Pete's Blog

My pick for the 100 American novels I like the most

2011-04-11T23:29:00.001-05:00

A wrinkle in time, Madeleine L'Engle

A cold red sunrise, Stuart Kaminski

A confederacy of dunces, John Kennedy Toole

A thousand acres, Anne Smiley

A tree grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith

Adventures of Augie March, Saul Bellow

All the king's men, Robert Penn Warren

All the pretty horses, Cormac McCarthy

An American tragedy, Theodore Drieser

Animal farm, George Orwell

Anne of green gables

Are you there God, it's me Margaret, Judy Blume

Blood meridian, Cormac McCarthy

Born on the 4th of July, Ron Kovic

Brave new world, Aldous Huxley

Cannery row, John Steinbeck

Catch 22, Joseph Heller

Cider house rules, John Irving

Deliverance, James Dickey

Devil in a blue dress, Walter Mosley

Divine secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Wells

Dune, Frank Herbert

Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions And General Tales of Ordinary Madness, Charles Bukowski

Fear and loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter Thompson

Fear of flying, Erica Jong

Fried green tomatoes at the whistle-stop cafe, Fannie Flagg

From here to eternity, James Jones

Gone with the wind, Margaret Mitchell

Grapes of wrath, John Steinbeck

Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

In cold blood, Truman Capote

Invisible man, Ralph Ellison

Legends of the fall, Jim Harrison

Little house on the prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little women, Louisa May Alcott

Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov

Lonesome dove, Larry McMurtry

Manchild in the promised land,

Moby Dick, Herman Melville

Monkey wrench gang, Edward Abbey

My Antonia, Willa Cather

Mystic river, Dennis Lehane

Neon rain, James Lee Burke

O Pioneers, Willa Cather

On the road, Jack Kerouac

One flew over the cuckoo's nest, Ken Kesey

Peyton place, Grace Metalious

Pillars of the earth, Ken Follett

Portnoy's complaint, Phillip Roth

Prince of tides, Pat Conroy

Rabbit run, John Updike

Ragtime, E L Doctorow

Red badge of courage, Stephen Crane

Riders of the purple sage, Zane Grey

Sea wolf, Jack London

Slaughterhouse-five, Kurt Vonnegut

Snow falling on cedars, David Gutterson

So big, Edna Ferber

Sophie's choice, William Styron

Stranger in a strange land, Robert Heinline

Talking drum, Louis L'Amour

The 13th valley, John M DelVecchio

The andromeda strain, Michael Crichton

The big sleep, Raymond Chandler

The call of the wild, Jack London

The catcher in the rye, J D Salinger

The chosen, Chaim Potok

The color purple, Alice Walker

The confessions of Nat Turner

The dark tower; the gunslinger, Stephen King

The eighth day, Thornton Wilder

The fires of spring, John Michner

The French Lieutenant's woman, John Fowles

The godfather, Mario Puzo

The great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

The heart is a lonely hunter, Carson McCullers

The heart of the matter, Graham Greene

The jungle, Sinclair Lewis

The last coyote, Michael Connelly

The last good kiss, James Crumley

The lonely silver rain, John D McDonald

The magnificent Ambersons, Booth Tarkington

The Maltese falcon

The naked and the dead, Norman Mailer

The Reivers, William Faulkner

The right stuff, Thomas Wolfe

The Sackets, Louis L'Amour

The sound and the fury, William Faulkner

The sun also rises, Ernest Hemingway

The things they carried, Tim O'Brian

The ugly American, Graham Greene

The world according to Garp, John Irving

The yearling, Marjorie Kinnen Rawlings

Their eyes were watching God, Zora Neal Hurston

To have and to have not, Ernest Hemingway

To kill a mockingbird, Harper Lee

Tobacco road, Erskine Caldwell

Tropic of cancer, Henry Miller

USA, John Dos Passos

Winesburg, Ohio, Sherwood Anderson

Friends' Book Sale

2009-08-28T15:41:00.003-05:00

Here it is the end of summer and September is right around the corner and that means Friends' Book Sale at Riverside Park. This year the sale is just two days - Friday and Saturday so plan to come early and stay late. The best deals are made late but the best books are found early so you decide.

The Library Friends use all of their money for the library and our work. They buy our lease books program and our talking books; they fund most of our programs by paying for speakers, banners, invitations, refreshments, and even the gifts for our Tree Lighting Festival; they underwrite our Reading is Fundamental effort that places a book in the hands of every 5th grader in Independence that we can reach; and they have purchased more equipment than I care to list.

The Friends is a volunteer group who sign up to serve and they do it on behalf of all library users and library supporters. There are not very many of the 'worker bees' in our Friends' hive which in no way reflects on the amount of work they accomplish because they get the job done, and there are a group of other Friends they can call on for special efforts like helping at the book sale or baking something special for a program.

If you have books to donate for the sale please do. If you want to come and look for books to buy please do. Both things are for a good cause.

Back to Stockholm

2009-08-17T15:27:00.005-05:00

Stieg Larsson. What a writer.

Start with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Next read The Girl Who Played With Fire.

Now wait. Next will come Castles in the Sky. Then it will be over.

He died. What a dirty trick.

He waited until he had the first two mysteries written before he even contacted a publisher. He finished the third novel in the trilogy but there will not be any more.

These were all written in Swedish and translated by Reg Keeland who did an excellent job, not that I have compared the texts, just that the story that comes through is complete and indistinguishable as a translation and no footnotes are required to make sense of the story. So much of what I have read over the last year has been in translation and there are some unsung heroes out there doing great work.

The first book in the trilogy has been made into a successful film in Sweden that we can only hope makes it to the US with subtitles. I would love to see these stories on the screen.

These are big stories with complex plots, lots of action and twists and turns. They are the kind of story that drives one to keep at turning those pages for whatever comes next. The characters are interesting, expecially the female protagonist, Lisbeth Salander. She is one tough cookie.

Give these books a shot, you won't be sorry.

Slovakia? Bratislava?

2009-07-07T15:18:00.007-05:00

Michael Genelin has a wonderful new police Commander, Jana Matinova, who is featured in one of the better reads to come along in a while. The two book series, (so far) is based in Bratislava, Slovakia; but ranges to the Ukraine and to France and Austria, but mostly Slovakia - the piece of Czechoslovakia that isn't Czech Republic now that they have parted company.

Siren of the Waters is the first Commander Jana Matinova and introduces the dark landscape of Slovakian crime.

Dark Dreams is the second in the series.

Both books are in our collection and I recommend them to anyone following my trip around the world reading mysteries. They are well written, well plotted, the mystery is big enough for the story, and the characters are quirky and memorable. I like this author and hope for a long run of satisfying mysteries. These books were originally written in English, they are not translations.

I recently read the latest by Andrea Camilleri, August Heat. This is such a good series. I love reading about Salvo Montalbano the Sicilian police inspector. The mysteries are wonderful stories firmly set in the Sicilian landscape, filled with somewhat quirky Sicilian characters. Camilleri takes a strong interest in the eating habits of his Sicilian characters and his descriptions make me want to visit Sicily to sample some of the delights he serves his characters. This series is written in Italian and translated by a very skilled artist. Don't miss this series.

Do you remember?

2009-05-29T11:23:00.003-05:00

My book discussion group had mixed reviews on Elmore Leonard's Stick. I like everything he writes and I appreciate his use of dialog but my group did not. If you have not read Stick, there is an interesting connection between Stick's ex-wife and her new squeeze, a Dental Faith Healer, a Reverend Daniels if I remember correctly. This mention of such a bizarre faith healing specialty brought us to question if this character was based on a real person, and if so, what the hey?

It only took a minute to ask Google about dental faith healers, and quick as a bunny there was this article from the Herald Tribune on Rev. Steve Jones the 50 year-old West Virginia preacher practicing his faith. Truth being stranger than fiction any day of the week, such a sub-specialty does exist.

Anyway, we set another meeting date for late July but did not pick a title to read and discuss so I have a mission to find the book for my last book discussion (probably) as library director here in Independence. I fondly remember reading Eric Sevareid's autobiography, Not So Wild A Dream so as I poked around looking for references to it to confirm my recollecion, I ran across this YouTube clip of Sevareid at the end of his news career with Walter Cronkite that I thought a few people might appreciate.

What a treasure of clarity. Whenever I heard Sevareid I rejoiced his logic and clear thinking. I may not like what he said but it was unambiguous and clear and stands in sharp contrast to everyone speaking from the idiot box these days.

Hey Greenies! How cool is this?

2009-04-30T09:48:00.001-05:00

Henning Mankell coming to PBS

2009-04-27T13:22:00.006-05:00

For three Sundays in May, one of mystery fiction's strongest characters will be brought to life for American viewers for the first time. Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander will be featured locally on OETA starting May 10th and running the next 2 Sunday evenings.

Here are a couple of trailers for the series.

Kurt Wallander - Three Sundays in May

2009-04-24T16:49:00.006-05:00

OETA has announced the program I have waited a long time for - Kenneth Branagh staring as Kurt Wallander, the noteworthy character of Henning Mankell. The mystery series by Mankell is set in Ystad, Sweden and are classic modern day police procedurals. Mankell is a master at his craft and I think his stories will translate well to television.

Mark your calendars.

OETA has a short video trailer of the film.

May 10, 17, 31, 2009 Wallander Kenneth Branagh stars as complex detective Kurt Wallander, fighting crime and his own demons. Based on the books by best-selling Swedish author Henning Mankell, Wallander was filmed in rarely seen locations in southern Sweden.

Life of Pi - Love it or Hate it!

2009-04-21T12:53:00.006-05:00

I enjoyed it. The story intrigued me on page one and I suspended belief until the end. This one will not be everyone's cup of tea and based on the variety of opinions at Amazon and on the Internet, that goes without saying.

Next Tuesday, April 28th, my book discussion group will have this one on the table and I suspect we will share a spectrum-wide variety of opinions about the book.

Written by Yann Martel and published in 2001, Life of Pi was awarded prizes and thoroughly thrashed by reviewers.

Here is an interview of Martel to give you a taste of him as a human being.

I will recommend the book because I found it ultimately creative, fresh, and unique.

Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas

2009-03-31T14:48:00.006-05:00

My Tuesday Book Discussion Group talked about Tallgrass today. Thumbs up from everyone. What failings there were in the story were forgivable and minor in the general scheme of things. What we liked was the story, the plot, the characters, the mystery, most of the sappy touching stuff, and the human scale of the story.

Some scenes resonate Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, such as the father facing down a lynch mob with the aid of his wife. The story served as a springboard to discuss prejudice, the War, small town life, the difference between growing up 'country' or 'city,' and how some of us are offered the rare opportunity to act above ourselves in aid of the oppressed.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-17T08:53:00.002-05:00

Top o' the morning to ya!

Call Me Crazy ...

2009-03-16T14:38:00.004-05:00

The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard was the 2009 selection for Kansas Reads! I rounded up a dozen copies of the paperback edition for a book discussion which was held March 10, 2009. Five of us showed up to talk about the book. Mixed reviews, mostly disappointment.

The story grabbed me early. A mix of violent action, sex, mystery, death, and tension. What's not to like? The book was nominated for an Edgar, an Agatha, an Anthony, and won a Macavity Award for Best Novel. Pretty good company. Everybody and his dog wanted this book out in front. Problem is, the story did not deliver what was promised in the first 40 pages.

The book begged for a good editing and was left wanting. For example, an indelible scene of disgusting violence to a corpse is left unexplained and unsupported by the story. A pitifully ill woman intrudes on the story asking for a miracle from the 'Virgin' but served no purpose but to kill off a couple of baddies at the end to tidy up the story. Another character who promised looming violence and who could have been given redemption, up and disappears headed for greener pastures, maybe he ran away with the rodeo. The identity of the 'Virgin' (who was anything but) is a mystery except almost everyone in the story knows her name. Another unsatisfying plot device involves three exotic birds, one of whom goes missing in a tornado, that serve little purpose. The story suffered from so many red herrings that it should come with nose-plugs.

I could see the basis for this book being cooked up at a dinner party of writers where one dares another to write a mystery, set in Kansas, involving a dead virgin, a tornado, 3 parrots, a baby born in a storm shelter, a crazy judge, and an coitus that was interruptus for 20 years.

The book was laughably bad but had an engaging story arc that had me by the throat for the first several chapters and then the holes began to appear and the author was never able to put it back together. The author has huge skills with scenery, character, dialog, place, and beginnings. Her editor did not serve her well.

Talk About Literature in Kansas

2009-02-12T13:18:00.008-06:00

Once again, our Friends of the Library are teaming with the Kansas Humanities Council to bring a challenging book discussion series to Independence. Today's Mysteries is the title and mysteries are what it is about.

The three-part series opens February 26 at 7 PM in the library meeting room where Sandra Calvin Hastings from the Johnson County Community College will present and lead a discussion of Reflex by the ever-popular Dick Francis.

The second discussion will take place on March 26 at 7 PM. Phillip D. Thomas will lead a discussion of Talking God by Tony Hillerman. Thomas comes from Wichita State University.

Lastly, Erin Pouppirt from Leawood, will lead a discussion of Where Echos Live by Marcia Muller on April 23 at 7 PM.

This series usually attracts a group with a lively interest in discussing a variety of takes on the viewpoints presented. Julie Hildebrand is the Library's Grant Manager for this series. Admittance is free and the discussions are open to the public.

Johnnie I Hardly Read Ye

2009-02-09T14:34:00.006-06:00

Much of the civilized press recently noted the passing of John Updike with much fanfare and ballyhoo - marking him as a literary genius with a mountainous output - more than 50 books, countless short stories and essays, poems, grocery lists, and acceptance speeches for "The Best Writer in the Whole Wide World Award." Me, I could never get past chapter one, maybe chapter two, but no further. My shame is my own. I have hidden it well and avoided those cozy conversations trading tidbits from the latest Updike novel.

Maybe this is my non-Ivy League education coming home to roost, those night school courses at state universities where the beauty of the campus was less important than than balancing a job and an education with a family and a car payment.

I will admit that I tried. John Updike novels made the round-trip from the library to my night stand, but with all those first pages of Updike novels I managed to read, I admit that I never read a last page. But there is still time and I may use my retirement to become conversant in the antics of Rabbit Angstrom, but I doubt it. Anyway, another giant has passed.

Security at the Library

2009-02-06T09:51:00.006-06:00

Last August we brought in a security company to help us with our security problems. Many of you remember the chaos that had become part of everyone's library experience starting at about 3:00 every afternoon. The problem with unruly kids had been confronted by library staff from the beginning - we wanted to turn the kids around - we thought we could reach them with argument, or with reward/punishment, we thought we could appeal to their better natures or to their parents, we thought that maybe we could single out the "real" trouble makers and then the problem would be solved. BUT, after a year and a half of butting our heads against a brick wall we brought in the pro's, and it worked.

When I say having a security guard worked I don't mean we have no more problem teens or adults, I mean that we have a professional to confront the person and resolve the matter. Staff is free to do library business and our security person is here to keep order and to keep the public safe. Just last night a small group of teenage girls were ejected from the library after raising a ruckus, abusing library staff with verbal filth and threats and generally making problems for everyone using the library at the time. Will they be back? They are welcome to come back if they bring a parent and are willing to sit down with library staff and go through a review of their behavior and what will be necessary for them to change in order to be allowed back.

I think many of the patrons that had been frightened off by the rowdy people at the library have returned and are using the library again, and for that we are grateful. We at the library remind ourselves regularly that our public service is a voluntary and consensual activity by the public - they don't have to use us and it behooves us to make their experience at the library a positive one that meets their needs, otherwise - we fail.

Our policy is about behavior. Everyone is welcome here at first. We are maybe one of the most neutral public services in Independence. We accept everyone at face value - at first, but we are committed to providing a public building that is safe for an 8-year old child to use on their own and we do what is necessary to keep that commitment - no apologies.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-05T09:49:00.003-06:00

Originally designed for the Museum of Modern Art as a Christmas card, the Robert Indiana screenprint is one of the most recognized pieces of art ever.

Publication excerpt
Deborah Wye, Artists and Prints: Masterworks from The Museum of Modern Art, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2004, p. 166

Born Robert Clark in Indiana, Robert Indiana took his native state's name after moving to New York in 1954, a gesture that presaged his Pop-inspired fascination with Americana, signage, and the power of ordinary words. In his studio on Coenties Slip at the tip of Manhattan, Indiana made assemblages of scrap materials and found objects, using stencils to introduce words into his art. By the early 1960s he was creating eye-popping paintings of text, numbers, and symbols that related to the hard-edge abstraction of the day, and included political and social overtones. Later he moved to the island of Vinalhaven off the coast of Maine, where he continues to work.

New White House Web Site

2009-01-21T09:32:00.002-06:00

The President Obama Administration already has a new White House Web Site deployed. It is filled with good information about their plans. It is worth poking around on to learn a bit about what may happen.

Borrow those books, save a buck!

2009-01-20T16:16:00.000-06:00

Watch CBS Videos Online

How can we help?

2008-12-30T09:12:00.003-06:00

Brian Williams says it so well.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Send the word forth

2008-12-15T09:20:00.004-06:00

I am adicted to Crash Hot Potatoes, I have given name to the sickness and may perhaps start my recovery. On a late-night forray into Stumbelupon, I hit a site where the picture below grabbed me by the eyes and demanded my attention.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks is the site and besides the wonderful recipes, the site has great photography as evidenced above. The recipe for Crash Hot Potatoes is simple, well illustrated, new (to me), and takes the humble red potato to a place it has never been.

I know, this is going way past the point where good form dictates it should -- they are JUST potatoes, after all; but that is the point, these spuds are not JUST potatoes, they are something sensual, creamy but crispy, earthy but heavenly, naughty but nice -- sorry, I've got to slowly back away from the keyboard and go check the oven, the next batch might be ready.

Christmas Tree Lighting Festival

2008-12-09T15:03:00.001-06:00

Saturday night, December 6th, we held our second tree lighting party. I think about 300 people attended the event and we marked it down in our success column. Julie Hildebrand leads the task force of staff and library Friends that put this event together for our library. A lot of time and effort went into making it a success and I think it was worth it.

I thank all who helped!

Death of Tony Hillerman

2008-12-03T10:52:00.012-06:00

I do not remember the circumstances of my first reading of a Tony Hillerman mystery except to say that I liked it and went looking for another. Over the years I have purchased both paperback and hard bound copies of many of Hillerman's mysteries and I have given them to many friends who had yet to discover this gem of a series. Last night I counted my collection and I own ten Hillerman books, representing nine titles with Listening Woman appearing twice.

Mr. Hillerman died October 26, 2008, at age 83. He wrote 18 books in his Navajo mystery series beginning with The Blessing Way in 1970, and concluding with Shape Shifter in 2006. The mysteries feature Navajo Tribal Policemen Lt. Joe Leaphorn, and Officer Jim Chee, usually separately but often crossing paths with Leaphorn as the respected but feared mentor to the younger, brasher Chee. The books cover nearly 30 years and have the older Lt. Leaphorn being widowed and retireing but still involved in solving mysteries usually with the help of Jim Chee. Thief of Time strikes me as one of the more interesting of the series if for nothing more than the singular scene of jumping frogs tethered with fine nylon fishing line to prevent their escape.

The movies that have been made using the Hillerman novels have not done justice to the books, in my opinion. I was disappointed in the films when I saw them. Hillerman's writing carries a skillful handling of the outdoor scenes on the huge Arizona/Utah/New Mexico Navajo reservation, argueably some of the most beautiful in America. Anyone who remembers John Ford's cinematic use of Monument Valley knows the area covered by the Navajo Reservation, and Hillerman uses it well.

Here is a wonderful essay that reviews each of the Navajo mysteries by Mr. Hillerman. Check out the sidebar review of the Skinwalkers movie, produced by Robert Redford.

If you have not read Tony Hillerman you might start the serier with Listening Woman rather that the first book The Blessing Way, Hillerman did not consider his first book as his best but that is arguable at least. This series presents police procedurals with unique settings, likeable characters, insights into Native American culture and how that culture has fared over the last hundred years or so. I think people will be reading these books for a long time.

Here is a three segment documentary titled Tony Hillerman: The Art of the Mystery from YouTube.

Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall

2008-11-21T09:49:00.004-06:00

I can only guess at the pronouncement of these names. I remember seeing their books on the shelves of libraries for years but I never once picked one up. They are a wife and husband writing team and they jointly wrote ten mysteries set in Sweden. I think I was put off by the difficulty of the names and my conclusion that someone who sound so foreign could not possibly write a book that would hold my interest, but boy was I wrong.

Last Sunday, as I was leaving Wichita I made my usual stop at Barnes & Noble for a large coffee to go for the 100 mile plus trip back to this corner of the prairie, and I saw a copy of Roseanna by Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall being offered at half price with the purchase of another book of greater or equal value. Having been bitten by the Swedish mystery bug some while ago, I picked it up. The edition in my hand had a "New" introduction by Henning Mankell plus a glowing comment by Michael Connelly on the back cover. The book was first published in 1965 with the wife and husband writing alternate chapters. It took a little bit of faith for me to trust Mankell and Connelly on the power of this nearly 50 year old writing to still be readable, relevant, and interesting. They delivered the goods.

The book introduces Swedish Detective First Grade Martin Beck, whose angst-ridden character carries through the 10 book series. These are police procedurals from the days before cell phones, fax machines, email, computer databases, wire taps, and the host of electronic survelience devices police rely on today. I thought it might matter but it did not, the story is not "old-timey" because of these missing items, if anything the story is stronger because of the reliance on ingenuity and doggedness to get the job done.

The story in Roseanna opens with the discovery of the nude body of a young woman found during the dredging of a canal used by cruise ships during the summer months. No clues are found. But through hard work the woman is traced to her roots as a librarian from Lincoln, Nebraska (somewhere in the middle of the United States) and the story takes off. This was one of those rare books that from the first sentence I knew I had chosen well and that my interest was in the hands of masters. I am purchasing as many of the ten books in the series as I can find available. This writing team and their skill have earned their place on the "must read" lists of mystery readers, you won't be sorry. The books will be available for check-out mid-December.

The titles in the Martin Beck series are:

Roseanna (1965)
The Man Who Went Up in Smoke (1966)
The Man on the Balcony (1967)
The Laughing Policeman (1968)
The Fire Engine that Disappeared (1969)
Murder at the Savoy (1970)
The Abominable Man (1971)
The Locked Room (1972)
Cop Killer (1974)
The Terrorists (1975) The husband Per Wahloo died before this last mystery was finished and Maj Sjowall finished it alone.

Mongolia? You gotta be kidding me...

2008-10-08T09:55:00.002-05:00

The Shadow Walker by Michael Walters is a murder mystery set in Mongolia. It is a good read, with well developed and likable characters, a diabolical serial killer, mutilations, political intrigue, and a moon-like setting.

Over the past few months I have been to North Korea, Laos, Thailand, Sweden, France, Italy, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Japan, France, and who knows where, following some of the best mystery writing being done. Michael Walters is a Brit with roots in oil, broadcasting, and banking and he has written a convincing story that left me wanting more. The main character, Nergui is the former head of the Serious Crimes Team promoted into a position with National Security. Nergui teams up with Drew McLeish from England who is sent to help investigate the murder of a British National. A fast-paced investigation covers some interesting territory in this mostly unknown (to me) Asian country.

Give it a go, you might like it too.

Do you need a new ear worm?

2008-09-18T16:28:00.001-05:00

They did it again. Here is the whole song. It is Bruises by Chairlift.

Pleasurable shades of Dick Francis

2008-09-09T14:22:00.007-05:00

For decades Dick Francis has been delivering good stories and they always concern horse racing. The stories, settings, horses, characters, and plots are always different and compelling and those of us who have appreciated them over the years are reminded of the advancing age of Francis and the need for a replacement for his skillful stories. John McEvoy may be the replacement.

McEvoy's latest, Close Call is set in Chicago with a side trip to Ireland, and concerns the struggling horse racing track Monee Park where Jack Doyle takes over PR for the heir who is dedicated to keeping the park alive until legalized slots can provide the cash flow needed to meet the competition of legalized casinos. A Seabuscuit-esq racer contributes to the plot as do some nasty Southside louts. A very respectible third outing featuring Doyle. Earlier works in the series were Blind Switch and Riders Down.

I was up way too late last night reading Close Call and I look forward to the next one.

Leave your opinion at the door

2008-09-02T13:28:00.004-05:00

Well, not exactly the door but just inside the front cover.

At the suggestion of a patron who had seen the idea used at another public library, we have begun putting a "What did you think of this book," slip in the front of new books. The sheet lets readers rate the book and leave their initials if they so choose.

Over the years I have noticed that a lot of readers put their initials somewhere in our books so that there is a reminder left behind to tell them that they have already read a book.

Our hope is that those who feel the need to leave notice behind so they won't waste time with a book already read will use the new inserted sheet as the place for them to leave their initials as a reminder.

Whatever. If you read a book and want to share your opinion of the book you now have a place to do it.

Library Security

2008-08-21T13:59:00.002-05:00

Yup. There are now security personnel at the library. Valuable funds drained off of our budget that could have gone for books and programs. But safety and security are important too.

Part of our mission at the library is to provide a safe place for children and adults. The library needs to be safe and to seem safe with a minimum of intrusion on the intellectual pursuits of visitors. We had lost the ability to provide a safe atmosphere and so we have brought in a security firm to patrol the library in the afternoons when we are most impacted by youngsters too full of energy for the confined space of the library.

We have lost some adult library users over the issue of library security and we hope that by word of mouth they will learn of our added security and come back. All of our patrons are important to us.

Ten best mystery novels

2008-07-28T13:07:00.005-05:00

I am still on this topic. My personal list is fluid.

City of Bones, Michael Connelly
Eight Million Ways to Die, Lawrence Block
L.A. Requiem, Robert Crais
Killing Floor, Lee Child
Death of a Red Heroine, Qiu Xiaolong
Listening Woman, Tony Hillerman
The Dogs of Riga, Henning Mankell
Night Passage, Robert B. Parker (Jesse Stone not Spenser)
Open Season, C. J. Box
New Hope for the Dead, Charles Willeford

That's my list for today. I am going to keep Willeford on the list because I still enjoy reading his four mysteries. They are hard to find but worth the effort.

I will be making room on the list for some of the new authors that are coming along. As I noted in my last posting, Calumet City was a terrific story and it won't be long until Charlie Newton takes up residence on many "Favorite" lists.

Disagree? Who and how? Let me know.

If I only had a brain

2008-07-25T13:03:00.006-05:00

It is not often that I want to insist that others do something but I do now. GO TO TED AND SPEND SOME TIME. Lectures, demonstrations, performances, and talks by inventors, artists, physicists, philosophers, physicians, writers, and the gifted are offered. None are more that 18 minutes and many are shorter. Most are shorter than one might wish because the presenters are important thinkers talking about important things. They are the people you hear about and read about and if you rely on television sound bites for information you will not get the message that is available.

Go to TED and look into the possibilities, I dare you.

A taste: Jeff Han: Unveiling the genius of multi-touch interface design

They are not selling anything, nothing is asked of the viewer you can just go there and spend some time learning. Have fun.

Best I've read in years

2008-07-21T09:38:00.002-05:00

Dark, gritty, action-filled, and fast. This one got me on page one and I could not stop reading it. Great plotting, good story, excellent dialog, Charlie Newton got it right the very first time (eighth novel, first published.) It rolls along better than a movie.

I'll be passing this one on to my mystery reading friends, Patti Black has a story to tell. This first novel does not end as though it is the first in a series but if Charlie Newton is asking opinions, my vote is for more.

What about those teens at the library?

2008-07-16T08:51:00.003-05:00

I think this is a question some regular library users might be asking at the dinner table. Recently a couple of teens caused some heads to turn when they threw fist-sized chunks of concrete into the building from outside, through open front doors. The two boys in question had been asked to leave the building and library property because of a loud and ongoing disturbance in the building. Their response, once outside the building was to throw these potentially damaging chunks of concrete into the building. Luckily no one was hit by the objects. This is perhaps the low-point in dozens and dozens of difficult confrontations with teens over maintaining order in the library and protecting library property from damage.

Over the course of our time in our new building we have welcomed people from all corners of the Independence community to the library. Most are happy with what they find and use the facility in a reasonable manner but not all. The police have been called to the library multiple times to help with the orderly removal of groups of teens when events and emotions escalated to a level where physical harm seemed close at hand.

Positive and constructive efforts to engage teens have been fruitless.

Some regular library users are reluctant to come to the library because of the uproar that may breakout as teens act out unruly behavior. I think we have lost some customers who have been intimidated by them.

In spite of our tight funding I am asking the Library Board to authorize me to hire security guards to help protect the public, library staff, and library property from those who are unable to control themselves. What a time we live in.

Sandra Dallas

2008-04-30T10:28:00.000-05:00

Want a good book? Try Sandra Dallas she writes a good story. I picked up Tallgrass when it came through on the new book cart. In Tallgrass, Dallas sets the novel during WWII in eastern Colorado at a Japanese internment camp which I had not known existed. A child from the camp is murdered and a farm girl from near the camp tells us the story of what happens. Part historical novel and part mystery, the story is engaging, the characters well developed, and the plot kept me turning the pages and wanting to read more by Dallas.

I looked to our fiction shelves to see what we had and I was pleasantly surprised to find a good selection of well-circulated books. I have no excuse for missing this interesting author except that I keep my interest in mysteries at the forefront of my reading priorities.

Jane Smiley called Dallas "A quintessential American voice."

In reverse order, her novels are:

Tallgrass
New Mercies
The Chili Queen
Alice's Tulips
The Diary of Mattie Spencer
The Persian Pickle Club
Buster's Midnight Cafe

Dallas has character references between several of her books which makes for an interesting link between them. She doesn't use the same characters over and over, but the references are to earlier times and to the children of earlier characters - it is fun to watch for them as one moves through the books. Quilting is another element in her books and she makes it interesting. She has an excellent ear for dialog, and her historical detail rings true. My favorite is probably The Diary of Mattie Spencer and I have passed my recommendation on Dallas along to many readers.

My experience was that once I began one of these books I couldn't wait to get back to the story and I was sorry to have it end. You may enjoy them.

Six word novel, fifty word explanation

2008-04-25T22:20:00.004-05:00

Google provided lots of hits on the subject of "six word novels," all linked back to the original by Ernest Hemingway, "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." Several entries were from invites to famous writers challenged to write their own six word novels, with mixed success.

Here is a short clip about a book recently released on the topic.

Attempting a six word novel is a seductive idea to which I yield:

Turning sixty-five, adulthood dangerously near.
Saigon. Smell of burning diesel fish.

One blogger, Bookie, bent the idea and came up with offering six word summaries or descriptions of novels she had read, with amusing and insightful entries.

Year of Wonders - The plague sucks. Screw the minister.
Life of Pi - I was lost at sea with a tiger. or was I?

GreasyGranma offered these.

Big-Bang, Little Star
Flash in the pan.
Love Forever.
Forgotten, Never.
You're Clever.

Give it a shot and post to Comments.

I was so happy!

2008-04-23T14:52:00.004-05:00

Someone sent me a photograph of the parade in downtown Lawrence celebrating the return of the 2008 NCAA Basketball Champion Team, the University of Kansas Jayhawks.

What a sight!

What a game!

What a series!

A mystery in black and white

2008-04-23T09:07:00.008-05:00

Ok, here's the hook, the first-ever bank heist in North Korea with one of the robbers mowed down in the street outside the bank by an off-course bus, but wait, there is no body, and what about the beautiful Kazakh bank manager. Two weeks after the heist, the case lands on the desk of Inspector O, (but do THEY really want it solved, or not?) O ponders the corundum as he again considers plans for a never to be built book shelf for his office. Ok, the pace is slow and things are seldom as they seem but it is North Korea after all.

This is a solid proceedural written by James Church, who claims to have been an intelligence agent who now uses a pseudonym. At first glance I might have passed on this one but the pace and language of the first few pages sucked me in and I enjoyed it.

This is the second Inspector O mystery. The first was A Corpse in the Koryo, released in 2006. Glenn Kessler reviewed this one for The Washington Post and wrote:

"But the book has also caused a stir among Asia specialists because it offers an unusually nuanced and detailed portrait of one of the most closed societies on Earth -- North Korea. Much like Martin Cruz Smith's novel "Gorky Park," which depicted life in the Soviet Union in the early 1980s through the eyes of police inspector, "A Corpse on the Koryo" provides a vivid window into a mysterious country through the perspective of its primary character -- Inspector O."

I think the point he makes about the book is why I took to Hidden Moon, it was a peek into one of the most closed societies in modern times.

Remember Marshall McLuhan?

2008-04-15T10:01:00.008-05:00

Back in the 1960's, The Medium is the Massage was hot and all the talk. If you could work a McLuhan quote into a college paper it was guaranteed an A. Here are a few I found on the Internet. His earlier The Gutenberg Galaxy was pioneering in the fields of oral culture, print culture, and media studies. (Wikipedia)

We owe Marshall McLuhan for the phrases, "global village," and "surfing," ("...to refer to rapid, irregular and multi directional movement through a heterogeneous body of documents or knowledge.") (Wikipedia)

He is very quotable ...

The story of modern America begins with the discovery of the white man by The Indians.
Money is the poor man’s credit card.
We look at the present through a rear-view mirror. We march backwards into the future.
Spaceship earth is still operated by railway conductors, just as NASA is managed by men with Newtonian goals.
The road is our major architectural form.
Today the business of business is becoming the constant invention of new business.
All advertising advertises advertising.
The answers are always inside the problem, not outside.
Politics offers yesterday’s answers to today’s questions.
Men on frontiers, whether of time or space, abandon their previous identities. Neighborhood gives identity. Frontiers snatch it away.
“I may be wrong, but I’m never in doubt.”

I don't know who discovered water but it certainly wasn't a fish.

" ... as we transfer our whole being to the data bank, privacy will become a ghost or echo of its former self and what remains of community will disappear."

I would love to have heard his take on the "information" we are supplied by the government and the major news organizations today.

Poetry Alive!®

2008-03-28T10:37:00.006-05:00

At 4:00, Tuesday, April 1, 2008, the touring troupe of Poetry Alive!® will again bring their performance skill to our library. The performance is a fun one and might jump-start an interest in poetry in any of the adults and children who attend.

This is what they have to say about themselves:

WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT POETRY ALIVE?

We are a Poetry Company. Using the rich heritage of the bardic tradition of long ago, we bring high-intensity poetry performances into the classroom. The Poetry Alive! actors have memorized hundreds of poems—from the classics to the popular to the contemporary.

Those poems, presented in engaging and memorable ways, become the connection to enhanced reading and writing skills. In short, we bring poetry to life, by engaging students to the learning process. Poetry Alive! has become the reading, writing and performing connection.

Be there or be square.

A single, famous book each

2008-03-10T09:37:00.002-05:00

Help me out here. Offer up the names of authors who are known for a single work that became famous and who never published another book. Several come to mind.

Anna Sewell wrote Black Beauty: The Autobiography of a Horse, but nothing else that was published. According to Ron Charles there were 50 million copies published. According to Wikipedia Sewell wrote Black Beauty in the last years of her life while confined as an invalid. She died five months after publication, but long enough to see the book succeed.

To Kill A Mockingbird was Harper Lee's only novel. She is rumored to have a couple of other things written but not published. The film staring Gregory Peck and adapted by Horton Foote, is a perennial favorite and an Oscar winner for Peck. I use this book as the 'starter' for book discussion groups as it seems easy for most people to relate to and to talk about. The story resonates for nearly everyone for some reason. Lee is also known as the research assistant to Truman Capote during the time he wrote In Cold Blood although he did not credit her for that.

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell has sales of about 28 million copies and is the only novel published by Mitchell in her lifetime. The book won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for literature and won a record number of Oscars.

Do you know of any other entries in this odd category?

The Fifth In A Series of Mysteries

2008-03-04T14:46:00.008-06:00

Bill Powell, writing in Time's The China Blog, recommends Red Mandarin Dress and compares Qiu Xiaolong's Inspector Chen to Martin Cruz Smith's Arkday Renko stories.

Red Mandarin Dress, An Inspector Chen Novel by Qiu Xiaolong is now on the shelves. It is the fifth book featuring Inspector Chen and set in 1990's Shanghai. The series progression has been:

Death of a Red Heroine (2000)
A Loyal Character Dancer* (2002)
When Red is Black (2004)
A Case of Two Cities (2006)
Red Mandarin Dress* (2007)

* Owned by Independence Public Library

Being Chinese and having been born in China, Qiu Xiaolong has the chops to pull back the curtain and reveal to us the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution and show us the society that has resulted. Although he now lives and writes in St. Louis, the author was born and raised in Shanghai. As Powell points out in The China Blog, Qiu is writing in English which is his second language.

The Wall Street Journal named his first book, Death of a Red Heroine (2000) one of the five best political novels of all time. Their listing was as follows:

The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope (1876)
Shelley's Heart by Charles McCarry(1995)
Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong (2000)
Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler (1941)
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren (1946)

This list is not of my making and is going to force me to take up some dusty books to see what I have missed. At any rate, they have put this newcomer in heady company with his first outing. The novel was also picked as an Edgar Winner for a first novel.

I apologize for letting this one slip by me until now. I for one, look forward to a new (to me) author. We will see about picking up the three that we do not own at this time.

This interview features Qiu Xiaolong talking about Red Mandarin Dress:

Guest Blogger Robin Acker, M.D.

2008-02-26T16:04:00.007-06:00

If Amelia Earhart was alive today, she could only be proud that a recent survey (USA Today, Feb. 4, 2008) of teenagers from the 50 states named her the 6^th most famous American (not counting Presidents) since the days of Columbus.

Now more than 70 years after her disappearance, researchers may be closing in on the final whereabouts of Earhart and the Lockheed Electra in which she was lost.

Since her disappearance in 1937, thoughts of Earhart’s last hours have been the focus of numerous articles, books and movies. Gradually, the theories have coalesced into three main groups:

She and her navigator, Fred Noonan, ditched their plane in the sea and floated some time before drowning. This is the official opinion of the US Navy.
Earhart managed to land somewhere, but she and Noonan were never found and they subsequently expired.
Whether after ditching in the sea or finding land, Earhart and Noonan were captured by Japanese soldiers, and died either due to dysentery or by execution.

Although theories one and three seem to have been the most popular, I, and a group to which I belong (TIGHAR), believe that the evidence points most strongly to the second.

The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery got into the “Earhart game” (as Barney Fife might have put it) a little more than a year after it was formed in 1987. The founder, Ric Gillespie, initially believed that there was no hard evidence that could justify a search for Earhart and her plane. But when two members of TIGHAR, knowledgeable of “old school” celestial navigation, told Gillespie the implications of her final radio transmissions, the head of TIGHAR was hooked.

For myself, I learned of Earhart when I was 10 years old in 1966, growing up in a town of about 4,000 in central California. Though I wasn’t in an enrichment class, we were blessed with a teacher who was indeed gifted. She encouraged my interest, which gripped me for years, but by April, 2007 had grown dormant. Dormant, that is, right up until my wife casually mentioned one day, “There’s something here in the news about Amelia Earhart.”

A few weeks later, I found myself the team physician on TIGHAR’s fifth major expedition to tiny, uninhabited Nikumaroro of the Kiribati nation, doctoring an epidemic of seasickness on the five-day motor-sail voyage to the atoll, a piece of land almost directly on Earhart and Fred Noonan’s last described line of position, some 300 miles southeast of their intended destination of Howland Island. Niku is just as hot as one would expect from a lava rock baking just 4 degrees south of the equator.

Why do we believe Earhart and Noonan died on Nikumaroro? Both Gillespie and Thomas H. King, chief archaeologist of TIGHAR, have written books that lay out the evidence quite nicely (Finding Amelia and Amelia Earhart’s Shoes, respectively). The notion that Earhart and Noonan ditched in the ocean doesn’t stand up to the fact that well-documented radio broadcasts received in the days after her loss virtually had to come from Earhart, whose plane was incapable of broadcasting from water. And while anecdotes have indicated a Japanese military capture, Earhart’s last transmissions to Howland were so strong that Coast Guardsmen ran out of the radio shack to look up in the sky, a circumstance unexplainable if the Electra was more than a thousand miles away.

Pursuing a site first explored on earlier trips, in 2007 we continued work on a section that appears to match contemporary colonial records of a skeleton discovery in 1940. The section, stained by the detritus of multiple campfires, has borne evidence of one or more castaways, including American-manufactured bottles from the 1930s, clumsily opened clams, and now the most recently confirmed substance--early 20^th century cosmetic.

As laboratory testing continues on other items found on the island in 2007, I and other TIGHAR members have our fingers crossed for a major breakthrough that could lead to the mystery’s resolution, and finally bring Earhart and Noonan home.

Thanks Robin for this fascinating article on your Amelia Earhart experience.

Something about the Amelia Earhart story resonates with many people. The above story came to me out of the earlier blog postings about our Friend's annual meeting program of Ann Birney portraying Amelia Earhart. Interest in the story of Amelia Earhart will continue. -- Pete

The Hearts of Horses

2008-02-22T13:33:00.007-06:00

Every once in a while I come across a plain, good story. This book is one of those where I recognized early on that it is going to end long before I have had my fill of the characters and the story.

Molly Gloss has written four or five earlier books, some juvenile or intermediate and some stories and poems. Her latest, The Hearts of Horses is described on Gloss's website thusly:

In the winter of 1917 many of the young ranch hands in this remote Eastern Oregon county have been called away to war. When 19-year-old Martha Lessen shows up at George Bliss's doorstep looking for work breaking horses, George glimpses beneath her showy rodeo costume a shy young woman with a serious knowledge of horses, and he hires her on. Martha's unusual, quiet way of breaking horses soon wins her additional work among several of George Bliss's neighbors, and over the course of the winter she helps out a German family whose wagon and horses have tipped off a narrow road into a ravine; she gentles a horse for a man who knows he is dying—a last gift to his young son; and she clashes with a hired hand who has been abusing horses with casual cruelty. Against the backdrop of a horrifying modern war, Martha gradually comes to feel enveloped by a sense of community and family she's never had before. And eventually, against her best intentions to lead a solitary cowboy life, she falls in love.

Molly Gloss lives in Portland, Oregon and has won numerous literary awards. Her book Wild Life was chosen as the 2002 selection for, "What if all Seattle read the same book?"

Our library currently owns:

The Hearts of Horses (2007)
Jump Off Creek (1989)

I will look into purchasing more of her work.

The loss of downtown merchants

2008-02-15T14:15:00.006-06:00

DeFever-Osborn Rexall Drug Store closed last month. There was a wildfire rumor then notice in the afternoon Independence Daily Reporter. Steve DeFever gave employees one week notice that the store was to close. Steve sold the store to Walgreen's so they could acquire his prescription files and customers. The historic orange neon sign for the store projected 90 degrees from the building and would be seen from both direction on Penn Avenue for many years. It is now dark.

When I visited Independence to be interviewed for the library director's position my son visited with me to access prospects and my staying power moving from metropolitan Palm Beach County Florida to small-town Kansas. The first impression we both had as we drove into town that August of 2001 was positive, bolstered in-part by the busy downtown commercial district. After dinner with the library board and selection committee at John's Kitchen and Pub, I met with them again the next afternoon. At noon that day, my son and I had gone to the lunch counter at DeFever-Osborn Drug Store for soup and sandwiches.

The drug store bustled both at the prescription counter and at the lunch counter. A dozen stools faced what had started as a soda fountain before 'pop' came in cans and teenagers ordered cherry-limeades that came in glasses not styrofoam cups from Sonic Drive-In. There were two or three wooden booths between the lunch counter and the prescription counter for coffee drinkers and newspaper readers. Steve had hung lots of historic photographs in the store and he actually had a better collection than the library. I borrowed a couple from him to copy for our files.

I was in Walgreen's the other day to get a prescription and saw Steve working there behind the counter as I waited. I won't say that I liked the line and the wait. I think I liked looking at the old photos at the old store better.

Across the street from DeFever-Osborn was Calvert's Department Store. They announced their closing in the same article that announced the drug store closing. I may write more about that later.

So, in one month two downtown landmark stores closed. It is tough for merchants in small towns as Walmart and city malls take customers away.

Robert B. Parker talks about his books

2008-02-13T08:47:00.005-06:00

He is six books ahead of publication, a good interview.

His latest, Stranger in Paradise, is a Jesse Stone and is a good story, made for a TV movie. Tom Selleck does a good job in these moody procedurals to my taste. This is the eighth novel Parker has written using the Jesse Stone character. They are:

Night Passage (1997)
Trouble in Paradise (1998)
Death in Paradise (2001)
Stone Cold (2003)
Sea Change (2006)
Blue Screen (2006) *
High Profile (2007) *
Stranger in Paradise (2008)

Adding to the fun, Parker includes Sunny Randall in Blue Screen and High Profile and promises to include her in future efforts.

Explaining the book to a new user ...

2008-02-08T22:26:00.001-06:00

It is obvious that I spend too many evenings at the computer. The evidence is clear. Anyway, it's my life and the results can be fascinating. I offer the following as proof. (Thanks Stumbleupon.com.)

How cool is this?

2008-02-08T22:09:00.000-06:00

Guest Blogger Kim Alden Mallin, M.D.

2008-01-30T10:28:00.000-06:00

I was disappointed to find out that G. M. Ford's latest book Nameless Night was not part of his Frank Corso series. Over the years, I have come to enjoy the rogue journalist with his strong but sometimes misguided sense of justice and his photojournalist partner, Meg Dougherty (who also happens to be bizarrely tattooed over most of her body) ... but that's another story. Read the books.

Ford has written two series.

Who in Hell is Wanda Fuca? introduced the Leo Waterman series about a bumbling, smart-mouth, rumpled Seattle private eye described as, "...the most likable private eye to make the scene since Travis McGee." In 2000, the sixth and last book of the series, The Deader the Better was published.

Fury, the first of the Frank Corso series, appeared in 2002. In it a respected New York Times journalist (Corso) falls from grace and is booted from The Times after a highly publicized libel case. Now a renegade outcast, he ends up in Seattle where he becomes the "Harry Bosch of the Pacific Northwest." Blown Away, the Sixth and most recent Corso novel was based on an actual 2003 unsolved case and revolves around a series of deadly bank robberies.

Nameless Night is Ford's first stand-alone novel and is a new twist on an old premise ... amnesia. Kirkus Reviews writes:

A virtual sleepwalker for seven years wakes to a murderous reality. As a ward of the state, Paul Hardy has been living with a dozen other physically or emotionally impaired adults. Paul Hardy isn't his real name ... Who he is, or was, is a mystery, largely because he's never been known to utter so much as a syllable ... Hospitalized after being hit by a car, he ends up getting ... a new face along with a new set of synapses. And now he remembers a name: Wesley Allen Howard. Is it his ...? Suddenly, ill-intentioned men arise from a variety of alphabet agencies, and if he wants to stay alive, the ex-Paul Hardy had better find out why in a hurry. Yes, it's the old amnesia gimmick, but Ford (Blown Away, 2007, etc.) is such an ingratinting storyteller that you may well find yourself beguiled.

I found it a fast-paced and interesting read, but not exactly beguiling. I hope Corso returns soon.

I did find an interesting on-line interview with G. M. Ford Here, in which he talks about fulfilling his middle-aged dream of becoming a fulltime novelist and how he "didn't even have to endure the agony of rejected manuscripts or involuntary penury to achieve that position. He sold the first book he ever wrote within a year." I hate him. I have endured the agone of at least 100 rejection letters so far. Oh well, James Lee Burke's The Lost Get Back Boogie received 111 rejection letters, and John Grisham got 28 for A Time to Kill. I'm in good company.

Standing Room Only

2008-01-25T11:15:00.000-06:00

Last night at the Annual Meeting of our Friends there was a SRO crowd, we figure about 87, give or take. A dozen or so kids were in the audience go get extra credit from a teacher who assigned attendance in a civics class, but otherwise an interested and supportive group.

Friends' president, Diane Hight spoke glowingly of the accomplishments of our Friends group achievements and it has been a stellar year. Again and again library staff has turned to our Friends for help and support and every time the Friends exceeded expectations. This is the fifth or sixth friends group I have worked with and it is the best by far.

Good job Friends!

Amelia Earhart Here January 24th

2008-01-22T14:54:00.000-06:00

Always the trend setter, Amelia Earhart was photographed for the Modern Mechanix, January 1936 issue standing on a motorized scooter that looks much like the electric ones we see on the streets and sidewalks today. Don't miss the Ann Birney performance at our library this Thursday, Ann will perform as Amelia Earhart. She probably won't have the scooter. Thanks to girlbike.com for the reference.

Meanwhile in Scotland ...

2008-01-22T09:06:00.000-06:00

Stuart MacBride writes a gritty police procedural set in Aberdeen, Scotland. Tagged as "Tartan Noir" by the Rocky Mountain News, this three book series is off to a dark start. Detective Sargeant Logan MacRae has his ups and downs as he bounces between the squads of two Detective Inspectors, one a fat, candy munching brute and the other a lesbian hard-case whose hair looks a fright and who rips into everyone around her with fervor and frequency.

The stories bring to light the seamy side of Scottish culture and crime with healthy doses of sex, violence, crime, and punishment thrown in for good measure. MacBride can keep a story moving and he covers the police action with attention to detail and never turns away from the hideous and ugly.

I started at the end with Bloodshot (2007) and am proceding backwards to Dying Light (2006) and will finish where he started with Cold Granite (2005.) The earliest one was not in our collection so I have ordered the paperback edition.

MacBride has an interesting website with some photographs of Aberdeen and he runs a blog on the site. His blog reflects his tough-guy take as he struggles with Internet access and problems with his wireless access. The bit of Scottish inflection in the dialog is easy to navigate and not a problem.

There is an interview of MacBride at The Mystery Reader.

Creating possibilities ...

2008-01-21T10:34:00.000-06:00

Public library. Small town. Mission: Create Possibilities.

Julie Hildebrand takes on the mission to create possibilities over and over. In February she is introducing a new program series at the library about journaling in creative ways. The appeal of recording one's life is broad and ranges from daily weather notations to intimate ruminations. Many people start journals but fail to keep them going, getting bored with repetition or maybe simply running out of ideas. Adding a creative dimension to journaling may be just the element to add excitement and innovation to your efforts, stay tuned for more.

Look for notices at the library and on our website about the series which begins February 11.

Score One for Nick Wright

2008-01-16T11:22:00.000-06:00

Local photojournalist, Nick Wright has the cover shot for this week's Time Magazine. Way to go Nick! I think that's me on the left.

Favorite Kansas Book Stores

2008-01-14T15:16:00.000-06:00

My favorite bookstore in Kansas would have to be The Raven in Lawrence. At 6 East 7th Street, it is just off Mass and around the corner from a couple of good coffee shops. As you might surmise from the name it specializes in mystery offerings but carries a small eclectic mix of other interesting books as well. The staff is mystery-knowledgeable and helpful in suggesting authors and titles. The Raven started small and has stayed small. The new Borders in Lawrence is close enough to hit with a well-aimed Starbuck's brownie but I hope customer loyalty will keep the doors open at The Raven for many years. A steady stream of mystery writers come to The Raven for book signings. I saw Sue Grafton there a few years ago as did 75 or 80 others who gathered there that night. The Raven produces a free quarterly newsletter that features a couple of tight pages of forthcoming mystery titles.

Second, I will offer Watermark Books in Wichita as wonderful local bookstore worth a visit when you are visiting Wichita. Larger than The Raven, Watermark has more inventory and is more general in its offerings. A cozy cafe is tucked into a corner of the store and has a respectable menu. The store is located at 4701 East Douglas (corner of Douglas and Oliver Streets just a few blocks off of Kellogg.) Well worth our support.

Where else in Kansas are there book shops worth visiting? I'm not asking about the Borders or Barnes & Noble but locally rooted book shops hanging on by their fingernails since Amazon and the nationals have come on the scene. Drop in a Comment if you know of a shop or two.

Guest Blogger - Kim Alden Mallin, M.D.

2008-01-07T09:29:00.000-06:00

My vacations are usually spent on small Caribbean islands, where the diving is great but the availability of good books isn’t. So I begin hoarding books several months before a trip, usually mailing ahead a box of books to avoid weighing down my luggage with 20 pounds of books.

On a recent dive trip, I finally broke down and read the latest Michael Palmer thriller, The Fifth Vial. I have been saving it for months, keeping it in case I ran out of anything good to read. The “fifth vial" was an extra tube of blood taken with every blood draw, surreptitiously sent for tissue-typing with the results stored in a massive database and used to illegally aid in international organ trading. And it was too bad if your liver matched the CEO of some big company...tell me that won’t make you think twice about getting your blood drawn next time you go to your doctor’s office!

Although perhaps not as well known as some other physician-authors, I find Michael Palmer every bit as good as Michael Crichton, Tess Gerritsen, or Robin Cook. Robin was two years ahead of Michael at Wesleyan and they both did their medical training at Mass General. It was after reading Robin Cook’s classic thriller, Coma, that he thought, “If Robin can write a book and has the same education as I do, why can’t I write a book?”

So he sat down with his typewriter and every night wrote one page. At the end of a year, he had 365 pages and a book titled The Corey Prescription. He sent it to a friend working at a New York publishing company who promptly told Michael that his writing was terrible…but that he had a great idea for a story. And that while writing could be taught, the creative part couldn’t and he believed Michael could be taught to write.

He has since written twelve books, including several New York Times bestsellers. My favorite is Natural Causes, the story of Dr. Sarah Baldwin, a holistic healing OB/GYN who discovers that her patients are mysteriously dying from an herbal vitamin she had prescribed. At the time this book was published, I had completed most of a surgery residency and greatly identified with being female in a mostly male world, where alternative views, attitudes, and beliefs were not readily accepted. I related so strongly to his protagonist that I wrote Michael a letter (yes, on paper…this was before the internet) expressing my appreciation for his portrait of women in medicine. Amazingly, he wrote me back and we have remained in contact. He credited his sister, also a physician, with helping him make Dr. Baldwin’s experience so authentic.

Another reason I admire Michael is because of his work with the Massachusetts Medical Society Physician Health Services. He serves as an associate director of this organization, which provides assistance to physicians battling problems such as chemical dependency and alcoholism. The Fifth Vial will be out in paperback later this month and his next hardcover, The First Patient, described by Entertainment Weekly as “a terrifying vision of the Hippocratic oath gone very wrong” comes out in February 2008-just in time for my next dive trip.

A Six-Pack of New Mysteries

2007-12-19T13:48:00.000-06:00

The Chicago Way by Michael Harvey is the first one on the pile that hit my desk this morning. "A magnificent debut that should be read by all," says John Grisham on the dust jacket. (Well John, I'll just have to see about that.) Harvey is the co-writer and co-producer of the Cold Case Files television program, which may or may not be a good thing. Quoting the blurb, "... a fast-paced, stylish murder mystery featuring a tough-talking Irish cop turned private investigator who does for the city of Chicago what Elmore Leonard did for Detroit and Raymond Chandler did for Los Angeles." That alone makes it a must read for me.

Next on the pile is Mike Doogan's Capitol Offense: A Nik Kane Alaska Mystery. Kirkus Review says, "This series kickoff provides a righteously appealing hero and terrific local color." I like the Alaska setting and Doogan received praise for his last mystery so I'm willing to give this a try.

Twist Phelan provided the next book, False Fortune: A Pinnalle Peak Mystery. Sue Grafton and Michael Connelly both provide dust jacket quotes. Grafton says the book, "sizzles," and Connelly writes, "Twist Phelan knows of what she writes." If those two veterans like this one I probably will too.

A Killer's Kiss by William Lashner follows the New York Times Bestseller Marked Man by Lashner. This is the sixth outing for Lasher who is called the East Coast version of Michael Connelly by Library Journal. Tall praise indeed.

Next is At the Old Hotel: A Bartender Brian McNulty Mystery by Con Lehane. Ken Bruen writes, "A fierce novel in the Irish sense ... it may well prove to be the definitive Irish-American saga. A dark emerald, lit by old glory ... a true masterpiece of slow burn." Using a bartender as the progagonist is a good hook and the first few pages of the book hold promise.

The last of the six is Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. From the cover, "Gritty, sensual and charged with dark secrets involving love, murder and a majestic, mute heroine." (I'm thinking that's the elephant.) An interesting hook and one that got me.

Endings, Some Are Better Than Others

2007-12-18T11:10:00.000-06:00

Eye of the Beholder by Jim Ellis. It has been a good story, evil doers brought to their just end, fair maiden saved from a fate worse than death, redemption for the noble hero, but for God's sake END IT! This book has 45 pages too many. I am at the point of skimming to just reach the end and I pray for no more twists, Ellis has strangled me with one too many twists. Makes me wish he had attended Michael Connelly's workshop Ending the Novel at Just the Right Time instead of Dostoevsky's workshop Let's Drag This Sucker Out Another Two Hundred Pages.

Ok, I got it out of my system. Ellis writes a good mystery and I will keep him on my list of must reads and I will prepare myself for slow endings.

Tree Festival

2007-12-13T15:42:00.001-06:00

All I Can Say is WOW!

2007-12-11T13:16:00.000-06:00

Nearly 400 people streamed into our library last Saturday night for the lighting of our very tall Christmas Tree. We expected a large turnout but when the people just kept coming and coming and coming, it went beyond our expectations.

This is a view toward the tree while the Indy Singers performed Christmas favorites. Larry Anabell brought the Singers to the Library for their second performance and as always they were terrific.

Here Julie Hildebrand (Adult Services Manager and Event Coordinator) discusses our ornament fund raiser with artist/book illustrator/library board member Tim Raglin. Tim agreed to write the family names on purchased ornaments for the evening.

A daughter discusses her "Library Bucks" with her father. Kids earned a Library Buck for each book they read between Thanksgiving and the night of the party. The bucks were used to purchase gifts for their parents or caregivers in the Friends Gift Shop.

Above, Scott Petersen (Friends' Treasurer) helps a young lady select a gift for her mother. By our count over a thousand Library Bucks were used to purchase gifts on the night of the Festival.

Bradley Blake (Library Staffer) led Christmas carols all evening. Bradley played keyboard and guitar and led popular favorites like Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer probably a dozen times.

On the third floor of the library in the Children's Department, Santa and Mrs. Claus visited with over 100 children to hear the wishes and dreams for Christmas morning.

Miss Lily, the Crown and the Dance written and being read by Trudy Bryant. Illustrator Jacqueline Haltom is showing her Beautiful Artwork to the kids and parents gathered in our Story Area.

Julie Hildebrand and Diane Hight, Friends' President are due our thanks for pulling off this wonderful event. Lots of volunteers made the evening a success. Dozens of people made themselves available to bake cookies, pick-up last minute items at the store, wrap presents, serve treats, hand out programs, and a myriad of other things that have to happen for an event of this scale to be a success.

To all of you who went the extra mile to bring joy to our children - thanks.

Amelia Earhart in January

2007-12-06T13:15:00.000-06:00

The Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Library is featuring Amelia Earhart as portrayed by Ann Birney. Ann's energetic portrayal of Atchison native Amelia Earhart has played to audiences all over Kansas. The heroic Earhart lost her life in an around the world flight in 1937.

The Friends' Annual Meeting will be held at the Library on Thursday, January 24, 2008, at 6:30 PM. Refreshments will be served following a brief business meeting.

A Magnificant Tree for Independence

2007-12-05T10:15:00.000-06:00

Our library Friends group has hit another one out of the ball park. They bought a sixteen foot Christmas tree for our library and come December 8th all 1350 twinkling lights will glow. On the 8th we are hosting our Christmas Tree Lighting Festival for the whole community. Diane Hight, Friends' President and Julie Hildebrand, Adult Services Manager, have planned a wonderful event that has singing, food, presents, stories, authors, presents, the Indy Choir, presents, and food.

The presents that night are to be purchased by kids for their parents, caregivers, siblings, or chums, and the legal tender is the Library Buck which is earned by reading and reporting on books. The project is mostly underwritten by our Friends group but many of our fine merchants and professionals have contributed, and we thank them.

Bettte & Phil's Cards
Commerce Bank
Defever Drug Store
DJ'S Photography
Eggberts
First American Title
First Federal Savings
Health Alternative
Longhorn Realty
Main Street
Merle Norman
Messneger's Furniture
Middy's Creations
Nancy's Party Mania
Nannie LaRose
One Dollar Store
O'Reillys Auto Parts
Radio Shack/Computer Generation
Sonic Drive-In
Sound Designs
The Hair Gallery
Twigs
Woods Lumber

We thank our underwriters for their support.

Historic Photograph Source

2007-12-03T16:05:00.000-06:00

This is one of thousands of historical photographs available at Shorpy: The 100-Year Old Photo Blog. Although the man is not identified by name, the caption gives Independence, Kansas as his home. Is there anyone who can identify this face from the past? Please let us know if you can put a name to the face. The caption is copied directly from Shorpy.

May 1939. Between Tulare and Fresno on U.S. 99. Farmer from Independence, Kansas, on the road at cotton chopping time. He and his family have been in California for six months. Photograph by Dorothea Lange.

Back on the horse

2007-11-28T14:48:00.000-06:00

In Cold Blood is behind me. My book discussion group talked about it on Tuesday so it is finished. I did not enjoy the book and now I remember why I have passed up reading it for 40 years, it is grim, ugly, without redemption, and not my cup of tea. Monday evening we had a showing of the film Capote at the library, it was an interesting sidelight on the book and gave another dimension to the story, but again, it was cheerless and without redemption. Yuck!

Now I can read some fun stuff. Currently on the nightstand is Slipknot by Linda Greenlaw. She is the gutsy swordfishing captain from Maine who appears as a character in Sebastian Junger's book The Perfect Storm. Her memoir of the storm event was titled The Hungry Ocean and it is a good read. She has produced several books about her life fishing and one family cookbook. She writes a good sentence and tells a good story. Slipknot is her first mystery and I like it so far. A good interview of Greenlaw ran in USAtoday.

The Indian Bride by Karin Fossum is another one of those "Translated from the Norwegian," books that fascinate me. Set in the quiet village of Elvestad, Norway it concerns the brutal death of an Indian woman who has arrived in Norway to join her new husband who lives in the village. Events conspire to keep him from picking her up at the airport and she is murdered as she makes her way to meet him. Fossum has concocted a touching story wrapped in a solid police procedural. Fossum writes Inspector Konrad Sejer and this is the eighth book featuring him, but only five of them have been translated. If you liked Henning Mankell you might like Karin Fossum. The titles that we own by her are:

When the Devil Holds the Candle
He Who Fears the Wolf
Don't Look Back
The Indian Bride

Guest Blogger - Kim Alden Mallin, M.D.

2007-11-13T11:40:00.000-06:00

What if you walked into a morgue to view an autopsy? Hmm. Pretty gruesome. Well, what could make it worse…? What if you looked down at the body and it was someone you knew? Ugh, even more gruesome. But…what could make it even worse? Hmm, what if you looked down at the body and it was you…or at least it looked like you?

That is the process Tess Gerritsen used to come up with the premise for Body Double, the fourth book in her series about Detective Jane Razzoli. She has said that once she gets an idea for a novel, she tries to imagine what could make it worse, or scarier or more horrific. When her son became a typical annoying adolescent, she wondered where had her sweet boy gone…who was this alien? Hmm, alien? What if all the kids in a small town seemed to become “aliens”? What if there was a natural cause for it? What if they became violent? What if…? And her book Bloodstream was born.

When she overheard a dinner conversation about children disappearing from Russia, she imagined what could be happening to them? What if… they were taken hostage and brought to the US as sex slaves? What if Jane Razzoli, her main character, was somehow taken hostage along with them? What could make it worse? Hmm, what if Jane was very pregnant when she was taken hostage? What if…? And the premise for Vanish was developed.

And so it goes.

Tess Gerritsen began her writing career while out on maternity leave and bored. Watching made-for-television movies whose endings she didn’t like and thinking she could do better led to her first book, a romance titled Call After Midnight. She published eight more romances before telling her agent that she had an idea for a medical thriller. To which her agent said "No", she’d better stick to what she knew, since physicians had the market on medical thrillers. That’s when Tess said, umm…I need to tell you something. I am a physician!

Her first medical thriller was Harvest, published in 1996. She recently published her eleventh novel, The Bone Garden. Weaving together a modern day mystery involving the unmarked grave of an unknown murdered female with serial killings from the 1830s, the novel is both entertaining and informative. It brings to life 19^th century medicine through the eyes of protagonist Norris Marshall and his fellow medical student, Oliver Wendell Holmes. As a physician I was equally disgusted and fascinated by Tess’s version of how Holmes came to his conclusions regarding disease spread and control. (The real Oliver Wendell Holmes was the physician responsible for establishing the importance of washing hands in the prevention of contagion.) Her description of a ward full of women, either about to give birth or immediately post-partum, being examined one after the other by a physician who barely wipes his hands in between, carrying germs and pus and who knows what, is horrifying to me. The Bone Garden was an interesting mystery and I loved the medical history twist. Even if it was disgusting.

Now let me go wash my hands…

(Tess Gerritsen has an excellent web site linked above, and I have brought over an interesting interview of Gerritsen from YouTube, this is the first of a multi-part interview, the rest of the interview is easily available at YouTube. Our library owns 16 of Gerritsen's titles in print and as audio books. - Pete)

Guest Blogger - Kim Alden Mallin, M.D.

2007-11-06T09:40:00.000-06:00

Kathy Reichs is my hero. With me being a Carolina born and bred woman who practices medicine by day and struggles to write medical thrillers by night…she is the very embodiment of all of my deepest desires. Not only is she a full professor at UNC-Charlotte, working for Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in North Carolina and for the Laboratoire de Sciences Judiciaires et de Medecine Legale for the province of Quebec…she is the best-selling author of the Temperance Brennon series, of which Bones to Ashes is her most recent.

It was her involvement with a serial killer case that inspired her first book, Deja Dead. Serge Archambault had killed two women and admitted to having killed a third victim, cutting her body up and burying it in five locations. Kathy Reichs helped with the investigation and identification of that case. Due to the unique and skillful methods used to dismember the victim, she advised the police to look for someone who knew something about anatomy - an orthopedic surgeon or butcher. And as it turned out, the killer was a butcher.

I have enjoyed each of her novels, whether the forensic evidence uncovers cults, identifies skeletons from clandestine graves or aids disaster response teams. Her accurate descriptions of the Carolinas, from the mountains of western North Carolina to Dewee’s Island, a barrier island off of my hometown of Charleston, SC, make me feel right at home. However, her greatest appeal for me lies with her protagonist, Temperance Brennon. Tempe has a great reputation in her field and is respected for the excellent work that she does. But her non-professional life is full of complications and conflicts, which reveal her humanness, making her vulnerable just like the rest of us. Her relationships with men are troubled, she struggles with her desire to drink alcoholically, and she has a love-hate relationship with her sister all of which only make her a more likable character.

So, as I stated earlier, Kathy Reichs is my hero. But quite honestly, although I find her work fascinating and I certainly would love to be able to write like her, I much prefer my living, breathing, and usually nice-smelling patients to her larvae-filled, pungent corpses.

Dr. Mallin, Kim, is a Florida buddy from the not-so-long ago Delray Beach days. (Pete)

Reichs has ten novels to her credit. We have six titles (*) in our collection and will try to fill out the run. The television crime series Bones is based on Reichs' character Temperance Brennon.

Deja Dead (1997)
Death du Jour* (1999)
Deadly Decisions* (2000)
Fatal Voyage (2001)
Grave Secrets (2002)
Bare Bones (2003)
Monday Mourning* (2004)
Cross Bones* (2005)
Break No Bones* (2006)
Bones to Ashes* (2007)

Who loves a parade?

2007-11-02T22:22:00.000-05:00

If you missed our Neewollah Grand Parade last Saturday then you missed a doozie. Two hours of pretty girls, high school bands, horses, floats, the Budweiser Clydesdales, clowns, Shriners in funny cars, and more. Here are a few pictures taken by Julie Hilderman. More of the pictures can be seen and downloaded at Picture Independence.

The Tenderness of Wolves

2007-11-02T10:33:00.000-05:00

I saw this one sitting on our Interlibrary Loan desk waiting to be returned to the Grant County Public Library. The title, The Tenderness of Wolves, caught my interest. I don't know why, because I hate cold weather, but cold weather settings intrigue me so I read the blurb and the opening paragraph and decided I wanted to read it. Stef Penney is British but the novel is set in Canada in the 1860's. More than simply a mystery it is a historical drama set against the ethnic difficulties that faced the Indians, French, English, Scottish, and Norwegian settlers as they faced life in the New World.

A brutally murdered trapper is discovered as the book opens by a mother whose 17 year-old adopted son goes missing. Crime, clues, treks, hostile weather, unforgiving landscape, and privation face those seeking answers to the various unknowns introduced by author Stef Penney.

The first novel has won several European awards and Penney is working on her second novel set in England.

After finishing Pete Hamill's latest, North River, I still wanted more of a taste so I picked The Gift off the shelf for a quick read. The novel is slight, but,

"A powerful short novel that's vintage Hamill-an evocative, emotionally involving tale of fathers and sons, loss and yearning, forgiveness and approbation-is restored to print..."
--according to Amazon.

John Lamb's Bibliomania on Truman Capote

2007-10-31T22:18:00.000-05:00

Here is a wonderful piece of work by John Lamb on In Cold Blood and Truman Capote. This is Part 1.

Here is Part 2.

My book discussion group will be talking about In Cold Blood in November and I wanted to share this powerful work by John Lamb.

Robert B. Parker, yet again

2007-10-30T14:47:00.000-05:00

The master at the top of his game, Robert B. Parker keeps turning out novels fast enough to keep fans busy reading them. There are 36 Spenser novels, 7 Jesse Stone's, 7 Sunny Randall's, and 6 others for good measure. Parker's output spans four decades.

Now & Then is number 36 and involves all the usual suspects, Susan, Hawk, Vinnie Morris, and villains to suit the skills of Spenser and the needs of plot. Spenser is as witty as ever, Susan as beautiful, Hawk as useful, and Vinnie as accurate with a gun. Nothing in excess in a Robert B. Parker mystery except clever repartee. No surprises await but fans and faithful like us will cuddle up to this one just like the last one and just like the next one. We'd be fools not to.

I'm reading North River by Pete Hamill right now and I am thoroughly enjoying the story and Pete's skill with language, plot, characters, and the period. Set in the winter of 1934, Dr. James Delaney finds his 3-year old grandson left to him by his daughter who has gone to Spain to find her errant Mexican husband. With a Hamill inspired crew of immigrants, cops, gangsters, WW1 vets, and Dr. Delaney's sick, hurt and poor neighbors a heady brew is made. Always rich in language and detail, Hamill is delivering a sound story of honor, courage, and redemption, who could ask for more.

This is Pete Hamill's 24th book spanning five decades. Dues paid in full.

Next on my nightstand is Tallgrass by Don Coldsmith. He is a native of Iola, Kansas and was schooled in Coffeyville, Baldwin City, and UMKC. He has taught at Emporia State University and won numerous awards from the Western Writers of America. His name came up at this morning's book discussion group and I had to confess my ignorance of this prolific native author. Many of his titles are out-of-print but IPL has 33 titles (of the 45 he has written) in our collection. His fans swear by him so I'll give him a read to find out for myself.

Ghost Stories Lays An Egg ...

2007-10-22T10:53:00.000-05:00

Rosie Cutrer gave a wonderful performance, telling scary stories, singing funny macabre songs, and demonstrating again her wide performance repertoire. But only 6 children and 4 adults came to see her, not the usual 150 to 200 we had come to expect.

We moved the event from the Riverside Park band shell to the library, the weather threatened rain, and The Independence Daily Reporter gave the wrong date for the event in the program announcement, but even so ... What could we have done differently? What kept people away? Any ideas?

Wyoming, Mountains, Guns, Big Game, Bring it on ...

2007-10-12T15:13:00.000-05:00

C. J. Box is up to number seven in his (sometime Wyoming Game Warden) Joe Picket series. From the first release this series has been a winner. Box created a believable character who stands on principle even if it means citing the governor for fishing without a license. His sequence of titles is:

Open Season, 2001
Savage Run, 2002
Winter Kill, 2003
Trophy Hunt, 2004
Out of Range, 2005
In Plain Sight, 2006
Free Fire, 2007

The introduction of Joe Picket in Open Season earned Box an Edgar in 2002 for a Best First Novel.

Box is the real-deal, Wyoming native, worked as a ranch hand and a fishing guide. He still lives and works in Wyoming. His novels ring true and he puts Joe Picket through the wringer in every story - he pays the price for his victories. His peers (Michael Connelly, Lee Child, Tony Hillerman) line up to heap praise on his skill as a writer. For an interview of C. J. Box follow this link.

Check the shelves or put in a reserve for one of C. J. Box's mysteries they are keepers.

Ghost Stories Leaves Riverside Park

2007-10-09T14:05:00.000-05:00

It is true, this year the Friends of the Library are moving their signature event, Ghost Stories in the Park to 220 East Maple Street and holding the event in front of the steps to the old entrance to the Carnegie building. Holding the event in the band shell at the park has been a labor of love for a few of the Library Friends, but honestly, there are so few to spread the work among that they have worn themselves out with the work.

Below, Friend's President Diane Hight stands to the left of Rosie Cutrer as our feature at the event last year.

Above, Rosie warms up her banjo for a hilarious rendition of "Ghost Chickens in the Sky."

On Thursday, October 18th, just as the skies darken we will gather again for Ghost Stories at the Library.

A taste of Prime Suspect

2007-10-05T22:17:00.000-05:00

Here is the first of a five part segment of Prime Suspect Behind the Scenes from YouTube. If you want the see the other four segments follow the links.

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Lynda La Plante and Prime Suspect

2007-10-04T10:12:00.001-05:00

We owe Lynda La Plante a debt for creating the hard-bitten character Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison so well played by actress Helen Mirren. Each entry in the series stands alone although following the progression from number 1 to number 7 in order is a particular treat. I found that it took some time for my ear to adapt and 'hear' what was being said. The language may be English but it is not the English spoken 'ere in Kansas. Once the language barrier (?) has been breached the series is a delight.

Screenplays for Prime Suspect 1 and Prime Suspect 3 were written by La Plante and in 1993 she received an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for the work. A second Edgar was earned by Allan Cubitt who did the screenplay for Prime Suspect 2. Each entry runs between 3 1/2 and 4 hours and is intense and gritty. The first entry features sexism in the workplace and the uphill battle DCI Tennison must face to form a cohesive investigative team. A serial killer becomes the prey for her team. The second Prime Suspect involves child abuse, pedophilia, and prostitution and DCI Tennison and her team follow the leads to surprisingly high places in the British government.

Prime Suspect 3 sees DCI Tennison facing the personal ravages of alcohol in her life and the effects of an unwanted pregnancy on her professional career.

In Prime Suspect 4, which lasts nearly 41/2 hours is actually 3 short episodes and follows DCI Tennison 's no-nonsense investigations into child abduction, home invasion with murder, and a murdered woman whose case brings a shadow to the guilt of Marlowe who was the prime suspect and convicted killer in the first Prime Suspect - is he really guilty or did Tennison make a mistake?

The Prime Suspect 5 finds Detective Chief Superintendent Tennison demoted and underutilized until she gets a case involving a 12 year old who confesses to murder.

Prime Suspect 6, The Last Witness, has Tennison investigating the murder of a Bosnian refugee leader which then leads her to finding some Serbian war criminals trying to silence the last witnesses to a massacre in the war.

Prime Suspect 7, The Final Act, I think shows Tennison at her best and at her most human. With no life of her own to show for her dedication to her career, she finds herself with a serious alcohol problem. Her father takes ill and her alcohol induced blackouts make her investigative skills suffer. Her final case involves a missing 14 year old girl, a dying father, a retirement, and coming to terms with her own alcoholism.

Helen Mirren won Emmy accolades for this role. Prime Suspect 7 won three Emmy's - Direction, Writing, and Dame Helen Mirren for Outstanding Lead Actress.

The entire series is available in DVD format at the library.

"Perhaps the greatest role and performance of a female police detective, ever"--San Francisco Chronicle

On the nightstand

2007-10-03T10:26:00.001-05:00

Anarchy and Old Dogs by Colin Cotterill. This is the fourth in the series featuring the septuagenarian / Laotian / coroner / hero of the revolution/host to the spirit of a 1,000 year old shaman Dr. Siri Paiboun. Set in 1977, the story is mostly about staving off a military coup, but includes solving a murder or two along the way. Cotterill lives in Thailand.

The Ever-Running Man by Marcia Muller. Sharon McCone is back at it with a bomb set by a shadowy figure. McCone's firm is hired by her husband's security firm to track down the ever-running man who keeps leaving the devices at their various offices. Muller just keeps getting better according to reviewers.

Blonde Faith by Walter Mosley. This is the 10th Easy Rawlings book for Mosley. Set in 1967 Los Angeles, Easy is out to help an angry WW II vet trying to make his home in postwar LA. "Searing and moving," according to Publisher's Weekly.

The Red Dahlia by Lynda La Plante. The second Detective Inspector Anna Travis finds the unsolved Black Dahlia murder turning up in London 50 years later. "A must-read for hard-boiled aficionados not afraid to follow the blood spatters whereever they may lead." (Emily Melton, Booklist)

Tango for A Torturer by Daniel Chavarria. Starred reviews and a lurid cover, who could ask for more. Set in "sultry, sensuous, mysterious" Havana, this story from Uruguayan Chavarria, follows his Edgar Award winning Adios Muchachos.

Act of Treason by Mark Flynn. "... a fun, finger-blistering page-turner." Move over Tom Clancy, CIA superagent Mitch Rapp is hunting for a killer in the final weeks of a presidential campaign; can a conspiracy that runs from a global network to the Oval Office be far behind? More believable every day.

Volk's Game by Brent Ghelfi. "Brent Ghelfi writes like Dostoevsky's hooligan great-grandson on speed. Highly recommended." --Lee Child. It doesn't get any better than that for me.

July Harry Potter Party

2007-10-01T15:13:00.001-05:00

Last July we held a "Release Party" to celebrate the release of the final book in the Harry Potter saga - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. About 75 parents and children showed up for the late-nite romp at the library. We had food, games, a sorting hat, and at midnight we drew names to establish the order of reserves on the copies of the book. Twenty happy readers got started on the last book that night.

Some copies are waiting on the shelf for you if you haven't yet read the final Harry Potter book.

Dick Francis to the top of the pile

2007-09-27T09:57:00.001-05:00

The best part of my job is seeing the new books arrive and getting to handle them in their pristine condition. This week the large-print edition of the new Dick Francis novel, Dead Heat arrived. I took it upon myself to run a quality control page count of the book to be certain no pages were missing and I can verify today that all 511 pages are present and accounted for.

Dick Francis has never disappointed me except for not developing a continuing character more than he did. (Except for Kit Fielding in Break In and Bolt,and Sid Halley in Odds Against, Whip Hand, Come to Grief, and Under Orders.) But since all his main characters capture my interest, I'll forgive him. I guess I start liking the characters so much that I want to continue knocking around in their world in subsequent novels.

In Dead Heat, Max Moreton is owner and chef of a Newcastle restaurant, the Hay Net, and is responsible for food poisoning that strikes 200+ race-goers at the book's outset and then as they say, we are "off to the races." (I couldn't resist.)

Francis credits his son Felix as co-author. Following the death of wife Mary Francis, Dick looked to one of his sons as fill-in to replace the research formerly done by Mary. Apparently, Felix left a career as a private school teacher for the post. According to Wikipedia, Felix was the inspiration behind the leading character in Twice Shy.

Dick Francis fans will not be disappointed in the story, it is quintessentially Dick Francis with the smell of horses not far in the background. His 42nd outing. Dick Francis is 87.

The book discussion group on Ragtime

2007-09-25T15:17:00.000-05:00

Currently reading:
The 47th Samurai
by Stephen Hunter
Genre: Thriller
Reason: Judged by its cover.
Waiting: Pale Horse Coming
by Stephen Hunter

My discussion group met this morning to discuss Ragtime which I enjoyed. It got mixed reviews. Some found it disjointed and hard to follow, the sex put some off, and others couldn't say exactly why they didn't like it, they just didn't.

It is an unusual book in that Doctorow makes no use of quotation marks throughout the book. Dialog is made clear contextually, and for me it worked. I am a forgiving reader, if the story grabs my interest I seem to get inside the story and enter without my critical reader tools. As long as the author does not ask me to suspend belief for an impossibly implausible turn of events I am willing to work with him or her to get to the end of the story.

Next, we are reading St. Agnes' Stand by Tom Eidson which the publisher daringly compared to Larry McMurtry and which looks from its cover like it might have shades of Two Mules for Sister Sara (Shirley MacLaine and Clint Eastwood) in it. Following St. Agnes' Stand we will be reading In Cold Blood then Kite Runner.

As we wrapped up the gathering, I distributed a list titled: The 112 Best of the American Novelists, Novels. We used the list to discuss possible titles for the next series of books we will discuss.

What I liked about the list was that it wasn't compiled by scholars or literary critics who usually head their list with Ulysses by James Joyce which everyone agrees they haven't read. At the time I Googled for the list I did not pay much attention to the source of the list, I was more interested in what was on the list as far as being fair and representative and not especially leaning towards the scholarly. I will stand by the list for breadth and inclusiveness and hope I don't take too bad a licking when you see where it did come from.

Lee Child and Jack Reacher

2007-09-23T00:07:00.000-05:00

The following is a YouTube of Lee Child talking about his character Jack Reacher in which he reveals two facts about Reacher that he has not spoken of before.

I love the Reacher stories. He is a former U.S. Army Military Police Major. He served thirteen years, was mustered out, and now lives with no permanent address, no suitcase, and no income. He is an unconventional character with the deductive skills of Sherlock Holmes. His adventures are twisting and require unique skills to solve. I was captured by the series on the first page of the first one I read. There are eleven in the series so far. I'll list them for you:

Killing Floor 1997
Die Trying 1998
Tripwire 1999
Running Blind 2000
Echo Burning 2001
Without Fail 2002
Persuader 2003
The Enemy 2004
One Shot 2005
The Hard Way 2006
Bad Luck and Trouble 2007

Lee Child is in his 50's so the series could have a long run if he doesn't get tired of the character. I think Child's skill as a writer will continue even if he does and the compelling stories will continue.

If you are looking for a good book give one of these a try. They were a jackpot for me.

Ten Best Detective Novels

2007-09-19T13:11:00.000-05:00

Currently reading:
The Scent of Blood
by Raymond Miller
Genre: Crime
Date started: September 18
Reason: Cover blurb by Lee Child

Waiting:
The 47th Samurai
by Stephen Hunter

The following list is lifted from Crime Fiction Dossier. I like the concept although my list would vary some from it.

10 Greatest Detective Novels (in alphabetical order):

Lawrence Block - When the Sacred Ginmill Closes
Raymond Chandler - The Long Goodbye
Michael Connelly - The Black Echo
Robert Crais - L.A. Requium
James Crumley - The Last Good Kiss
Dashiell Hammett - The Maltese Falcon
John D. MacDonald -- The Dreadful Lemon Sky
Walter Mosley - The Devil in A Blue Dress
Robert B. Parker - Looking for Rachel Waller
Rex Stout - The League of Frightened Men

The list is going to drive me back into the dusty lairs to locate the Chandler, Hammett, and the Stout. All the rest I am conversant with and would rank highly but if I read the three older titles I don't remember it so I will do my homework and take a look at them.

There is an interesting conversation associated with the original post that expands and confirms the list, check it out. Some readers criticized the list for excluding women and mention Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Cristie. How does the list strike you? Did they miss any that you would like to see on the list? Let me know. I like Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins but I don't think he rates the 10 Best list, what about one of Stuart Kaminsky's detectives like Lieberman or Rostnikov? And what about Dana Stabenow, Marcia Muller, Bill Pronzini, or James Lee Burke? Not to mention Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko and Ed McBain's 87th Precinct. And if the list is going to be inclusive I would have to go with Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes, I mean gimme a break.

They say Poe created the genre with Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) but Holmes breathed life into it from 1887 until 1930 and deserves top billing.

At our Friends of the Library book sale a couple of weeks ago I picked up a 10 cent bargain, 221B: Studies in Sherlock Holmes by Vincent Starrett, which reminded me of his poem:

221B

Here dwell together still two men of note
Who never lived and so can never die:
How very near they seem, yet how remote
That age before the world went all awry.
But still the game’s afoot for those with ears
Attuned to catch the distant view-halloo:
England is England yet, for all our fears–
Only those things the heart believes are true.

A yellow fog swirls past the window-pane
As night descends upon this fabled street:
A lonely hansom splashes through the rain,
The ghostly gas lamps fail at twenty feet.
Here, though the world explode, these two survive,
And it is always eighteen ninety-five.

– Vincent Starrett

For me 10 won't work, I could maybe work with the 25 best, but the 50 best would be even better.

Small world crossings

2007-09-18T09:09:00.000-05:00

Currently reading:
The Patience of the Spider
by Andrea Camilleri
Genre: Crime
Date started: September 17
Reason: It has a scooter on the cover

Waiting:
The Scent of Blood
by Raymond Miller

Thanks to Matthew Coenen for the idea to list "Reading" and "Waiting."

Recently I did one of those periodic Google searches that some of us do on names from the past. I searched the name Anita Spearman.

The number one return out of 91,400 citations for "Anita Spearman" was for an feature article titled Tell the story, tell the truth, that ran 5/28/2006, in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, written by Michael Connelly.

Anita Spearman had been murdered in late 1985, while recovering at home from a mastectomy. She was beaten to death by an intruder. She was my boss. I was the director of the West Palm Beach Public Library at the time and Anita was an Assistant City Manager for an old Florida cracker from Kissimmee named Dick Simmons. At her funeral, this big-eared country good old boy cried for everyone there, he was inconsolable with shock and grief amid the hundreds of mourners who attended her funeral. Very quickly her husband was charged and convicted of hiring the murder. He was killed in prison. The actual perpetrator was also brought to trial.

The Michael Connelly is That Michael Connelly. Who knew. He worked as a cub reporter for the Sun-Sentinel and West Palm Beach city government was his first beat. I wish I could say I remember meeting him but I don't. I do remember one of his replacements, Scott Hiaasen, son of novelist Karl Hiaasen and as nice a young man as you could want.

Of course Michael Connelly has gone on to write sixteen successful crime novels, some featuring detective Harry Bosch. The point of the Sun-Sentinel article was to register Connelly's regret over the one article he did at the time of the Spearman murder in which he took an objective view and did not reveal his own grief and sadness over the loss of that gentlewoman who had been so cordial and welcoming to him as a young reporter. His regret was in not showing his heart in telling the truth and he claims that the lesson was learned, he writes; "When I write now I am free to reveal my compassion, my passion, my hopes and regrets. In a way I am free to tell the truth about myself in my novels, whereas when I was writing the stories in newspapers I had to hold things back."

Connelly tells the story in his non-fiction book Crime Beat, which is on-order at the time of this writing.

Beauty and obsession

2007-09-14T22:04:00.000-05:00

I picked up the nonfiction book The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean (LP 635.93 Orlean,) after seeing a reference to it by another poster on Douban and because I had seen the movie and had been curious about the character of John Larouche upon whom the film was focused. I had brushed up against the orchid acquisition fever (Orchidelirium) while I lived in Florida and I knew firsthand the power that collecting orchids could have.

I innocently bought one orchid, then another, and six months later had seventy five orchids with no easing of the drive for more. I found good homes for them all when I left Florida but I must confess that I have murdered four since moving to Kansas in attempts to bring them back into my life. Here is a photo of an orchid growing on my patio fence.

Orlean captures the essence of the disease as she writes the story of John Laroche the orchid thief. She traces the history of orchid collecting (poaching) that swept the modern world as an obsession from the beginning. Laroche was a poacher and he focused on the Fakahatchee Strand area of Florida for his poaching. The primary focus of his desire was the ghost orchid which he thought he could propagate at his nursury and supply in the millions to the masses thereby saving the plant from other poachers and getting rich in the process.

The movie, Adaptation, follows the book, mostly, with the Nicholas Cage twin brother thing thrown in to keep the box office busy, and the Chris Cooper/ Meryl Streep affair thrown in for dramatic effect, I guess. But the character of John Laroche matches up pretty well with the character described by Orlean.

The ghost orchid, an illusive Florida native plant is the main object of Laroche's obsession and drives the story, Orlean puts herself through difficulty trying to just see just one ghost orchid but fails in her quest. As a matter of fact the ghost orchid is mentioned so often and with such passion that one's curiosity could not fail to be stirred but for some reason no photograph nor drawing was included with the book. The orchid bloom on the cover of the book is not a Ghost orchid it is a dendrobium. To satisfy my own need I found a picture of the ghost and included it below.

The flower is beautiful though short-lived. The plant itself is easily overlooked without the bloom. It grows adhering itself to pond apple trees in Florida swamp areas.

Read any good books lately?

2007-09-13T10:30:00.001-05:00

I am always on the lookout for a good book. I have my favorite authors - Lawrence Block, Elmore Leonard, Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, Lee Child, Giles Blount, Larry McMurtry, Mankell Henning, Ken Bruen, and so forth. But they all write more slowly than I would have them write so I either reread somebody or I keep looking for new authors to read. Every once in a while one of them dies, knock on wood, and the output dies with them (not always, sometimes publishers keep finding lost manuscripts.) So when they die I have an opening that can be hard to fill.

Remember when John D. MacDonald died? I was bummed for a long time that there would never be another Travis McGee story, and I find now that Travis has not aged well and that they do not bear up well on a reread. Tony Hillerman rereads well, as do Connelly and Block.

This morning the American Libraries Direct e-newsletter offered up Books Toolbox: 50+ Sites for Book Lovers. It covers Book Reviews, Book Communities, Publishing, Book Search, and more. I am going to try a few of the recommendations for finding leads to new authors and a site named Douban as a place to keep track of what I have read and want to read.
My book discussion group is reading E. L. Doctorow's Ragtime for the next discussion and I am enjoying it more than I thought I would. Very little dialog which I thought would drag down the story but it has not. The characters and setting are fascinating. Thankfully I do not remember the movie based on the book, so the ending will be a surprise.

The book list I selected for the discussion group has had a mixed reception but this should be one of the best. We started with Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird which is so easy to use to elicit even the most timid 'discusser' but it is a tough act to follow. Will anyone make suggestions for the next list for the discussion group?

Two local artists - Nick Wright and Terry Ricketts

2007-09-12T15:20:00.000-05:00

Nick Wright is the photographer responsible for the wonderful shot of our Carnegie building at dusk that is featured on the library's home page. Nick's day job is as a photojournalist for the Independence Daily Reporter, and if you live here you see his work every day. Nick posts a blog of his own that you can check out HERE. He hasn't posted to it since April so we need to get on his case to bring it up to date. I would like to see the work he did of the flood and the flood recovery efforts.

Nick's blog links to a Photography 101 course that is online and free, you can access it HERE.

Coincidentally, another local artist is featured on Nick's blog whose name is Terry Ricketts. Terry is the artist who designed and created the stained glass stabile in the library atrium. This photo is by Nick Wright for the Independence Daily Reporter.

The piece was funded by the Friends of the Library and the Campbell Memorial and it was installed just days before we opened on February 10, 2007.

This is a shot of Terry and an assistant finishing the installation taken by Julie Hildebrand. Terry's studio is located in Sedan and is a fun place to visit. The studio is filled with stained glass work, paintings, sculptures, and some jewelery. Classes in stained glass work and other types glass artistry and offered. The Studio in the Hills is located at 126 West Main in Sedan.

It's been driving me crazy ...

2007-09-11T22:06:00.000-05:00

Have you seen the I-Pod Nano commercial with the catchy tune 1-2-3-4? The artist is Leslie Feist a Canadian. Maybe we can all get it out of our systems if we listen to it 200 or 300 times. Go ahead, you know you want to.

New Books Coming Soon

2007-09-10T12:54:00.000-05:00

USA Today has a long article previewing the Fall 2007 books. Big names on the list include John Grisham, Tom Brokaw, Phillip Roth, Steve Martin and Eric Clapton. We will buy some from the list but not all. Let us know any of the titles on the list that you would like for us to purchase and we will weigh our selections with that information.

Why don't we just go ahead and buy them all? It is a cost driven decision. We have so many dollars for books and when that runs out we are done for the year. The Friends of the Library help us all year long with money for library materials, to the tune of several thousand dollars.

We rank near the bottom of the pile when we compare our library materials (books, magazines, video's, DVD's, children's books, tapes, etc.) funding to other public libraries in Kansas. On the annual Read Index which ranks Kansas Public Libraries on a variety of factors including Collection Expense Per Capita, we rank 16th out of 18 libraries in our group. I expect that our relative position will improve this year with our expanded building in operation since the size of the library is one of the ranking factors. But book budget-wise, 2008 will not be a banner year for funding. We are shaving our Materials Budget just a little to expand our hours from the current 40 hours per week. How much we expand our hours is in the hands of our city commission. The newest commissioner, Darrell Unruh has pressed the city manager and the other commissioners to come up with $31,000 more for the library so we can expand our hours. The issue will be revisited late this year as unreimbursed flood related expense is better known.

So, typically we add between 2,000 and 3,000 new items to the colleciton every year out of the 175,000 plus published yearly. About 10,000 fiction books are published in the US with a few dozen being the ones everyone wants to read. The stinkers cost as much as the prize-winners but far outlast them on the shelves. It is somewhat a guessing game and some years not even John Grisham produces a winner.

Library Friends Book Sale

2007-09-07T11:17:00.000-05:00

Our Friends of the Library group will hold their annual book sale next week on September 14 and 15, Friday and Saturday. On Friday the sale will open at 4:00 for 4 hours and then on Saturday it will open at 8:00 AM and run until noon. The big crowds are there for the opening both days and by noon on Saturday the bargain hunters can fill a pickup truck for about a $1.50 (sort of kidding, but make Scott an offer and you may have a deal.)

The good work of our Friends group is fueled by this event and those who love book sales have a good time. The Friends spend their money supporting library efforts. Recently they have:

Funded our Opening Day event with music and food;
Completely set up the Meeting Room kitchen with dessert plates, cups, saucers, pitchers, tumblers, coffee service, table cloths, table skirts, and napkins;
Funded our starting collection of talking books on MP3 players;
Funded a grant to bolster our Young Adult collection;
Funded again, our leased Books on Tape (and CD) collection;
Funded again, our leased books collection (the bestseller books we all love;) and,
Funded program after program since we opened our new building.

And the list goes on. This is a group you need to join if you are interested in and supportive of our library. There is a small but active group the drives this organization and they don't ask for much they just work hard and make the library a better place.

The kiss of death, usually ...

2007-09-06T09:09:00.000-05:00

Almost anything I find that has the words, "Translated from the (you name it)" on the cover is prime material for a pass. But Henning Mankell proved me wrong. Mankell's mysteries, translated from Swedish, are solid police procedurals with an engagingly flawed lead character, Detective Kurt Wallander. There are 11 books in the series, with number 12 The Chinaman, slated for release this year. Set in the southern Sweden town of Ystad, the stories are longer and more involved and have more depth than many mysteries. I like a book that spends a few days on the nightstand although an occasional one-nighter is ok.

The series starts with Faceless Killers, published in 1991 (US release 1997,) The Dogs of Riga in 1992, The White Lioness in 1993, and so on. Since we have to wait for the translation and the American release, our books arrive later and not necessarily in the order written. The earliest Wallander stories come in The Pyramid which has 5 short stories that begin in 1979, but in publishing chronology The Pyramid comes after Faceless Killers.

Mankell can be found not on his own website buy on the Kurt Wallander website where one may find more information than one is likely to need, but if nothing else, the site provides publication and release dates for the series. Also mentioned on the site is the likelihood of a British television series featuring Wallander.

Reviewing Faceless Killers, Sue Magee at The Bookbag writes, "Few characters arrive on the scene as fully-formed as Kurt Wallander." I think she nails the feeling I got when I first read him. There are reviews of 2 more of the Kurt Wallender mysteries at The Bookbag.

They do a good job reviewing at The Bookbag, not always positive but usually. I like the depth in the reviews and the way they many times link one review to another with, "If you liked this book you may like this other one ..." type of connection. There are a variety of reviewers at the site so there is a mix of styles and tastes. The site and reviewers are British so there is a bit of a bias towards all things British.

Author Websites

2007-09-04T13:18:00.000-05:00

This morning I had the latest newsletter from Stop, You're Killing Me! in my in basket. It is a twice-monthly posting about mystery authors, characters, and forthcoming books. The site was started by Bonnie Brown in 1998 and later taken over by Lucinda Surber & Stan Ulrich when Ms. Brown's health forced a change. Quoting from the site about why it was created:

“I love a good mystery! When I find new authors, I want to read everything they’ve written. I like to go back to the beginning title and follow the development of a writer's work. With the exception of Sue Grafton and her alphabet series, it can be difficult to find an author's first book. So I have searched online and in reference books to list the books featuring series characters in the order written. Of course, some good mystery and suspense writers don’t use a series character—these are included in the order written.

This site has a straightforward format. The books are arranged by author, series character, and by date written.”

I visit the site frequently when I want to see the complete bibliography of an author or to jog my memory about a character I remember but can no longer place with a title or an author. There are those of us who relish finding a new author that we like who has a long list of titles that can be savored and this is a great site to help with the search for the complete run of work for many authors. You can subscribe to their newsletter here.

Over the weekend I picked up an old favorite, Charles Willeford's New Hope for the Dead (Vintage, 2004) the third of four mysteries featuring Miami cop Hoke Moseley. You might have seen the Jennifer Jason Leigh/Alec Baldwin movie Miami Blues which featured Fred Ward as Sgt. Moseley, and which had some great film of Miami and Miami Beach. There is an introduction to the re-release of New Hope for the Dead by James Lee Burke in which he credits Willeford with helping him get his start in publishing. They taught together at Miami-Dade Community College. The Willeford books are not easy to find but they are a treat when you do. Some excerpts can be found here.

Who would have thought ...

2007-08-30T13:01:00.000-05:00

Authors are always looking for a hook, a way to be different, interesting, and enticing to the reader. Colin Cotterill writes a wonderful series set in communist Laos with the main character the national coroner, Dr. Siri Paiboun. The novels have a well plotted mystery involving superstition, government bureaucracy, and insightful, if primitive, forensics. Dr. Paiboun, based in Vientiane, exposes the reader to this fascinating culture struggling to modernize in the midst of poverty and dismal economic conditions. In Disco for the Departed, the story moves to the former royal seat of Luang Prabang where he meets the deposed king tending a royal orchard.

The series stands at four titles including 33 Teeth, The Coroner's Lunch, and Anarchy and Old Dogs. I recommend them to those who like mysteries and are looking for something off the beaten path.

Not so far off the beaten path but still not your usual mystery, are the stories about my favorite Bangkok detective, Sonchai Jitpleecheep, the only uncorrupted cop in Bangkok. John Burdett writes this mystery series and the titles are Tattoo, Bangkok 8, and Bangkok Haunts, so far. The milieu might be a tad seamy for the weak hearted. The sights and smells of Thailand are quickly at hand as Sonchai takes us deep into the Bangkok underworld to ferret out serial killers and drug traffickers.

While I'm in the Far East it would be a crime not to mention the grippingly tense series featuring assassin John Rain. Barry Eisler hits just the right notes with these finely crafted thrillers that range the globe from Argentina and Paris to Tokyo and Hong Kong. I got hooked with my first contact Rain Fall up to the latest, Requiem for an Assassin. This series has been around for a few years and there are 6 titles in the run. From the beginning: Rain Fall, Hard Rain, Rain Storm, Killing Rain, The Last Assassin, and recently Requiem for an Assassin. Our library owns 5 of the series but we are missing Hard Rain which I will try to get.

Adults Reclaim Library

2007-08-27T11:46:00.000-05:00

The kids are back in school and the library belongs to adults until 3:30 PM, or so. We have quiet space, available computers, nooks for reading, and plenty of books for browsing. Welcome back and enjoy the quiet.

I am back from a week of vacation during which I stayed home and read 7 books, worked in the garden, and had visitors from Topeka, Wichita, Eldorado, and Scottsdale. I like time off.

I owe Gerri George thanks for reminding me that I liked to read mysteries by Giles Blunt. He writes a good mystery, which he sets in Algonquin Bay, Ontario. They are procedurals with likable characters and stories that flow. We own Forty Words for Sorrow, Black Fly Season, The Delicate Storm, and By the Time You Read This, all enjoyable stories featuring Detective John Cardinal. Blunt spent 20 years living in New York writing for Law & Order and other TV programs.

I also finished Larry McMurtry's Buffalo Girls which will be discussed at my "last Tuesday of the month book discussion" group. Next month we will be reading and discussing Doctorow's Ragtime. The September discussion will take place at 10:30 AM on September 25th. Everyone is welcome to attend but to join in the discussion you will need to read the book. There are multiple copies available on top of the New Book shelves.

Getting started...

2007-08-13T15:59:00.000-05:00

We are six months into our new building and we still enjoy the newness of our building. The sights, smells, textures, and sounds of our new/old building are refreshing. Everyone has had a positive response to our new building, nary a discouraging word has been heard about the building, not so our hours.

We opened originally 4 days per week, Monday through Thursday from 10 AM to 8 PM 40 hours per week. That was what we could afford. We went from staffing less than 10,000 square feet of building spread over 2 floors to staffing 23,000 square feet of building spread over 3 floors - what a jump - 308% growth! It took everyone we had to cover the 40 hours, forget about the 48 hours we had been open. Not everyone, let me revise, no one thought 40 hours a week was enough. We selected the schedule that we did for a couple of reasons: one, it gave us service hours for all groups - morning, afternoon, and evening; and second, it gave us evenings for the expanded programming that our building allowed us.

By summer staff was running on empty being here for 4 10 hour days, and with school out the library board changed our hours to 5 days per week with only 1 evening. So far this change has worked out fairly well and as we go into September I think we will maintain this schedule.