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“All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you; the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was.”
Ernest Hemingway (July 21, 1899-July 2, 1961)

Ernest Hemingway wrote books that make you feel like that. July is Hemingway’s birth month (and death month), a good time to think about reading or rereading one or more of his books. Many of you probably remember reading Hemingway for the first time: The Sun Also Rises, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Old Man and the Sea. Known for his distinctive writing style, superb dialog and understated prose, Hemingway had a significant influence on 20th century fiction writing. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for The Old Man and the Sea and the Nobel Prize in literature in 1954. A literary giant, but also a reckless adventurer, Hemingway was known for his turbulent life. He was an ambulance driver, seriously wounded, during World War I, shot big game in Africa, ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, a war correspondent during the Spanish Civil War and married four times before he ended his life in Ketchum, Idaho.

The library has Hemingway’s major works of fiction and nonfiction, collections of his short stories and also many books about this intriguing man. Read Papa Hemingway by A.E. Hotchner, the definitive biography, Michael Palin’s Hemingway Adventure, a book that retraces Hemingway’s footsteps around the world, or the Crook Factory by Dan Simmons, an entertaining fictionalized portrait of Hemingway as a 1930s spy. Rediscover Hemingway the writer and the man.

Books
Brothers: the Hidden History of the Kennedy Years by David Talbot
Foliage: Astonishing Color and Texture Beyond Flowers by Nancy Ondra
Ingrid: Ingrid Bergman, a Personal Biography by Charlotte Chandler
Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich
Mere Anarchy by Woody Allen
National Geographic Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways
Psychology of Baseball by Mike Stadler
Raging Forces: Life on a Violent Planet by George Stone
Secrets of Rusty Things: Transforming Found Objects into Art by Michael deMeng
Send: the Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home by David Shipley

Books on CD
Basilica: the Splendor and the Scandal Building St. Peters by R.A. Scotti
Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Strike Force by Dale Brown
You on a Walk: Listen As You Walk for a Leaner, Healthier Life by Michael F. Roizen

Music on CD
At the Movies by Dave Koz
Intimate Voices/Grieg, Sibelius, Nielsen by the Emerson String Quartet
Let It Go by Tim McGraw
My Name is Buddy by Ry Cooder
Release the Stars by Rufus Wainwright

DVDs
Ghost Rider
Miss Potter
Planet Earth/the Complete Series
Seinfeld/Season 8
Women’s Health: Train for Your Body Type

On Thursday April 26th, the 61st annual Edgar Mystery Awards for books published in 2006 were given out. Al Roker hosted the event with a theme of “Black, White and Read All Over”. The evening’s highlight was the induction of Stephen King as “Grand Master”, which is the highest honor given by the Mystery Writers of America. The library has purchased the following award-winning mystery titles:

Best Novel: The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin—Enter the exotic world of Yashim, the eunuch, in nineteenth century Istanbul. A wave of murders threatens the sultan’s position in this first book of a new series.

Best First Novel by an American Author: The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson—A CIA double-agent who has embraced Muslim culture, but abhors al-Qaeda’s agenda, comes home and his supervisors no longer trust him. A realistic premise taken from today’s headlines.

Best Fact Crime: Manhunt: The Twelve Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer by James L. Swanson—From April 14 to April 26, 1865, John Wilkes Booth led the Union cavalry and detectives on a wild hunt, while the nation, still reeling from the just-ended Civil War, watched in horror and sadness.

Best Critical/Biographical: The Science of Sherlock Holmes: From Baskerville Hall to the Valley of Fear by E. J. Wagner—A fascinating look at the history of forensic science in the 19th and 20th centuries, using the techniques in Sherlock Holmes as a jumping off point.

Best Short Story: “The Home Front” by Charles Ardai—A black marketer’s death during WWII haunts a federal agent who had a role in the accident. A dark tale that should please Cornell Woolrich fans. Found in the book Mystery Writers of America presents Death Do Us Part : New Stories of Love, Lust, and Murder.

Best Juvenile: Room One: A Mystery or Two by Andrew Clements—An avid mystery reader in rural Nebraska is puzzled by a face he keeps seeing in an empty house. The boy soon learns that there is a connection between that and their dying town.

Best Young Adult: Buried by Robin Merrow MacCready—17 year old Claudine is used to being the parent in the relationship with her alcoholic mother. When her mother disappears, Claudine disintegrates and must try to take back control of her life.

Best Television Feature/Mini-Series Teleplay: The Wire, Season 4 (HBO)—Baltimore drug scene seen through the eyes of drug dealers and law enforcement (the first 3 seasons are available on DVD and on Channel 19 BET)

Best Motion Picture Screen Play: The Departed by William Monahan-—Two police officers, one undercover in the Irish Mafia and the other working as an informant for the Irish Mafia, try to find the moles in their organizations. Winner of 4 Academy Awards.

For a list of all winners and nominees: http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html

This July is a month of almost unbearable anticipation for Harry Potter fans. July 21, 2007 is the magic date, but what does one read in the meantime?

Even for those who read only fantasy, there are plenty of good books to read while waiting for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. One author often compared to J. K. Rowling is Diana Wynne Jones, whose first book was published in 1973, almost 25 years before the Harry Potter phenomenon. In fact, Jones has speculated that Rowling was inspired by ideas from her Chrestomanci Series. Rowling has denied reading any of Jones’ books. There are similarities; however, the world of Chrestomanci is much more complicated and richer than the world of Harry Potter.

A Chrestomanci is a powerful enchanter who regulates the usage of magic throughout the parallel universes including our own. Reading one of these books is like stepping into a house with numerous rooms, all containing many doors leading to many hallways and stairways, all with many more doors leading to more rooms, hallways and stairways. Christopher Chant, who becomes the Chrestomanci, is the main character in The Lives of Christopher Chant and a supporting character in the other Chrestomanci novels. The popularity of Harry Potter has renewed interest in Jones’ books. Interestingly, two new additions to the series have just been published: Conrad’s Fate (2005) and The Pinhoe Egg (2006). Jones has written a number of other books and series, including the Castle Series, the Derkholm Series and the Dalemark Quartet. Howl’s Moving Castle and Castle in the Air from the Castle Series have been made into animated movies.

A few other good fantasy novels are:

Anatopsis by Chris Abouzeid
City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
The Field Guide by Tony DiTerlizzi (Spiderwick Chronicles)
Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
I, Coriander by Sally Gardner
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
The Last Dragon by Silvana De Mari
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series)
Lion Boy by Zizou Corder
Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo (Children of the Red King Series)
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
The Truth-Tellers Tale by Sharon Shinn

Who can resist the romance of the legendary swordfighters portrayed in literature? King Arthur, Robin Hood, the Three Musketeers, Cyrano de Bergerac, Zorro and Matthias of Redwall are just a few of the swashbuckling swordfighters to populate books and movies.

According to the United States Fencing Association’s official website, (http://www.usfencing.org/usfa/), “The sport of fencing is fast and athletic, a far cry from the choreographed bouts you see on film or on the stage. Instead of swinging from a chandelier or leaping from balconies, you will see two fencers performing an intense dance on a 6-feet by 44-feet strip. The movement is so fast the touches are scored electrically – a lot more like Star Wars than Errol Flynn.” Fencing is one of only four sports to be performed in every modern Olympic Game and was also a sport in the Olympic Games of ancient Greece.

The MSOE (Milwaukee School of Engineering) Fencing Club will be presenting a demonstration in the Firefly Room at the Wauwatosa Public Library on Thursday, July 26, 2007 from 1:30 – 2:15 pm. This program is for children 5 years old and older, no registration required. For more information, please call the Children’s Library: 414-471-8486.