Taking a break around the holidays? Maybe looking for a book that would make a good gift? Or maybe you just want to curl up in a chair and read to relax for a bit. 

If you are a member of Goodreads, you recently had a chance to vote for Goodreads Choice Awards - Best Books of 2011 in 22 categories. Books published for the first time in the United States in English between December 27, 2010 – November 30, 2011 were eligible, and over 630,000 votes were cast. If you aren't a member, you can still check out the winners and nominees. Fiction, Science Fiction, Mystery & Thriller, Humor, History & Biography, Travel & Outdoors, Young Adult Fiction - there's something for everyone!

One of the best gifts I received last year was a gym membership - thank you to my brother! While I haven't become a 2 hour workout every day gym rat, I've been good about doing an hour 2 or 3 times a week. I always feel better when I go and try to vary my activities each time.

I'm reading an interesting book about fitness called Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights?: Fitness Myths, Training Truths, and Other Surprising Discoveries from the Science of Exercise by Alex Hutchinson. The book offers short chapters of information about common health and exercise questions, such as "How long does it take to get in shape?', "Is the elliptical machine just as good as running?", and "How should I warm up before I exercise?". Journal articles and interviews are referenced, but I really like that it's easy to understand, tells you if there is no definitive answer or if there are several possibilites, and you can skip around easily, reading what you're most interested in. While there are plenty of good tips, I don't expect to be coming anywhere close to running the New York Marathon in 2:23:15 (top women's time). I just want to walk a mile easily in less than 15 minutes.


Hutchinson also writes a fitness blog called Sweat Science if you'd like to read more.

 

"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti." 

~Hannibal Lecter, The Silence of the Lambs

I was talking about scary books with a co-worker the other day. She was looking for some recommendations to take to her children (her adult children!) and asked me "What's the scariest book you've ever read?" 

After some consideration, because yes I like to be terrified by horror books sometimes, my first answer was Stephen King's It. I read It when I was in college and though I can't recall all the details, I do remember children discovering dark secrets about a horrifying evil that lives in the sewers and sometimes appears as a creepy looking clown. Nearly 30 years later they are drawn back to the town and face the terrifying danger they thought they had escaped. Mostly I remember my hands shaking as I got to the end of the book because I was afraid to turn the pages, and I slept with the lights on for several nights. Eek! I also got freaked out/enjoyed The Stand, The Shining, The Talisman, and The Running Man.

Other scary books I would suggest are I am Legend by Richard Matheson, Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill, The Terror by Dan Simmons, The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris, and if you like unsettling true crime, I just finished Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders by Vincent Bugliosi.

Now I think it's time for me to read a nice happy story with a nice happy ending.

I like animal stories. I've read James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small series. I completely related to Marley and Me: Love and Life With the World's Worst Dog (I adore my beagle, but she did dig up my carpet and destroy my miniblinds). Watership Down got me to look at the world from a rabbit's point of view, and The Cat Who Went to Paris introduced me to Norton, a Scottish fold cat who adventures around the globe with his human. A few others that are on my must read list:

Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron

Come Back, Como: Winning the Heart of a Reluctant Dog by Steven Winn

Dog, Inc.: The Uncanny Inside Story of Cloning Man's Best Friend by John Woestendiek

Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship by Tom Ryan

And just so you know, I'm always open to suggestions!

If you haven't picked up a copy of this year's One Book One Community title, there's still plenty of time to get one and join in the fun! This is actually my fourth year participating in this great fall event.

All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling Down House follows author David Giffels and his family as they move into a once beautiful home in Akron, Ohio. Fixer upper doesn't even begin to describe the attention and dedication needed to make the place habitable. But Giffels puts in the hard work, the perseverance, and a lot of love to create not just a liveable house, but a lifelong home.

Northern Kentucky One Book One Community started in 2007 as an annual community-wide reading partnership program between Boone, Campbell, Grant and Kenton County Public Libraries. The program promotes a sense of community by facilitating the enjoyment of reading and talking about a great book. People all across the region participate in public and private book discussions, attend supplemental library programs, and then meet the author at library talks and book signings.

Literarileigh just had a nice vacation. Now I'm back at the library and ready for action. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and think "Gosh I'm tired. But I'll have a nice cup of coffee and take a shower and head off work for eight hours." Is this a hard life or what?

The answer is NO, it's not that hard. I recently read the book Working in the Shadows: A Year of Doing the Jobs Most Americans Won't Do by Gabriel Thompson. Thompson talks about three jobs he takes over a year long period - harvesting lettuce, night shift at a chicken factory, and bicycle delivery boy for a restaurant in New York City. At each job he talks to the other employees who are mostly undocumented workers and getting paid on average $8.00/hour. They have no benefits, no sick time, no vacation. They work 10 hours a day or longer, often 6 days a week. Many work two or three jobs, or have a full time night job and spend their days caring for their children. They perform repetitive motions and monotonous line work - lift, carry, bend, repeat. Thompson is actually turned down by several employers, or offered a higher paying, easier position because as a middle class white man, no one believes he would choose to do this kind of work. Always respectful of his fellow workers and filled with both sympathy and admiration, Thompson brings the world of these hard working people to life. A must read for anyone who liked Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich.

Today Space Shuttle Atlantis launched for the last time. And when it lands, it will be the end of NASA's shuttle program. As I listened to details of the launch on NPR this morning, it got me thinking about space exploration and the millions of things that could be out there. While some of the ideas may be my own, I have definitely been influenced by the great imagination and speculation of science fiction.

While the search for extraterrestrials has been written about by many sci-fi authors, the book that resonates with me most is The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. From the opening lines in which Father Emilio Sandoz is released from the hospital, we know something terrible has happened. A mission to make first contact with an alien race that produces beautiful, ethereal music began forty years earlier in 2019. Jesuit missionaries along with civilians formed an eight person expedition to Rahkat where they met and learned to communicate with the peaceful alien race they encountered. But their scientific and spiritual objectives were ended by the more powerful, dominant, and aggressive culture that inhabits the planet. Told in a series of flashbacks, Sandoz unravels the mystery of what went so horribly wrong and why he was the only one left. Beautiful language, humorous moments, vivid description and characterization make The Sparrow a visceral reading experience.

When I was in Paris (much too long ago!), I saw a boy playing in the park. Perhaps ten years old, he was wearing brown shoes, plaid pants, a short brown coat, a red striped scarf and a fedora. None of it matched or looked at all like what the other kids were wearing, but he was able to carry off the look with such panache I took a picture of him.

That's how I picture twelve year old Marcus, only lacking in confidence. In Nick Hornby's About a Boy, Marcus is picked on at school and lives with a rather hippie mother who is dealing with depression, while Will Lightman is 36 and living a "sub-zero" cool life off royalty money from his father's hit song. Trying to meet women, Will passes himself off as a single dad at a SPAT (Single Parents - Alone Together) meeting and abruptly meets Marcus on a trip to the park. Though a highly unlikely duo, Will finds himself helping Marcus feel more like the "regular" kids and actually ends up learning a lot about himself. If you haven't read Nick Hornby before, this is a great one to start with. Funny and sweet. And I definitely recommend his other books, including High Fidelity and Juliet, Naked.

In June I saw a charming group
Of roses all begin to droop
I pepped them up with chicken soup!
Sprinkle once, sprinkle twice
Sprinkle chicken soup with rice

Chicken Soup With Rice (A Book of Months) was originally written by children's author and illustrator Maurice Sendak and published as part of his Nutshell Collection in 1962. However, my first exposure to this fun title was when it was sung by Carole King and my grade school music teacher would play it in our class. How we loved to sing along! It wasn't until later that I discovered what an amazing artist Carole King is in her own right.

Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon--And the Journey of a Generation by Sheila Weller interweaves the lives, loves and careers of these extraordinary songstresses. Each had a vastly different childhood and upbringing, but all three became music pioneers and a hallmark for women everywhere. King's signature album Tapestry was number one on the Billboard chart for 15 weeks (still the record for a solo female artist); Carly Simon has won multiple grammys and an academy award in 1988 for Best Song ("Let the River Run" from Working Girl); and Joni Mitchell's Blue made the New York Times list of the top 25 "most significant albums of the last century" (Jan. 3, 2000). Read Girls Like Us to experience the music, learn where it came from, and what it means to Carole, Carly, Joni, and the rest of us.

 For fun, check out Chicken Soup from the 1975 TV special!

NPR is the best! I present to you Summer Books 2011: The Complete List. Indie books, hot summer reads, suspense, cooking, science. Here's the start of the summer reading post:

'Indie Booksellers Target Summer's Best Reads'

Recommended by Lucia Silva, Portrait of a Bookstore
The Great Night, by Chris Adrian, hardcover, 304 pages
The Ada Poems, by Cynthia Zarin, hardcover, 80 pages
The Family Fang, by Kevin Wilson, hardcover, 320 pages
The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick DeWitt, hardcover, 336 pages
A Moment In The Sun, by John Sayles, hardcover, 968 pages

For the complete list, click here

Wow, it just started raining like crazy! I'm wondering if it's all the water pouring out of the sky or the fact that I was watching the movie on TV the other night, but today I offer you The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea by Sebastian Junger.

A storm, a cold front and a hurricane all crashed together on the Atlantic Ocean in October of 1991. The fishing boat Andrea Gail was caught in 100 foot tall waves and over 100 miles per hour winds. Though all the crew was lost at sea, Junger masterfully recounts what would happen to a vessel in that situation. Through interviews and research of other fisherman, sailors and ocean rescue crews who survived the storm (or who had been in similar situations), a compelling and dramatic story is told- a frighteningly real tale of modern seafaring life.

"She's comm' on, boys, and she's comm' on strong", radioed Captain Billy Tyne of the Andrea Gail off the coast of Nova Scotia. ~ Last words from the Andrea Gail before the boat and her crew disappeared.

Last October, I had the pleasure of attending Cincinnati's annual Books by the Banks Festival. There were tons of authors, publishers, librarians, and people who just came to enjoy the day. I was lucky enough to host a panel of authors talking about their current books and answering questions from the audience.

One of the authors was Beth Hoffman who lives in Northern Kentucky, and I'm so glad I got to read her debut novel Saving CeeCee Honeycutt. It takes place in 1967, starting in Ohio. CeeCee is 12 and essentially taking care of her mentally unstable mother, who thinks it's still 1951 and she has been crowned the Vidalia Onion Queen. When a tragedy occurs, unknown great aunt Tootie comes to the rescue, taking CeeCee to live with her in Savannah. CeeCee is introduced into a world of wealth; odd and eccentric ladies; injustices that must be fought; and the fun that life can be. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed The Help, or Clare Luce Booth's play/film The Women, or just likes books with interesting and inspiring female characters.

This year's Books by the Banks is being held on Saturday, October 22 at the Duke Energy Convention Center. Mark your calendars and hope to see you there!

Well everyone, I'm only one week away from finishing the Teen Reading challenge. Lots of other librarians and readers are participating, reading as many young adult books as we can within a three month period. It's a great reason to read all those books I meant to get to as a teenager, and I rather like having an adult perspective now.

Somehow, I managed to get through high school and college without reading J.D. Salinger's classic The Catcher in the Rye. I have now rectified this situation with pleasing results. Narrator Holden Caufield is sixteen years old in 1945. Although an intelligent boy, his bad grades get him expelled from his most recent fancy prep school. Unwilling to face his parents right away, Holden checks into a New York hotel not far from his family's apartment. After several awkward attempts to connect with adults and friends his own age, Holden visits his little sister Phoebe, the only person he really seems to communicate with. Although things don't work out exactly as Holden planned them, he realizes how troubled he is, and that he needs help with his passage into adulthood.

The language and style of the writing are what really impressed me. Holden comes off as just what he is - a teenager with troubles who's trying to figure out life. The Catcher in the Rye is one of the most commonly challenged books (books people ask to be restricted or removed from a library) due to profanity, sexuality, and encouraging teen rebellion, but also makes Top 100 book lists everywhere and has won countless awards worldwide. I say read it and judge for yourself.

NBCC Awards: The National Book Critics Circle awards honor the best literature published in English in six categories—autobiography, biography, criticism, fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Announced in March, check out some of the winners for the 2010 publishing year:

Fiction - Jennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad

Biography - Sarah Bakewell, How To Live: Or, A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty         Attempts at an Answer

Autobiography - Darin Strauss, Half a Life

Poetry -  C. D. Wright’s One with Others: [a little book of her days]

Non-Fiction - Isabel Wilkerson, The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration

Criticism - Clare Cavanagh, Lyric Poetry and Modern Politics: Russia, Poland, and the West

I just put The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls on request at the library. Several people have told me how much they enjoyed the book, which is a memoir of her nomadic and difficult upbringing, and I have been intending to read it for a while. Why now?

I finished Walls's Half-Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel last week and loved it. Based on the life of her grandmother Lily Casey Smith, the book contains true stories that have been fictionalized in order to flesh out and paint the missing details of Lily's remarkable life. Born in 1901 on farmland in Texas, Lily learns to accept challenges as they come. By age 15 she leaves home to teach school, goes to Chicago on her own in her 20's, marries and works night and day on a ranch with her family - she is always doing, always thinking, always making her way. The writing is engaging and short chapters flow easily from one to the other. With all the obstacles standing in her way, I was just so impressed with Lily's gumption and make-it-happen attitude.

A couple of people told me it was helpful to read this book before The Glass Castle, as it explains quite a bit of background (even if it is fictionalized). Guess I'll find out when my copy arrives!

For anyone who likes Agatha Christie or similar books, check out the 2010 Agatha Award Nominees at Malice Domestic. Here's the basic information:

The Agatha Awards honor the "traditional mystery." That is to say, books best typified by the works of Agatha Christie as well as others. For our purposes, the genre is loosely defined as mysteries that:

• contain no explicit sex
• contain no excessive gore or gratuitous violence

Cooking is something that I just love (when other people do it :-). If someone invites me to a meal at their home or to go to a restaurant, that pretty much makes my day. Oddly, I enjoy reading recipes. Perhaps I envision myself creating a great feast? Well, there's no telling what the future will bring!

Are you a foodie? I think you will appreciate the ambrosial book Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Set in Mexico in the early 1900's, it is a time when everyone has their place in the family. As the youngest daughter, Tita is expected to spend her life caring for her mother. When young Pedro comes to ask for her hand in marriage, he is told he must marry Tita's sister instead. In order to remain close to Tita, Pedro accepts this. Having been practically raised in the kitchen by their cook, Tita creates magical meals, literally pouring her emotions into them - including a wedding cake that has surprising effects on the guests! Structured in twelve chapters, January to December, Like Water for Chocolate uses magical realism to tell a story of a family, love, and the power of food.

Recipe bonus: Quail in Rose Petals

How do you celebrate Valentine's day? Flowers? Chocolates? A romantic dinner in Paris followed by a leisurely stroll to the Eiffel tower where you go up to the top and share a kiss? Perhaps you are looking for inspiration or just love to read about love. Here are some Valentine's collections (and a few movies) for the romantic in YOU!

Bitten by Cupid with stories by Lyndsay Sands, Pamela Palmer and Jaime Rush

Cupid Calling featuring Stacy Brown, Karen L. King and Patricia Waddell

Valentine's Day is Killing Me with MaryJanice Davidson, Leslie Esdaile and Susanna Carr

The Notebook

Sabrina

When Harry Met Sally

Well, I can finally add myself to the long list of folks who have read and enjoyed Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love. This is just one of many reasons that I love having a book discussion group. As the moderator, I read every book through to the end, but sometimes it's less interesting than others. This was a great book to settle down on the couch with, have a cup of coffee and get the dog to snuggle at my feet.

After a devastating split from her husband, Elizabeth Gilbert decided to spend a year traveling to the 3 I's - Italy, India, and Indonesia - with plans to write a book about her experiences. Italy is devoted to the pleasure of  leisurely exploration and food indulgences. An ashram in India provides time for the spirit, inward thought, and discovery of herself and her place in the world. In Indonesia, Liz spends time with the medicine man who had told her she would come back and visit with him one day, and finds love. Eat, Pray, Love is an engaging look at Gilbert's experiences from that year, thought provoking, and filled with humor. I'm still waiting to see the movie (yes, I too get on the list at the library).

The snow is snowing all around. When I look out the library windows there are big, fat, wet flakes pouring from the sky. The trees are covered. The grass is covered. My car is covered. Thank goodness I just bought a new snow brush! Whenever it gets this snowy and cold, I start thinking about survival books. There's just something about flurries that renews my appreciation for the heated indoors.

 One book I remember from a number of years ago is Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors by Piers Paul Read. The true story of an Uruguay rugby team whose plane crashed in the South American Andes mountains, there were 45 people on the plane, but only 16 made it off the mountain alive. Those who survived were subject to the harshest conditions the snowy mountains could offer, a small supply of food that dwindled to nothing, and finally the horrifying choice of cannibalism or death. Alive is gripping, emotional and visceral, presenting the worst and best in humanity. Not recommended for timid or tender readers.

Hello 2011! After a busy holiday season, it's time to start thinking about all the great books we'll be reading this year. You have probably realized that I love to read, and this year I've decided to motivate myself even further with the 2011 Book Reading Challenge from Goodreads. If you would like to be part of this year's challenge, it's free to join Goodreads. Or just use a pen and paper to keep a list of everything you read. My goal is to read 100 books, but you can choose any number you want. Remember, it's your personal goal.

The Reference and User Services division of the American Library Association "annually recognizes the best books in eight genres: adrenaline (including suspense, thriller and adventure), fantasy, historical fiction, horror, mystery, romance, science fiction and women’s fiction." If you're looking for some ideas of what to read, their 2011 Genre Fiction Reading List is a good place to start. I'm listing the winners here, but check out the RUSA Blog for a full list of winners, read-alikes and those books that made the short list.

 Let me know if you join the challenge!

Adrenaline: “The Nearest Exit" by Olen Steinhauer
Fantasy: “Under Heaven” by Guy Gavriel Kay
Historical Fiction: “The Invisible Bridge” by Julie Orringer
Horror: “The Dead Path” by Stephen M. Irwin
Mystery: “Bury Your Dead” by Louise Penny
Romance: “A Matter of Class” by Mary Balogh
Science Fiction: “The Dervish House” by Ian McDonald
Women’s Fiction: “Solomon’s Oak” by Jo-Ann Mapson