Books that Defy Genre Labels and Description

May 25, 2016May 10, 2016 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Part of my job in labeling and cataloging books includes deciding if it needs a genre label and which one(s). Some books are easy. With some books I know right away that it needs a mystery, fantasy, or science fiction sticker. Particularly if the publisher is nice enough to include that information in a subtitle or in the book description. Sometimes it takes a little more research, but the author or publisher often include the intended genre pretty clearly somewhere, if you know where to look. However, there are some books that are simply beyond categorizing. Sometimes this is because the book covers so much ground very well, sometimes it is because it simply defies description, and sometimes it is because it crosses so many genre lines that there is not enough room to include all the relevant genre stickers.

Here are a few examples of fascinating reads that defy simple genre classifications:

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
Interweaves six narratives spanning the period between 1984 and the 2030s to chronicle a secret war between a cult of soul-decanters and a small group of vigilantes who would take them down. By the award-winning author of Cloud Atlas.

Flatland: a Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott
A century-old classic of British letters that charmed and fascinated generations of readers with its witty satire of Victorian society and its unique insights, by analogy, into the fourth dimension.

Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami; translated by Alfred Birnbaum
Tracking one man’s descent into the Kafkaesque underworld of contemporary Tokyo, Murakami unites East and West, tragedy and farce, compassion and detachment, slang and philosophy.

2666 by Roberto Bolaño; translated from the Spanish by Natasha Wimmer
An American sportswriter, an elusive German novelist, and a teenage student interact in an urban community on the U.S.-Mexico border where hundreds of young factory workers have disappeared.

The Incarnations by Susan Barker
Receiving mysterious letters from someone claiming to be his soulmate, a Beijing taxi driver learns about their shared relationships in numerous past lives before becoming increasingly certain that someone is watching him.

More suggestions for indescribably interesting reads include: Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, Geek Love by Katherine Dunn, Valis by Philip K. Dick, Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, Here, There be Dragons by James A. Owen, Frost in May by Antonia White, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino,Gun, With Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethe,Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke,The Marvels by Brian Selznick, In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters, and The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.

Have you ever read a book that left you changed but still somehow wondering what exactly it was that you just read? What is your favorite book that left you speechless when it came down to recommending it or describing it to someone else?

Taming the Epidemic

May 23, 2016May 2, 2016 / Susan O. / Leave a comment

I have tried writing this several times, but I need 8,000 words instead of 800. I didn’t want to write about a politically charged topic at a time when politics are tearing the country apart. There is so much here you should read, need to read, that I cannot emphasize how important these books are, on such a difficult topic. And yes, if you’re living in this very town, they are relevant to YOU.

I read Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari in January – that’s how long it’s taken me to write this. I was skeptical – yeah, yeah, failed war on drugs. We know. But the information she presents is hard-core, well-documented, and agonizing. You can check it yourself. It blew my mind and changed my outlook not only on drug addiction, but my outlook on life. Hari shows – starting with Billie Holiday – that the war on drugs began early in the 1900’s as a method to exert control on “undesirables” – Mexicans, Blacks, Irish, Chinese. It blew up into a witch hunt, reinforced by Nixon to control war protestors. In the early 1900’s, drugs were legal. People could buy a small amount, get their controlled fix, and carry on. When the drugs were banned, junkies were forced to go underground, for huge amounts of money and unknown quality. People died. Crime exploded. Gangs took over. We knew this would happen, because we saw the exact pattern in Prohibition. The U.S. put a gag on every other country in the world – you want our aid, you make these drugs illegal. Now we control all the cartels.

And most of our addicts are addicts because…. they have psychological issues. Soldiers with PTSD. Rape and abuse victims. Homeless. Mentally ill. People with trauma. People without hope. And we have spent billions jailing them, punishing them, and sometimes killing them, because after all, they’re junkies, who cares.

But what happens when junkies (who make up only 10% of people who have used illegal drugs: 90% walk away fine) are not jailed, but treated as mentally ill, counseled, given a purpose? People tend to get clean and stay clean. What happens when illegal drugs are decriminalized – or even legalized, as in parts of British Columbia, or Portugal? Even heroin? Crime drops. Gangs fail. People become productive. And eventually, people get off the drugs themselves because it’s not who they are anymore. It’s a frightening concept, and against everything we have ever been brainwashed with.

Move on to Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic, by Sam Quinones. Quinones traces the perfect storm of the modern heroin epidemic: a false assumption, a powerful painkiller, a drug marketing lie, and a whole new method of peddling Mexican heroin. Oxycontin was touted as an addictionless drug because it was time-released, at a time when pain management was the rage in medicine. In reality, Oxycontin was very chemically similar to heroin, just as addictive, and pain “clinics” sprang up that did nothing but pump millions of addiction pills into the country. As people fought to get oxycontin, enter the Mexicans, who broke the rules by delivering drugs to your door. No guns. No violence. All under the radar. And their heroin was uncut Black Tar. Competition brought the price down to $6 a fix – cheaper than the $1/milligram Oxy. Washington State finally made the connection when their drug overdose fatalities were higher than their auto accident fatalities. Purdue Pharma paid more than $630 million dollars in fines for faking their addiction data. Pfizer paid more than $3 Billion for misrepresenting their drugs – less than 3 weeks take of their sales from them. Oxycontin was changed to help prevent abuse, but no one has yet put a dent in Mexican heroin sales.

A slightly older book to read is Methland, which shows the damage done to the Midwest with the rise of Meth, which is so easy to produce you can manufacture it while riding a bicycle around town. Why does everything seem to start in the Midwest? These are the areas hardest hit economically by the collapse of American industry. When people are hopeless, with no jobs, or if you are injured on the job, the doc will write you a pain prescription. You stretch it out to a disability claim, get on payments, and you no longer worry about money, or how to pay for prescriptions. You sell those pain pills for three times what you were charged. For students, it’s often sports. Children are pushed to excel, to work through the pain, given pain pills to take the field and win this one, and they get hooked. Most teens start with sports injuries.

If you think drug users are minorities in deepest urban ghettos, you’re wrong. They’re here. At least two students in this very town died this school year from overdoses. We don’t talk about them. They don’t make the paper. But the students know. It’s bad enough that there is now a clinic in this town. Let’s stop pretending. It’s the kid on the sports team. It’s the kid behind the register. Your hairdresser. The PTA mom.

These books are thought provoking in their information and ideas. Though I’m – thankfully – not directly affected by the drug epidemic, I feel I dodged a bullet when my daughter was only 13 (2006). A heavy jar fell on her foot and I took her to the ER. It wasn’t broken, but badly bruised. They offered her Oxycontin or Percocet for the pain. I said no, something less strong. They gave me scripts for both, and I could fill which I wanted (dead truth). A thirteen year old. I tore up both of them. She did fine with Motrin. index

If you can read one book this year, read Chasing the Scream. If you can read two, read Dreamland as well. Even if you don’t agree with them, let’s get a national dialogue going. And if you want something a little more technical but utterly fascinating about the chemical aspects of addiction, track down How Drugs Influence Behavior: a Neurobehavioral Approach by Jaime Diaz. I was – still am – amazed at the information, and it’s not so technical a layman can’t understand it. Never have I seen a medical book with opinions like this.

New Fiction Coming Soon! May/June 2016

May 20, 2016April 28, 2016 / Linda / Leave a comment

new fiction

Want a little heads up on when your favorite author is publishing a new book? Here are some of the new fiction hardcover books coming out in May and June. Clicking on the title will bring you to our catalog where you can place a hold if you’d like.

MAY

Atherton, Nancy – Aunt Dimity and the Buried Treasure – Discovering a beautiful garnet bracelet belonging to Aunt Dimity, Lori learns the story of a doomed love affair from Dimity’s youth and is asked to return the bracelet to a long-ago suitor, an endeavor that is complicated by discovery that the bracelet could be part of a lost national treasure.

Barr, Nevada – Boar Island – When her paraplegic friend’s adopted daughter attempts suicide in the face of cyber-bullying and stalking, National Park Service Ranger Anna Pigeon investigates the person behind the increasingly violent harassment, who follows the troubled teen when Anna tries to move her to a safe haven.

Brown, Rita Mae – Tall Tail – When a confidante to the former governor of Virginia dies under suspicious circumstances, Harry and her furry detective cohorts look for answers in the eighteenth century, where they discover a secret ancestry that originated in brutality and silence.

Connolly, John – Dominion – Emerging from the mysterious Derith wormhole to discover that years have passed in their universe, Syl and Paul are confronted by an Illyri civil war, Earth’s occupation by Others and the dark plans of a new Sisterhood leader.

Cussler, Clive – The Emperor’s Revenge – Juan Cabrillo and the crew of the Oregon join forces with a former CIA colleague to track down a rogue hacker and a ruthless former Ukrainian naval officer who are behind a violent bank heist that occurred during the Monaco Grand Prix.

Deveraux, Jude – The Girl From Summer Hill – Clashing with a gorgeous Hollywood star who is playing Darcy in a local production of Pride & Prejudice, Casey, a chef who puts her career first and who believes the actor’s brother-in-law’s damning claims, finds herself becoming attracted to him in spite of herself.

Graham, Heather – Haunted Destiny – Assigned to investigate a mysterious serial killer who leaves his victims in churches with saint medallions on their necks, paranormal investigator Jackson Crow and New Orleans agent Jude McCoy team up with piano player Alexi on a haunted cruise ship when the ghost of a victim appears to them.

Haines, Carolyn – Rock-a-bye Bones – Coping with a broken heart and the attack on Scott Hampton’s blues club, Sarah Booth Delaney discovers a baby in a basket on her porch and bloody footsteps leading to her driveway, a situation that places her in the same danger as a troubled mother running for her life.

Harris, Charlaine – Night Shift – When weapons obtained from Midnight’s local pawn shop are used in a series of dramatic suicides at the main crossroads in town, the vampire Lemuel makes astonishing discoveries about why the community has attracted so many paranormal residents, who must work together to stop the violence.

Howard, Linda – Troublemaker – Sent to a remote location in a small West Virginian mountain town to lay low after almost being killed in an ambush, Morgan Yancy finds his attraction to part-time police chief and housemate Isabeau Maran adds an unexpected complication to his life.

Kleypas, Lisa – Marrying Winterborne – Achieving wealth and success through his savage ambitions, tycoon Rhys Winterborne resolves to marry shy, aristocratic Lady Helen Ravenel, who in spite of her gentle upbringing responds to Rhys’s seductions with her own unexpected passions.

Martini, Steve – Blood Flag – Defending a client accused of mercy-killing her father, attorney Paul Madriani is drawn into a treacherous conspiracy involving the victim’s former unit from World War II and a feared Nazi relic. By the best-selling author of The Enemy Inside.

Mccrumb, Sharyn – Prayers the Devil Answers – Appointed to serve out her late husband’s term as sheriff of their Depression-era Tennessee mountain town, Ellie struggles to reconcile her responsibilities with societal expectations for women and forges unexpected ties with a condemned killer she is scheduled to execute.

Patterson, James – 15th Affair – When an alluring blonde with links to the CIA disappears from the scene of a brutal murder at a luxury hotel, detective Lindsay Boxer is forced to uncover difficult truths about her husband’s secret life.

Quindlen, Anna – Miller’s Valley – Living in a 1960s farming community in eastern Pennsylvania, Mimi struggles with the family secrets she unearths.

Russo, Richard – Everybody’s Fool – Returns to the setting of “Nobody’s Fool” to find Sully confronting a daunting health prognosis, which he hides from his loved ones, including his longtime mistress, an increasingly distant best friend, and an obsessive chief of police.

Steel, Danielle – The Apartment – Four friends sharing a beautiful loft apartment in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen revel in the glamour of city life before new relationships, job opportunities, and surprising circumstances test the strength of their bond.

Thayer, Nancy – The Island House – Having spent every summer of her adult life in Nantucket, Kansas City university professor Courtney finds herself caught between two lifestyles and two men before settling into the glamorous life she associates with the seaside and questioning her choice in the face of an unexpected turn.

JUNE

Adler, Elizabeth – The Charmers – Inheriting a family villa in the South of France after her aunt’s sudden and mysterious death, Mirabella has a close call with a motorcycle on her way to her new home and realizes that she is being targeted by dangerous people from her aunt’s past.

Bradford, Barbara Taylor – The Cavendon Luck – Picks up nine years after the events of Cavendon Women, in an epic tale that finds Cecily and Miles drawing on the collective strength of the whole family to protect Cavendon Hall and its clan from the challenges of World War II.

Cameron, Stella – Melody of Murder – The arrival of a talented, ambitious and unusual new family leads to mayhem and murder in the peaceful Cotswold village of Folly-on-Weir.

Coonts, Stephen – Liberty’s Last Stand – In the wake of an assassination attempt by a decorated sniper on the eve of a presidential election, Jake Grafton and Tommy Carmellini risk everything to uncover a massive conspiracy while helping a new resistance movement rise up against a new enemy.

Evanovich, Janet – The Pursuit – After rookie lawyer Jessica Monaghan meets with the First Lady, the VIP is killed in a car accident in which Jessica manages to survive. When she suspects the accident was something else and she becomes the next target, she and experienced FBI agent Mark Ryan team up to uncover the plot behind the First Lady’s murder.

Finder, Joseph – Guilty Minds – Summoned to investigate potentially explosive charges of corruption levied by a gossip website against the chief justice of the Supreme Court, private intelligence operative Nick Heller is given 48 hours to prove that the story is baseless.

Giffin, Emily – First Comes Love – While Meredith becomes increasingly unsure about the strength of her bond with her seemingly perfect husband and daughter, her once-happily single sister, Josie, frantically dates and considers her options in her desperation to have a baby.

Hilderbrand, Elin – Here’s To Us – Gathering at a ramshackle Nantucket cottage, a late celebrity chef’s wives and children confront the sources of their bitter rivalries and slowly let go of resentments as they remember positive times and share long-held secrets.

Kenyon, Sherrilyn – Born of Legend – Rescuing a teen boy from a violent mob, a fugitive royal becomes an unlikely ally to the boy’s mother, a rare Andarion Fyreblood whose people are being hunted to extinction by assassins from The League.

King, Stephen – End of Watch – A conclusion to the best-selling trilogy that also includes the Edgar Award-winningMr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers finds mental patient Brady Hartsfield manifesting powers to commit deadly acts without leaving his hospital room, while retired detective Bill Hodges and his partner investigate a suicide with ties to the Mercedes Massacre.

Laurens, Stephanie – The Daredevil Snared – Hoping to prove himself by taking up his brothers’ covert mission in Freetown and protecting escaped captives in the jungle, hedonistic youngest son Caleb Frobisher falls in love with captive governess Katherine Fortescue, who is being targeted by a sadistic mercenary.

Myers, Tamar – Tea with Jam and Dread – While trying to welcome British royalty to her PennDutch inn and acquaint them with traditional American culture, Magdalena Yoder embarrassingly discovers a mummified corpse in the elevator shaft.

Palmer, Diana – Defender – Investigating a stalking case involving a Texas millionaire’s daughter-turned-assistant district attorney whose heart he broke three years earlier, FBI agent Paul Fiore struggles to regain her trust after discovering the truth about her nightmarish youth and the damage he caused by leaving her.

Tyler, Anne – Vinegar Girl – A modern retelling of The Taming of the Shrew follows the experiences of a preschool teacher who alienates others by speaking her mind and who manages her family’s home before she is expected by her eccentric father to marry his assistant to prevent the young man’s deportation.

Woods, Stuart – Dishonorable Intentions – A latest adventure by the Edgar Award-winning author of Chiefs finds New York City cop-turned-rainmaker for a top Manhattan law firm Stone Barrington and his associates confronting a new threat that tests the limits of their collective skills.

Join Us For An Evening with a Dog Listener on May 19th

May 16, 2016March 22, 2016 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Having a pet is a lot of work. The four legged members of every family are important, and while we love them dearly, sometime they can cause as as much stress and frustration and love and joy. If you have a dog, or are planning on adopting on in the near future, you might want to register for an upcoming program. On May 19, 2016 we are hosting An Evening with a Dog Listener, Pat Wright, from 6 to 8 pm.

The program will help teach how to bring your dog to peace and solve the problem of unwanted behaviors. Some of the many topics discussed are pulling on the lead, jumping up, aggression, separation anxiety, and excessive barking. You will also learn how to get willing cooperation with your dog to perform any task at hand. Participants should bring their questions and concerns about the canines in their life, but please do not bring along the dogs in question. Registration is required, which can be done online, or by calling 203-272-2245, and choosing extension 4.

Pat Wright has studied in England with the original Dog Listener, Jan Fennell, and has graduated from all class levels offered. Pat has also worked as the highest ranking Dog Listener in the United States of the Jan Fennell International Team of Dog Listeners as well as a mentor to other Dog Listeners around the world. Pat has studied wolf behavior with some biologists in Yellowstone Park, Wyoming on three different occasions. Pat mixes in some very entertaining experiences from her many years of Dog Listening through out New England.

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If you are eager to get started, need help now, or just want to do a little research on your own beforehand, here are some suggested titles on understanding and/or training your pooch; Dog Sense: How the New Science of Dog Behavior Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet by John Bradshaw, Don’t Dump the Dog: Outrageous Stories and Simple Solutions to your Worst Dog Behavior Problems by Randy Grim with Melinda Roth, Why Does my Dog Act That Way?: a Complete Guide to Your Dog’s Personality by Stanley Coren, The Loved Dog: the Playful, Nonaggressive Way to Teach your Dog Good Behavior by Tamar Geller, with Andrea Cagan, Decoding your Dog: the Ultimate Experts Explain Common Dog Behaviors and Reveal How to Prevent or Change Unwanted Ones from the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists, Cesar’s Way: the Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems by Cesar Millan with Melissa Jo Peltier, Citizen Canine: Ten Essential Skills Every Well-Mannered Dog Should Know by Mary R. Burch, or Before & After Getting your Puppy: the positive Approach to Raising a Happy, Healthy, and Well-Behaved Dog by Ian Dunbar.

Homesteading and Sustainability Practices on the Rise

May 11, 2016April 1, 2016 / Sharon Tyler / Leave a comment

Prices for many necessities continue to rise, while pay and compensation for most people do not seem to be rising at the same rate. Homesteading, or making the attempt to live more self sufficiently, is becoming a major trend as people make an effort to save more and do more for themselves. Most of these things are things our parents or grandparents did as a matter of course, but more and more people are learning how to revive these methods of taking care of the environment and their families.

Some of the activities that are seeing a major come back for one reason or another that can be considered a step towards homesteading or sustainable living include, knitting or crocheting, sewing, canning, gardening, raising chickens or other livestock, and so much more. I have done some of the traditional homesteading activities, but I will admit to cheating in some departments. While I might garden and crochet, I have not started canning like my family did when I was growing up. Frankly, I still have nightmares of peeling steamed tomatoes from my childhood as we made sauce and stewed tomatoes among other things. If you are interested in learning more about what exactly homesteading is, or you want to move towards living a more self sufficient lifestyle, here are some resources that can get you started and answer some questions.