Best Gift Books of 2013: The 12 Days of Bookish

Ahhh, Wisconsin in December. The snow has started falling in haste, the temperature is dropping, and all we can think about is cuddling up under a blanket with an entertaining book—hot cocoa optional. That's probably not shocking; as librarians, we spend more time than most thinking about books. This year, we're putting our expertise to work for you in selecting some of 2013's best books for gifting. These are the books that your loved ones will be surprised and delighted to receive, the books that will show what a thoughtful gift giver you are. You don't have to say it was our idea; your secret is safe with us.

We've separated our recommendations out into categories by recipient and will be adding new shortlists daily for 12 days. We can't wait to reveal what we've been working on, but it's strictly Do Not Open until December 11! We'll wrap up our recommendations on December 22, just in time for you to finish your shopping.

#ThankTheBook: The Books That Made Us Readers

We're pretty active on Twitter over here at MCL and this week, we've been excitedly watching Penguin Publishing's Thanksgiving/reading-appreciation contest, #ThankTheBook. It's so inspiring to see the worldwide community of readers share their love of literature by showing gratitude to the book that got them hooked. Can you remember which book made you fall in love with reading? Speak up--we want to know! Better yet, if the author is alive and active on Twitter, find them and share your enthusiasm. Authors are always grateful to hear how their stories have shaped the lives of their readers and many authors are happy to respond with a quick retweet or reply.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, a few MCL staff members have shared their beloved books, the ones that turned them into lifelong readers.

Jane D., Youth Services Librarian:
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater.
The Faraway Lurs by Harry Behn. (Available exclusively through Interlibrary Loan)
Abby B., Reference Librarian:
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi.
Ann C., Circulation Supervisor:
The entire Trixie Belden series by Julie Campbell.
Chris S., Adult Services Librarian:
The Wrong Stuff by Bill "Spaceman" Lee.
On the Road by Jack Kerouac.
Ann L., Director:
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare.
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Bone-chilling Kid Reads

We're continuing our series of scary reads for Halloween with a spooky smattering for kids! Parents and caregivers, as with all books we recommend, it is recommended that you evaluate both the reading difficulty and the necessary maturity level of the book whenever possible. It's excellent for kids to read something that's interesting to them, but if they're not prepared for the intensity of a scare, it might be best to read the book with a buddy or even to wait until they feel more comfortable.*

From left to right, top to bottom...

1. The Dark by Lemony Snicket // Best for PreK-grade 2

2. The Ghost-eye Tree by Bill Martin Jr. // Best for PreK-grade 2

3. The Teeny-tiny Woman: A Ghost Story by Paul Galdone // Best for PreK-grade 2

4. The Banshee Train by Odds Bodkin // Best for PreK-grade 3

5. The Ghost of Nicholas Greebe by Tony Johnston // Best for grades K-4

6. The Seer of Shadows by Avi (720 Lexile) // Best for grades 2-7

7. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz (640 Lexile) // Best for grades 4-6, though there is an Easy Reader version, In A Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories also by Alvin Schwartz (430 Lexile) for PreK-grade 3

8. Night of the Living Dummy by R. L. Stine (590 Lexile) // Best for grades 4-6

6. Skeleton Man by Joseph Bruchac (730 Lexile) // Best for grades 4-6

10. Wait Till Helen Comes: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn (750 Lexile) // Best for grades 4-6

*The first five books on our list are adult-directed text, intended to be read to a child, therefore no Lexile level is included.

National Book Award for Fiction Longlist

The National Book Foundation released their longlist for fiction on September 19th. How many of the titles have you read? Click through the links below to learn more about the books and place holds on any/all of them!

From left to right, top to bottom:
1. Pacific by Tom Drury.
2. The End of the Point by Elizabeth Graver.
3. The Flame Throwers by Rachel Kushner.
4. The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri. (Sidebar: This is nominated for practically every award this year)
5. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra. (Another frequently nominated novel)
6. The Good Lord Bird by James McBride.
7. Someone: A Novel by Alice McDermott.
8. Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon.
9. Tenth of December: Stories by George Saunders.
10. Fools by Joan Silber.

Nonfiction Friday -- Oktoberfest!!!!

A 16-day festival celebrating beer? Jawohl!! Count us in! Oktoberfest begins in Germany on September 21 and ends on October 2. Can't fly there and enjoy the festivities? Here are a few titles that will get you in the party mood.

From left to right...
1. Beer, Food, and Flavor: A Guide to Tasting, Pairing, and the Culture of Craft Beer by Schuyler Schultz
          Call number: FOOD 641.23 SCHULTZ
2. Bottoms Up: A Toast to Wisconsin's Historic Bars & Breweries by Jim Draeger
          Call number: 663.42 DRAEGER
3. Brewing Made Easy: A Step-by-Step Guide to Making Beer at Home by Joe Fisher and Dennis Fisher
          Call number: FOOD 641.873 FISHER
4. Salty Snacks: Make Your Own Chips, Crisps, Pretzels, Dips, and Other Savory Bites by Cynthia Nims
          Call number: FOOD 641.53 NIMS

Nominees All Around -- Lit Lists You'll Love

Ahh, award season—the most wonderful time of the year! We have so much to look forward to as more and more shortlists are announced, including most recently the Man Booker and National Book Award for Young People's Literature nominees. Let's dive right in to this amazing literary sea, shall we?

Man Booker Prize Shortlist 2013
* On the heels of the shortlist announcement, we discovered this really cool Book Globe that plots on a map the settings of every Man Booker winner and nominee. Makes us think that the recent announcement of opening the award to US authors could create even more diversity in the setting of this illustrious award.

From top to bottom, left to right...
1. We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
2. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton // US release date: October 15, 2013
3. Harvest by Jim Crace
4. The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
5. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
6. The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín

National Book Award Young People's Literature Longlist 2013

From to to bottom, left to right...
1. The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt
2. Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo
3. A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff
4. The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson
5. The Thing About Luck by Cynthia Kadohata
6. Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
7. Far Far Away by Tom McNeal
8. Picture Me Gone by Meg Rosoff
9. The Real Boy by Anne Ursu
10. Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang

Nonfiction Friday: Family Fun Month!

August is Family Fun Month—the last month of summer, the last month before school, the last month of that sweet, sweet freedom to come to the library every single day for the entire day. To help you fill the rest of 08/2013 with all the joy you can, we've curated a list of books filled with last-minute must-dos. What are you waiting for? Family Fun Month's nearly over!!

Treehouses & Playhouses You Can Build by David and Jeanie Stiles.
Call number: D.I.Y. 690.89 STILES

Learn to build creative carpentry your children will enjoy for years to come.

Treehouses and Other Cool Stuff: 50 Projects You Can Build by David and Jeanie Stiles.
Call number: D.I.Y. 690.89 STILES

More than just treehouses and playhouses, this book is filled with cool outdoor toys for kiddos.

Imagine Childhood: Exploring the World through Nature, Imagination, and Play by Sarah Olmsted.
Call number: 790.122 OLMSTED

Ideas for outdoor imaginative play that keeps children engaged in nature.

Touch a Butterfly: Wildlife Gardening with Kids by April Pulley Sayre.
Call number: 635.96 SAYRE

Learn how to attract wildlife to your yard for your kiddos' enjoyment!

Best Tent Camping: Wisconsin by Kevin Revolinski.
Call number: TRAVEL 917.75 REVOLINSKI 2013

Enjoy the beautiful state we live in one (or TEN!) more times before autumn falls.

National Geographic Kids Ultimate U.S. Road Trip Atlas: Maps, Games, Activities and More for Hours of Backseat Fun!
Call number: J 921.73 BOYER

A fun road trip atlas that will keep kids entertained for that lengthy car ride.

Nonfiction Friday: BBQs and Ice Cream

July is National Hot Dog Month and National Ice Cream Month, so we've selected a few titles from our special EZ Access Food Collection that embrace the spirit of summer. Enjoy!

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer.
Call number: FOOD 641.862 BAUER

With 100 recipes and lots of tips, this ice cream cookbook is delectably cool.

Making Artisan Gelato by Torrance Kopfer.
Call number: FOOD 641.862 KOPFER

Yes, we know gelato isn't technically ice cream, but it's cold and delicious, so we don't care! This book delivers 45 delicious artisanal gelato and sorbet recipes.

Bobby Flay's Barbecue Addiction by Bobby Flay.
Call number: FOOD 641.5784 FLAY

The latest offering from the modern master of BBQ.

Italian Grill by Mario Batali.
Call number: FOOD 641.5945 BATALI

Batali weighs in with his own book of molto bene grill recipes.

Bonus for the veggie lovers:
The Gardener and the Grill by Karen Adler and Judith Fertig.
Call number: FOOD 641.76 ADLER

Herbivores and omnivores rejoice! These homegrown grill recipes make delicious sides that can hold their own on a plate.

Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction & Nonfiction 2013

The winners of the Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction were announced June 30th at the American Library Association conference in Chicago. Anyone interested in reading something deemed truly excellent should pick up one (or all!) of these titles.

Fiction

Winner
Canada by Richard Ford. (FORD R CANADA).

Nominees
The Round House by Louise Erdrich. (ERDRICH L ROUND). Also available in audiobook format.
This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz. (CDBOOK DIAZ J THIS IS). Available in print throughout the CAFÉ system.



Nonfiction

Winner
Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis by Timothy Egan. (770.92 CURTIS E EGAN).

Nominees
The Mansion of Happiness: A History of Life and Death by Jill Lepore. Available throughout the CAFÉ system.
Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic by David Quammen. Available in print throughout the CAFÉ system.

Nonfiction Friday: Father's Day

Dads are so hard to buy things for, right? This year, Father's Day will be celebrated on Sunday, June 16th. If you're still scrambling for a last-minute present, consider this: Knowledge is a gift, and books hold knowledge, so with any luck, dad might be happy with a considerate reading recommendation. We can help you out there!

Touching My Father's Soul: A Sherpa's Journey to the Top of Everest by Jamling Tenzing Norgay.
Call number: 796.522092 NORGAY J

The son of the first Sherpa to climb Mt. Everest recalls his father's amazing journey to the top of the world.

Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan.
Call number: 817.6 GAFFIGAN

Comedian and hot-pocket hater Gaffigan hilariously describes the ups and downs of raising five kids.

After Visiting Friends: A Son's Story by Michael Hainey.
Call number: 921 HAINEY M

Years after his journalist father dies tragically on the streets of Chicago, Hainey seeks to uncover the truth surrounding the untimely, mysterious death.

My Father at 100 by Ron Reagan.
Call number: 921 REAGAN R

Nancy and Ronald's son recalls all the qualities that made his father not only a great leader, but a loving caregiver and family man.







And here are a couple bonus books for the kids (or dads who are young at heart) which remind us that comic books are often considered nonfiction graphic art—though at our library, we give them their own sections!

Darth Vader and Son by Jeffrey Brown.
Call number: J GRAPHIC STAR WARS

In a galaxy far, far away, Darth Vader takes an active role in raising his son, Luke Skywalker.






Vader's Little Princess by Jeffrey Brown.
Call number: J GRAPHIC STAR WARS

Playfully re-imagined Vader can't help but spoil his sweet little Princess Leia.

Nonfiction Friday: Dairy Month!

Mukwonago may be the place of the bear, but since the 1850s, Wisconsin has established itself as the place of the cow. For this week's Nonfiction Friday, we're focusing on the industry that has made us proud to be "The Dairy State."

Creating Dairyland: How Caring for Cows Saved Our Soil, Created Our Landscape, Brought Prosperity to our State, and Still Shapes Our Way of Life in Wisconsin by Edward Janus.
Call number: 636.2142 JANUS

A history of over a century and a half of dairy farming and cheese making, complemented by historical photographs. Written by former dairyman and journalist Ed Janus.

The Master Cheesemakers of Wisconsin by James Norton and Becca Dilley.
Call number: 637.309775 NORTON

Meet the master cheesemakers of Wisconsin who have a hand in crafting nearly 600 varieties of artisinal cheese. Beautiful photographs add insight to their work.

Wisconsin Cheese: A Cookbook and Guide to the Cheeses of Wisconsin by Martin Hintz and Pam Percy.
Call number: FOOD 641.3735 HINTZ

Learn the best ways to enjoy that real Wisconsin cheese.

And one for the kiddos in our community...
Clarabelle: Making Milk and So Much More by Cris Peterson.
Call number: JUV 636.2142 PET

Kids can learn what life is like for a Wisconsin dairy cow and her calf.

Nonfiction Friday: Memorial Day

The library will be closed on May 27 in observation of Memorial Day. While many look forward to the holiday for its pleasant weather and grill-fueled cookouts, it’s important to remember that Memorial Day represents significantly more than a free day off.

There are countless amazing books (fiction and nonfiction) about the hardships of war which honor the sacrifice of those who died in service to the United States. We've highlighted a few nonfiction titles from our collection that add impact to the conflicts that have changed the course of human history.

Flags of our Fathers by James Bradley with Ron Powers.

Call number: 940.5426 BRA

Also available @your library in large print (LP 940.5426 BRA) and e-audio book on Wisconsin’s Digital Library. This classic title was adapted into a feature film (DVD FLAGS OF OUR), directed by Clint Eastwood.

The true story behind the famous WWII photograph of 6 Marines raising the American flag at Iwo Jima.

We Were Soldiers Once … And Young by Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway.

Call number: 959.704 MOORE

Also available @your library in large print (LP 959.704 MOO) and as a feature film (DVD WE WERE SOLDIERS) starring Mel Gibson. Holds can be placed on audio books from other CAFÉ libraries.

A gritty account of the first major ground battle in the Vietnam War.

Outlaw Platoon by Sean Parnell with John Bruning.

Available as an e-book or e-audio book on Wisconsin’sDigital Library. Hard copies and audio books are available throughout the CAFÉ system.

A personal account of over a year of almost continuous fighting in the Hindu Kesh of Afghanistan.

And one for the kiddos in our community...
The Wall by Eve Bunting. Illustrated by Ronald Himmler.
Call number: E BUNTING E
Numerous copies are available throughout the CAFÉ system.

A father brings his son to the Vietnam Memorial to find the name of the boy's grandfather, who died in the conflict.

Pulitzer Prize Winners 2013

The Pulitzer Prize Board announced its annual list of winners on April 15th! We’re pleased to say we have many of the Letters winners living on our shelves, and of course nearly all of them are available throughout our county-wide system. How many of the winners and finalists have you read?

Fiction winner
The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson

Fiction nominees

What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank by Nathan Englander

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

History winner
Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and theMaking of America's Vietnam by Fredrik Logevall

History nominees

The Barbarous Years: The Peopling of British North America:The Conflict of Civilizations, 1600-1675 by Bernard Bailyn

Lincoln’s Code: The Laws of War in American History by John Fabian Witt

Biography/Autobiography winner
The Black Count: Glory,Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo by Tom Reiss

Biography/Autobiography nominees

Portrait of a Novel: Henry James and the Making of anAmerican Masterpiece by Michael Gorra

The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times ofJoseph P. Kennedy by David Nasaw

Poetry winner
Stag's Leap by Sharon Olds

Poetry nominees

Collected Poems by the late Jack Gilbert

*The Abundance of Nothing by Bruce Weigl

Nonfiction winner
Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall,the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America by Gilbert King

Nonfiction nominees

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in aMumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo

The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature by David George Haskell

* The Abundance of Nothing is the only title to which we do not have direct access, but no worries — it’s still available through Interlibrary Loan!

Worth a Look: LibraryThing

In case you haven’t heard of the website LibraryThing, let me introduce you to a fantastic resource for all of us book lovers. LibraryThing is essentially a place to catalog all your books online, discuss them if you’d like, and share reading suggestions. If you are like me, you have 100’s of beloved books scattered across your home, not even sure what books you have anymore. LibraryThing brings some semblance of order to them. Simply enter each book using it’s ISBN number, title, or author, and LibraryThing will automatically search the catalogs of nearly a 1000 libraries and bookstores around the world (including the Library of Congress and Amazon) to fill in every piece of information you could possibly want to know about that book—title, authors, subjects, first lines, series’, reviews, cover images, you name it. It will even assign Dewey Decimal System numbers to your books if you want to get all librarian on them.

There are more features than we can possible mention here, but another great use for LibraryThing is to gather ideas for your next read. Once you have a few books catalogued, LibraryThing uses recommendations from its 1.3 million users to give you reading suggestions based on the books in your library.

To that end, the Mukwonago Community Library has started its own LibraryThing “Catalog of Recommendations” (you can also find it by searching LibraryThing for “Mukwonago library”). In this catalog you will find a completely random assortment of books--for adults, teens, and children--that we, for whatever reason, really like and think you might too. So check it out, browse around, and follow some links. There’s no telling what great book you might find.

Reading List

Facebook has tons of little games, apps, notes, quizzes, and widgets flying around it. One that caught my eye was this one: "The BBC believes most people will have read only 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?"

Interesting question. Well, here's the list-- the ones that I have read have an X after them. How does your reading compare?

1 Pride and Prejudice -
2 The Lord of the Rings - X
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte -
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling - X
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - X
6 The Bible - X (much of it. I know I haven't read all of it)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte -
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell - X
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman -
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens - X

Section 1 = 5

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott - X
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy -
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller - X
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare - (complete!?! Nope. A lot of them, but... wow)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier -
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien - X
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk -
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger - X
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger -
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot -

Section 2 = 4

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell -
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald) - X
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens - X
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy -
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams - X
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky -
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck - X
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll - X
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame - X

Section 3 = 6 (what a weird mix)

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy -
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens - X
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis - X
34 Emma - Jane Austen -
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis - X
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini -
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres -
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden -
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne - X

Section 4 = 4

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell - X
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown - X
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez -
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving -
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins -
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery -
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy -
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood -
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding - X
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan -

Section 5 = 3

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel -
52 Dune - Frank Herbert - X
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons -
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen -
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth -
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon -
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens - X
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley -
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night - Mark Haddon -
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez -

Section 6 = 2

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck - X
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov -
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt -
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold -
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas - X
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac - X
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy -
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding -
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie -
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville -

Section 7 = 3

71 Oliver Twist- Charles Dickens - X
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker - X
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett - X
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson -
75 Ulysses - James Joyce -
76 The Inferno – Dante - X
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome -
78 Germinal - Emile Zola -
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray -
80 Possession - AS Byatt -

Section 8 = 4

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens - X
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell -
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker -
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro -
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert -
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry -
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White - X
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom -
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - X
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton -

Section 9 = 3

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad -
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery - X
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks -
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams - X
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole - X
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute -
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas - X
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare - X
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - X
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo - X

Section 10 = 7

Total = 41

Cool-- now I have some more books to add to my reading list. And some of these I only vaguely remember, having read them in high school and college.

Genre Links

For those of you who like particular genres of fiction-- mystery, romance, SF, etc.-- this post is for you. The Waukesha Public Library has put together a fine list of genre specific websites for your viewing enjoyment. These websites vary in quality, timeliness and thoroughness. Inclusion of a site on this list does not constitute an endorsement by either the Waukesha Public Library or the Mukwonago Community Library.

Romance

• The Romance Reader (www.theromancereader.com)
• All About Romance (www.likesbooks.com)
• Romance Writers of America (www.romancejunkies.com)
• Romance Reader at Heart (romancereaderatheart.com)

Horror

• Monster Librarian (www.monsterlibrarian.com)
• Horror World (www.horrorworld.org)
• Horror Writers Association (www.horror.org)

Mystery

• Mystery Ink (www.mysterinkonline.com)
• The Mystery Reader (www.themysteryreader.com)
• Stop, You're Killing Me! (www.stopyourekillingme.com)
• Mystery Writers of America (www.mysterywriters.org)
• The Hidden Staircase (hsmb.omnimystery.org)
• Reviewing the Evidence (www.reviewingtheevidence.com)

Science Fiction and Fantasy

• SF Site (www.sfsite.com)
• Speculative Fiction Reader (www.sfreader.com)
• Locus Online (www.locusmag.com)
• SciFan (www.scifan.com)
• Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (www.sfwa.org)

Fifty Books for Our Times

A list-- and who doesn't like lists?-- from Newsweek. How exactly they arrived at this list as being "for our times" is a little unclear, but it is an interesting list nonetheless. Of course, I've only actually read three of the books on the list.

Goodreads and Library Thing

Two different patrons have recently asked me if it is possible to track what they've read using Library circulation records. My standard response was that no, of course not. Though the Patriot Act allows an authorized federal, state or local law enforcement official to access circulation records with a court order, we don't give that information out to anyone without a court order and we do not keep those records long term.

In both cases the individuals were disappointed, not reassured. They weren't concerned about privacy issues, but instead were hoping they could take a look at their own record to see what they had already read. In one case, keeping track of the many Nora Roberts books and series was the difficulty, since Ms Roberts has written over 150 novels.

Fortunately, though the Library's circulation records cannot be used for this purpose, there are two online websites that can do what these patrons want to do-- Goodreads and Library Thing. Goodreads allows people to "add" titles to their "bookshelves", thus creating a list of books already read and also a "to read" list. It is pretty slick, though there is some front-end work of loading in the books you've already read during your life. This can be kind of fun, however, since you can also rate the books as you go and it may remind you of a few titles or authors who had drifted out of your conscienceness over time.

Library Thing is a little different, though it can also be used to track what titles have been read or which are on the "to read" list. It is essentially a "self-cataloging" web tool, allowing members (free for the first 200 titles, and only $10 a year or $25 for a life-time membership) to create their own personal catalog of book titles owned. You can also check out other member book lists, finding others with similar tastes. Indeed, one of Library Things selling points is that it is the world's largest book club. There is also a review function, genre specific groups, a blog and various other nifty bells and whistles.

Both sites are well worth your time to check out if you like reading and books. I know I spent a good two hours yesterday creating my own bookshelves at Goodreads yesterday. And it was a good two hours. Quite a lot of fun and an interesting romp down memory lane, adding books to my list that I had nearly forgotten I had actually read, yea these many years ago.

Both sites also offer members the opportunity for social interaction with other members if they desire. But it is all optional, and you do not have to interact with anyone if you choose to use the sites just for keeping track of books owned and read.