| Schaumburg Township
District Library 130 S. Roselle Road • Schaumburg, IL 60193 Reader's Advisory Desk (847) 923-3189 |
Summer 2003 |
Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland (Fiction)
The ownership of a Vermeer painting is traced, in reverse chronological order, from the present to its original conception by the seventeenth century Dutch artist. The painting has a complex history, told chapter by chapter in stories of each owner and describes the profound effect the painting had on each one. These stories depict ordinary details with clarity of a Vermeer work of art. Each chapter could stand on its own, like a little gift to the reader. Vreeland is an extremely skilled historical fiction writer, but this book challenges the reader to contemplate the function and purpose of art.
Naked Prey by John Sandford (Fiction)
In this 14th installment in the series, Lucas Davenport is now happily married to Weather with an infant son, the owner of a new big house and in a new job. But he is bored. However, when the naked bodies of a black man and a white woman are found lynched in northern Minnesota, the governor sends Lucas and long time partner Del on the hunt. Now he's back in his element! The naked frozen bodies were discovered by 12-year-old Letty West in the early morning when she was tending her muskrat traps. Letty becomes essential to the investigation which places her in jeopardy. Initially, the killings appear to be drug-related but when another murder occurs, Lucas and Del dig deeper, only to discover this little town is a hotbed of crime and corruption. Fans of the series will find this a similar read to Sandford's Winter Prey.
Sunshine and Shadow by Earlene Fowler (Mystery)
Benni Harper, curator at the Sinclair Folk Art Museum and Artist's Co-Op, is ecstatic when children's author Emma Baldwin returns to San Celina and agrees to display her crazy quilt at Fiesta Days. Emma was the topic of Benni’s last college paper but left the central California area suddenly before her paper was finished. Emma brings old memories for Benni as she remembers the love of her life whose life was cut short by an automobile accident. But Emma is not the only one to come to town. Luke, an old friend of Benni’s new husband (Chief of Police Gabe Ortiz) from his LAPD days, is investigating a mysterious case and is found murdered. Gabe takes the homicide very personally. And it gets even more personal when someone starts stalking Benni by messing up her car, sending her threatening photographs and even taking potshots at her. Could the answer to the murder lie somewhere in Benni’s past? (This is the 10th book in the series.)
It's not too late to join the 2003 Adult Summer Reading Program, Read 66. Sign ups continue at the Central Library Readers' Advisory desk as well as the Branch Libraries. For more information, call the RA desk at (847) 923-3189.
Watch the RA desk for information on these forthcoming programs (or call us at 847-923-3189 for more information):
First-Time Authors -- Is it REALLY Happily Ever After?
July 24 (Thursday), 7:30 p.m.
Rasmussen South Meeting Room
A panel of local newly published authors will discuss what it's like to sell your first book. This same program was offered in June with a different panel of authors.
Mystery Author Panel
September 6 (Saturday)
10:30 a.m., Adult Classroom
Join us for a discussion with local mystery authors Libby Fisher Hellman (2003 Anthony nominee for Best First Mystery Novel, An Eye For Murder), David J. Walker (author of two mystery series, Mal Foley and Wild Onion Ltd.), Michael Allen Dymmoch (author of the John Thinnes/Jack Caleb series), Sam Reaves (author of the Cooper MacLeish series and the Rasual Rose series writing as Dominic Martell), and Eleanor Taylor Bland (author of the Marti MacAlister/ Matthew “Vik” Jessenovik series). Copies of the authors' works will be available for purchase at the event.
MAIN DISPLAYS
July All That Glitters
August Kitchen Capers
September Tales of Inspiration
October Windy City Reads
MINI DISPLAYS
July 1 - 15 All-American Mysteries
July 16 - 30 Partners in Crime
August 1 - 15 Southern Fiction
August 16 - 31 Murder is Academic
September 1 - 15 Divine Detectives
September 16 - 30 I Love New York
October 1 – 15 Medieval Fiction
STAFF PICKS TABLE
This table includes an assortment of titles from the various fiction collections (general fiction, mystery, sci-fi) that Library Staff have read and enjoyed.
C. J. Box had the initial success every author dreams of achieving. His debut novel, Open Season (2001), featuring Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett, was an immense commercial and critical success, with six weeks on the L. A. Times bestseller list. It was named a New York Times Notable Book and was named one of the ten best mysteries of 2001 by the Chicago Tribune. The book then swept the prestigious Anthony Award, Macavity Award, Gumshoe Award, and Barry Award for Best First Novel—the only time an author has won all four in the same year—and garnered additional nominations for the Edgar Award and the L. A. Times Book Prize.
Box’s second novel, Savage Run (2002), was also a national bestseller and scored high praise from critics. Booklist named it one of the Top 10 Mysteries of 2002, as well as bestowing it with their "Best Opening Line of the Year" designation. Publishers Weekly declared Box “a first-class talent.” His third book in the Pickett series, Winterkill was released this past May. Box’s books have been translated into 11 languages, and have captured the attention of Hollywood. Warner Brothers optioned Open Season for a major motion picture to star Bruce Willis.
Box is a Wyoming native and has worked as a ranch hand, surveyor, fishing guide, a small town newspaper reporter and editor, and he co-owns a tourism marketing firm with his wife, Laurie. An avid outdoorsman, Box has hunted, fished, hiked, ridden, and skied throughout Wyoming and the Mountain West. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. Box lives outside of Cheyenne with Laurie and his three daughters, Molly, Becky, and Roxanne.
Check out his web site at:: www.cjbox.net
2003 Book Sale Dates
Cyber Café
Gardening in Fiction
Here Comes the Bride
Lights, Camera, Action!
Mothers and Daughters
Quilting in Fiction
Read 66
Check out some of these titles appearing, or scheduled to appear, on the big screen over the next few months!
July:
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill) (Teen GN)
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (Fiction)
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand (798.4 Hillenbrand)
Buffalo Soldiers by Robert O’Connor (Fiction)
August:
The Secret Lives of Dentists (based on The Age of Grief) by Jane Smiley
Freaky Friday by Mary Rodgers (YS Fiction)
Le Divorce by Diane Johnson (Fiction)
Open Range (based on The Open Range Men) by Lauran Paige (Fiction)
September:
Matchstick Men by Eric Garcia (Fiction)
Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes (914.55 Mayes)
Mystic River by Dennis Lehane (Mystery)
The Human Stain by Philip Roth
July 1, 1804 is the birth anniversary of French novelist George Sand (née Amandine Aurore Lucile Dudevant), in Paris.
September is “Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month,” designated as a time for editors and writers to show uncommon courtesy toward each other.
September is also “Library Card Sign-up Month,” begun in 1987 to meet the challenge of then Secretary of Education William J. Bennett’s comment that “every child should obtain a library card – and use it.”