| Fiction A to Z January 2007 |
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"To read a book for the first time is to make an acquaintance with a new friend; to read it for a second time is to meet an old one."
~ Chinese proverb
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| New and Recently Released! |
| The Lives of Rocks: Stories - by Rick Bass |
| Publisher: Houghton Mifflin |
| Pub Date: 11/06/2006 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 0618596747 |
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This collection of short stories, which focuses on elements of nature just as much as it does on people, is one of more than 20 books written by author and environmentalist Rick Bass. Starring such characters as a "log fairy," who places deadfall trees onto the trucks of loggers so that they'll cut down fewer live trees, and teens who plunge into a polluted river in a dubiously safe diving bell, Bass manages to point out the beauty of nature--as well as how much we are a part of it. The New York Times Book Review calls this collection "quietly powerful." | |
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| Paula Spencer - by Roddy Doyle |
| Publisher: Viking |
| Pub Date: 12/28/2006 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 0670038164 |
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Last seen in Roddy Doyle's The Woman Who Walked into Doors, Paula Spencer is four months sober and widowed far longer. But Paula's struggles continue as she tries to build relationships with her children--who were more or less raised by the eldest daughter. Two of the four are grown and have children of their own; of the two that remain at home, one may be following in Paula's alcoholic footsteps. Fighting off the need for a drink, and occasionally missing her violent husband, Paula slowly builds a new life; the process is "wholly and vividly imagined" (Publishers Weekly). | |
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| The Long Run - by Leo Furey |
| Publisher: Random House |
| Pub Date: 11/14/2006 |
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| ISBN: 159030411X |
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Called "winning" by Booklist and "moving and uplifting" by Publishers Weekly, this debut by Canadian Leo Furey takes place in a Newfoundland orphanage circa 1960. A bleak place run by brutal priests, the orphanage often lacks food and heat, but the boys there have come together to create not only their own families, but also a system to fight loneliness and depression. Their small rebellions (raiding the bakery, training at midnight for a marathon) enable them to exert some control over their lives and give them an outlet for their energy. This often funny tale is sure to please fans of coming-of-age and survival stories. | |
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| The View from Castle Rock: Stories - by Alice Munro |
| Publisher: Knopf |
| Pub Date: 11/07/2006 |
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| ISBN: 1400042828 |
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Seven generations of Laidlaws are evoked in this short story collection by award- winning Alice Munro; if her critically acclaimed reputation alone doesn't interest you, perhaps the knowledge that the Laidlaws include her own father will. These linked stories use letters, journals, and other research materials to explore the Laidlaw family from their emigration from Scotland in the late 17th century to life in present-day Canada. Elegantly combining fact and fiction, The View from Castle Rock is an intriguing mix that The New York Times Book Review calls "transporting." | |
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| Everybody Loves Somebody: Stories - by Joanna Scott |
| Publisher: Little, Brown and Company |
| Pub Date: 12/11/2006 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 0316013455 |
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Looking for love as Valentine's Day approaches? You have company--these ten stories all focus on various forms of love, from marital to maternal to first. The tales are not always happy, but they are complicated in the way that human love often is. One story features a girl still loyal to the mother who abandoned her; another focuses on a happy young couple newly wed after the groom returns, blind, from war--although the bride's ne'er-do-well father didn't make it to the ceremony. These are "nuanced gems of observation" (L.A. Times) from one of "America's most underrated, important writers" (Kirkus Reviews). You won't want to miss them. | |
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| The Long Night of Winchell Dear: A Novel - by Robert James Waller |
| Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books |
| Pub Date: 11/14/2006 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 0307209962 |
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From the author of The Bridges of Madison County comes the tale of a 77-year-old retired gambler who has traded in his cards for the peace of a remote Texan ranch. Or so he thinks. Converging on Winchell Dear's property are a drug mule heading for a meeting with Winchell's housekeeper, two armed men, and a seven-foot diamondback rattler. Also on the property is Peter Long Grass, a Native American squatting with Winchell's permission. Both Peter and Winchell sense approaching danger in this well-told western, and both memory and coincidence have a role as the suspenseful tale unfurls. | |
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| Focus on: The Cult of Celebrity |
| The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn - by Janis Hallowell |
| Publisher: Perennial |
| Pub Date: 03/01/2005 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 0060559209 |
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Francesca is an unremarkable teen living with her divorced mother and serving meals to the homeless at a neighbor's restaurant. Her ordinary life changes the day that Chester, a homeless Ph.D., claims that she is the Holy Virgin--and her touch appears to heal two ailing men. Unsurprisingly, a cult of Francesca-worshippers camps out around her home while her mother is away. Told from the viewpoints of her rational mother, a homeless believer, Francesca's closest friend, and pliant and confused Francesca herself, The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn is an intriguing look at the need to believe. | |
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| The Thing about Jane Spring: A Novel - by Sharon Krum |
| Publisher: Viking |
| Pub Date: 07/07/2005 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 0670034177 |
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The daughter of a general, Jane Spring takes no prisoners, suffers no fools, and doesn't exactly ooze "warm and fuzzy." She's intelligent, beautiful, and successful, but she just can't understand why she can't find love...though perhaps her list of first date conversation topics might offer a clue (assault weapons ban, President's new tax plan, decline in public morality). But while tipsily watching a Doris Day marathon, she decides to mimic every aspect of the famed actress in order to find the perfect man. The real question in this appealing book is how she can remain true to herself while still retaining her new feminine side; fans of chick lit--or Doris Day films--will want to pick it up. | |
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| Blonde: A Novel - by Joyce Carol Oates |
| Publisher: Ecco Press |
| Pub Date: 04/01/2001 |
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| ISBN: 006093493X |
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Meet Marilyn Monroe as you've never seen her before--from the inside. This psychological study from the bestselling Joyce Carol Oates presents a fictional recreation of the mind of Marilyn Monroe from Marilyn's own perspective. As much a portrait of a conflicted young woman rising to stardom in the public eye as it is a characterization of the society that made her, Blonde will appeal to Marilyn Monroe fans, those fascinated by cultural icons in general, and readers looking for a book that is "dramatic [and] provocative" (Publishers Weekly). | |
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| Survivor: A Novel - by Chuck Palahniuk |
| Publisher: Norton |
| Pub Date: 02/01/1999 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 0393047024 |
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As the last living member of the Creedish Death Cult (which has literally been killing itself off) Tender Branson has become a celebrity, complete with an agent, a lawyer, and a televised marriage. So why is Tender on a plane doomed to crash, dictating the story of his life--and 15 minutes of fame--into the jet's black box? The answer is rather complicated, but it involves several possible murders and a handful of psychic dreams--all of which, in the competent hands of Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club) serve to skewer instant celebrity. | |
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| A Handbook of American Prayer: A Novel - by Lucius Shepard |
| Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press |
| Pub Date: 09/01/2004 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 1568582811 |
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While in jail for murder, Wardlin Stuart created a form of nonreligious prayer--called prayerstyle--that actually works; he quickly gets a book deal, a girlfriend, and parole, all due to his prayer poems. Already a celebrity by the time he gets out, his fame only grows as he goes on the talk show circuit, with millions of people seeking his help. Of course, he also draws the ire of Christian fundamentalists and the attention of a nondenominational god he seems to have created himself. Fans of magical realism or of meditations on our obsession with celebrity or the nature of faith will appreciate this take on an American messiah. | |
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| Tepper Isn't Going Out: A Novel - by Calvin Trillin |
| Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks |
| Pub Date: 01/01/2003 |
Check library catalog |
| ISBN: 0375758518 |
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In a place where finding parking can often be rather difficult, New Yorker Murray Tepper does the unthinkable--he sits in his car, reading the paper, in very desirable spots. Now, there's nothing illegal about this--but it does frustrate those drivers circling the block and wondering why this bozo doesn't drive on. The mayor, who sees Murray's behavior as subversive (it upsets urban order), is countered by the crowds that gather, waiting for Murray to park, hoping he'll share his wisdom. If you're looking for a sweet, entertaining read, you need look no further than Tepper Isn't Going Out. | |
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| Still looking for the right book? Contact your librarian. |
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