New and Featured Books for 04/04/2012:

Come and check out these and some of the other new books and materials (or at least new to us) added to our library collection…

FICTION:

Calico Joe by John Grisham

Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult

Dorchester Terrace by Anne Perry

Stories For Nighttime And Some For The Day by Ben Loory

Death Of A Kingfisher by M. C. Beaton

The Lady Of The Rivers by Philippa Gregory

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Richard Wright

The Invincible Iron Man: Extremis by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Adi Granov

Ex Machina: The Deluxe Edition, Book 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Tony Harris

Guilty Wives by James Patterson and David Ellis

Another thriller from best selling author James Patterson (and one of his co-writers), this time about a group of women on the vacation of a lifetime that’s gone horribly wrong. You can find an interview with the author at CNN, and a rather large excerpt from the book from the author’s own website.

The Fat Years by Guanzonghong Chan

NON-FICTION:

Career Success Without A Real Job: The Career Book For People Too Smart To Work In Corporations by Ernie J. Zelinski

Drift: The Unmooring Of American Military Power by Rachel Maddow

A fascinating book about how the way we go to war has changed by the author of the popular political talk show. Maddow’s book is not really about the politics, but about ideas and facts (something that politics should treat as a little more holy), and the book features a cover blurb from FOX News’ chief, Roger Ailes, which reads as: “People who like Rachel will love the book. People who don’t will get angry, but aggressive debate is good for America. Drift is a book worth reading.” You can find an interview with the author at The Chicago Sun-Times and reviews at the Huffington Post, The Daily Beast, and at The New York Times.

Distrust That Particular Flavor by William Gibson

A very nice collection of essays, articles, and speeches from the past three decades from Gibson, the writer of science fiction and thrillers, and who has been long proclaimed as a cyber visionary. You can find some very interesting reviews of the book at Tech Crunch, Boing Boing, and on The Verge.

400 Years Of The Telescope: A Journey Of Science, Technology And Thought by Donald Goldsmith

Tension City: Inside the Presidential Debates, From Kennedy-Nixon To Obama-McCain by Jim Lehrer

Elizabeth The Queen: The Life Of A Modern Monarch by Sally Bedell Smith

The Hilliker Curse: My Pursuit Of Women by James Ellroy

The Next Decade: Where We’ve Been… And Where We’re Going by George Friedman

Looking Within: How X-Ray, CT, Ultrasound, And Other Medical Images Are Created – And How They Help Physicians Save Lives by Anthony Brinton Wolbarst

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Please note that books could be checked out between the time they end up on the blog and when you come to check them out. If you don’t see the items you’re looking for then please come up to the front desk OR send us an email at robinsbaselibrary@gmail.com and we’ll put your name on the reserve list for when the item returns.

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Previous New/Featured books for Adults:

03/29/12.

03/01/12.

02/02/11.

01/27/12.

12/27/11.

And for Young Adults:

04/03/12.

03/20/12.

03/06/12.

02/21/12.

And for Kids/Juvenile Readers:

03/27/12.

03/13/12.

02/28/12.

02/23/12.

New and Featured Books for 03/29/2012:

Come and check out these and some of the other new books and materials (or at least new to us) added to our library collection…

FICTION:

State Of Wonder by Ann Patchett

The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings

This is the novel that was adapted into the Oscar nominated film (the screenplay adaption won an Oscar) directed by Alexander Payne and starring George Clooney. The movie is very good, and we’d definitely recommend the book to anyone who likes funny and poignant character-driven stories, and who likes to read the book before the movie. Check out a review of the book in The New York Times, and the author’s website.

Paradise by Toni Morrison

Red Inferno: 1945 by Robert Conroy

The Fallen Angels by Bernard Cornwell and Susannah Kells

The Valcourt Heiress by Catherine Coulter

100 Bullets: The Deluxe Edition, Book 1 by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso

Like the cover blurb says, Azzarello and Risso’s long running comic book series from DC/Vertigo comics was “one of the greatest works of crime fiction in any medium,” telling some very hard-boiled pulp/noir stories in a very modern way. And this is where it began with it’s very simple initial premise: A mysterious man named Graves would visit people who had been the victim of a serious wrong and present them with evidence of who it was that was responsible for their plight. In the vein of revenge he’d then offer them a handgun and the eponymous 100 bullets, all untraceable by the police. And a lot of very interesting and very dark and very complex stories would spin out of that. Here are reviews of the series at Wired, The Comics Journal, and Pop Matters, and an interview with writer Brian Azzarello at The Onion AV Club.

The Glass Rainbow by James Lee Burke

NON-FICTION:

Women Pilots Of World War II by Jean Hascall Cole

Playing With Trains: A Passion Beyond Scale by Sam Posey

Forged: Writing In The Name Of God – Why The Bible’s Authors Are Not Who We Think They Are by Bart D. Ehrman

Harriet Tubman: Myth, Memory, And History by Milton C. Sernett

Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser

Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell

This is a very fun and informative look at history by journalism, essayist, social commentator, and This American Life contributor Vowell, who looks at America’s imperialist desires and manifest destiny ideals at the end of the 19th century, and which lead to America annexing Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, and invading Cuba and the Philippines. Vowell also talks about the culture clash as Christian missionaries swiftly moved in and tried to convert the far more laid back native Hawaiians to the American way of life. Here’s an interview with the author, and you can find interesting reviews of the book at The Los Angeles Times and in The New York Times.

And here’s an odd fun fact for you: Sarah Vowell, seen above, voiced the character Violet in Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles.

This Is Your Brain On Music: The Science Of A Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin

Raw Basics: Incorporating Raw Living Foods Into Your Diet Using Easy And Delicious Recipes by Jenny Ross

The Intimate Lives Of The Founding Fathers by Thomas Fleming

The Reading Promise: My Father And The Books We Shared by Alice Ozma

* * *

Please note that books could be checked out between the time they end up on the blog and when you come to check them out. If you don’t see the items you’re looking for then please come up to the front desk and we’ll put your name on the reserve list for when the item returns.

* * *

Previous New/Featured books for Adults:

03/01/12.

02/02/11.

01/27/12.

12/27/11.

And for Young Adults:

03/20/12.

03/06/12.

02/21/12.

02/09/12.

And for Kids/Juvenile Readers:

03/27/12.

03/13/12.

02/28/12.

02/23/12.

Reading material.

Here’s some reading material from around the internet…

The world’s first mug shots.

6 ridiculous history myths (that you probably think are true).

15 bizarre green inventions.

Did they really discover the Higgs Boson?

Also: 3 things the Higgs Boson can teach you about physics.

TIME magazine’s person of the year: The protestor.

The 100 most popular baby names of 2011.

Are art and architecture converging?

The New York Times on text messaging.

Should copyright be allowed to override free speech rights?

Some complaints about the Kindle Fire.

from here.

Penguin halts e-book sales to libraries.

Speaking of which, check out this blog which reviews one Penguin book a week.

Gift ideas for the book lover who’s read everything.

Anew short story by the author of 1Q84, Haruki Murakami: “Town Of Cats.”

Stereotyping you by your favorite books of 2011.

The most beautiful literary mystery in Edinburgh.

The overlooked sci-fi of 2011.

Some of the year’s best reading for both Adults and Young Adults.

The best e-book and audiobooks of 2011?

A brief guide to fictional languages in literature.

by Daniel Clowes, from here.

Recent passings:

Christopher Hitchens, author and journalist.

George Whitman, owner of Shakespeare & Co.

Steve Jobs, inventor and businessman and pioneer.

Joe Simon, cook book legend and co-creator of Captain America.

Jerry Robinson, comic book legend and creator of Batman villain The Joker.

Joseph M. Chamberlain, pioneer of planetarium shows.

Kim Jong Il, North Korean leader.

Anne McCaffrey, science fiction author.

Betty Ford, former First Lady.

Joe Frazier, boxer and heavyweight champion.

John Barry, conductor and film composer.

Andy Rooney, journalist and commentator.

Peter Falk, actor and TV’s Columbo!

Russell Hoban, author of Riddley Walker.

Rest in peace all.

from here.

The Guardian reviews the David Fincher version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

The best TV shows of the year and some of the best TV episodes of 2011.

Roger Ebert gives Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol 3 1/2 stars. I’ve seen the movie myself and would agree, it’s definitely worth a viewing. It’s a very fun movie, but if you’re going to see it in the theater then do yourself a favor and see it right: in IMAX. Trust me, it’ll be worth it.

First look at some official images from the new version of The Great Gatsby.

The top 15 “unseen” characters on TV.

The teaser for the upcoming second season of Game Of Thrones. Winter is coming!

The Spielberg Face.

Good news for Agatha Christie fans: The final Hercule Poirot movies starring David Suchet have finally been commissioned.

Speaking of Agatha Christie and mysteries: Did she have Alzheimer’s?

The 26 best movies of 2011?

Watch 1978’s infamous Star Wars Holiday Special in its entirety.

A nice tribute to the movies of this year:

When looking at some of the links listed here, please don’t forget that: We have several of the Hercule Poirot movies on DVD, including the ones starring David Suchet, as well as Murder On The Orient Express which stars Albert Finney and Death On The Nile which stars Peter Ustinov. Also, we have books on knitting and selecting baby names and we have books talking about awesome people. We have Mission: Impossible movies on DVD and we have graphic novels and comic books featuring Batman and his nemesis, the Joker. And of course we have The Dark Knight on DVD, featuring Heath Ledger’s iconic reinvention of the role. We can offer you e-books and audiobooks, we have Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban, and we have several of the James Bond movies on DVD, for which John Barry arranged and composed the memorable theme for.

by Mathieu Belanger, one of the pictures of the year, from here.

More amazing pictures from this year.

Beautiful pictures of Saturn.

4,000 pages of Isaac Newton’s personal notebooks are now available to view online.

An x-ray of a two-headed snake.

Clint Eastwood’s family will star in a reality show.

The 25 most beautiful college libraries in the world.

How knitting behind bars transformed Maryland convicts.

Awesome people hanging out together.

Don’t forget that NORAD will help you track Santa!