Readers Advisor

Readers Advisor

I’m Mary K.–librarian, mom, blogger, reader. I believe there’s no such thing as too many books–if you do, too, you’re in the right place! Browse this page for great finds from across our collection. What will you read next?

Email Mary K.

Book Buzz
An Icon Revealed Print Email

Jacket cover from the new biography When J.D. Salinger died in 2010, the elusive author of The Catcher in the Rye hadn't given an interview in nearly 30 years and hadn't published anything in 45 years. On September 3rd, the world will get to peek into the mysterious life of this iconic author with the publication of a definitive biography of this 20th century literary giant by David Shields and Shane Salerno. Written over the course of eight years, Salinger is based on interviews with more than 200 people and features over 100 never-before-published personal photographs. Salerno also directed and produced a documentary feature film companion to the book in which the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton, John Cusack, Danny DeVito, Martin Sheen, E. L. Doctorow, and Gore Vidal share their thoughts on Salinger's life and work.  (NOTE: Scroll down to "videos" to watch the movie trailer in the library catalog!)

 
Top 10 Books About Disability Print Email

Covers from four of the titles listed in the article

Novelist Paul Wilson recently recommended his choices for the top ten books about disability in the Guardian, highlighting what he calls "the best literature on lives too frequently overlooked or misunderstood."  Among them are classics like Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, chosen for the prejudice Scout, Jem and Dill exhibit toward neighbor Boo Radley, even while they are upset about the community's prejudice toward the black man Scout's father is defending.  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is a more contemporary selection; hopefully soon to be a film (the film rights have been optioned by Brad Pitt), Mark Haddon's novel effectively allows the reader to inhabit the mind of an autistic person.  Exploring the large and the small are Elizabeth McCracken's The Giant's House (one of the most wonderful love stories ever IMHO and featuring a librarian) and John Irving's A Son of the Circus which ranks for intriguing opening line ("Usually, the dwarfs kept bringing him back").  Far from the Tree, Andrew Solomon's well-received and widely read work on raising children different from yourself holds down the nonfiction corner.  Other titles:

 
Live Video Chat with Jamie Ford Print Email

Jacket cover of

If you loved Jamie Ford's Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, then you probably already know that his next book, Songs of Willow Frost, is scheduled for release on September 10th.  Early reviews suggest that it will be easy to fall in love with 12-year-old William Eng, the orphaned boy at the center of this new novel, who glimpses an actress (Willow Frost) on the silver screen at Seattle's historic Moore Theatre and becomes convinced it is his mother.  Next Monday, take advantage of an exciting opportunity to find out more about the book when author Jamie Ford chats live with readers.  Hosted by GoodReads, the video chat begins at 11am (August 26th); sign in with a GoodReads account to post questions for Jamie now.

 
RIP Elmore Leonard Print Email

Photo of Leonard outdoors, sitting on a log with his elbows on his knees

Elmore Leonard, the novelist known for snappy dialogue and gritty realism, passed away this morning at age 87 (Tuesday, August 20) from complications from a recent stroke.  Born in 1925, Leonard spent most of his childhood in Detroit where his father worked for General Motors.  Leonard's hard-boiled style sets the paradigm for this genre; many of his novels are set in seamy Detroit or Miami, but he also wrote numerous successful screenplays and some pulp Westerns.  His writing influences include Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck and Raymond Carver; in 1997, he published a slim volume entitled Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing with advice on how to remain invisible when writing which includes "never open a book with weather" and "if it sounds like writing, I rewrite it."  Here is a link to Elmore Leonard's works in the library catalog if you'd like to read as a tribute and a wonderful biography posted on his website.

 
What WCLS Readers are Reading Print Email

Slogan from adult summer reading - Groundbreaking Reads - with the READS in big block letters of crumbling, cracked earth

For a list of what other county readers have read and loved this summer, check out the list of items tagged WCLS2013.  And it's not just books, but also movies, music and audiobooks!  Are you really enjoying something from the library collection?  Share it with others by looking it up in the library catalog and tagging it WCLS2013.  A side benefit is that you will be entered into the end-of-summer adult summer reading prize drawing!  Help with tagging can be found on the Adult Summer Reading webpage.  

 
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