Lost in the Stacks - Paradise Valley

“The world had grown colder and darker. Suddenly there was more evil in the world than he had ever imagined.”

What price are you willing to pay when the world you live in doesn’t jive with your convictions? Would you risk all to start over somewhere else for the right to live according to your beliefs, even if the cost may be an unthinkable price? Caleb Bender, member of the Ohio Amish Community, is forced to wrestle with just such a choice when worldly governmental law collides with his committed way of life. There is much at stake. Leaving means a family split in two, a community of support left behind, a new language to learn and culture to navigate, and daughters of age without prospects. In addition, the pioneering life, with all its potential, is not without dangers of its own.

Paradise Valley, by W. Dale Cramer, is a historical fiction work. While the stories and characters are fictional, they are centered on historical facts, from which the author has a personal family tie.

Lost in the Stacks -- Follow the River

If you like historical fiction you may enjoy Follow the River by James Alexander Thom. It is a fictionalized version of the true story of Mary Ingles, a 23 year old woman who was captured by Indians in 1755. She was taken from her home in Virginia and eventually escaped and made the 1,000 mile journey home through the wilderness. This book is also available in a Book Group To Go bag for book groups. It has been made into a movie starring Ellen Burstyn and Sheryl Lee. To reserve the book click here.

Going Stieg

Steig got you by the neck? Devastated by the lack of any future Steig material? Good news! Featured in today's USA Today, Carroll Memmott compiled a list of similar reading material for those who just can't get enough Nordic Noir! You can find the list here. Give the library a call to request materials!

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View Newest Lynda Releases

Newly Notable -- Please Look After Mom

With all the recent media surrounding Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, now seems like the perfect time for Kyung-sook Shin's to arrive on the scene, finally translated to English and about to be released in America. It is already a bestseller in South Korea, the author's home. The novel focuses is the reflections and realizations of family members as they go about trying to locate their mother after she is lost in a Seoul subway station. What emerges is a picture of a woman that has spent her adult life with one goal: her childrens' success. The struggle, however, has gone unnoted by her children and husband until the days after she goes missing. Keep an eye on this one--predictions are for a great book club response!

Finite Incantatem

The journey that began in June of 1997 with the British release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (retitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the US) draws to its conclusion this July with the final movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Will the movie live up the magic of a series that had elementary students (and many adults too!) consuming 800+ page books in overnight reading marathons? We will find out July 15, 2011.



So is it time for you to re-read the 7th book or re-watch the 1st Part? Check them out here.

Newly Notable -- Bent Road

New to the publishing world, Bent Road is Lori Roy's debut novel, with a trifecta of starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and Kirkus. The only journal not awarding a star was Booklist, but the review gushes enough to make me wonder why: "captivating from beginning to end." She's also been favorably compared to Tana French and Jane Smiley. Not bad for her first time out! Plotwise: the story follows Celia Scott who, after the 1967 riots, follows her husband from their home in Detroit to his childhood home in rural Kansas, with the hopes of a new, safer life for her own family. Family secrets emerge, scandals ensue... Keep an eye out! This one promises to be good!

From Page to Screen -- Mr. Popper's Penguins

Debuting in movie theaters on June 17, here's the teaser trailer for Jim Carrey's new movie, a film adaptation of Mr. Popper's Penguins. There's still plenty of time to read the book before you see the flick! Check it out here.

Spring/Summer Holland Recreation books have arrived!

The City of Holland Spring/Summer 2011 Recreation Books have arrived. They can be found in the Community Information / Photocopier room. Stop in and pick one up today, or go online at: http://tinyurl.com/HollandRec .

From Page to Screen -- Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

From the director of The Joy Luck Club and Because of Winn-Dixie comes the film adaptation of Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Check out the newly released trailer!



The movie is due to be released in theaters on July 15, 2011. Reserve the book here.

A Novel Approach to St. Patrick's Day

You had to know it was coming: we're librarians, we read, and we know full well that beer is not supposed to be green. So how are your favorite librarians going to honor the Irish today? With our favorite current Irish nationals, of course!

Give one of these a shot:

Room by Emma Donogue
An emotionally gripping novel of five year old Jack and his Ma, who are very similar to most mothers and sons--except that they are prisoners in an 11x11 room.


Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
The Pulitzer Prize winning memoir of an immigrant from his childhood in Limerick through his journey to New York that took the world by storm--or rather by heart--when it was first published in 1996.

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
If you weren't forced to read this play in high school, it's time to make up for lost time--the "tragicomedy in two acts" has long been considered a classic--and Irish poet writing in French about...what, exactly? If you've got any theories, we've love to know.

And now you have three great reasons to skip the pub crawls and the unnaturally colored food and bevarages of the season! Enjoy!

Attention Book Groups!

Would your book group like to read and discuss The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the book chosen for this year's Community Reading Project? Call the Reference Desk to reserve a bag!

Newly Notable -- Love Wins

He's controversial, he's outspoken, and did you know...he's local? Grand Rapids pastor Rob Bell's new book Love Wins has had its publication date pushed up by a week, as a result of the response to this video!

Reading Lists

Looking for some new books to read? Check out the new Staff Favorites list on our webpage! Our past years lists are available, or for the 2011 list, click here. Happy Reading!

Get your Tulip Time Brochures here.

Yeah!!! The Tulip Time brochures have arrived. Stop in and pick one up. Ask at Reference if you don't see any out. You know, they are a hot item. ;)

Smart People Use Smart Libraries

The Return of the King

According to his website, Stephen King is set to release his new book 11/22/63 on November 8, 2011! The announcement came yesterday on King's website, and already it has made its way to #54 on Amazon's bestseller list (not bad for book without a cover and over eight months from its release date).

Here's the description from StephenKing.com:

Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students--a gruesom, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning's father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as ecidence by his crooked walk.

Not much later, Jake's friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane--and insanely possible--mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake's new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled longer named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jakes life--a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

From Page to Screen -- The Hunger Games

If you are among the scores of Suzanne Collins devotees, the news is good! The Hunger Games, under the direction of Gary Ross, is scheduled to begin production this spring. While the premiere date is still theoretical, the bigger question is "who is going to play Katniss?" And a great question it is! Rumors are circulating, but Hailee Steinfeld (of True Grit fame) has confirmed that she is in the running!