APL Recommends

Books from our Booklists

Mystery and Suspense

Cover of the book Trust your eyes : a thriller

By Linwood Barclay.

A schizophrenic, map-obsessed, shut-in who tours the world using a computer program witnesses what he believes to be a murder in downtown New York City and enlists his caretaker brother in an effort to investigate.

The rope

By Nevada Barr.

"In this novel, the latest in the author's series of novels featuring Anna Pigeon, the author gathers together the many strings of Anna's past and finally reveals the story that her many fans have been long asking for. In 1995 and 35 years old, fresh off the bus from New York City and nursing a broken heart, Anna Pigeon takes a decidedly unglamorous job as a seasonal employee of the Glen Canyon National Recreational Area. On her day off, Anna goes hiking into the park never to return. Her co-workers think she's simply moved on; her cabin is cleaned out and her things gone. But Anna herself wakes up, trapped at the bottom of a dry natural well, naked, without supplies and no clear memory of how she found herself in this situation. As she slowly pieces together her memory, it soon becomes clear that someone has trapped her there, in an inescapable prison, and no one knows that she is even missing. Plunged into a landscape and a plot she is unfit and untrained to handle, Anna Pigeon must muster the courage, determination and will to live that she didn't even know she still possessed to survive, outwit and triumph.

Vengeance : a novel

By Benjamin Black.

"It's a fine day for a sail, and Victor Delahaye, one of Ireland's most successful businessmen, takes his boat far out to sea. With him is his partner's son--who becomes the sole witness when Delahaye produces a pistol, points it at his own chest, and fires. This mysterious death immediately engages the attention of Detective Inspector Hackett, who in turn calls upon the services of his sometime partner Quirke, consultant pathologist at the Hospital of the Holy Family. The stakes are high: Delahaye's prominence in business circles means that Hackett and Quirke must proceed very carefully."--Provided by publisher.

Now you see me

By S. J. Bolton.

Stumbling onto a murder scene that a reporter likens to the crimes of Jack the Ripper, young detective constable Lacey Flint races against time to prevent additional deaths and realizes that the killer is taunting her with secrets from her past.

Force of nature

By C.J. Box.

Nate's past is making the entire Pickett family a target, and the only way to fight back is outside the law. Nate knows he can do it, but he isn't sure about his straight-arrow friend-and all their lives could depend on it.

A red herring without mustard : a Flavia de Luce mystery

By Alan Bradley.

Flavia's discovery of an old Gypsy woman who's been attacked in her wagon sends the girl off on an investigation that will reveal more of Buckshaw's secrets as well as new information about Harriet, the mother Flavia never knew.

The godfather of Kathmandu

By John Burdett.

Sonchai Jitpleecheep--John Burdett's inimitable Royal Thai Police detective with the hard-bitten demeanor and the Buddhist soul--is summoned to the most shocking and intriguing crime scene of his career. Solving the murder could mean a promotion, but Sonchai, reeling from a personal tragedy, is more interested in Tietsin, an exiled Tibetan lama based in Kathmandu who has become his guru--and has forty million dollars' worth of heroin for sale.

The killing storm

By Kathryn Casey.

In the wake of a four-year-old child's abduction under circumstances that place his mother under suspicion, Houston Texas Ranger Sarah Armstrong investigates a series of prize cattle killings that are linked by a mysterious historical symbol branded onto each of the slaughtered animals.

The ninth step : a Jack Leightner crime novel

By Gabriel Cohen.

Blaming himself for the death of his younger brother years ago, homicide detective Jack Leightner learns from a stranger that the killing was ordered by a local Mafioso, a discovery with ties to the murder of an alleged terrorist.

The black box : a novel

By Michael Connelly.

In a case that spans 20 years, Harry Bosch links the bullet from a recent crime to a file from 1992, the killing of a young female photographer during the L.A. riots. Harry originally investigated the murder, but it was then handed off to the Riot Crimes Task Force and never solved. Now Bosch's ballistics match indicates that her death was not random violence, but something more personal, and connected to a deeper intrigue. Like an investigator combing through the wreckage after a plane crash, Bosch searches for the 'black box,' the one piece of evidence that will pull the case together.

Red on red : a novel

By Edward Conlon.

NYPD detectives Meehan and Esposito have very different personalities, but their friendship develops as they investigate a variety of mysteries, including a lonely immigrant who hangs herself in Inwood Hill Park, a serial rapist in upper Manhattan, a troubled Catholic schoolgirl who constantly ends up in the wrong place, and a ruthless gang war.

Killed at the whim of a hat

By Colin Cotterill.

Forced to relocate to rural Thailand with her eccentric family, crime reporter Jimm Juree fears that her career is over until the bodies of two hippies are discovered in a local farmer's field and a Buddhist abbot is murdered, a case that implicates a monk and a nun.

Bad things happen

By Harry Dolan.

The man who calls himself David Loogan is leading a quiet, anonymous life in the college town of Ann Arbor, Michigan. He's hoping to escape a violent past he would rather forget. But his solitude is broken when he finds himself drawn into a friendship with Tom Kristoll, publisher of the mystery magazine Gray Streets--and into an affair with Laura, Tom's sleek blond wife. When Tom offers him a job as an editor, Loogan sees no harm in accepting. What he doesn't realize is that the stories in Gray Streets tend to follow a simple formula: Plans go wrong. Bad things happen. People die.--From publisher's description.

The gods of Gotham

By Lyndsay Faye.

New York City, 1845. Timothy Wilde, a 27-year-old Irish immigrant, joins the newly formed NYPD and investigates an infanticide and the body of a 12-year-old Irish boy whose spleen has been removed.

Buried secrets

By Joseph Finder.

Nick Heller comes to the aid of family friend Marshall Marcus, whose daughter Alexandra, has been kidnapped and held captive in an underground crypt; but as Nick digs deeper into Marshall's life, he finds that his criminal activities have left behind scores of enemies that reach to the highest levels of government.

Gone girl : a novel

By Gillian Flynn.

On the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick's wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police immediately suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they aren't his. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone. So what really did happen to Nick's beautiful wife?

Broken Harbor

By Tana French.

In Tana French’s fourth novel, detective Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy and his partner are sent to the abandoned, half-constructed housing development Broken Harbor to investigate the brutal murder of the Spain family. What Scorcher thinks is an open and shut case is quickly complicated when Jenny Spain is found barely alive, and the family’s circumstances are brought to light: hidden baby monitors, a strained mortgage brought on by the housing crisis, and the increasingly erratic signs of a family in crisis.

Don't ever get old

By Daniel Friedman.

Death-camp survivor Buck is 87, abrasive, and has trouble remembering. But his cop's watchfulness is intact, and he keeps his .375 Magnum close by. When he learns that the sadistic guard who brutalized him is likely still alive and the possessor of much stolen Nazi gold, Buck and his chatterbox grandson go on a quest. But who are these people who suddenly come out of the woodwork-- a loan shark, a scholar, a pretty Israeli soldier? And why does everyone start dying?

Simple

By Kathleen George.

Following the murder of law student Cassie Price, police arrest Cal, a handyman, who worked in her neighborhood. But, suspicion soon focuses on Cassie's boss, a candidate for the office of governor.

"V" is for vengeance

By Sue Grafton.

California PI Kinsey Millhone investigates the death of Audrey Vance, a woman she helped arrest for shoplifting, and antagonizes just about everyone, including Audrey's fiancé, several loan sharks, a stone-cold killer, and a hapless burglar who knows more than is healthy for him.

The house at sea's end

By Elly Griffiths.

"Forensic archeologist, Dr. Ruth Galloway is back--this time investigating a gruesome WWII war crime"--Provided by publisher.

Living witness : a Gregor Demarkian novel

By Jane Haddam.

Gregor Demarkian, former FBI agent, investigates a brutal crime in a powder-keg of a small town in Pennsylvannia.

The case of the missing servant : from the files of Vish Puri, India's "most private investigator"

By Tarquin Hall.

A prominent lawyer who asks Puri to find a missing servant is arrested for the young woman's murder when her body is found, requiring complex work by Puri's staff. Meanwhile, he must check out the squeaky-clean fianc of the granddaughter of a revered war hero. And Puri's visiting Mummy-ji undertakes her own search when her son is shot at.

Available dark : a thriller

By Elizabeth Hand.

Fleeing for her life after she is shown photographs of ritual killings during a mysterious job in Helsinki, Cass Neary encounters a former lover and exiled musician in Iceland only to be inundated by a series of unsolved murders.

Iron house

By John Hart.

At the Iron Mountain Home for Boys, there was nothing but time. Time to burn and time to kill, time for two young orphans to learn that life isn't won without a fight. Julian survives only because his older brother, Michael, is fearless and fiercely protective. When tensions boil over and a boy is brutally killed, there is only one sacrifice left for Michael to make: He flees the orphanage and takes the blame with him. For two decades, Michael has been an enforcer in New York's world of organized crime, a prince of the streets so widely feared he rarely has to kill anymore. But the life he's fought to build unravels when he meets Elena, a beautiful innocent who teaches him the meaning and power of love. He wants a fresh start with her, the chance to start a family like the one he and Julian never had. But someone else is holding the strings. And escape is not that easy... The mob boss who gave Michael his blessing to begin anew is dying, and his son is intent on making Michael pay for his betrayal. Determined to protect the ones he loves, Michael spirits Elena- who knows nothing of his past crimes, or the peril he's laid at her door- back to North Carolina, to the place he was born and the brother he lost so long ago. There, he will encounter a whole new level of danger, a thicket of deceit and violence that leads inexorably to the one place he's been running from his whole life: Iron House.--From book jacket.

Gone

By Mo Hayder.

Investigating a serial carjacker whose actual targets are young children in back seats, Jack Caffery teams up once again with police diver Sergeant Flea Marley, whose life is endangered by a discovery in an abandoned, half-submerged tunnel.

Cemetery Road

By Gar Anthony Haywood.

When his old friend R.J. Burrow is brutally murdered in Los Angeles, Errol "Handy" White must return from exile to attend the funeral, certain that a terrible secret is about to reveal itself. Twenty-six years earlier, Hand, R.J. and O'Neal Holden were three young thieves who pulled a heist that went horrible awry, and Handy's been waiting to pay for it with his life ever since. Both the police and Holden, now a slick politician, are convinced R.J.'s death was the result of a bungled drug deal, but Handy, like R.J.'s widow, just can't buy it. Was R.J.'s killing related to the tragedy lurking in the trio's past? Or is something even more sinister afoot? Handy won't go back home until he knows the answer - even if it means putting himself next in line for a bullet--Publisher's description.

The woodcutter : a novel

By Reginald Hill.

Imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, Wolf Hadda, a Cumbrian woodcutter's son turned hugely successful entrepreneur, retreats into silence until a prison psychiatrist makes a breakthrough that, revisiting a mysterious period in his youth, draws out the vengeful Woodcutter.

The third bullet

By Stephen Hunter.

Swagger becomes interested in exploring JFK's assassination, asking questions few have asked before.

As the crow flies

By Craig Johnson.

When the site of his daughter's upcoming wedding burns down, Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire and his friend, Henry Standing Bear, witness the falling death of a young Crow woman and are recruited into an investigation that incites the wrath of the bride-to-be.

The jackal's share

By Chris Morgan Jones.

"A murder in a Tehran hotel leaves the London art world spinning. The deceased, beloved at home as a proud dealer in antiquities, now stands accused of smuggling artifacts out of Iran for sale in the West. But despite the triumphal announcements of the secret police, there is something perhaps too tidy in the official report, given that no artifacts have been recovered, no smuggling history discovered, no suspects found"--Dust jacket flap.

Defending Jacob : a novel

By William Landay.

Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. When a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: his fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student. As the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own-- between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he's tried to bury and a future he cannot conceive.

Beastly things

By Donna Leon.

When the body of man is found in a canal, damaged by the tides, carrying no wallet, and wearing only one shoe, Brunetti has little to work with. No local has filed a missing-person report, and no hotel guests have disappeared. Where was the crime scene? And how can Brunetti identify the man when he can't show pictures of his face? The autopsy shows a way forward: it turns out the man was suffering from a rare, disfiguring disease. With Inspector Vianello, Brunetti canvasses shoe stores, and winds up on the mainland in Mestre, outside of his usual sphere. From a shopkeeper, they learn that the man had a kindly way with animals. At the same time, animal rights and meat consumption are quickly becoming preoccupying issues at the Venice Questura, and in Brunetti's home, where conversation at family meals offer a window into the joys and conflicts of Italian life. Perhaps with the help of Signorina Elettra, Brunetti and Vianello can identify the man and understand why someone wanted him dead.

Afterwards : a novel

By Rosamund Lupton.

"From the author of the acclaimed bestseller Sister comes a gripping, thrilling story of a mother who will do anything to protect her child. The school was on fire, and Grace's last memory is of trying to reach her daughter, Jenny, trapped inside the inferno. While their burned bodies are frantically cared for by doctors, Grace and Jenny awaken in the hospital in a strange in-between state. When they learn that someone purposefully set the fire, and Jenny may still be in grave danger from someone who wants her dead, Grace realizes she may be the only one who can discover who might be responsible. The police are looking at Adam, Jenny's younger brother, who is struck mute by the horror he witnessed and can't defend himself when he is accused of the arson.

The cutting season : a novel

By Attica Locke.

When the dead body of a young woman is found on the grounds of Belle Vie, the estate's manager, Caren Gray, launches her own investigation into Belle Vie's history, which leads her to a centuries old mystery involving the plantation's slave quarters--and her own past.

The devil she knows

By Bill Loehfelm.

Struggling with a dead-end job and a strained relationship with her mother, Maureen witnesses a gay encounter between a co-worker and an aspiring politician and is threatened into silence, a situation that is complicated by the co-worker's suspicious death.

A fatal winter : a Max Tudor novel

By G. M. Malliet.

Max--Anglican priest, former MI5 agent, and village heartthrob--investigates two deaths at Chedrow Castle. But his growing attraction to Awena Owen complicates his case, as does the recent arrival at Chedrow Castle of a raucous group of long-lost, greedy relatives, any one of whom has a motive for murder.

Still midnight : a novel

By Denise Mina.

When three armed men invade a quiet Glasgow home and demand audience with a person who does not live there, Alex Morrow investigates their apparent mistake, a situation that escalates as violent acts are committed against the hostages.

Stealing Mona Lisa : a mystery

By Carson Morton.

"The charming Eduardo de Valfierno makes a very respectable living in Argentina fleecing the nouveau rich--they pay him to steal valuable pieces of art, and Valfierno sells them flawless forgeries instead. But when Eduardo meets the beautiful Mrs. Hart on his latest con, he takes a risk that forces him back to the city he loved and left behind--Paris. There he assembles his team of con artists for their final and most ambitious theft, one that will enable them to leave the game forever: The Mona Lisa. But when a member of the team turns up missing, and Mr. Hart shows up in Paris, Valfierno and his crew must stay one step ahead of a relentless police inspector, endure a devastating flood, and conquer their own doubts to keep the priceless painting in play--and survive. Based on the actual theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in 1911, and published on the 100th anniversary of the crime, Stealing Mona Lisa is a sophisticated, engaging caper, complete with a richly imagined group of con artists and a historical mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end"--

The chalk girl

By Carol O'Connell.

"Before Lisbeth Salander, there was Kathy Mallory. The astonishing new Mallory novel from the New York Times-bestselling author. The little girl appeared in Central Park: red-haired, blue-eyed, smiling, perfect-except for the blood on her shoulder. It fell from the sky, she said, while she was looking for her uncle, who turned into a tree. Poor child, people thought. And then they found the body in the tree. For Mallory, newly returned to the Special Crimes Unit after three months' lost time, there is something about the girl that she understands. Mallory is damaged, they say, but she can tell a kindred spirit. And this one will lead her to a story of extraordinary crimes: murders stretching back fifteen years, blackmail and complicity and a particular cruelty that only someone with Mallory's history could fully recognize. In the next few weeks, she will deal with them... all in her own way. "--

The officers' club

By Ralph Peters.

When a beautiful and brilliant Army lieutenant is found murdered at a post on the Mexican border, military and civilian investigators struggle with a long list of possible suspects and a long-standing breakdown in regional discipline.

The beautiful mystery

By Louise Penny.

No outsiders are ever admitted to the monastery of Saint-Gilbert-Entre-les-Loups, hidden deep in the wilderness of Quebec, where two dozen cloistered monks live in peace and prayer. They grow vegetables, they tend chickens, they make chocolate. And they sing. Ironically, for a community that has taken a vow of silence, the monks have become world famous for their glorious voices, raised in ancient chants whose effect on both singer and listener is so profound it is known as "the beautiful mystery." But when the renowned choir director is murdered, the lock on the monastery's massive wooden door is drawn back to admit Chief Inspector Armand Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir of the Surete du Quebec. There they discover disquiet beneath the silence, discord in the apparent harmony. One of the brothers, in this life of prayer and contemplation, has been contemplating murder. As the peace of the monastery crumbles, Gamache is forced to confront some of his own demons, as well as those roaming the remote corridors. Before finding the killer, before restoring peace, the Chief must first consider the divine, the human, and the cracks in between.

Standing in another man's grave

By Ian Rankin.

Rebus has never shied away from lost causes, one of the many ways he managed to antagonize his bosses when he was on the force. Now he's back as a retired civilian, reviewing abandoned files. Necessary work, but it's not exactly scratching the itch he feels to be in the heart of the action. He's investigating the disappearances of three women from the same road over ten years. Unlike his skeptical colleagues, Rebus can sense a connection. But pursuing it leads him into the crosshairs of adversaries both old and new.

Bad boy

By Peter Robinson.

Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks must face his most challenging and personal case yet. A distraught woman arrives at the Eastvale police station desperate to speak to Banks. Since he's away on holiday, his partner, Annie Cabbot, steps in. The woman tells Annie that she's found a loaded gun hidden in the bedroom of her daughter, Erin--a punishable offense under English law. When an armed response team breaks into the house to retrieve the weapon, the seemingly straightforward procedure quickly spirals out of control. But trouble is only beginning, for it turns out that Erin's best friend and roommate is none other than Tracy Banks, the DCI's daughter, who was last seen racing off to warn the owner of the gun, a very bad boy indeed. Now, Annie and Banks--a bit of a bad boy himself--must risk everything to outsmart a smooth and devious psychopath.--From publisher description.

Bleed for me

By Michael Robotham.

"Psychologist Joe O'Loughlin is being pushed away. His marriage is ending. Charlie, his eldest daughter, will barely speak to him. And Charlie's rebellious best friend Sienna is getting into more and more trouble, and taking Charlie along for the ride. Sienna has been almost like family to O'Loughlin-a troubled child who for years spent more time in the O'Loghlin residence than her own home. O'Loughlin's worst fears are confirmed when Sienna turns up at his front door, traumatized and covered in blood. The police find a major piece of the puzzle at Sienna's house: her father Ray Hegarty, a celebrated former police officer, murdered. The blood covering Sienna was her father's. She can't remember what happened, but, at the same time, doesn't mourn her father's death. O'Loughlin vows to unearth the dark secrets of Sienna's mind, hoping his efforts will win back the confidence of a daughter he may be in danger of losing forever. But as the accusations fly, the line between victim and accused begins to blur. When the detective in charge of the case seems all too eager to lay the blame at Sienna's feet rather than malign the honor of a respected former colleague, O'Loughlin begins to make his own inquiries. But each step he takes toward the truth also brings him closer to the path of a manipulative killer unlike anything he has ever encountered"--

Ghost hero

By S.J. Rozan.

Investigating a rumor about new paintings by a famous contemporary Chinese artist who has been dead for twenty years, private investigator Lydia Chin and her partner, Bill Smith, discover that a new client is not who he claims to be.

Black Fridays

By Michael Sears.

Struggling to rebuild his life after a two-year prison term for unscrupulous choices, former Wall Street hotshot Jason Stafford is tapped by an investment firm to investigate the suspicious death of a junior trader.

Bear is broken : a Leo Maxwell mystery

By Lachlan Smith.

"Leo Maxwell grew up in the shadow of his older brother, Teddy, a successful yet reviled criminal defense attorney who racked up enemies as quickly as he racked up acquittals. As children, their father was jailed for the murder of their mother, and Teddy was left to care for Leo who tried to emulate his older brother, even following him into the legal profession. The two are at lunch one day when Teddy, supposed to give the closing argument of his current trial that afternoon, is shot: in public, in cold blood, the shooter escaping without Leo being able to identify him. As Teddy lies in a coma, Leo comes to the conclusion that the search for his brother's shooter falls upon him and him alone, as his brother's enemies were not merely the scum on the street but embedded within the police department as well. As he begins to examine the life of a brother he realizes he barely knew, Leo quickly realizes that the list of possible suspects is much larger than he could have imagined. The deeper Leo digs into Teddy's life, the more questions arise: questions about Teddy and his ex-wife, questions about the history of the Maxwell family, even questions about the murder that tore their family apart all those years ago. And somewhere, the person who shot his brother is still on the loose, and there are many who would happily kill Leo in order to keep it that way" -- Amazon.com.

Truth

By Peter Temple.

Tackling three violent cases as well as a crumbling marriage, homicide inspector Stephen Villani uncovers bizarre links between his cases, department bureaucracy, and political scandals.

Proof of guilt

By Charles Todd.

When the clues in a hit-and-run investigation lead him to two families famous for producing and selling the world's best Madeira wine, Scotland Yard's Ian Rutledge is pitted against his new supervisor, who has his own suspect.

The gentlemen's hour

By Don Winslow.

The Dawn Patrol, a close-knit group of surfers, not only ride waves together but have one another's backs out of the water. It's the life Boone loves, all he wants. When one of their own is murdered and another surfer, a young punk from the Rockpile Crew, stands accused, the small world of Pacific Beach is rocked to its core.

Assault with a deadly glue gun

By Lois Winston.

When Anastasia Pollack's gambling-addicted husband permanently cashes in his chips in Vegas, her life craps out. Anastasia's job as crafts editor at American woman magazine makes life even stickier when she discovers the dead body of über-ambitious fashion editor Marlys Vandenburg hot-glued to Anastasia's office chair. When evidence surfaces of an illicit affair between Marlys and Anastasia's husband, Anastasia becomes the prime suspect. Can she sew up the case and keep herself out of jail before the real killer puts a permanent end to her investigation?

APL Recommends Blog

Saturday, May 18

Two Hundred Years of Mr. Darcy!

by: debbie.schneekloth

Many of you may know that this year is the 200^th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice. Austen wrote the novel in 1797-98, originally calling it First Impressions. Her father attempted to have it published, but the manuscript was rejected. It was not until her first novel, Sense and Sensibility was published in 1812 that Pride and Prejudice was accepted. By that time, another author had published their novel called First Impressions. Austen found another title for her book from a quote in fellow female author Fanny Burney’s novel, Cecila. Thus Pride and Prejudice was born. The novel was an instant success and has proved to be her most popular novel.

While we know much about her life from records and her own letters, there are aspects of her life of which we know nothing because her sister destroyed letters after the author’s death in 1817 in order to protect family privacy. Scholars and authors can only speculate what the subjects of those letters were and what dimensions they could have added to our understanding of Jane Austen.

By Jane Austen:

Jane Austen's Letters by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice: An Annotated Edition by Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice (DVD) Miniseries starring Colin Firth

Based on Jane Austen:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance -- Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! by Seth Grahame-Smith

The Pemberley Chronicles: A Companion Volume to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice by Rebecca Ann Collins

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange

Lost in Austen (DVD) Miniseries starring Jemima Rooper

Pride and Prescience, Or, A Truth Universally Acknowledged: A Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mystery by Carrie Bebris

Friday, May 17

The Best Thing About Books You Hate

by: betsey.blanche

The Twitter feed “Fake Library Stats” recently tweeted “After complaining the pituitary glands of 63% of librarians secrete a hormone that is necessary to keep them alive.” Sure, there’s a stereotype that we librarians like to complain but we can also be overwhelmingly positive when it comes to resources we offer. And I’m about to be super positive about the fact that I just read a library book and did not enjoy it at all.

The library’s Graphic Novel Book Club just finished reading and discussing Yuichi Yokoyama’s Garden. In Garden, a large group of people with strange masks and costumes on explore a strange garden and describe what they see in terse sentences. That goes on for 300 pages in which none of the characters are developed and nothing really happens in a conventional plot kind of way. As a result, I was feeling nervous before the meeting. I couldn’t think of a single productive thing to say about it. Worse, I was reminded of a frustrating, non-library book club meeting I’d attended to discuss Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore in which most participants could only comment on the weirdness of the novel. Was that going to be me?! After finishing the reading all I could think was, “Huh. Well. I just don’t . . . What?! I don’t get it. It’s weird.” Neither articulate nor a good way to start a conversation. I felt like I was missing something. But this is one of the best things to happen to a book club because it this case everyone felt the same way and was more than willing to talk about how much they disliked the reading experience and why. It turns out this makes for a much more fruitful conversations than when everyone unanimously enjoys a book. In those cases all you can do is say, “yeah, it was good. I liked the art and the characters and the story. Yup.”

I’m willing to consider the possibility that I really just didn’t get it. So give it a try for yourself and see! Maybe ask some friends to read it too. It might result in a heated debate if one of you loves it. Or, you might just have a pleasant time complaining about how annoying it was. Either way is pretty fun.

Side note: Graphic Novel Book Club is free and open to the public. We meet on the third Wednesday of every month at Jo's Coffee Downtown and you can find our reading list on the Events page of the Library's website.

Thursday, May 16

Longleaf, Far as the Eye Can See

by: carolyn.rogers

The 2010 novel Anthill is a fictional account of an Alabama backwoods boy who grows up to be a Harvard lawyer fighting to save the woodlands of his childhood, the West Nokobee Tract at the edge of William Ziebach National Forest. It is a privately owned tract of longleaf pine savanna. It becomes his secret place and he bicycles into it every chance he gets to escape his parent's troubled marriage. The woodlands and the national forest are fictional but the ecology is not. Longleaf pine forests are the most diverse ecosystem in North America, with 500 species per square kilometer. In the novel, the eminent Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson tells a southern coming-of-age story while persuading Americans, and especially Southerners, to protect our vanishing natural environment and wildlife.

E.O Wilson also wrote the forward to Longleaf, Far as the Eye Can See: A New Vision of North America's Richest Forest which offers 11 essays on these forests, including numerous photographs that cultivate appreciation for the beauty of the tree itself; of the unique species it supports; and of the breathtaking landscape it creates.

Longleaf pine savanna is one of the only ecosystems that is both forest and meadow. The book reveals this dynamic system in panoramic images of golden light filtering through trees and illuminating long grasses beneath. And there's no shortage of close-ups. Longleaf was once so common that it was hardly remarked upon, and ecologists are only now beginning to understand the forest that once covered 90 million acres of North America and now covers only 3 million acres, some of it in Texas. The final sections of the book detail potential restoration solutions for the longleaf that remains. Longleaf is not a story of loss, but one of deep reverence for the grandeur and mystery of these regions.

Using your Austin Public Library card you can read both books together.

Wednesday, May 15

Book Your Summer

by: christina.chiarchiaro

Summer time in Austin, Texas cannot be defined by the temperature outside. If it were, then we wouldn't have a Fall or Spring. Instead, universities, teachers, parents, and especially students define it by the months-long reprieve from the daily obligations of school. Retailers and restauranteurs mark Summer as when the tourists come to town. For festival goers it is the time between SXSW and ACL. For myself, I like to honor its arrival by joining the Summer Reading Program at my neighborhood branch of the library. Because I continue to work full time during that period of the calendar I can't necessarily devote more time to reading. Therefore, I have adopted my own personal challenge. Each year I have a goal to use the summer months to try a genre I don't normally read. Last year it was graphic novels and the year prior was nonfiction. In doing so, I discovered that I rather enjoy graphic novels and that they include so much more than superheroes. I also learned that I mentally focus much better on nonfiction material when I listen to it rather than read it, especially when it's read by an enthusiastic and passionate author or actor. So far my favorite of these is Michael Pollan, most notably known for Omnivore’s Dilemma, and who has a new one out soon I look forward to trying. I haven't decided yet on this year's genre, but it will undoubtedly be a mind opening experience. The pretty great thing about APL is that no matter which subject matter or material type I choose, I will have tons of titles from which to pick. The other awesome thing about summer reading in Austin is being part of the Summer Reading Program. It is a great way to inspire kids to join the youth summer reading program and encourage people all over town to read by showing off your progress. I have seen whole families come in to pick out items they planned to read together. Now that makes me excited about summer!

Wednesday, May 15

Stream Independent Films with IndieFlix

by: amy.mullin

If you're a fan of film festivals and out-of-the-ordinary movies, you'll love IndieFlix. It offers over 4,500 features, shorts, and documentaries from independent filmmakers hailing from all corners of the globe. Entries from film festivals such as Sundance, Cannes, Tribeca, SxSW, and the Austin Film Festival are highlighted. All you need to watch is an Austin Public Library card and a broadband Internet-connected device.

You can watch a film’s trailer, add a film to your queue for later viewing, view it immediately on a device, or watch it on your TV with a Roku or XBox. You can search for films by title or browse films by channel. You can limit films according to length, country of origin, festival, genre, or age range. These films are not rated by the MPAA, so viewer discretion is advised.

The IndieFlix registration process is pretty easy. If you’ve already signed up for Zinio, you can use the same email and password to login to the IndieFlix landing page. You will be directed to the IndieFlix page where you need to register with them directly (You can use the same email address and password that you used on the landing page). But that’s it! Then you're ready to browse the movies and start watching. No checkouts, returns, or deletions from your device. Multiple users can watch the same film on different devices at the same time.

Steps to sign up:

1. You will need to create a login at the landing page (aka RB Digital Gateway) first.

2. You will receive a confirmation email for this login. Please verify your account by clinking the link in the email. You can return to the landing page and login again. A pop-up Notice will appear. You will need to check the box and click "Continue" to get to the IndieFlix page.

3. On the IndieFlix page, you need to create another login. You can use the same email and password that you did on the landing page.

4. On the IndieFlix page, you can search for films, or browse by genre, mood, length, and rating. Click on the movie to watch the trailer or full feature. You can also click on the + sign to add to your queue for later viewing.

There are links to a Help page and an FAQ at the bottom of the IndieFlix site that can help you with most issues. Also, Customer Support is available via email: indieflix@recordedbooks.com

Grab some popcorn, and stream some films that you won't see anywhere else.

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Best Non-Fiction 2003

The devil in the white city : murder, magic, and madness at the fair that changed America

By Erik Larson.

Two men, each handsome and unusually adept at his chosen work, embodied an element of the great dynamic that characterized America₂s rush toward the twentieth century. The architect was Daniel Hudson Burnham, the fair's brilliant director of works and the builder of many of the country's most important structures, including the Flatiron Building in New York and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The murderer was Henry H. Holmes, a young doctor who, in a malign parody of the White City, built his "World's Fair Hotel" just west of the fairgrounds₇a torture palace complete with dissection table, gas chamber, and 3,000-degree crematorium. Burnham overcame tremendous obstacles and tragedies as he organized the talents of Frederick Law Olmsted, Charles McKim, Louis Sullivan, and others to transform swampy Jackson Park into the White City, while Holmes used the attraction of the great fair and his own satanic charms to lure scores of young women to their deaths. What makes the story all the more chilling is that Holmes really lived, walking the grounds of that dream city by the lake. The Devil in the White City draws the reader into a time of magic and majesty, made all the more appealing by a supporting cast of real-life characters, including Buffalo Bill, Theodore Dreiser, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and others. In this book the smoke, romance, and mystery of the Gilded Age come alive as never before. Erik Larson's gifts as a storyteller are magnificently displayed in this rich narrative of the master builder, the killer, and the great fair that obsessed them both.

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