Category Archives: Book News

What’s remarkable about 2012’s Pulitzer Awards is the absence of winners in fiction and editorial writing categories. And…..in recognition of the significance of online media resources, The Huffington Post and Politico won their first Pulitzer Prizes. Begun in 1917 by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and administered by Columbia University, the board consists of 103 judges serving on 20 individual juries. An entrant submits a $50.00 fee with his/her individual work that must fit into one of the specific 21 categories. Winners receive a certificate and $10,000 cash award. Note Chicago Tribune’s Mary Schmich’s award (her first!) in the Commentary Category.

Journalism

Public Service – The Philadelphia Inquirer

Breaking News Reporting – The Tuscaloosa News Staff

Investigative Reporting – Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, Eileen Sullivan, Chris Hawley (AP) and Michael J. Berens and Ken Armstrong - The Seattle Times

Explanatory Reporting – David Kocienenwski – The New York Times

Local Reporting – Sara Ganim – The Patriot-News Staff, Harrisburg, PA

National Reporting- David Wood – The Huffington Post

International Reporting – Jeffrey Gettleman – The New York Times

Feature Writing- Eli Santers – The Stranger

Commentary – Mary Schmich – The Chicago Tribune

Criticism – Wesley Morris – of The Boston Globe

Editorial Cartooning – Matt Wuerker – Politico

Breaking News Photography – Massoud Hosssaini – Agence France-Presse

­Feature Photography – Craig F. Walker – The Denver Post

Letters, Drama and Music

Drama- Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegría Hudes

­History- Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by the late Manning Marable

Biography- George F. Kennan: An American Life by John Lewis Gaddis

Poetry – Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith

Nonfiction – The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt

Music – Silent Night: Opera in Two Acts by Kevin Puts

Mary

Although Anne Tyler has been writing novels for nearly 50 years (her first, If Morning Ever Comes was published in 1964) and is known for such well-respected novels as Breathing Lessons (1989) and The Accidental Tourist (2002), she is also known for being shy and not putting herself directly in the public eye. In fact, her last face-to-face interview was 35 years ago. But with her 20th novel , The Beginner’s Goodbye, just published April 3, she has again given such an interview, which aired on NPR March 30. Check out the podcast for yourself!

We’re working on the New Fiction and New Nonfiction lists for May, and it’s pretty exciting stuff!  Look for long-overdue fiction from John Irving — In One Person — a tale inspired by the AIDS epidemic in the US in the 1980s.  Toni Morrison is also out with a new novel, Home, about an embittered Korean War veteran who struggles against trauma and racism to rescue his abused sister.  Paul Theroux returns with The Lower River, the tale of a former Peace Corps volunteer who returns to Malawi after his divorce.

Nonfiction gems include a new collection of essays by Anna Quindlen who looks at middle-age as only she can in Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright pens Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War in which she chronicles her early life in occupied Czechoslovakia during the Nazi invasion.

So…place those holds, and happy reading!

President’s Day falls on February 20 this year (side note: the Library will be closed for this legal holiday), and with the upcoming election on everyone’s mind, we wanted to share a few books that explore three of our past presidents:

Mr. and Mrs. Madison’s War: America’s First Couple and the Second War of Independence  by Hugh Howard (
973.52 HOW )

Historian Hugh Howard commemorates the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 with an illuminating assessment of America’s first and least understood war. Americans and the British clashed on land and sea, and from these battles arose defining elements of U.S. independence (including “The Star-Spangled Banner”). In addressing the war, Howard creates a revealing portrait of President James Madison and his wife, the leading figures in a pivotal moment in American history. History fans will enjoy reading about this important, oft-forgotten war through the eyes of America’s first couple.

The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century by Scott Miller (973.88 MIL)

In 1901, as America tallied its gains from a period of unprecedented
imperial expansion, an assassin’s bullet shattered the nation’s
confidence. The shocking murder of President William McKinley threw into
stark relief the emerging new world order of what would come to be
known as the American Century. The President and the Assassin is the
story of the momentous years leading up to that event, and of the very
different paths that brought together two of the most compelling figures
of the era: President William McKinley and Leon Czolgosz, the anarchist
who murdered him.  With a
deft narrative hand, journalist Scott Miller chronicles how these two
men, each pursuing what he considered the right and honorable path,
collided in violence at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New
York. Along the way, readers meet a veritable who’s who of
turn-of-the-century America.

Inventing George Washington: America’s Founder in Myth and Memory by Edward G. Lengel (973.41 LEN)

An entertaining and erudite history that offers a fresh look at
America’s first founding father, the creation of his legend, and what it
means for our nation and ourselves.

And let’s not forget those nominees who never made it to the White House:

Almost President: The Men Who Lost the Race but Changed the Nation

Profiles 12 men who have run for the presidency and lost, but who, even
in defeat, have had a greater impact on American history than many of
those who have served as president.

marlise

There was sad news last week ago for Science Fiction and Fantasy readers: prolific and award-winning (she was the first woman to win a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award) author Anne McCaffrey passed away.

I think every reader has a few special authors that for whatever reason become beloved.  Anne McCaffrey is certainly one of mine and I’m sorry she will no longer be creating her magical worlds.

marlise

Our newest YA display Trips in Time highlights gems from
our Historical Fiction collection (located
at the top of the mezzanine staircase, under the frog sculpture) features
titles sure to transport you to adventurous and bygone places and events.  Well-researched historical fiction has the ability
to offer readers a sampling of days of old, whether they be set during the
Civil, Revolutionary, or World Wars, a plague village set in 1666 England, travels
on a pirate ship, or even the sinking of the Titanic.  Strong characters inhabit these places and
draw us in, almost letting us believe that we too are experiencing life
somewhere, someplace long ago.

Enjoy your travels this holiday season as you transport yourself to
someplace old, though new to you.

Jill

Two intriguing titles are out this month based on historic November anniversaries:

November 22, 1963 changed the United
States forever. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding
in his motorcade, and a broken-hearted America has spent nearly 50 years
remembering and speculating about the tragic events in Dallas. In his
latest novel, mega-best-selling writer Stephen King asks a fascinating
question: What if you could go back in time and change that day? More
specifically: What if you could save JFK? In 11/22/63,
an English teacher travels back to 1958 and begins a quest to alter
history. Space and time are placed on the line in King’s
thought-provoking and much-anticipated novel. Remember this iconic
moment in history with a truly imaginative, harrowing read.

The only unsolved airline hijacking in American history occurred on November 24, 1971. The suspect, a man using the name D.B. Cooper, has remained unidentified since the fateful day when he collected a ransom of $200,000 and parachuted from a rear exit door of the hijacked Boeing 727. The FBI investigation has gone on for 40 years, and the man behind the crime became a legend. Geoffrey Gray’s Skyjack: The Hunt for D.B. Cooper delves into this great American mystery and the tumultuous period in which it occurred. With Nixon in the White House, war raging in Vietnam and social unrest at home, Cooper came to be regarded as something of a Robin Hood-esque figure. The still-perplexing questions about what happened to this shadowy figure when he jumped from the plane will fascinate true-crime fans.

Jan Hoffman’s article (Sunday Styles, August 14, 2011, New York Times) is about the joys and healing power of books for Nina Sinkovitz who lost her dear, older sister to cancer.  For three years Ms. Sinkovitz immersed herself in a frantic, busy life. Feeling little peace and a grave sense of sorrow, she committed herself to yet another project…read a book a day for one year! She fulfilled this promise and wrote a memoir, Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: A Year of Magical Reading: a beautiful story of her family life/history plus the list of the 365 titles she read. From this almost unimaginable, wonderful, (enviable) experience came her blog www.readallday.org  which contains thoughtful, carefully written reviews.  Her amazingly eclectic list includes suggestions for every taste. Readers will not only be inspired but feel as though they have discovered a dear friend in Nina Sankovitz and her magical year.  Don’t miss her wonderful book!

Mary