Friday, February 28, 2014

Staff Picks

The first story in Stephen King’s epic fantasy adventure series, The Dark Tower introduces Roland Deschain of Gilead, the world’s last gunslinger.   The enigmatic Roland tracks an even more mysterious “Man in Black” toward a forbidding dark tower, battling man-made monsters and otherworldly creatures along the way.  Roland’s quest in the eight volume Dark Tower series transcends the bounds of MidWorld and may even transform Roland, the ultimate loner, himself.

Roland's story has been converted into the graphic novel format and there is a much anticipated film adaptation in the works.  It all began with The Gunslinger!  Check it out if you enjoy epic fantasies. 

Alicia Cavitt
Information Specialist

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Staff Picks

Practical jokes, office gossip, angry emails combined with poorly chosen distribution lists, health scares and lots of coffee breaks reveal the group mentality and inner struggles of all-too-realistic cast of characters facing the threat of corporate layoffs and other traumas.  

At times deadly serious and at others times simply hilarious, Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris describes what happens when people work together long enough for rivalries to fester and romances to blossom.   

Fans of television shows like The Office and Mad Men and anyone who has ever worked in an office environment will enjoy all the ups and downs and the off-the-wall antics in Then We Came to the End.  

Alicia Cavitt
Information Specialist

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Staff Pick - Focus on Health

The Mayo Clinic Diabetes Diet by the weight-loss experts at the Mayo Clinic

You've tried all the diets.  I've seen the books you check out--Atkins, South Beach, Wheat Belly, Paleo.  I even tried one of them myself when my doctor told me that if I lost some weight I could reverse my type 2 diabetes.  (He was right.)  Excess weight, especially in the middle, can put you at risk for diabetes.  Diabetes is at epidemic levels, so the Post Road library has invited Karen Adams, R.N. from Northside Hospital to talk to you on Tuesday, February 25 at 6:30 p.m. about the prevention and treatment of diabetes and to answer your questions.  Register online, and tell all your friends.  It's your health.

Mary Kretsch
Information Specialist

Friday, February 14, 2014

Staff Picks

How well do you know your partner? Your children?   Yourself?
  
 J. Robert Lennon’s novel Familiar chronicles a woman’s reaction when the life she recalls suddenly and inexplicably deviates from the one she’s living.  

It all happens during Elisa Brown’s annual visit to her son’s grave and like Franz Kafka’s Gregor Sama*  or one of the castaways on ABC’s Lost, Elisa spends the rest of the novel trying to adapt.    Elisa’s story focuses on choices and ramifications and raises fascinating questions about truth and consequences, perceptions and memory.

Fans of ambiguity and literary fiction will appreciate this unique novel which leaves itself open to lots of speculation and theorizing.  I can’t wait to hear the theories about this story from other readers.

Alicia Cavitt
Information Specialist

*Gregor Sampsa is transformed into an insect in the 1915 novel The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.  Literary critics are still debating the significance of Sampsa's ordeal and the term Kafkaesque was coined to describe events of a surreal and nightmarish nature.    

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Best of 2013 (Last in Series)

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker






The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin






The Last Policeman: A Novel by Ben H. Winters






The Maid's Version by Daniel Woodrell






The Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse






Lea Keller
Information Specialist

Monday, February 10, 2014

Staff Picks

Survivors of a global catastrophe travel into the past for supplies and more in After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress.   Mysterious aliens, unsolved kidnappings and a one very determined detective inhabit this genre-bending story that will appeal to fans of The Hunger Games.

Dystopian future fans will also enjoy Wool by Hugh Howey.   In this one, survivors of a natural disaster inhabit underground silos and adhere to a very strict caste system that ensures they can never learn the truth about their circumstances.

Seize the day -- the future sounds bleak!

Alicia Cavitt
Information Specialist

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Best Reads of 2013 (27th in a Series)


Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Seventeen year old Catherine is introduced to society in late 18th century Bath.  When she visits a magnificent historic abbey, romance coyly looms in her midst.  But will Catherine's vivid imagination, filled with whispers of ghosts and dark family secrets and fueled by gothic romance novels, get the best of her?


Beauty by Robin McKinley

This dreamy version of the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast is filled with magical details, features a courageous young Beauty, and is incredibly romantic!



The Giver by Lois Lowry

This science fiction story, told through the eyes of a twelve year old boy, promotes contemplation over a controlled futuristic society where everyone aspires to conform to “sameness”.  This book was the January selection for the “Just Read It!” teen middle book club.



How Martha Saved Her Parents from Green Beans by David LaRochelle

Silliness at its best.  I absolutely love this book!




The Boy Who Cried  Bigfoot by Scott Magoon

A super fun twist on the classic tale of The Boy Who Cried Wolf.



Julie Boyd
Youth Services Supervisor

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Best Reads of 2013 (26th in a Series)

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin






Ava's Man by Rick Bragg






Life After Life by Kate Atkinson






Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly






Inferno by Dan Brown






Holly Raus
Information Specialist
Youth Services

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Best Reads of 2013 (25th in a series)

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt






Dr. Sleep by Stephen King






Help for the Haunted by John Searles






The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith






Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall






The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian






Joyland by Stephen King






The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman






The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult






Beth Moore
Information Specialist