Librarians, this will give you tons of ideas you can use on a practical level in your library – lots of booklist, book group, and display ideas. Readers, it’s like chatting with friend about great books.
*please note: this post originally appeared on www.shelfrenewal.com, but we enjoy it so much, we wanted to repost for a wider audience.
ShelfRenewal
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Most Commented On
Archives
Posted by Karen Kleckner on November 23, 2009
 Following up her bestselling The Liar's Club and Cherry, poet Mary Karr's new memoir Lit explores her dependence on alcohol and the effect that drinking had on work, marriage, and motherhood. The second half of the book describes her struggle to accept a higher power that she can call on to support her nascent sobriety. Karr writes with ferocious honesty and a humor that comes from hard-fought self-awareness. After being told by a psychologist that quality time with her son doesn't mean playing with him nonstop, Karr realizes, "Till then, I'd believed my job was to impersonate a preschooler every second I was with Dev. In some ill-considered way, I hadn't wanted him to feel so bad about being so short, so ill spoken and ...Read More
Posted by Rebecca Vnuk on November 19, 2009
RA librarian and instructor Becky Spratford dishes all about Readers Advisory on RA for All, featuring what she’s reading, what her patrons at the Berwyn Public Library are reading, and what her students at Dominican University are learning about. We like her clean layout and unpretentious writing.
Posted by Rebecca Vnuk on November 17, 2009
 Another mystery that sits languishing on the shelf, probably because Sussman and Avidon quickly wrote a sequel... and then never wrote another. Which is really too bad, because this title and the followup, Cruising for Murder, are wonderfully written, funny and light mysteries that will appeal to readers who enjoy Evanovich's sassiness. Wisecracking Morgan Taylor is a Chicago actress-turned-sleuth. In Audition for Murder, she is thrust into a spotlight she doesn't want when 2 of her theatre pals are murdered. In Cruising for Murder, Morgan is now a lead performer on a cruise ship, but it turns out the actress she's replacing might not have died accidentally, after all.
Posted by Rebecca Vnuk on November 17, 2009
John Grisham can pull them in, can't he? Even when it has nothing to do with the legal system, or if it's (gasp!) short stories.This could be a great opportunity to showcase other authors who have turned out short story collections as well. Check back next week, when I'll present a list of anthologies that are likely gathering dust on your library shelves, but deserve a wide readership. Hardly Knew Her by Laura Lippman. I've never read one of Lippman's Tess Monaghan mysteries, but I've enjoyed her stand-alone novels. I was eager to check out her short story collection... and boy, was I in for a treat. Plenty of twists, turns, suspense, and dark humor, there is not a dud in the bunch. Be warned, Lippman pulls no punches when it comes to sex, violence, or foul language. The Guy Not ...Read More
Posted by Karen Kleckner on November 17, 2009
 I know, when you're thinking Stephen King read-alikes, the Mormon author of Ender's Game doesn't jump to the top of your list. But he should. For this one book, at least. Lost Boys has all the tenderness, creepiness, and "No! Do not open that door!" appeal of the master of supernatural suspense. Computer game creator Step Fletcher moves his family to North Carolina for a promising programming job. The whole family has a difficult time fitting in, but it's their oldest son Stevie who's having the hardest time of it. He pulls away from his close-knit family, spending endless hours playing video games and talking to his imaginary friends. It's only when his parents learn that his imaginary friends share the names of the young boys who have been disappearing from the area that their concern for their lonely son turns to terror. And rightfully so.
Industries: Public Services
Posted by Karen Kleckner on November 16, 2009
 If Jody Picoult wrote a 373-page Amber Alert, it might read a lot like The Weight of Silence by debut novelist Heather Gudenkauf. This trade paperback best seller begins with seven-year-old Calli Clark emerging from the woods and uttering her first word in four years. Will she be able to lead the authorities to the other little girl missing from her bedroom since early that morning? And what happened to pre-school Calli that would silence her for years? What happened to her in the woods that has finally shaken her speech loose? The day's events are told in short chapters through the eyes of Calli, her drunken and abusive father, her doting older brother, her unhappy mother, her mother's old flame the deputy sheriff, Calli's best friend and fellow missing child Petra, and Petra's distraught...Read More
Industries: Public Services
Posted by Rebecca Vnuk on November 12, 2009
Our Web Crush for this Friday is the blog of one Nathan Bransford: Literary Agent Extrordinare (as far as we're concerned). For anyone interested in how a book gets published, this guy tells all. An extensive FAQ section on the writing process and publishing world, as well as regular industry postings. Just last week, a patron asked me how she could even get started on her idea for a children's books. Naturally I sent her to the usual suspects on the shelf (Writers Market, etc), but then I pointed her in the direction of Nathan's FAQ section because he gives real answers to real questions. http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2008/08/faqs.html
Posted by Rebecca Vnuk on November 10, 2009
The Naked Heart by Jacqueline Briskin. 1989.One of the things I enjoy about historical womens' fiction is that it tends to age well, and The Naked Heart by Jacqueline Briskin is no exception. Contemporary fiction loses something over time, soon reeking of trends and fashion, but a book set in another era gets to stay firmly in the past. In The Naked Heart, former bestselling author Briskin crafts a story of war, revenge, friendship, and love. Gilberte and Anne are best friends torn apart by the Nazis in World War Two. Aristocratic Gilberte is uncovered as a collaborator while Anne gets to run off into the sunset with Gilberte's cousin. Years later they meet again, and Gilberte is hell-bent on revenge. Secrets from the past will get you every time... This is an excellent ...Read More
Posted by Karen Kleckner on November 10, 2009
 Birds of America by Lorrie Moore. 1998.Lorrie Moore's new novel A Gate at the Stairs is getting wonderful, well-deserved praise. But for my money, her masterpiece is Birds of America...Read More Industries: Public Services
Posted by Rebecca Vnuk on November 8, 2009
*Note to our Loyal Readers: This was originally posted on our site last month, but we thought since Glee's been bumped for 2 weeks thanks to the World Series, readers might be hankering for their fix of funny, so you could send them to these titles. Enjoy! As a singer myself (not to mention a lover of snarky humor), I was not surprised at the immediate popularity of FOX’s new show, Glee. Although, the guidance counselor has rapidly gone from cute and quirky to disturbing and sad, and both of the pregnancy storylines are completely absurd… but I digress. If your patrons ...Read More Industries: Collection Development
Posted by Rebecca Vnuk on November 5, 2009
Welcome to Shelfrenewal! We're Karen Kleckner and Rebecca Vnuk, librarians in the Chicago metro area with a combined 20 years of readers' advisory experience. Recently, we started feeling a little sorry for those backlist titles that just don’t get enough attention. We wanted to know, what could we do for those awesome books languishing on the shelves, while library patrons walk away empty handed waiting for the newest thing? What could supplement the journals, catalogs, web sites and databases that we and all of our colleagues were already using? And then we realized, "Hey! We love books, have short attention spans, and like things posted in chronological order....Read More
Posted by Karen Kleckner on November 5, 2009
Lying Awake by Mark Salzman. 2000.It's no coincidence that Salzman's novel about a Carmelite nun is, itself, contemplative. Sister John of the Cross has brought thousands closer to God with her inspirational writings. Her experiences of the Divine are s  ...Read More
Industries: Public Services
Advertisement
|
Advertisements
|
|
|
|