Sun Storm by Asa Larsson
a favorite of Irene B.'s, Adult and Teen Services
A tide of new and exciting Scandinavian mystery writers is sweeping into the literary world. Larsson is one of them and she has won Sweden's Best First Crime Novel Award. This tense mystery has considerable literary promise. Even before the book was published, translation rights were sold to several countries. Rebecka Martinsson, a young tax lawyer, feels compelled to return to distant Kiruna to help her fragile but very neurotic friend, Sanna. Sanna's charismatic brother, Viktor Strandgard, has been brutally murdered and mutilated in a revivalist church, the Strength of All Our Strength, which he founded. When the police start investigating the case, they conclude that she must have killed her brother. In spite of not wanting to be Sanna's lawyer, Rebecka is sucked into the case and her own old wounds and terrors are reopened. She uncovers sexual intrigues and shady business dealings.
The reader will be drawn into the icy landscape of Kiruna as the tension builds in this psychological thriller. 8/24/2010
 

Raise the Red Lantern directed by Zhang Yimou
Year of release 2007, Running time 125 minutes, Rated PG
a favorite of Rashmi's, Adult and Teen Services
Set in northern China in the 1920s, this film starts out with a teenager, Songlia (gorgeous and talented actress Gong Li), who is forced by her step mother to marry a 50-something-year-old man. Chen, her husband, is rich and merciless. He already has three wives. Each night, his servants place a red lantern in front of his chosen wife with whom he would spend the night. The chosen wife gets the privilege of having a foot massage. Naturally, the rest of his wives get jealous for not being selected. Gong Li and others are forbidden to go in the attic. There is a rumor that something happened to previous women in her husband's life. Who caused their disappearance and why? I don't want to give away the ending. However, Gong Li did a superb job of being a courageous person. I am a big fan of Zhang Yimou. He does a superb job of depicting the complex characters and relationships between Chen's four wives. 8/24/2010
 

Talk Talk Talk by Psychedelic Furs
a favorite of Alan's, Adult and Teen Services
One of the neglected gems of the punkier side of the New Wave era, Talk Talk Talk is a pop-fueled blast of cynical world-weariness featuring one of the best voices to convey those emotions in Richard Butler. Its quality is often mistakenly doubted because the pop single "Pretty in Pink" later inspired the John Hughes film. An absolute masterpiece. 6/28/2010
 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
a favorite of Rashmi's, Adult and Teen Services
Set in Germany during World War II, the story's narrator is Death. The thief is a school-aged German girl, Liesel Memimger. She has been deprived of her brother, who dies in the beginning of the book. Her biological mother disappears, so she is left in foster care. Rosa and Hans Hubermann are her foster parents. The first book Liesel steals is at the cemetery where her brother is buried. The title of this stolen book is The Grave Digger's Handbook. Hans Hubermann teaches her how to read. She steals from Nazi book- burnings, the Mayor's wife's library and any other place where she can find a book. She gets to know Max Vandenberg, a Jew who is hidden by her foster parents. Liesel and her best friend Rudy Steiner rebel against the Hitler administration. Readers get to know Death's character quite well. Death is regretful for what he has to do: "To me, war is like the new boss who expects the impossible," he confides, on one of many incidents when he tries to win readers' support. There are many tear-jerking moments in this book. Of course, readers will never forget Liesel, its heroine, who is a fearless and resilient go-getter. This book is equally appealing to teens and adults. 6/28/2010
 

Up in the Air directed by Jason Reitman
Year of release 2010, Running time 109 minutes, Rated R
a favorite of Rashmi's, Adult and Teen Services
As a highly rated layoff consultant, Ryan Bingham's (George Clooney) job is to handle terminations for companies that are downsizing. His consulting firm flies him all over the country to handle layoffs for its corporate clients. During one of his trips he meets Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga), who also travels extensively on business. Ryan and Alex quickly end up in a "friends-with-privileges" relationship, and rendezvous as their travel schedules permit. Ryan also has a side job, lecturing as a keynote speaker at life management conferences. After he returns to the main office from one of his out-of-town trips, he meets Natalie Keener, an ambitious woman in her 20s, who believes that she can make Ryan's firm more efficient. She proposes to save the company millions of dollars in travel expenses by taking their staff off the road and, instead, handle job terminations remotely - through the use of webcams! Ryan is not ready to give up his nomadic lifestyle. So, he persuades his boss to have Natalie accompany him on a few assignments to learn how to handle the employees with respect and dignity (and avoid unnecessary lawsuits) while informing them that their "[job] position is no longer available," and that they "have been let go." There are some remarkable and poignant twists of fate which help this film to maintain a compassionate balance of drama and comedy. 6/22/2010
 

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green, David Levithan
a favorite of Ed's, Adult and Teen Services
I haven't enjoyed anything David Levithan has written this much since Boy Meets Boy, and John Green has been on my "to read" list for some time. Both authors join forces to write Will Grayson, Will Grayson. Will Grayson, Will Grayson is both the story of Will Grayson, straight, commitment-phobic high school student, and Will Grayson, closeted gay high school student, who suffers from depression. Their lives intersect at Tiny Cooper, a larger than life out gay high schooler who, through the production of a play based on his life story (a musical, actually) transforms both Wills Grayson. The writers' unique styles dovetail nicely in alternating chapters. I only wish that the girls in the story were fleshed out a little better. Strongly recommended to all Tiny Coopers and their attendant Will Graysons.
 

RAM by Paul and Linda McCartney
Year of release 1971
a favorite of Alan's, Adult and Teen Services
If you think life after The Beatles is over, think again. Paul released the best former Beatle solo record with this brilliantly cohesive collection of subtle folk curiosities, Tin Pan Alley-harkening psychedelia, blue-eyed soul, and full blown pop epics in the vein of "Hey Jude." An undeservedly obscure classic. 6/14/2010

 

The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler
a favorite of Irene B.'s, Adult and Teen Services
With deep insights, Tyler portrays a 30-year marriage between two totally mismatched people. Opposites attract? You bet, but can it work? No, as in this case. In 1941, Pauline, impractical, emotional, and impulsive, steps into plodding and prudent Michael's life while working in his mother's grocery store in Baltimore. When Michael sees vivacious Pauline in her red hat and coat, he is immediately smitten. Thirty years later, however, they still have not been able to iron out or come to term with their differences. Three children are produced and one of the daughters goes missing for many years. A grandson Pagan appears and is loved passionately and cared for by both grandparents but is not able to help heal the wounds left by many incredibly foolish quarrels. To me, it was a bit sad in parts, but the outstanding writing made it all worthwhile. If you have never read Tyler, do it now. 6/14/2010
 

Digging to America by Anne Tyler
a favorite of Irene B.'s, Adult and Teen Services
I think that I am becoming addicted to Anne Tyler. Her writing about ordinary folks is luminous, funny, and full of tender observations. Two families meet at the Baltimore airport while awaiting the arrival of their newly adopted baby daughters from Korea. The Iranian Yazdans, headed by classy and proud matriarch Maryam, who has always felt like an "outsider" even after 35 year in America, are quiet and reserved. Then there are the Donaldsons with a huge entourage of family and friends, loud and boisterous with balloons, toys, and a mountain of gifts. On a whim, Bitsy Donaldson invites the Yazdans to an "arrival party" at her home which is repeated for years to come, becoming even more important than the 4th of July. Over the years, the two families become inextricably linked and their cares, joys, and sorrows are beautifully described. A wonderful read full of joy and heartbreak. 6/7/2010
 

The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman
a favorite of Rashmi's, Adult and Teen Services
Set during the World War II Nazi occupation of Poland, the Zookeeper's Wife depicts the lives of an extraordinary Polish couple: Jan and Antonina Zabinski. Jan was the director of the Warsaw Zoo. He and his wife sheltered 300 Jews and Polish resistance fighters in their villa, animal cages, and sheds. Their "guests" would come out after dark to socialize, to have dinner and yes, occasionally, there were some piano concerts at the Zabinski villa. The readers are exposed to the deceitful German, Lutz Heck, the head of Berlin Zoo; Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, spiritual head of the Warsaw ghetto; and the leaders of Zegota, the Polish organization dedicated to rescuing Jews. On the audiobook version, Suzanne Toren's superb reading brings the characters to life. While I listened to this book, I felt that I was time traveling in the Polish ghetto and getting to know all the main characters quite intimately. This is a story of survival, resilience, and hope. 5/3/2010
 

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
a favorite of Rashmi's, Adult and Teen Services
Can you imagine that if you wished to read classics of Western literature, you could be sent to prison or your life could be at a risk? Professor Azar Nafisi and her seven students had to meet secretly in her house to discuss such works of literature. In 1995, Nafisi resigned from her teaching post at a Tehran University because of oppressive policies. She had done her graduate studies in the U.S. Over a cup of tea and pastries, she and her students analyze and interpret classics such as Henry James' Daisy Miller, Nabokov's Lolita and George Orwell's 1984. There are some parallels between the characters of the novels discussed and her students' lives in Tehran. Since many classics of Western literature were banned in Iran, Nafisi and her students were very brave to read and discuss the literature, putting their own lives at risk. You will also learn about the atrocities on intellectuals and average Iranians which were imposed by the fundamentalist "morality guards" after the 1979 revolution. Nafisi's story-telling skills are impeccable. I think this book should be a required text for high school and college students. 4/19/2010