Library Notes for the week of February 4

We had such excitement here at the library when First Gentleman Mike came to visit on his literacy tour of the State. Reading is so important and it was nice to see is it valued by the highest levels of our state government as well.

Have you picked up your reading record for the Winter Reading Program? Read three books and get a Literary Latte from The Next Chapter as well as a chance for a Booklover’s Bag of goodies. Maybe one of the following titles will end up on your reading record.

Fire in the Blood by Irene Nemirovsky. When she was writing Suite Française in 1940, Némirovsky, who died in Auschwitz in 1942 before turning 40, was also reworking this novel, newly discovered among her papers. In a leisurely narrative, middle-aged narrator Silvio recounts three interlocking stories of love and betrayal over two decades. These secret affairs, he says, can be explained only by fire in the blood, the intense passion that can overtake men and women when they are young, highly sexed and vulnerable.

A Free Life by Ha Jin. Nan Wu, a Chinese graduate student in Boston, drops out after the Tiananmen Square massacre. He would like to abandon his marriage, too, but his sense of duty toward Pingping and their young son is stronger than his desire for passion and the freedom to write poetry. So Nan laboriously progresses from busboy to chef, and purchases a small Chinese restaurant outside Atlanta, Georgia. He and Pingping work hard, live frugally, and strive to understand their baffling new world, including white friends who adopt a Chinese daughter.

The Air We Breathe by Andrea Barrett. In the fall of 1916, as the U.S. involvement in WWI looms, the Adirondack town of Tamarack Lake houses a public sanitarium and private cure cottages for TB patients. Gossip about roommate changes, cliques and romantic connections dominate relations among the sick—mostly poor European immigrants—when they're not on their porches taking their rest cure. Intrigue increases with the arrival of Leo Marburg, an attractive former chemist who has spent his years in New York slaving away at a sugar refinery, and of Miles Fairchild, a pompous and wealthy resident who decides to start a discussion group, despite his inability to understand many of his fellow patients.

Library Notes for the week of December 31st

Now that Christmas is over it is time for those thank-you notes. Try this on-line site for light-hearted guidelines to help you write thank-you notes. Suggestions include greeting the giver, expressing your gratitude (with tips such as "use the present perfect tense," and "never directly mention money"), discussing uses, mentioning the past and alluding to the future, and signing off. From the Morning News, an online magazine. http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/25095

Now maybe the time to catch up on your reading, why not try one of these books from our new bookshelf.

Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley. Easy Rawlins, L.A.'s most reluctant detective, comes home one day to find Easter, the daughter of his friend Christmas Black, left on his doorstep. Easy knows that this could only mean that the ex-marine Black is probably dead, or will be soon. Easter's appearance is only the beginning, as Easy is immersed in a sea of problems.

My Soul to Keep by T. Davis Bunn. An entrepreneur with nothing more than a dream teams up with an actor just out of prison and a has-been scriptwriter. Is their effort truly inspired or doomed from the start?

Between Sundays by Karen Kingsbury. Derrick Anderson, a retiring quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, promised his dying son that he would win a Super Bowl for him. His hope may rest on upcoming star Aaron Hill, who is beginning to find the glitz and glamour of life at the top meaningless. To complicate things, there's a young foster child named Cory who believes that Aaron is his dad and is determined to get his point across, and sparks fly (of course) between Aaron and Megan, Cory's foster mother.

Library Notes week of December 17

Looking for something to do with your kids during the Christmas Holiday? We are planning a Family Storytime for Thursday, Dec. 27th at 6 p.m. Stories for kids and parents, prizes and refreshments, come and have a great time.

Maybe you have finished your Christmas shopping and need something to read. Here are a few of the latest titles to hit our new book shelf.

A Spy by Nature by Charles Cumming. Alec Milius is young, smart, and ambitious. He also has a talent for deception. He is working in a dead-end job when a chance encounter leads him to MI6, the elite British Secret Intelligence Service, handing him an opportunity to play center-stage in a dangerous game of espionage.

North River by Pete Hamill. In the dead of winter in the Depression year of 1934, Dr. Delaney knows the cause of death was always life. Delaney is numb from the war and the abandonment of his family. When he saves the life of gangster friend Eddie Corso, Italian hood Frankie Botts is not happy. Delaney can feel the threat to him and his grandson in his bones.

The Careful Use of Compliments by Alexander McCall Smith. Isabel has recently become a mother, but she has an ambiguous relationship with her son's father, Jamie, whose attempts to formalize their connection have been unsuccessful. Their ties are further strained by Jamie's ex-girlfriend, Cat, who not only still harbors strong feelings for him but is Isabel's niece. Isabel must also deal with petty academic politics aimed at depriving her of her position as editor of the Review of Applied Ethics.

Library Notes for the week of December 10th

We have been evaluating our magazine collection lately. As you are aware we have a very small collection of current magazines we subscribe. We have added a couple we hope will be popular. MasterGardener is a magazine published quarterly by the Washington State Fruit Commission. It covers gardening information for both sides of the state, has great pictures, and very informative articles. Piecework Magazine is published bimonthly and will be an inspiration for those creative souls in La Conner. The issues have a wide variety of topics from collecting vintage textiles to projects for you to crochet, sew, embroider and knit. I hope you will come in and take a look at these new additions to our magazine collection.

Why not stop by and pick up a book to read? Here are a few of the latest titles to hit our new book shelf.

Facets by Barbara Delinsky. Nothing can prepare writer Hillary Cox for seeing her lover of 20 years announce on television that he's marrying another woman. Seeking revenge, Hillary begins a tell-all book exposing John and his shady past.

Mad Dash by Patricia Gaffney. Professional photographer Dash Bateman is the opposite of her worrywart, straitlaced husband, Andrew, a history professor at Mason-Dixon College. After Dash's mother dies and the couple packs off their daughter for her freshman year at college, Dash leaves her house and husband for an extended stay in the couple's isolated cabin.

Amazing Grace by Danielle Steel. Sarah Sloane, 30-something wife of Seth, a wildly successful hedge fund entrepreneur, and mother of two, has planned to perfection a high-ticket charity auction. The only thing she hasn't counted on is the biggest seismic event to hit San Francisco since 1906 and the aftershocks it will cause in her marriage.

Library Notes for the week of December 3rd

Now that Thanksgiving is over the Christmas season begins in full force. Take some time in between your hectic shopping to enjoy a good book. Here are a few off the new book shelf with a Christmas theme.

Kissing Christmas Goodbye by M.C. Beaton. Agatha Raisin is feeling woefully middle-aged after hiring Toni Gilmour, an endearing U.K.-style Nancy Drew full of teen energy and charm. As Toni takes over the pet recovery end of the sleuthing business, Agatha looks into a mysterious letter from Phyllis Tamworthy, the rich matriarch of the Manor House in the idyllic Cotswolds, who suspects family members of plotting to kill her before she can change her will to disinherit them.

Christmas Pearl by Dorothea Benton Frank. Theodora is the matriarch of a family that has grown into a bunch of truculent knuckleheads. While she's finally gotten them all together in South Carolina to celebrate, this Christmas looks nothing like the extravagant, homey holidays of her childhood. Luckily for Theodora, a special someone who heard her plea for help arrives, with pockets full of enough Gullah magic and common sense to make Theodora's Christmas the love-filled miracle it's meant to be.

The New Year’s Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini. Having married on Christmas Eve at Elm Creek Manor, Sylvia and longtime family friend Andrew Cooper have to face the music and tell Andrew's children, especially his bitter daughter, Amy. On the way, master quilter Sylvia plies at a long unfinished quilt she calls New Year's Reflections, which she plans to give Amy in the hope of reconciliation.

Mark your calendar for December 27^th 6 p.m. at the library. We would like to invite you to a Family Storytime. There will be refreshments and prizes for all ages. You will hear more about this fun event later.

Library Notes for the week of November 19

In honor of Children’s Book Month, K. J. Cooper, our Children’s Specialist, has supplied us with reviews this week. Here are a few of the new children’s books we have in.

Peter and the Secret of Rundoon by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson:
This much-awaited (our copy was ordered in July) story wraps up their trilogy about Peter Pan. Never Land is immersed in a tribal war and Peter and Molly are in the land of Rundoon fighting to save the planet from the unthinkable. This duo of authors have hit another high note with this tale.

Happy Birthday Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald & Anne MacDonald Canham: Those of us who grew up Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle are delighted that Betty MacDonald’s daughter found her mother’s unpublished works to introduce to another generation of readers to her magic. Cures realized in this volume relate to today’s kids, including “The Messy Stuff and Cram Cure” and “The Insult Cure”.

Mercy Watson, Princess in Disguise by Kate DiCamillo: It’s Halloween and Mrs. Watson is determined that Mercy (their pig/child) will trick-or-treat. Mercy isn’t thrilled with the princess costume, but the promise of treats lures her on. Of course, the Lincoln sisters and their new cat throw a monkey-wrench in the evening. But all’s well that ends well and Mercy ends up happy. This easy-reader series (about second grade level) is sure to keep young readers amused.

Remember we have storytime every Thursday morning at 10:30 for toddlers. Of course we will be closed Thursday the 22^nd for Thanksgiving, but drop by any other Thursday to hear fun stories read to our littlest patrons.

Library Notes for the week of November 5

What a lovely event Arts Alive! is each year. Here at the library we have bookmarks designed by the elementary school students. Come see the “Reading is Magical” winning designs. Also, remember the library will be closed Monday, November 12^th for Veteran’s Day.

While you are in the library, check out a new book. Here are a few you might be interested in.

The Elephanta Suite by Paul Theroux: These novellas of hunger -- physical and spiritual -- only make sense in a country such as India, where such extremes meet constantly. Though Theroux repeats himself just a bit in the middle of "The Gateway of India," the thought-provoking novellas of The Elephanta Suite are otherwise beautifully paced, by turns moving, sexy and disturbing. You could finish one in an evening, which means that at least three evenings this fall would be very well spent.

The Heir by Barbara Taylor Bradford: At the age of thirty-three, Edward Deravenel, having survived harrowing years of betrayal, threats from ruthless enemies, countless lovers, and a war that ravaged his country, is finally king of his company. It’s 1918 and an influenza pandemic is sweeping the country. Meanwhile, the wrath of his ever-jealous wife is reaching a boiling point with suspicions about Edward’s relationships with other women.

Now and Then by Robert Parker: When a client who suspects his wife is cheating on him is murdered, Spenser, the Boston PI takes it personally, not only because the case resonates with Spenser's past history with love interest Susan, but also because, like Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade, Spenser feels he can't let a client get murdered without doing something about it.