February 4, 2010
Okay, okay, I know, I’m a longtime children’s librarian, so I know that children’s books are a larger portion of my thinking and reading than for the average person. Even so, I really appreciate when I find that children’s literature is important to other adults, too. I was checking into some online library literature and found […]
January 29, 2010
Chicago Tribune cultural critic Julia Keller writes about Scandinavian mystery novels and authors in this article. (Laura H.)
January 27, 2010
A departure from his usual subject matter, Krakauer’s latest chronicles the events that led to Pat Tillman’s tragic death in remote Afghanistan. While Tillman’s death was initially blamed on an enemy ambush, weeks later the Army released information that suggested he was instead the victim of fratricide – killed by his own men. Where Men […]
January 25, 2010
Lydia Peelle was born in Boston, received her MFA from the University of Virgina, and now lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Her stories have earned her the O. Henry Prize as well as two Pushcart Prizes. She has twice been featured in the Best New American Voices anthologies. Her first collection of short stories Reasons for […]
January 22, 2010
Call it a guilty pleasure, call it weird, call it nerdy, but so help me, I love seeing what books people are reading on their commutes to and from work. Despite the periodic breathless articles and studies bemoaning the death of books and even the demise of reading itself, there are still people out there […]
January 18, 2010
“I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsom and jetsom in the river of life unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood […]
January 15, 2010
‘Tis the season for love, joy, peace, and religious rejoicing. ‘Tis also the season to express these most profound of human emotions through conspicuous consumption. As the months long pre-holiday shopping bonanza gives way to post-holiday and New Year’s sales, the message and the urge to buy, buy, buy remains unrelenting. (Was I the only one slightly horrified to overhear my […]
January 11, 2010
Check out this National Geographic list of the 100 greatest adventure books ever. The No. 1 book, The Worst Journey in the World, by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, will make you appreciate our Chicago winters, even the one we’re slogging through now. It’s about Robert Scott’s ill-fated 1910 trip to the Antarctic on which Cherry-Garrard was a volunteer. The […]
December 20, 2009
The only thing scarier than holiday sweaters, family gatherings, yule logs, egg nogs, and bands of carolers bearing gay happy greetings is a nice, thick, nightmare inducing Stephen King novel. But when you combine Stephen King and the holidays, the result is spine-tinglingly . . . well, awesome. File this one at the Big Warm […]
December 19, 2009
Did you know that in addition to the pages and pages of book recommendations from our library staff members, we’ve also got a whole section of our website dedicated to books read and reviewed by library patrons like you? Well lower those eyebrows, reel that jaw up off the floor, and stop acting so surprised, because […]
