July 2010

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A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to the Office…

As you all know, I have an insane love for shoes.  They make me extremely happy and put a huge smile on my face!  However, I had a serious wardrobe malfunction today that turned my smile upside down.

IMG00004-20100728-1608 Picture it…New York City…July 2010!  I was on my way to work and I got off the train at my usual stop (Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street). The day was going as expected.  The next thing I knew, my right shoe felt weird…as if I were wearing flip-flops.  However, I was NOT wearing flip-flops!  I looked down and realized the entire sole of my shoe was coming off!

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I had to hobble the rest of the way to work, praying no one would see me.  I rushed into the building and immediately ran to Kayleigh who (after the initial shock) was gracious enough to venture out and buy a pair of flip-flops for me to wear. 

Thankfully, I view my own life as a sit-com, so it was quite easy to laugh at myself (while Virginia and Kayleigh laughed WITH me…not AT me…I hope!).  I hope you find my life half as funny as I do!  If you can relate in any way I would love to hear about it…so we can laugh at each other!

Happy Wednesday!

-Bobby

Books, Collection Development, Dolen Perkins-Valdez, HarperCollins Publishers, Libraries, Relationships, Wench

Meet Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Wench hc cIf you are a follower of Library Love Fest, you know I am a fan of a book entitled, Wench, by Dolen Perkins-Valdez.  Wench is the story of three female slave mistresses and the friendship they built despite living in a period of oppression.   If you missed my article, read it right here.

Check out this video where author Dolen Perkins-Valdez goes into her motivation for writing Wench and why it was such an important story to tell:

If you haven't read Wench yet, please add this to your reading list.  You will NOT be disappointed!

Enjoy!

-Bobby

American Library Association, Book Buzz, Books, Collection Development, Early Word, HarperCollins Publishers, Libraries

The “BUZZ” is LIVE!

Bees1 For those of you that could not come to the American Library Association's Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. this past June, you definitely missed a lively and energetic "Book Buzz" given by the Harper Library Marketing Team. 

HOWEVER…you can listen to the highlights and obtain additional information on all the titles we presented just by clicking here!  Our Seasonal "Book Buzz" is available for your listening pleasures on EarlyWord.com.

Listen and enjoy!

-Bobby

Abuse, Book Buzz, Books, Collection Development, Conor Grennan, HarperCollins Publishers, Libraries, Little Princes, Nepal, Next Generation Nepal

Little Princes

LittlePrincesHC CWe here at Harper Library are excited about all of our books.  However, the house is buzzing about this forthcoming book by Conor Grennan entitled Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal.  Little Princes (on sale in January 2011) will take you on an emotional roller-coaster from sadness and anger to love and optimism.

Conor Grennan decided to quit his day job and take a year off to explore the world.  His first stop landed him as a volunteer at the Little Princes Orphanage in war-torn Nepal.  What he thought would simply be a way to provide service to a needy community transformed into a mission to save the children of that orphanage. What he learned was that these “orphans” were actually taken from their families by human traffickers, and then dumped on the streets of Kathmandu.  It became Conor's goal to bring these children back together with their families…a goal he soon realized would not be easy to accomplish. 

Watch Conor in this amazing video as goes into detail about this labor of love for the children of Nepal.

Also, click here and check out the author's website which is devoted to rescuing these children and reuniting them with their families.

I am SO excited about this book and would love to hear your comments.  I will send free advance reader copies of Little Princes to the 20 lucky people who send us a comment or an email at librarylovefest at harpercollins dot com.  If you would be so kind as to send a brief review of the book after you read it, I would greatly appreciate it!

I can wholeheartedly say that this will not be the last time you hear about Little Princes…and remember you read about it here first!

Enjoy!

-Bobby

Libraries, Marilyn Johnson

This Ink is Overdue?

It seems like every day we get another email about library cuts or closings across the country.  So when this landed in my inbox, it brought a welcome smile to my face.  Marilyn Johnson's This Book is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All has been one of our departmental favorites for quite some time now (our blog is called Library Love Fest).  But Jenn O'Donnell, library worker and devotee of This Book is Overdue!, has trumped us all.  Jenn writes:

"I completed my MLIS in 2007 and have finally obtained my first "professional" library position, after working at the circulation desk at a public library and in a support role at a law firm library. I could think of no better way to celebrate than having picture of the super librarian from the cover of This Book is Overdue!."

Jenn, you are truly a badass.  Check it out!

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Now, more than ever, America needs its libraries, and its librarians.  For more information on the current library cuts, here's Marilyn's Op-Ed in the L.A. Times.  And for more on This Book is Overdue!, check out the Facebook page, or browse inside the book.

-Kayleigh

Books, Boston, Daphne Kalotay, Russian Winter

Russian Winter

9780061962165_0_Cover In my humble opinion…if you're going to read one fiction title from our Fall 2010 list, Russian Winter is the book.  Really.  After finishing it a few weeks ago, I've wandered around aimlessly, through Charlotte Bronte's Villette and some non-fiction titles–unfortunately, nothing can compete with the transformative, enveloping power of Daphne Kalotay's debut novel.  Russian Winter tells the story of Nina Revskaya, an aging ballerina who is auctioning off her jewelry in modern-day Boston.  Divided by skillfully-placed auction cards, Russian Winter swerves deftly between Boston and Moscow, evoking the beauty of the Bolshoi and the terror of life under Stalin.  The novel is literary but wonderfully accessible–out of everything on our Fall list, this is a book I can wholeheartedly recommend to most of my friends, even with their very diverse tastes in fiction.  For more information on Russian Winter, check out my presentation of the title from ALA last month.  Happy reading!

-Kayleigh

ALA 2010, Books, Harper Lee, Mary McDonagh Murphy, Nancy Pearl, NBC, Scout, Atticus and Boo, To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill A Mockingbird

9780061743528 This Sunday, June 11th, is the 50th anniversary of the publication of To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee's American classic–a coming of age story set in a South poisoned by virulent prejudice.  The book needs no introduction, and I don't think we have enough room on the blog to discuss everything we love, love, love about To Kill A Mockingbird.  In fact, we've just published an entire book devoted to talking about Mockingbird's legacy.  It's called Scout, Atticus, and Boo–and you might remember it from Nancy Pearl's interview with Mary Murphy at ALA. 

If you're around this Sunday, tune in to NBC Nightly News for a segment on the book.  Celebrate with us, by visiting the 50th Anniversary site, reading the book, re-reading the book, and/or attending an event near you.

You can also become a fan on Facebook or tweet your thoughts using #tkam as a hashtag.

Happy Anniversary, Harper! 

ALA 2010, American Library Association, Book Buzz, Books, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, Tom Franklin

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

CrookedLetterREV During our title presentation at ALA 2010, Virginia buzzed about Tom Franklin's forthcoming Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter: a striking and atmospheric drama that masterfully blends elements of crime and literary fiction. Given these quotes, it's not hard to see why we're psyched for on-sale.  Check 'em out!

"Lately I've been wondering why, in an age when every new novel is hyped as a revolution of one sort or another, the classic trifecta of talent, heart, and a bone-deep sense of storytelling so rarely appears. But here it is: Tom Franklin's CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER. One of the many pleasures of this book comes from watching Franklin walk several writerly tightropes at once without spilling a drop of his warm Mississippi beer. It's a masterful performance, deftly rendered and deeply satisfying. For days on end, I woke with this story on my mind."    -David Wroblewski, Author of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

“Larry Ott and Silas Jones are two of the most fully realized characters in recent fiction, and their story of a friendship lost and reclaimed is at the heart of this profound and profoundly moving novel. Lyrical, morally complex, superbly crafted, Crooked Letter, Crooked, Letter further validates Tom Franklin’s status as one of America’s best writers.”  -Ron Rash, Author of Saints at the River and Serena

“Do you know that kind of novel that you can’t stop reading? Just one more page, you tell yourself, just one more page. The kind that you can’t stop thinking about all day, that you rush through all your other tasks to get back to? That is the kind of novel Tom Franklin has written. CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER  is about love and guilt and death and redemption. It’s about ordinary people like you and me, traveling through that extraordinary journey called life. I just love this book!  -Ann Hood

“Beautiful writing, a spot-on sense of place, wickedly funny dialogue, and an emotionally potent story charge this highly original, literary crime offering  from master stylist Tom Franklin.” -George Pelecanos

For Virginia's full presentation of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, click here.

32 Candles, Book Buzz, Books, Collection Development, Early Word, Ernessa Carter, Fierce and Nerdy, Happiness, HarperCollins Publishers, Libraries, Molly Ringwald, Reinvention, Relationships, Sixteen Candles

32 Candles

32Candles hc c I blogged about a book entitled, 32 Candles, by Ernessa T. Carter.  Ernessa's book, 32 Candles is the story of a self-proclaimed ugly duckling who finds her voice and finds herself.  Check out my article.

We received a great review from Lisa Steckhahn, Reference Librarian for the West Allis Public Library.  Here is what Lisa thought of 32 Candles:

"32 Candles is a look at the life of a very unique girl who moves to Los Angeles after enduring abuse from her mom and high school classmates.  Davie enjoys Molly Ringwald movies and wants her own “Molly Ringwald Ending”, a sentiment shared by many girls of her generation.  When she arrives in LA she transforms herself into another person and becomes a nightclub singer.  After establishing a life there, she encounters her high school crush who makes her relive all of the memories she ran away from.  It was a very entertaining read and I couldn’t help but root for Davie even though she is flawed.  The flaws are what makes her interesting and cause the reader to hope that she finally finds her “Molly Ringwald Ending”.  

-Lisa Steckhahn, Reference Librarian
West Allis Public Library

Many thanks to Lisa and everyone at the West Allis Public Library!  I hope you add 32 Candles to your reading list.

Enjoy!

-Bobby

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