Question of the Week

What books are at the top of your summer reading list this year?

For many, summer is the time to kick back, relax, and catch up on reading during vacations.  I like to catch those quiet moments sitting outside in the morning with my coffee and a book, birds chirping and fluttering about.

This summer I plan to read a lot of science fiction, and Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell is up first. 

A reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a disinherited composer blagging a precarious livelihood in between-the-wars Belgium; a high-minded journalist in Governor Reagan’s California; a vanity publisher fleeing his gangland creditors; a genetically modified “dinery server” on death-row; and Zachry, a young Pacific Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilisation—the narrators of Cloud Atlas hear each other’s echoes down the corridor of history, and their destinies are changed in ways great and small.

I'm not even a quarter into it, but loving it so far.  It's the perfect summer read!

Richard Matheson

Richard Matheson may not be a household name for you, but chances are you're familiar with his work.  Matheson was a prolific author and screenwriter who died this week at the age of 87.  He wrote numerous books and short stories, primarily in the genres of science-fiction, fantasy, and horror.

 Six of Matheson's novels have been adapted as major motion pictures - the most well-known being I am Legend. Others include The Shrinking Man, Hell House, and Stir of Echoes.

Maybe you know his work writing for the television show, The Twilight Zone?  He wrote one of the most famous and often referenced episodes of the show, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet."  Gremlins staring into airplane windows?  We can thank Richard Matheson for that little bit of horror!

Here's one last work of his that you might know.  Matheson's short story "Duel" was directed by Steven Spielberg in 1971.  The iconic images of that rusty tanker barreling after Dennis Weaver's red Plymouth, horn blaring will stick with me as one of the scariest movies I've seen!  Watch the trailer and remember the fear.

A big thanks to Mr. Matheson for such memorable work.  Many of his novels, short stories, and movies can be found in the Sno-Isle Libraries catalog.

Question of the Week

Do you have a favorite audiobook narrator?

I do. If you listen to audiobooks, you probably know that the narrator can make or break the reading experience. I like to listen to audiobooks when I clean, exercise, and drive, so I've had the opportunity to listen to quite a few narrators. And my favorite narrator is, hands down, Joyce Bean. I've listened to her narrate many of Jayne Ann Krentz/Jayne Castle's books and enjoyed every one. She does a fantastic job of creating both male and female voices, and of making each character sound unique. How about you? Who's your favorite audiobook narrator?

Trailer Thursday: The Navigator

The Navigator - Michael Pocalyko
Wall Street comes to Washington in Michael Pocalyko's captivating financial thriller,  The Navigator. On the darkest night of 1945, a 20-year-old B-24 navigator assists in the liberation of a German concentration camp. His haunting trauma is prologue to destiny. Flash forward to present-day Manhattan. Warren Hunter, reigning master of the financial universe, is poised to close the world's first trillion dollar deal. ViroSat is the Street's biggest-ever technology play-an entirely new worldwide communication system. It will catapult his investment bank and the global economy into a bright future . . . if the deal goes through. In Washington, ViroSat captures the attention of Senate political aide Julia Toussaint. Meanwhile, battered tech start-up veteran Rick Yeager has just landed his dream job at a mysterious but well-connected financial firm whose partners want a piece of the action. Warren, Julia, and Rick are caught in a web of intrigue, money, power, and dangerous secrets. Coincidences are not what they seem as the past collides with the present in a way that will change their lives forever.

Trailer Thursday: The Night Meadow

The Night Meadow - Claire King
It is summer in the south of France, and Pea and her little sister Margot spend their days running free, inventing games in the meadow behind their house. But Pea has worries beyond her five and a half years. Her father has died in an accident, and her mother has just lost a baby. Maman is English, already isolated in this small, foreign village, and in her compounded grief, she has retreated even further. Pea and Margot stay out of her way and try to make things better, but they can't make Maman happy again. When Pea befriends Claude, a man who seems to love the meadow as she does, she wonders if he could be a new papa. But why do the other villagers view Claude with suspicion, and what secrets does his large empty house hold? Beautifully written, haunting, and full of surprises, "The Night Rainbow "is a novel about innocence and experience, grief and compassion, and the blessings and perils of imagination.

Trailer Thursday: The Resurrectionist

The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Spencer Black - E. B. Hudspeth
Philadelphia, the late 1870s. A city of gas lamps, cobblestone streets, and horse-drawn carriages--and home to the controversial surgeon Dr. Spencer Black. The son of a grave robber, young Dr. Black studies at Philadelphia's esteemed Academy of Medicine, where he develops an unconventional hypothesis: What if the worlds most celebrated mythological beasts--mermaids, minotaurs, and satyrs--were in fact the evolutionary ancestors of humankind? "The Resurrectionist "offers two extraordinary books in one. The first is a fictional biography of Dr. Spencer Black, from a childhood spent exhuming corpses through his medical training, his travels with carnivals, and the mysterious disappearance at the end of his life. The second book is Blacks magnum opus: "The Codex Extinct Animalia," a "Grays Anatomy "for mythological beasts--dragons, centaurs, Pegasus, Cerberus--all rendered in meticulously detailed anatomical illustrations. You need only look at these images to realize they are the work of a madman. "The Resurrectionist" tells his story.

Question of the Week

What book do you buy extra copies of to give to people?

Every time I go to a library book sale or garage sale, I just can't help myself.  I have to sweep my eyes over all the titles to see what they've got.  I don't need any more books.  I've got plenty at home (and on hold!)  But you never know what you will find.  There is a short list of books that I just can't pass up, because I want to make sure my friends have the chance to read them.   I've already mentioned how much I love The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, which I buy every copy I find cheap and give away as soon as I find my next victim.  But the other title I like to buy is The Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz.  My dad introduced me to this book, and while I don't necessarily believe in every word it says, it definitely has changed the way I think in really positive ways.

What books you like to pick up to give to others?

What makes a physical book worth owning?

This week I began reading Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, a real treat for anyone who loves books.  It was late in the evening when I began, so I only had just gotten into story when I started getting sleepy.  So I put out the lights, rolled over, and was surprised and delighted to see this.  Why did the author do this?  According to an NPR interview he did: "When you're making a print book in 2012, I actually think the onus is on you, and on your publisher, to make something that's worth buying in its physical edition."

I love books, but have been trying to not be one of those people whose lives are overrun by them.  Mostly because I always have about 30 library books out, and their due dates put them ahead of any unread books I simply own.  I never catch up!  But I make an exception for a truly special edition of a favorite book.  One example is Lamb by Christopher Moore, a hilarious yet reverent "lost gospel", which has been published in a special edition with a faux leather cover with gold trimmed pages...I really couldn't resist.

What are some books that you couldn't resist owing in all their paper glory?  Why specifically did you acquire them?