librarian Jill's 2016 Staff Picks:

Sweetbitter, by Stephanie Danler
Dark Matter, by Blake Crouch
Heroes of the Frontier, by Dave Eggers
Yes, Please (Audio version!), by Amy Poehler
The Wonder, by Emma Donoghue
The Motion of Puppets, by Keith Donohue
A Head Full of Ghosts, by Paul Tremblay
Meet Me in Atlantis: My Quest to Find the 2,500-Year-Old Sunken City, by Mark Adams

Click on the title to place your reserve.

More stealthy staff picks from...

Assistant Director, Marisa!

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld
Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler
We Could Be Beautiful by Swan Huntley
Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter
Wilde Lake by Laura Lippman
City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong
Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner

Click on the title to place your reserve.

Get cozy with these 2016 Staff Picks from...

Librarian Ellen!

The Widow, by Fiona Barton
Jade Dragon Mountain, by Elsa Hart
The Couple Next Door, by Shari Lapena
I Let You Go, by Claire Macintosh
The Nest, by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
The Last Portrait of Sara De Vos, by Dominic Smith
Everyone Brave is Forgiven, by Chris Cleave

Click on the title to place your reserve. 

So this will happen on TV soon...

Yep! That's Julia Roberts getting set to star in Maria Semple's 2016 book, Today Will Be Different.  
Semple will write the script for the limited series, so we know it's in good hands. 


I'll keep you posted on both upcoming Semple projects: the TV show and the soon to be movie treatment of her novel Where'd You Go Bernadette?  starring Cate Blanchett.  

Cast of "Suddenly Susan" 

In addition to being an author, Maria Semple is also a TV writer and the producer of hit shows like "Suddenly Susan" (starring Brooke Shields. Remember that show? I loved that show!)  

Come on in. It's warm and we're open. And we have books. Lots and lots of books. 

The 2016 Staff Pick lists go on with this one from...

Head of Adult Services, Diane!

Invisible Life of Ivan Isaenko,  Scott Stambach
House Without Windows,  Nadia Hashimi
A Man Called Ove, Fredrik Backman
Being Mortal, Atul Gawande
Circling the Sun, Paula McLain
News of the World, Paulette Jiles
Orphan Keeper, Camron Wright

Click any title to place your reserve.

How does the NYT Book Review do it?

Pamela Paul was on reddit yesterday answering questions about the NYT Book Review.  A must read for biliophiles.

Here's a sample:

End of the year lists can have nothing to do with how books were reviewed.

“It is often the case that books we like don’t necessarily get hugely favorable notice in the Book Review. One recent case: Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See got a negative review in the Book Review. But we still named it one of the 10 Best Books of the year at the time. Our 10 Best is when we editors get to exert our own opinions, no matter what our reviewers say.”

NOW do you wanna read this? It's a very good piece. 

Next up: More Staff Picks for 2016!

Reference Librarian Margaret chose these:

Nutshell by Ian McEwan

The Assistants by Camille Perri

You will Know Me by Megan Abbott

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

End of Watch by Stephen King

Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls by Lauren Graham

Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina

Best of 2016, Director style...

Library Director Ellen Firer gives us her favorite books of 2016! Click any title to place your reserve.

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney (available January 2017)
Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran (available January 2017)

The Survivor's Guide to Family Happiness by Maddie Dawson

The Secrets of Roscarbury Hall by Ann O'Loughlin

Inheriting Edith by Zoe Fishman

The Altogether Unexpected Disappearance of Atticus Craftsman by Mamen Sánchez

A House for Happy Mothers by Amulya Malladi

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick

Murder in an Irish Village (Irish Village Mystery #1) by Carlene O'Connor

The Translation of Love by Lynne Kutsukake

The Song of Hartgrove Hall by Natasha Solomons

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth

Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans 

Alafair Burke gives us her favorite legal thrillers...

Click here to see what they are.

Defending Jacob, anyone?

While you're at it, check out the newest Alafair Burke title:

The Ex

 

Here come the 2016 "Best of..." lists. You'll see ours soon. We're still reading.

This is the best of 2016 from our friends 

at Shelf Awareness!

  

  These are just a few titles listed. Click here to see more fiction and non-fiction!

Love these postcards!

Check out this old-timey postcard.
See more great images from the historical collection below:
http://tinyurl.com/MerrickPostcards

When the going gets cold, the cold get going!

VERY special thanks to author Lissa Evans...

Lissa skyped in from the UK to join the Wednesday Afternoon Book Discussion!

Her book, "Crooked Heart" 

was the book choice for December 

and a great time was had by close to 40 attendees!

Thanks to Lissa Evans and the 

best book discussion group ever!

"But there are many bookstores that could stand as the centerpiece of a vacation..."

Ann Patchett says exactly that in this wonderful piece about destination bookshops.
Check it out here.

Mario Lanza: The Man and His Music today at 2pm! Join us.

Join us for a multimedia presentation on the life and career of the legendary tenor. Lecturer Bill Ronayne will include rare early private recordings, radio appearances and more. 

NPR's 2016 Book Concierge is up and running!

You totally have to check it out. 

Lissa Evans will be Skyping in with us today at 2:30!

Join us today at the 

Wednesday Afternoon Book Discussion...

Lissa Evans will be skyping in and we cannot wait!

See you at 2:30.

Wednesday Afternoon Book Discussion....

Join us this Wednesday, 12/7 at 2:30pm as we discuss this black comedy touted as, "Paper Moon meets the Blitz". Please join us! Light refreshments always served. 

It's happening...

According to Variety Magazine, "Lionsgate is developing a movie, TV show and videogame based on Patrick Rothfuss’ fantasy series The Kingkiller Chronicle. It's the best-selling fantasy series behind Game of Thrones.” 

But this gets better.

Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda will be the creative producer for a series of screen adaptations. Say what? 
Lionsgate is planning a feature-film adaptation of the first book, along with a tie-in TV series.  Okay, someone catch me.  Just take a look at this tweet:

Lin-Manuel MirandaVerified account‏@Lin_Manuel

Lin-Manuel Miranda Retweeted TheWrap

THE NEWS. I just love the world of @PatrickRothfuss and I want to spend time figuring out how to share it with you. So this is happening.

Lin-Manuel Miranda added,

Holy Hannah is this great or what?
Place your reserves below: 
The Name of the Wind #1
The Wise Man's Fear #2
The Slow Regard of Silent Things #3

Craft Fair Today!

10:30-4pm!  Visit the first floor multi-purpose room for all kinds of holiday shopping.

Lotsa buzz for this movie...

Since 1990 Scorcese has been in some stage of adapting Shusako Endo's classic, "The Silence".


Scorcese was featured in the Magazine section of the NYTimes. Read the piece in full right here. 

Endo's "The Silence" is a classic tale of faith by one of Japan's finest novelists. It tells the story of a 17th-century Portuguese priest in Japan at the height of the fearful persecution of a small Christian community. 
Directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Adam Driver, Andrew Garfield and Liam Neeson. 
Hits the big screen December 23rd.  

Take a load off Fanny?

Yep. The Band's Robbie Robertson explains his most baffling and most-covered creation: The Weight.
Place your reserve for his memoir right here.
or 
Read the article from the WSJ.
and then  

sing along...

A New Book from Paula "Girl on the Train" Hawkins...

Keep your eyes peeled for the new Paula Hawkins thriller, "Into the Water".

We've waited close to two years so expect to read the new one in May of 2017. 

According to publisher Riverhead books, the novel “unfurls a gripping, twisting, layered story, set in a small riverside town. When a single mother and a teenage girl each turn up dead at the bottom of the river, just weeks apart, the ensuing investigation dredges up a complicated history." 

Get your library cards ready!

Read more about this announcement here (from The New York Times). 

Good Words!

Reading books may add years to your life. We already knew that.
Check out the study here. 
Don't know where to start? This best of historical fiction for 2016 should help.
Here's a sample:

   
Click the link to see the rest. There really are some terrific titles.