Newly Notable -- Jodi Picoult's Next Release!

It's coming, it's coming! The new Jodi Picoult! Lone Wolf will be released on February 28, 2012!

From the publisher:
A life hanging in the balance…a family torn apart. The #1 internationally bestselling author Jodi Picoult tells an unforgettable story about family, love, and letting go.Edward Warren, twenty-four, has been living in Thailand for five years, a prodigal son who left his family after an irreparable fight with his father, Luke. But he gets a frantic phone call: His dad lies comatose, gravely injured in the same accident that has also injured his younger sister Cara.
With her father’s chances for recovery dwindling, Cara wants to wait for a miracle. But Edward wants to terminate life support and donate his father’s organs. Is he motivated by altruism, or revenge? And to what lengths will his sister go to stop him from making an irrevocable decision?
Lone Wolf explores the notion of family, and the love, protection and strength it’s meant to offer. But what if the hope that should sustain it, is the very thing that pulls it apart? Another tour de force from Jodi Picoult, Lone Wolf examines the wild and lonely terrain upon which love battles reason.

Intrigued yet? Click here to add your name to the list!

From Page to Screen -- The Hobbit

Here it comes!



But don't get too excited--we're still a year (gasp!) away from the December 2012 release date. And that's just for part one! Be sure to also save space on your calandar in December 2013 for There And Back Again!

The Anti-Best Books of the Year List

Here's a novel idea: rather than a mass media list of the best books of the year, the New York Daily News bloggist Alexander Nazaryan has created the ultimate anti-list: The Most Overrated Books of 2011.

I now have one key question: how are we going to know if he's right or not, unless we read all of them?

Oh snap. There goes my shortened reading list.

Got Your Holiday Reading List Ready?

Oh good! Now you can effectively compare it to The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2011 list! Some we've been hearing about since January, but oddly enough, there are a few on here that haven't been released yet. Peculiar, no?

At any rate, if you want help grabbing a copy of some of these titles, give the Reference Desk a call and we'll be glad to help you out!

National Book Awards -- The Whole Shabang Online

Did you miss the National Book Awards? (I'm assuming my invitation is lost in the mail.) But check this out: for the first time in history, the National Book Awards were broadcast live on the internet and the digital film is still available for viewing.

Watch the National Book Awards ceremony here!

Almost like being there, eh? You know, in case your invitation was lost in the mail, too...

To Be Seen At Herrick....

Hey Everybody!



If you haven't dropped in to the library lately, it's time to stop in and visit! Our newest holiday installation has arrived and is ready for all to see!

We're pretty proud of it, and while the picture is cool, it's nothing compared to the real thing.

Come see us soon!

Attention Reading Groups

The latest Book Group to Go bag is Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South in search of a better life.

622 pages, nonfiction

From Page to Screen -- My Week With Marilyn

On my list of Books to Read Before Seeing the Movie is this: My Week With Marilyn.

It caught my attention several months ago, and I promptly forgot about it, but now that the trailer has resurfaced, well, it's time to get cracking.



I mean, how could you resist this? It's Marilyn Monroe, with a smaller role for Emma Watson, formerly of Harry Potter fame and Judi Dench! It got a warm reception at the New York Film Festival, and will be available for the rest of us on November 23. So, read fast!

From Page to Screen -- The Hunger Games

Okay, it's true: some of us really do live under rocks. I have a nice cozy little moss-lined spot that I've been so busy redecorating, I didn't even realize that a new trailer for The Hunger Games was released earlier this week.

In case you've been preoccupied as well....



Anyone else as curious as I am yet? Happy Hungering--you only have to wait until March 23 to see the rest!

Attention Book Groups

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helene Simonson

Retired Major Ernest Pettigrew leads a quiet life in the village of St. Mary, England, until his brother's death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Available as a Book Group To Go bag

National Book Award Finalists!

Attention Red Carpet Hounds! The nominees for readers' answer to the Emmys have been announced! To fill out your reading list between now and November 16 (because then, of course, you'll have already read the winner when no one else can find a copy of it), read on...

In Fiction:

The Sojourn by Andrew Krivek

Jozef Vinich, WWI marksman, manages the daily life of trench warfare and confronts his own past in order to return to life and love. "Emotionall charged."

The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht

Natalia Stefanovi, a doctor when not on suspension, digs into her history by travelling to the village of her beloved grandfather. "Her unsentimental faith in language, dream and memory is a pleasure."

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka
Eight intertwined stories of eight young women brought from Japan to San Fransisco nearly a century ago as "picture brides." "Spare yet poignant...clear, elegant prose."

Binocular Vision by Edith Pearlman
A collection of short fiction that is both previously published and previously unpublished, many are calling this the quintessential Pearlman colume. For fan of Alice Munro and Nicole Krauss.

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

A motherless family pulls together to take care of one another without aid from their self-absorbed father. The story take place over the course of 12 days as a hurricane builds in the nearby Gulf.

Attention Book Groups

A new fiction title, Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin is now available as a Book Group to Go bag:

When Alice Ripley's boyfriend breaks up with her and she loses her job at the library during the Great Depression, she heads to the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, where she volunteers to stay for a while to help the librarian there.

Attention Book Groups

A new nonfiction option for your book group, written by Erik Larson, author of Devil in the White City:

In the Garden of Beasts: love, terror and an American family in Hitler's Berlin

Documents the efforts of the first American ambassador to Hitler's Germany, William E. Dodd, to acclimate to a residence in an increasingly violent city where he is forced to associate with the Nazis while his daughter pursues a relationship with Gestapochief Rudolf Diels.

Attention Book Groups

A new fiction title available as a Book Group to Go bag

The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway

Description: While a cellist plays at the site of a mortar attack to commemorate the deaths of twenty-two friends and neighbors, a woman sniper secretly protects the life of the cellist as her army becomes increasingly threatening. Fiction

Attention Book Groups

Another Book Group To Go Bag -- this book written by a local author.

Heather Sellers grew up in a family with an alcoholic father and a paranoid schizophrenic mother. In her moving memoir the author, a Hope College professor, also tells about her struggle with face blindness, a rare neurological disorder which prevents her from recognizing people by face.

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Attention Book Groups

If your book group is looking for an fiction title, you may want to try the latest book group addition -- Room by Emma Donoghue. In this very moving book a five-year-old narrates a story about his life growing up in a single room where his mother aims to protect him from the man who has held her prisoner for seven years since she was a teenager. Available in a book group to go bag.

Attention Book Groups

Here are two nonfiction additions to the Book Group to Go Bags.

Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo is the story of the four-year-old son of a Nebraska pastor who during emergency slips from consciousness and enters heaven.

Cycling Home from Siberia by Rob Lilwall tells the story of a man's decision to leave his job as a geography teacher in England to travel home from Siberia by bicycle and his adventures along the way.

Attention Book Groups

If you liked The Help, here is another Book Group to Go Bag your group may enjoy:

Catfish Alley by Lynne Bryant

White Southerner Roxanne Reeves teams up with an elderly retired black schoolteacher to research the town's African-American history for a tour, and is transported back into the racially charged past and the events that continue to change lives. Fiction

The Library is Hiring

Applications are due by August 22 for Library Assistant II and Circulation Supervisor positions. Find out more.

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Library in Your Pocket

Introducing our new App:

AccessMyLibrary

Now it's easy to bring your library with you.

Access library resources — even when you're not at the library.

It's as simple as using the AccessMyLibrary Public Edition mobile app from Gale.

Credible and Comprehensive

View your library’s online resources today where you’ll find reliable information — available 24/7 — from current magazines, journals, encyclopedias, how-to guides and more:

• Health care — discover dependable facts


• Environment — track the latest findings


• Biographies — from history and today's headlines


• Career choices — step-by-step


• Car repair — locate a diagram or how-to directions


• Literature — track a bestseller or write a term paper


• Science — study current, credible research


• And much, much more

How It Works

AccessMyLibrary uses GPS to find libraries within a 10 mile radius of your library, then gives you unlimited access to their reputable, authoritative Gale online resources--without the need to log in.

Remember to bookmark your library to access it from anywhere on earth that you have access to the Internet.

You can also use this app to find the library's address or contact them directly.

Get the free AccessMyLibrary Public Edition mobile app for your device using one of the QR codes or links below.

For Android™

For iPhone®, iPod Touch®, iPad®

Attention Book Groups

Here are two new options for your book group, one fiction and one nonfiction.

Loving Frank is a historical novel that chronicles the relationship between architect Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney, from their meeting, when they were each married to another, to the clandestine affair that shocked Chicago society.

Zeitoun tells about a New Orleans family's experience in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans residents Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun are cast into an unthinkable struggle with forces beyond wind and water. In the days after the storm, Abdulrahman traveled the flooded streets in a secondhand canoe, passing on supplies and helping those he could. A week later, on September 6, 2005, Zeitoun abruptly disappeared--arrested and accused of being an agent of al Qaeda.

Both of these titles are available as a Book Group to Go Bag.

Attention Book Groups

Do you need a new Book Group To Go bag for your book group? We have a great new historical fiction title for you -- Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks.

Here is a description: Forging a deep friendship with a Wampanoag chieftain's son on the Great Harbor settlement where her minister father is working to convert the tribe, Bethia follows his subsequent ivy league education and efforts to bridge cultures among the colonial elite. Fiction

All Book Group To Go bags contain 12 books, discussion questions and information about the book and the author for your book group.

One World Many Stories

The theme for the children's Summer Reading Program this year is "One World Many Stories" - a great reminder to teens and adults alike that learning about other cultures through literature is enriching and entertaining! Check out some of these titles that work great as both Young Adult fiction and Adult fiction.


Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier - about an Indian-American girl growing up in New Jersey.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - the story of Amir, a young boy from Kabul, who befriends the son of his father's servant set against a backdrop of tumultuous events.

Copper Sun by Sharon Draper - slave trader's enter fifteen-year-old Amari's village in remote Africa and destroy life as she knows it.

Cuba 15 by Nancy Osa - Violet Paz is American born, but half-Cuban and half-Polish by descent. Her grandmother insists that she have a traditional quinceanera to celebrate her 15th birthday and she learns about tradition, family, and self-discovery.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie - Arnold leaves the Spokane Indian Reservation where he grew up to attend an all-white high school and deals with issues such as racism, poverty, and following of traditions.

First Trailer for the new Hugo Cabret movie!

The much loved book "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick is now a movie, directed by Martin Scorcese! The movie, called "Hugo", is coming out in theaters in November 2011, and the first film trailer has just been released. The visually beautiful book, winner of the 2008 Caldecott, looks like it is going to be just as stunning in motion picture. Check out the trailer here, and don't forget to re-read the book before seeing the film!

In case you've not read the books or seen the movies, but still want to sound like you know what you're talking about....

The Fine Brothers present: Harry Potter in Seven Minutes! Enjoy!

Find Your Perfect Personal Summer Read!

Still searching for the perfect beach read?

Check out this snazzy toy courtesy of the folks at Oprah.com! It's a Summer Reading List generator! Tell them what you want, what sorts of things you like, and vwa-la! It gives you a reading list!

Beach days are sneaking away quickly--make sure to cache in on as much summer reading time as possible!

So you think reading is only for nerds?

HA! Check out this website, for the reluctant readers in your life: Awesome People Reading.

Who knew Marianne Faithfull was such a bookworm?

Waiting for Ann Patchett?

While all you die-hard fan-types are waiting around for your reserved copy of Ann Patchett's latest, State of Wonder, why not take a spin with some of the books that she has put on her favorite books list?

The Daily Beast is currently featuring a short article by Ann Patchett herself listing "six books I've read in the last 12 months that I wish I was still reading." Is it even possible to ask for a better book recommendation than that?

I seriously think not.

Happy Reading!

What are you (your kids) doing this summer?

Greetings, Hollanders-About-Town!
If you and your family are wondering what's going on around town this summer and are needing directions, check this out: The Holland Summer Recreation Bulletin.
Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the whole brochure in downloadable format.
Happy Summering!

More Summer Reading...

If you're still creating the perfect summer reading list (some of us will still be doing that in October), NPR has weighed in on the issue as has The Daily Beast's Book Beast. And surely these are only lists two and three of a multitude to come, so if you are already overwhelmed, here's my recommendation: either cancel all your plans and spend the entire summer reading every book recommended on every list (my ideal plan) or look for the common listings.
Then give your friendly librarians a call and ask us to put the titles on hold for you! And rest assured that as more Summer Must Read lists become available, you'll be able to find them right here. Happy Reading!

Crichton Post-Crichton

In happy news for Michael Crichton's many fans, HarperCollins announced today that MICRO, a novel left unfinished upon Crichton's unexpected death in 2008, has been completed by Richard Preston and will be released for sale on November 22 of this year.
According to the Michael Crichton website, MICRO is:
a high concept thriller . . . [that] follows a group of graduate students who are lured to Hawaii to work for a mysterious biotech company specializing in micro-robotics. Conflict with the head of the company leaves the group fighting for their lives when they find themselves physically transformed and cast out into the rain forest, with only their scientific expertise and wits to protect them.
And in case you just can't wait for the release date, and need to go back and reread all things Crichton, click here for his back list of titles!
PS--Mind the T-Rex.

What are you reading this summer?

Hey Everybody! Here comes Memorial Day!!!
Know what that means to us? The beginning of Beach Read Season!
And as much as I would love to read every new book on the market and give you a synopsis and honest review of all of them... Fortunately for me, the Los Angeles Times has done it for me.
Check out this awesome set of lists for almost every sort of book you can think of! Then give us a call and we'll be glad to help you get your hands on them--just in time for beach season!

Attention Book Groups - How Lincoln Learned to Read by Daniel J. Wolff

A nonfiction choice for book groups. How Lincoln Learned to Read is an engaging, provacative history of American ideas, told through the educations of 12 great figures, from Benjamin Franklin to Elvis Presley. Available in a Book Group To Go bag.

Teen Space Open House this Saturday

You're invited! In celebration of the new teen space upstairs, the library is hosting an open house this Saturday, May 21 from 2:00-5:00pm. The ribbon-cutting will take place at 2:30pm. We will have music, prizes, food & more! Stop by and check it out!

Attention Book Groups - Night Road by Kristin Hannah

Here's another title for your book group. When stay-at-home mom Jude Farraday takes in Lexi, a former foster child with a dark past, the girl becomes inseparable from Jude's teenage twins before a shattering accident rips the family apart and sets the stage for a sobering confrontation years later. Available in a Book Group To Go bag. Each bag contains 12 books, author information and discussion questions.

Do you Speak Pirate?

Okay so this isn't from page to screen, but in honor of the release of the 4th installment of everybody's favorite pirate adventure (May 20th) and upcoming International Talk like a Pirate Day (Sept 19) our friends at Mango Languages are offering us a rare opportunity to expand our language skills with a new super special language course, Pirate! Available until June 30.

Pirate is bold, brazen, chock full of eccentric insults, and incredibly fun to speak. So tell your friends, tell your family, tell your parrot. Everybody loves Pirate! So check out Mango Languages Pirate Course. After you're finished communing with Captain Jack. Check out the rest of the Mango Language offerings at Herrick.

Lost in the Stacks -- We Hear the Dead

Okay, I know what you're probably thinking: gee, another paranormal novel, intended for the teen set, likely laced with all sorts of improbable romance, am I right?

Hold your horses--this one is well worth noting because it's not so much paranormal fiction as it is historical fiction, but even more importantly, it's based on actual events.

The books tells the story of the Fox sisters who are credited with starting the Spiritualist movement in 19th century New York. Maggie, who is the primary narrator, tells us the story is a sham from the get-go--she knows about her sister Kate's ability to crack her ankles and toes loudly and without detection--those are the source of the "spirit knockings." Kate, on the other hand, seems to thoroughly believe that although she didn't actually "hear" anything from the dead, she was inspired to crack her joints at certain times.

It's a fascinating time in history, but the real star of this book is Dianne Salerni's storytelling--talk about your gripping narration! I was hooked from the get-go and ripped through this one at record speed! Click on the book cover to request a copy!

Newly Notable -- In the Garden of Beasts

Many of us met Erik Larson for the first time with his bestselling Devil in the White City, or his lesser known Thunderstruck. Larson's latest book, In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and American Family in Hitler's Berlin, is another nonfiction study of often forgotten figures in American history. This time, the focus is on William Dodd, the U.S. ambassador to Germany at the beginning of World War II, and, more specifically, his daughter Martha, who came of age and socialized in a world of soon to be infamous Nazi figures.
The advanced reviews of Garden are strong, and we're already getting calls about it. Though the book doesn't get released until Tuesday, call the reference desk at 355-3720 to put your name on the list!

Newly Notable - The Navy SEALs

Want to know more about the men who brought down Osama Bin Laden? What goes into to making a Navy SEAL? Here are a couple new titles with insight into these special forces.

The Heart and the Fist: the education of a humanitarian, the making of a Navy SEAL.
Eric Greitens is a Rhodes scholar and an Oxford Phd. He traveled the world working as a humanitarian. Seeking a way to act to prevent the carnage he has witnessed, he joins the Navy SEALs and finds a new way to live a life of service and fulfill his credo "The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature." (John Stuart Mill)

SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of a Elite Navy SEAL Sniper.
SEAL team six is the elite of the elite. The least spoken of of the secret. Howard Wadin relates his experiences trying out and training as a Navy SEAL. His experience of warfare and the selection process to become a member of the elite SEAL Team Six. He trained as a sniper. Then he relates the horrific combat experience that was the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia, memorialized in the book/movie Black Hawk Down.

Check out these and other titles about the Navy SEALs here.

Newly Notable - The Throne of Fire

Mourning the end of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series? Did Red Pyramid whet your appetite for more about Egyptian mythology. Well, your wait is over. The latest installment of modern mythicalogical adventure is here. In Riordan's latest release, Throne of Fire, Carter and his sister Sophie race to stop the chaos snake Apophis from rising. Joined by some new recruits they undergo a worldwide search for the Book of Ra and try to save the world from chaos.

So brush up on your Egyptian mythology and check out this adventure.

Will You Sign My eBook?

Authors love to sign books and their adoring fans will wait in line for hours to acquire a swipe of the pen. But what becomes of these relics in the digital future? It's time for writers to put their pens down and pick up a stylus for the dawn of the electronic signature age. Barnes & Noble has their first ever "e-book signing" scheduled in New York. Authors will sign directly on a Nook Color, imprinting their fancy scrawl on a digital copy of the book and visible to anyone who reads it. Some things never change; they merely jump formats. Digitally signed high school yearbooks anyone?

From Page to Screen -- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

The much awaited, much anticipated... Here's the trailer for the last official Harry Potter!

But don't worry--rumors are already circulating about a documentary about the making of the HP movies. And Daniel Radcliffe is already hard at work on other projects, including a film release of Susan Hill's The Woman in Black (it's a teaser of a trailer, but in case you need to know more, you can reserve the book here).

Great news for Kindle owners!

It has long been a disappointment to Kindle users that they can't access library books on their Kindles like the owners of Nooks and other devices can. Well there is exciting news on the eBook frontier.

Sometime in the coming year, Kindle compatible library eBooks will become available. The truly great news in this announcement is that we will not have to stretch our funds any further by purchasing yet another format. According to our sources all of our currently available OverDrive eBook titles and any titles we purchase in the future will be supported by Kindle.

A user will be able to browse for titles on any desktop or mobile operating system, check out a title with a library card, and then select Kindle as the delivery destination. The borrowed title will then be able to be enjoyed using any Kindle device and all of Amazon’s free Kindle Reading Apps.

We will keep our ear to the ground and let you know when we expect them to become available. In anticipation browse our OverDrive collection.

From Page to Screen -- The Help

If you are one of the many that have been waiting in earnest anticipation...



The movie is scheduled to open on August 12 and you know what that means... There's still time to read the book!

Facebook 101

So you've heard about it, but never tried it? Ready to get your feet wet with Facebook?
Great news! Our teaching volunteer Timothy is ready to push you in the puddle! Okay, not really, but she'll help you wade in comfortably!
Call the Reference Desk now to sign up for one of the three Facebook 101 sessions:
Saturday, May 14 9:30-11:30
Monday, May 16 9:30-11:30
Monday, May 16 2:00-4:00
Before the class, you'll need to have an email address and a Facebook account. If you need help with either of those items, stop by the Reference Desk for some extra help before the day of your session.
Questions? Call the Reference Desk at 355-3720!

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American History in Video

Having survived another tax day and considering the current political discussions going on at the federal and state level, here are a couple of glimpses into the our historical discussion on taxes coming to you from your American History in Video collection.

Newly Notable -- The Union Quilters

With the 150th year commemoration of the Civil War happening in 2011, Jennifer Chiaverini has tackled the Civil War in her latest addition of the popular Elm Creek Quilts series set in Pennsylvania. Her historical fiction account of the activities of the women left behind in The Union Quilters is as accurate and moving account of the fears, hopes and actions that the community of women encountered during the siege. Her characters come in alive in the daily life, the news and conflicts of pacifists and patriotism during the troublesome times interspersed with quilting, fund-raising, social justice and women's rights. The Union Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini is an excellent read for both lovers of quilting and historical fiction.

Pulitzer Prize News

Now on the "Notable" list again... Jennifer Egan's newest title A Visit from the Goon Squad was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction today!

For more Pulitzer winner information, click here. To request a copy of the winning materials, contact the Reference Desk at your library branch!

Maybe it was Two Cups of Tea?

For those following author Greg Mortenson's career, this segment aired on CBS 60 Minutes last night.


Several short responses have floated around online since the piece aired, but the most extensive interview was given to Outside online magazine. You can read that interview here.

Newly Notable -- One Hundred Names for Love

In case this one hasn't come across your radar yet, Diane Ackerman's One Hundred Names for Love has been making an incredible splash (including--but hardly limited to--an incredibly warm interview on NPR's The Diane Rehm Show). On the off chance that neither that or the plethora of great reviews has piqued your interest, check out this accolade, from Abraham Verghese (of Cutting for Stone fame):

This book has done what no other has for me in recent years: it has renewed my faith in the redemptive power of love, the need to give and get it unstintingly, to hold nothing back, settle for nothing less, because when flesh and being and even life fall away, love endures. This book is proof.

For more of the review, click here.

Support Your Library in Tough Economic Times

Check out Author Sharon Draper's comments on the importance of libraries. To contact your legislators about important issues, including the need to continue to fund libraries, click here.

Celebrate Arbor Day

Stop by Friday, April 29 to celebrate Arbor Day! Free seedlings are available to our patrons and you can sign up to win a free potted tree! Also, don't miss "Thinking Green: Ethics for a Small Planet" presented by Author and GVSU professor Karel Rogers on Saturday, April 23 at 3:00pm at the library! Learn more at http://www.herrickdl.org/.