Library Love Fest

Season's Greetings from LLF

Happy Holidays from Library Love Fest! Hoping you and yours are well this holiday season.

-Virginia, Bobby, and Kayleigh

This Book is Overdue Receives Even More Praise!

The reviews are continuing to come in about Marilyn Johnson’s forthcoming book, This Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All (on sale February 2010).  In addition to the amazing review we received from Booklist, check out these wonderful quotes:

“Johnson does for the library profession what Malcolm Gladwell did for the theory of memetics in The Tipping Point.”
-Nora Rawlinson, Co-Founder and Editor, EarlyWord.com

“I have worked as a librarian for 35 years.  In these pages I met the past, present and future of my profession.  Johnson knows what we know.  It is great to be a librarian!”
-Barbara Genco, Librarian and Collection Development Consultant

For those of you attending ALA-Midwinter in Boston next month, please do not miss your opportunity to meet Marilyn where she will be signing complimentary copies of her book, This Book is Overdue during the conference:

Monday, January 18, 2010 
HarperCollins booth (#1403)
11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Boston Convention Center
415 Summer Street
Boston, Massachusetts

ALTAFF Author Tea
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Hyatt Regency Boston
Grand Ballroom
1 Avenue de Lafayette
Boston, Massachusetts

For tickets or additional information about the ALTAFF Author Tea, visit: www.ala.org/altaff
or call 1-800-545-2433 x2161

In addition to hearing Marilyn speak about This Book is Overdue, check out the other authors that will be featured at the ALTAFF Tea:

• Holly LeCraw, The Swimming Pool (Doubleday)
• Janice Y.K. Lee, The Piano Teacher (Viking)
• Karl Marlantes, Matterhorn (Atlantic Monthly Press)
• Teri Woods, Dutch II: Angel’s Revenge (Grand Central Publishing)

We are very excited about This Book is Overdue and we hope you are as well.  Also, as Kayleigh mentioned earlier, if you haven’t read the first chapter, check it out here!

Enjoy,

-Bobby

Booklist reviews...This Book is Overdue!

Librarians have been raving about Marilyn Johnson's forthcoming This Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All.  Now Booklist is joining in--here's their full review. 

This Book Is Overdue!: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All.
Johnson, Marilyn (Author)
Feb 2010. 288 p. Harper, hardcover, $24.99. (9780061431609). 020.92.

Contemporary librarians are morphing into undisputed masters of the information cosmos. An Internetsavvy, database-crunching cohort of multimedia manipulators passionately dedicated to empowering the data-deprived, they democratically distribute all the fruits of the emerging hypertext universe. Johnson’s paean to this new generation of librarians demolishes superannuated myths and stereotypes of fusty librarians filing catalog cards and collecting fines for overdue books, and replaces that with a vision of the profession’s future where librarians serve as guardians and guides to information in cyberspace. These rock-star librarians maneuver their way through a labyrinthine network of glowing computer-terminal screens to retrieve whatever answers patrons may seek. If that’s not high calling enough, librarians stand tall as superhero sentinels bravely beating back every assault on civil liberties and Constitutional government. Johnson offers portraits of American librarians, both institutional and freelance, already achieving fame as cybrarians and informationists, and she affirms and celebrates their conquests. Take that, Nicholson Baker!— Mark Knoblauch

Don't forget, you can read the first chapter here! 

-Kayleigh

Push, by Sapphire

Here at HarperLibrary we love our books…I mean we REALLY LOVE OUR BOOKS.  Every now and then, you do have to give credit where credit is due.  I’m sure by now everyone has heard the major buzz about the movie “Precious”, which is based on the book Push by Sapphire.  I just had the opportunity to read Push and was BLOWN AWAY!

While reading Push, a multitude of emotions overcame me…anger, sadness, hurt, and hope.  I was angry and sad because of the realization of what this young woman truly had to endure.  Feelings of hurt came because in some way, I wish there was something that could have done to help prevent such a thing from happening in the first place.  Finally, I was hopeful because I realized that by telling Precious’ story, she is helping so many others overcome (and hopefully prevent) similar situations.  Push will help someone make a total turnaround, by turning tragedy into triumph. 

If you haven’t read Push, please make it part of your reading list…and go see "Precious"!

Enjoy,

-Bobby

Raves for The Body in the Sleigh

The reviews keep coming in for Katherine Hall Page's heartwarming The Body in the Sleigh, which is sure to take the chill off! Friend of the blog, Bermuda Onion, wrote us a great review.  And Patti Blount, director of the Durand Public Library, writes:

"A very delightful holiday mystery to read.  Body In The Sleigh was the first book that I read from this author.  Although I recent have seen her books when I was traveling through Vermont.  The mystery was very suspenseful and kept me guessing until the end.  After reading this book, I am thinking of purchasing some more books from the series for my library."

For more reader reviews of The Body in the Sleigh, click here.  Stay warm!

Sci-fi Book Buzz at the NYPL

Today we've got a special guest blog from editrix extraordinaire, Diana Gill, of Out of this Eos.  Many of us are overwhelmed by the amount of offerings in sci-fi/fantasy, but Diana is here to give us a great introductory course in the genre.  Sherecently presented upcoming Eos titles at the New York Public Library--her full presentation can be found here: Download Book Buzz Eos. 

Without further ado, here she is!

"A couple of weeks ago I presented current and upcoming Eos titles (science fiction, fantasy, urban and supernatural fantasy) to a group of approximately 40 NYC librarians in an SF Book Buzz panel, along with editors and marketing people from Del Rey and Macmillan.  It was my first time presenting to librarians (versus, say, fans at conventions), and I had a blast.

I talked about both some recent Eos titles and about our upcoming Winter ’10 list, which includes titles from Robin Hobb, Kim Harrison, and Raymond E. Feist, among others.  Afterwards, we offered each librarian a choice of one of several Eos titles, from science fiction to epic fantasy to urban/supernatural fantasy.  The most titles most requested were SANDMAN SLIMby Richard Kadrey, Brom’s dark retelling of Peter Pan, THE CHILD THIEF, and Margaret Ronald’s urban fantasy SPIRAL HUNT. Several people were interested trying sf/f, and not sure where to start.

Urban fantasy (and its cousin paranormal romance) is the easiest gateway to the genre—since it takes place in a world that is very much our own, only with magic.  Not coincidentally, it’s also the hottest thing going, between the phenomenon that is Stephenie Meyers' Twilight saga to the incredibly popular True Blood tv series.  Urban fantasies are an easy way for readers to try the genre, and there are a lot of great ones out there.

The Bad Book Affair

Attention all you Ian Sansom fans!  He is back with another book in the Mobile Library Mystery Series.  The Bad Book Affair, on sale January 19th is his fourth novel in the series and stars Israel Armstrong, the classically funny librarian who solves crimes while driving the mobile library around the north coast of Ireland.  Israel finds himself trying to solve the mystery of a missing teenage girl…one who’s a bit troubled and also happens to be the daughter of a local politician.  Don’t miss this exciting mystery as Israel tries to find the missing teen, while trying to solve a few problems of his own.  The Bad Book Affair is the perfect book to read while sitting in a cozy chair with your favorite warm beverage!

Enjoy,

-Bobby

The Breach

Check out this rave STARRED review of Patrick Lee’s THE BREACH and their PICK OF THE WEEK.

If you’re looking for a great ‘guy’ book, this is it. This is a white-knuckle debut thriller starring an ex-convict who combines the government conspiracy angle of “24’s” Jack Bauer with the action of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, with a dash of supernatural suspense

There’s also a strong female character at the center of the book, with a bit of a budding romance, so this should appeal to female readers as well.

-Virginia

Cut-up

Books truly can transport you.
Check it out:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2009/11/paper-dreams.html

-Virginia

The Autism Sourcebook

Check out this wild video of a child transformed:
http://amfix.blogs.cnn.com/2009/12/08/autism-a-journey-of-recovery/

Then check out THE AUTISM SOURCEBOOK by Karen Siff Exkorn (the mother featured in the video.) 

-Virginia