Reading Room Blog

The second movie in the Twilight saga, New Moon, hits theaters this Friday, November 20.

Check out this movie review in the Washington Post.

Join Edward, Bella, and Jacob in READing a good book! Check out all things Twilight, or maybe something from our Books With Bite book list.

For more young adult titles check out our Fang Fiction or Werewolves Among Us book list.

The 2009 National Book Awards have been announced. The winners are:

Fiction

Winner: Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin

Finalists: Bonnie Jo Campbell, American Salvage
Daniyal Mueenuddin, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders
Jayne Anne Phillips, Lark and Termite
Marcel Theroux, Far North

Library staff recently shared what they are reading. Pick up one of these today and you may find a new favorite read!

Fiction:

Water Lily Cross: An English Garden Mystery by Anthony Eglin

The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

In the many literary magazines of the 1920s and 1930s, detective fiction was extremely popular, and numerous subgenres emerged. One of the most prolific was the Asian detective story, which was first popularized by Earl Derr Biggers through the Charlie Chan character. The portrayals of Asian characters in the various Asian detective stories have become a major source of controversy today, preventing the works from enduring the decades as readily as the earlier Holmes and Dupin stories.

William Kamkwamba first encountered the magic that ruled Malawi when he was six. Herd boys found a  sack in the road; it was filled with bubblegum!  What a treasure! "Should we give any to this little boy with leaves in his hair?", they asked. Of course they did, a double handful of gumballs: so many colors.  William ate them all.

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

Lots of contemporary poems are anecdotal, a brief narration of some event, and what can make them rise above anecdote is when they manage to convey significance, often as the poem closes. Here is an example of one like that, by Marie Sheppard Williams, who lives in Minneapolis.

Everybody

 The mysterious powers-that-be have shipped over a few more boxes of that remarkable new book Wealthy in Heart: [An] Oral History of Life Before Fort. A. P. Hill. Those books will be distributed FREE, on a first come-first-served basis, until the boxes are emptied.

Detective fiction is such an integral part of the current literary landscape that many people have difficulty remembering all its subgenres, popular works, and notable authors. This series explores the history of detective fiction, the authors who were a major influence on its development, and books and films in its major subgenres.
Join CRRL volunteeer John Gaines for a study in sleuthing.

Seems as though every time there is an incident like the recent tragedy at Fort Hood, Clint Van Zandt turns up on TV, offering insight into what has happened and how to understand it. Van Zandt is well known for having been, for many years an FBI major crimes analyst, “profiler” and hostage negotiator. You may not know that he is today the president of a local business, Van Zandt Associates – an international risk and threat management consulting firm.

If you're an aspiring writer or a lover of teen fantasies, you'll want to put the date, December 21st on your calendar. Local author, Maggie Stiefvater, will be visiting the Salem Church Library to talk about books and writing. Teens and adults are invited to drop in during our regular Lit Bistro time, 3:30-5:00. Ms. Stiefvater will be joining us from 4:00-5:00. Ms. Stiefvater is the author of two fantasy series. One of her books, Shiver, has been on the New York Times bestseller list.