October 13, 2009 October 29th is a big event day here so we're breaking things down by segment of the day. First off it's our 17th annual Late Afternoon of Terror! According to H.P. Lovecraft, "THE OLDEST and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. These facts few psychologists will dispute, and their admitted truth must establish for all time the genuineness and dignity of the weirdly horrible tale as a literary form." Arnold Lobel further illustrates: "Frog and Toad sat close by the fire. They were scared. The teacups shook in their hands. They were having the shivers. It was a good warm feeling. So bring your favorite tale of terror to read aloud or just come join us from 6:00 - 7:00 pm and enjoy the nameless horrors and fetid vapors wafting up from forgotten vaults! Next up, at 7:00pm, will be an Early Evening of Social Relevance! as award winning authors Lyn Mikel Brown and Mark Tappan will make a presentation based on their important new book Packaging Boyhood: Saving Our Sons From Superheroes, Slackers, and Other Media Sterotypes. You can get all the details on this presentation and book signing here. So join us for a Late Afternoon of Terror and an Early Evening of Social Relevance on Thursday October 29th. Here they are! Our weekly picks for the two best: two hardcover, two paperback, and two children's books. The very best new arrivals to leap out of the box and onto our shelves this week. Call or email us if you want more information on any of these titles, or to have us hold you a copy. Or stop in and check them out in person. We'd love to see you. Thanks as always for sharing your reading with us!

 

Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel By Walls, Jeannette 2009-10 - Scribner Book Company 9781416586289 - Hardcover   See Other Formats List Price $26.00 - Your Price: $20.80 Availability: Available This "true life novel by Glass Castle author Wallis has gotten raves from YA circles as well as Adult, as seen here from this NECBA Fall 2009 Top 10 List review by Carol Chittenden. "Though not published as a young adult title, this fall release will be one of our picks of the year for teens, especially girls age 14, 15, 16. In short chapters, it relates the life of Lily Casey Smith, the author's Arizona grandmother. We see her strength emerge and harden as she grows from childhood in a feckless rural home, tries out city life in Chicago, and returns to Arizona ranching as drought and the Depression grip the country. Late in life, hardness sometimes prevails over strength. The short chapters give the book a staccato pacing, providing dots to connect along Lily's toughening arc." ...More

The Magicians By Grossman, Lev 2009-08 - Viking Books 9780670020553 - Hardcover   See Other Formats List Price $26.95 - Your Price: $21.56 Availability: Available Another adult novel making the NECBA Fall 2009 Top 10 List is Lev Grossman's stellar The Magicans, reviewed here by Elizabeth Bluemle. "Brooklyn teenager Quentin Coldwater is at odds with himself. He's uncertain about his post-high-school direction and plays third wheel with two cooler friends, on one of whom-Juliet-he's had a longstanding crush. A bizarre turn of events leads him to a college examination that results in an invitation to study at Brakebills Academy, a school of magic. Though Brakebills is no Hogwarts, its courses and requirements have as much internal logic and suspension-of-disbelief-ability (if that makes sense) as Potions, Charms, Herbology, etc. (One of Grossman's major achievements in The Magicians is to make readers almost believe that magic is possible, though tedious and nearly impossible both to study and to master. When a deadly creature breaches the safeguards of Brakebills and it's Quentin's fault, the real work of the students begins. Quentin's childhood obsession with a fictional Narnia-esque world gives him a special ability to take on some of the dangers that emerge. Harry Potter comparisons are inevitable, given the subject matter, but The Magicians is not a charming romp suitable for younger readers. It's darker, more bitter and complex and melancholy, and the young adult characters (true young adults, not teens) drink and have sex (the latter mostly off-camera) and deal with the consequences of love and betrayal and loss. It's also romantic and real and absolutely un-put-down-able. This is the book I was hoping Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell would be; in other words, it's a sophisticated book about magic and magicians where something actually occurs. (Excuse the snideness, but I waded through 22 unabridged CDs waiting for something, anything, to occur in JS&MN. Beyond a well-drawn faery netherworld in that book, nothing else stays in my memory. To me, that's telling.) Happily, The Magicians not only creates atmosphere, but tension and plot and characters that ring true. Think of it as Donna Tartt's Secret History meets Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell with a heavy dollop of homage to C.S. Lewis. The critics loved The Magicians, and after reading it, I understand why. Although the story resolves, I really, really want a volume two." ...More

Lying with the Dead By Mewshaw, Michael 2009-10 - Other Press 9781590513187 - Paperback   See Other Formats List Price $14.95 - Your Price: $11.96 Availability: Available This paperback original by writer's writerly type Mewshaw is a very vivid account of a family brought together on command for a reckoning by a strong maternal type. Narrated in turns by the three siblings involved, Lying With The Dead, is a very engaging treatment of a subject few people are in a position to call irrelevant. ...More

Eat Fresh Food: Awesome Recipes for Teen Chefs By Gold, Rozanne 2009-10 - Bloomsbury Publishing PLC 9781599904450 - Paperback   See Other Formats List Price $17.99 - Your Price: $14.39 Availability: Available This is not only good advice for teens, it's a great cookbook. Appetizing photos and very clear instructions, with extra care taken to explain each step, make this a great choice for kids who are looking to expand upon their kitchen repertoire's in a healthy direction. ...More

Today I Will: A Year of Quotes, Notes, and Promises to Myself By Spinelli, Eileen 2009-10 - Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers 9780375840579 - Hardcover   See Other Formats List Price $15.99 - Your Price: $12.79 Availability: Available Great concept here, an affirmation a day book of 366 quotes all selected from childrens books by the Spinelli's, with brief interpretations. For example May 25th is "I'm sure you're much nicer than you look." This is a book worth paddling around in. ...More

Runemarks By Harris, Joanne 2009-10 - Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers 9780375844454 - Paperback   See Other Formats List Price $10.99 - Your Price: $8.79 Availability: Available This great norse themed YA novel by Chocolate author Harris is out now in paperback. You can read my full review here. ...More