National Book Award Fiction Longlist Announced

The National Book Foundation's mission is to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of good writing in America.  Each year they present awards in multiple categories including Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, and Young Reader Literature. For more information about the National Book Foundation click here.

The foundation's longlist for the 2014 Fiction awards are:

An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine
The UnAmericans by Molly Antopol
Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Redeployment by Phil Klay
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Thunderstruck and Other Stories by Elizabeth McCracken
Orfeo by Richard Powers

Lila by Marilynne Robinson
Some Luck by Jane Smiley

Winners of the 2014 National Book Awards will be announced on November 19th.

Discover a New Hobby

This month's display located in the front alcove of the library focuses on discovering a new hobby. Stop by to find books about quilting, preserving, photography, painting and more including:

Once Upon a Quilt: a Scrapbook of Quilting Past and Present edited by Margret Aldrich
Antiques Roadshow Primer: the Introductory Guide to Antiques and Collectibles From the Most-Watched Series on PBS / by Carol Prisant
How to Paint: a Complete Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners Covering Watercolours, Acrylics and Oils by Angela Gair and Ian Sidaway

Pro Secrets to Dramatic Digital Photos by Jim Zuckerman.
Writing Fiction: a Guide to Narrative Craft by Janet Burroway with Elizabeth Stuckey-French and Ned Stuckey-French.
A Passion for Preserves by Frederica Langeland

Book to Movie Alert: Billy Lynn's Long Half Time Walk

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain
Ang Lee will direct Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, based on the novel by Ben Fountain, a satire set in Texas during America's war in Iraq that explores the gaping national disconnect between the war at home and the war abroad. 

Noting that it is Lee's first project since the Oscar-winning Life of Pi, Deadline.com reported that the director is reuniting with Tom Rothman at TriStar for the movie. Simon Beaufoy wrote the script. (Read the full story here) No word yet on when this book is set to hit the screen.

Summary: A ferocious firefight with Iraqi insurgents at "the battle of Al-Ansakar Canal"—three minutes and forty-three seconds of intense warfare caught on tape by an embedded Fox News crew—has transformed the eight surviving men of Bravo Squad into America's most sought-after heroes. For the past two weeks, the Bush administration has sent them on a media-intensive nationwide Victory Tour to reinvigorate public support for the war. Now, on this chilly and rainy Thanksgiving, the Bravos are guests of America's Team, the Dallas Cowboys, slated to be part of the halftime show alongside the superstar pop group Destiny's Child.

Over the course of the day, Specialist Billy Lynn will begin to understand difficult truths about himself, his country, his struggling family, and his brothers-in-arms—soldiers both dead and alive. In the final few hours before returning to Iraq, Billy will drink and brawl, yearn for home and mourn those missing, face a heart-wrenching decision, and discover pure love and a bitter wisdom far beyond his years.

Quick Picks for the Weekend

Looking for a book to read this weekend but only have a couple of minutes to browse our shelves? Stop by our Impulse Display located at the front of the library by the Circulation Desk and pick up a book or magazine. Currently on display is:

Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon
Harbor Island by Carla Negger
Bones Never Lie by Kathy Reichs
Seventh Sigil by Margaret Weis and Robert Krammes

Written in My Own Heart's Blood by Diana Gabaldon: (Historical Fiction/Love Stories)
After being presumed dead, Jamie Fraser returns to find that his best friend has married his wife, his illegitmate son has discovered who his father is, and his nephew has decided to marry a Quaker. (Book 8 in the Outlander Series. Start with Outlander.)

Harbor Island by Carla Negger: (Suspense)
While tracking down stolen artifacts from Boston to Ireland to the coast of Maine, Emma Sharpe, the granddaughter of a world-renowned art detective, and her fiancĂ©, FBI deep-cover agent Colin Donovan, must outwit one of the smartest, most ruthless killers they have ever encountered. (Book 4 in the Sharpe and Donovan series. Start with Saint's Gate.)

Bones Never Lie by Kathy Reichs: (Mystery)
When a serial killer previously responsible for a string of kidnappings and murders in Canada resurfaces in the United States, Temperance Brennan is called in to pursue a deadly predator who narrowly evaded capture by Brennan once before. (Book 17 in the Temperance Brennan series. Start with Deja Dead.)

Seventh Sigil by Margaret Weis and Robert Krammes: (Science Fiction)
Five hundred years ago, a clan of rebels was banished to the bottom of the world; ever since, these Bottom Dwellers have sought revenge, and now they are waging all-out war on the rest of humanity, those who live Above. Their deadly "contramagic" beams destroy buildings and attack naval airships, and their magical drumming brings terrible storms and disrupts the magic of the people and dragons Above. (Book 3 in the Dragon Brigade trilogy. Start with Shadow Raiders.)

Recommended Reads for Book Clubs (or Anyone)

Looking for a book to read with your book club or group? The Women's National Book Association, at their website National Reading Group Month, has put together their 2014 Selections including 20 novels that you may not have heard about in popular book reviews yet they believe are worth your reading time including:

Painted Horses by Malcolm Brooks
Painted Horses by Malcolm Brooks: (Love Story)
A young archaeologist surveying a Montana canyon in the 1950s ahead of the planned construction of a major dam, meets a former mounted cavalryman, who shows her the beauty in the stark landscape around her. Painted Horses sends a dauntless young woman on a heroic quest, sings a love song to the horseman’s vanishing way of life, and reminds us that love and ambition, tradition and the future, often make strange bedfellows.

Prayers for the Stolen by Jennifer Clement
Prayers for the Stolen by Jennifer Clement: (Psychological Fiction)
Born in a rural Mexico region where girls are disguised as boys to avoid the attentions of traffickers, Ladydi dreams of a better life before moving to Mexico City, where she falls in love and ends up in a prison with other women who share her experiences.

An Untamed State by Roxane Gay
An Untamed State by Roxane Gay: (Suspense Fiction)
Mireille is living a fairy tale as the daughter of one of Haiti’s richest sons and with an adoring husband and a precocious infant son, by all appearances a perfect life until she is kidnapped in front of her father’s estate. Held captive by a man who calls himself The Commander, Mireille waits for her father to pay her ransom. As it becomes clear he intends to resist paying, Mireille must endure the torments of a man who resents everything she represents.

Neverhome by Laird Hunt
Neverhome by Laird Hunt: (Historical Fiction)
Follows the experiences of Ash Thompson, who becomes a folk hero after she abandons her farmer husband and disguises herself as a man to go fight for the South during the Civil War.

What is Visible by Kimberly Elkins
What is Visible by Kimberly Elkins: (Biographical/Historical Fiction)
Presents a fictionalized account of the life and challenges of Laura Bridgman, the first deaf and blind woman to learn language, and those who helped her, including the founder of the Perkins Institute, with whom she was in love, and her beloved teacher.

The Orphans of Race Point by Patry Francis
The Orphans of Race Point by Patry Francis: (Suspense Fiction)
When priest Gus Silva, the man she has never stopped loving, is charged with murder, Hallie Costa, who has known Gus since childhood, must not only free him from prison, but from the curse of his past.






For the complete list of the 2014 Sections click here or stop by the reference desk to speak with one of our librarians.

Gone Girl Trailer

The long wait is almost over. Gone Girl, the film based on the bestselling novel by Gillian Flynn and starring Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry and Sela Ward, will be released to theaters next Friday, October 3rd. Here's a look at the official preview released by 20th Century Fox Studios:


Want to read Gone Girl before seeing the movie? Click here to place your hold.

New to The New York Times Best Sellers 9/21/14

Seven titles made their debut on The New York Times Best SellersHardcover Fiction list this weekend 9/21/14, six of them are the next installments in on-going, popular series. (To place a hold on any book, click it's book cover. For more information about each book, scroll down.)

Personal by Lee Child
Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good by Jan Karon
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
The Secret Place by Tana French
The Eye of Heaven by Clive Cussler and Russell Blake
Dark Blood by Christine Feehan
Son of No One by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Personal by Lee Child: (Mystery/Suspense)
Jack Reacher finds himself working for the State Department and the CIA to track down the American sniper who took a shot at the president of France and is possibly targeting the G-8 summit packed with world leaders. (Book 19 in the Jack Reacher Series; start with The Killing Floor)

Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good by Jan Karon: (Christian Fiction)
While Father Tim Kavanagh struggles with ambivalence about returning to the pulpit in Mitford, his adopted son, Dooley, falls passionately in love with an aspiring veterinarian against the backdrop of a mayoral reelection campaign and the opening of a new cafe. (Book 10 in the Mitford Years series; start with At Home in Mitford)

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell: (Science Fiction)
Interweaves six narratives spanning the period between 1984 and the 2030s to chronicle a secret war between a cult of soul-decanters and a small group of vigilantes who would take them down.

The Secret Place by Tana French: (Mystery)
Investigating a photograph of a boy whose murder was never solved, aspiring Murder Squad member Stephen Moran partners with detective Antoinette Conway to search for answers in the cliques and rivalries at a Dublin boarding school. (Book 5 in the Dublin Murder Squad mysteries; start with In the Woods)

The Eye of Heaven by Clive Cussler and Russell Blake: (Adventure/Suspense)
Discovering an artifact-filled, perfectly preserved Viking ship in the ice during an Arctic expedition, Sami and Remi Fargo investigate a legend about a fabled Toltec object, only to be targeted by treasure hunters and crime cartels. (Book 6 in the Fargo Adventure series; start with Spartan Gold)

Dark Blood by Christine Feehan: (Paranormal Romance)
An elite werewolf killer, Zev Hunter, begins to question both his past and his purpose after he is nursed back to consciousness by a member of the Dragonseeker clan. (Book 26 in the Dark series; start with Dark Prince)

Son of No One by Sherrilyn Kenyon(Paranormal Romance)
Skeptic photographer Josette reluctantly takes employment with a paranormal group before being drawn to condemned immortal Cadegan, whose inner demon is determined to consume Josette's soul. (Book 24 in the Dark-Hunter series; start with Fantasy Lover)

Book-to-TV Alert for Sci-Fi Fans

Lock In by John Scalzi
John Scalzi's newest book Lock In, released last month, is already slated to be adapted into a potential television series according to Variety (read article here). While there is no date yet on when we'll see it on our small screens, you may want to read the book first.

"Fifteen years from now, a new virus sweeps the globe. 95% of those afflicted experience nothing worse than fever and headaches. Four percent suffer acute meningitis, creating the largest medical crisis in history. And one percent find themselves "locked in"--fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus. One per cent doesn't seem like a lot. But in the United States, that's 1.7 million people "locked in."

Spurred by grief and the sheer magnitude of the suffering, America undertakes a massive scientific initiative and two new technologies emerge. One is a virtual-reality environment, "The Agora," in which the locked-in can interact with other humans, both locked-in and not. The other is the discovery that a few rare individuals have brains that are receptive to being controlled by others, meaning that from time to time, those who are locked in can "ride" these people and use their bodies as if they were their own. This skill is quickly regulated, licensed, bonded, and controlled. Nothing can go wrong. Certainly nobody would be tempted to misuse it, for murder, for political power, or worse..." (Publisher's Summary)

Lock In received a starred review from Booklist: "...tightly plotted, highly imaginative SF/mystery . . . Another brilliant novel from a writer who has quickly become one of the genre's most successful and intriguing practitioners." (Booklist Reviews)

Banned Book Week

Celebrate the freedom to read and read a banned book during Banned Book Week September 21-27, 2014. Held annually, Banned Book Week highlights the value of free and open access to information. To learn more, visit www.bannedbooksweek.org and the American Library Association (ALA) Banned Book Week websites.

Wondering what books have been challenged and/or banned?  According to ALA, here are a few of the top banned and challenged classics (for a full list of titles click here):

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
Ulysses by James Joyce
Beloved by Toni Morrison
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
1984 by George Orwell
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

For details about why these books were challenged, click here.

Looking for a banned book to read? Visit our display on the main level of the library to find these and other banned books ready for checkout.

Next Book Discussion Book Announced

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Join us for our next book discussion on October 21st from 2pm - 4pm to discuss Raymond Chandler's classic P.I. novel The Big Sleep.

When a case of blackmail involving the daughter of a California millionaire leads to murder, the inimitable Philip Marlowe, a private eye who operates in Los Angeles' seamy underside during the 1930s, is stirred into action as he becomes embroiled in a troublesome case of extortion complicated by kidnapping, pornography, seduction, and murder. 

Copies of The Big Sleep are available for checkout at the Circulation Desk. To register for the book discussion, simply click here or call us at 631-399-1511 ext 240.

New York, New York

The big city is calling! This month's display on the main floor of the library is featuring books all about, or set in, New York City including the following novels:

Dreamland by Kevin Baker
Trauma by Patrick McGrath
Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Dreamland by Kevin Baker: (Historical/Mystery/Love story)
Coney Island's Dreamland amusement park becomes the setting for a sweeping historical novel that follows a young Eastern European stowaway from his 1909 arrival in New York City through his rise to power in a Manhattan underworld organization to the birth of the labor union movement.

Trauma by Patrick McGrath: (Psychological Fiction)
Growing up in a severely dysfunctional family, Charlie Weir builds a career as a psychiatrist in New York City, working with victims of trauma including veterans returning from Vietnam, but the suicide of a patient, the breakup of his marriage, the growing turmoil of the city around him, and a volatile other woman lead Charlie to question everything, even his own sanity.

Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye: (Mystery/Historical)
Joining the newly formed NYPD at the height of Ireland's 19th-century potato famine, Timothy reluctantly assumes his duties in a notorious slum district, where in the middle of the night he hears a little girl's claim that dozens of bodies have been buried in a local forest.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer: (Bildungsromans/Humorous)
Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is a precocious Francophile who idolizes Stephen Hawking and plays the tambourine extremely well. He's also a boy struggling to come to terms with his father's death in the World Trade Center attacks. As he searches New York City for the lock that fits a mysterious key he left behind, Oskar discovers much more than he could have imagined.