Reading Around the Globe – For Book Clubs

November 5, 2013June 5, 2014 / Linda / Leave a comment

Do the members of your book club like to travel? Or do they like to “travel” via books? Here are some books that will take them on a trip around the world.

Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man’s Miraculous Survival by Joe Simpson (Biography)

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder (Biography)

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (Non-fiction)

The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicious Adventures in the World’s Most Glorious – and Perplexing – City by David Lebovitz (Non-fiction)

Country Driving: A Chinese Road Trip by Peter Hessler (Non-fiction)

A Beautiful Place to Die: An Emmanuel Cooper Mystery by Mall Nunn (Mystery)

Twenty Fragments of a Ravenous Youth by Xiaolu Guo (Fiction)

A Guide to the Birds of East Africaby Nicholas Drayson (Fiction)

Babylon Rollingby Amanda Boyden (Fiction)

The Sound of Waterby Sanjay Bahadur (Fiction)

USA Today Picks This Fall’s Coolest Books

October 8, 2013June 30, 2014 / Louise / Leave a comment

USA TODAY’s Jocelyn McClurg and Bob Minzesheimer share their picks for 30 of the coolest titles for fall.

September Releases:

Never Go Back by Lee Child
W Is for Wasted by Sue Grafton
Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford
Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink
Wilson by A. Scott Berg
Who Asked You? by Terry McMillan
Simple Dreams by Linda Ronstadt
Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon
Local Souls by Allan Gurganus
Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
Killing Jesus: A History by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

October Releases:

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
One Summer: America, 1927 by Bill Bryson
David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell
Camelot’s Court: Inside the Kennedy White House by Robert Dallek
The House of Hades: Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan
Solo: A James Bond Novel by William Boyd
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding
Identical by Scott Turow
We Are Water by Wally Lamb
Sycamore Row by John Grisham
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
The Most of Nora Ephron by Nora Ephron
The Death of Santini by Pat Conroy

November Releases:

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck by Jeff Kinney
Double Down: Game Change 2012 by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann
The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett
The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin

10 Favorite Biographies and Memoirs for Book Clubs

September 26, 2013June 5, 2014 / Linda / Leave a comment

Ten favorite biographies and memoir suggestions for your book club to read and discuss:

Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander
Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
Born to Run: a hidden tribe, super athletes, and the greatest race the world has ever seen by Christopher McDougall
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling
Tiny Beautiful Things: advice on love and life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
Kitchen Confidential: adventures in the culinary underbellyby Anthony Bourdain
Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: the lost legacy of Highclere Castleby Countess Fiona Carnarvon
Where Men Win Glory : the odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer
Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder

20 Book Club Picks (Part 2)

June 25, 2013June 5, 2014 / Linda / Leave a comment

Here’s another batch of favorite books for book clubs.

(If you missed the first batch, here’s the link.)

Wild – Cheryl Strayed
The Thirteenth Tale – Diane Setterfield
The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins
Room – Emma Donoghue
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – Rebecca Skloot
Eat, Pray, Love – Elizabeth Gilbert
Three Cups of Tea – Greg Mortenson
The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Time Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
Moloka’i – Alan Brennert
The Secret Life of Bees – Sue Monk Kidd
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close – Jonathan Safran Foer
The Shack – Wm. Paul Young
My Sister’s Keeper – Jodi Picoult
Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
The Light Between Oceans – M.L. Stedman
The Forgotten Garden – Kate Morton
The Kitchen House – Kathleen Grissom
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie – Alan Bradley
Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides

From the Reference Desk : Penguin Lives Series

June 19, 2013June 10, 2013 / cheshirelib / Leave a comment

Do you want to get a good overview of the life of a famous historical figure but don’t have the time to plough through an 800 page book of his or her life? Try some short biographies for easy reading this summer. Penguin Group Book Publishers has published the “Penguin Lives Series,” and Cheshire Library owns 29 of the titles. The average length of these books is under 200 pages. This is a beautifully designed, innovative series of biographies pairing celebrated writers with famous individuals who have shaped our thinking.

Here is a sample of the wide variety of biography subjects available: Julia Child, Elvis (Presley of course), Andy Warhol, Leonardo da Vinci, Frank Lloyd Wright, Robert E. Lee, Buddha, Mozart, and Crazy Horse.

For a complete listing of all of these titles, go to the library’s online catalog. In the search box, enter penguin lives then choose the series tab. All of these books are shelved in the biography section, located on the library’s lower level.